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Published: January 27th 2010
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Today is the very last day of our trip and this is our final blog, but to complete the story I need to tell you about our last few days in Cambodia.
Before leaving Phnom Penh we managed to sneak in a trip to the Royal Palace (we were supposed to have gone the previous day but it rained like you wouldn't believe so we had lunch, massages and manicures at one of the organisations that's been set up to help disadvantaged people learn a trade - my young lady was deaf and dumb - makes you think doesn't it, especially in this region. The Royal Palace was rather stunning. To give you a very brief history, King Sihanouk was deposed in 1970, the Khmer Rouge took control in 1975. The Khmer Rouge were defeated by the newly reunified communist Vietnam in 1979, then there was 14 years of unrest until 1993 when King Sihanouk was re-crowned and the country was re-named 'The Kingdom of Cambodia' (there, I promised it would be brief didn't I). After all the years of trouble here, it's easy to appreciate that tourism in Cambodia has taken quite a while to flourish, but it's a
great place to visit. The majority of Cambodians smile a lot and they appear to be a gentle nation. With Savath our Cambodian guide, it was really easy to get around. We never once felt threatened or unsafe in spite of the obvious disparity between our wealth and their poverty. Quite amazing really.
From Phnom Penh we travelled 7 hours north by road to Siem Reap in order to visit Angkor Wat. What can I say about Angkor Wat - I could easily run out of superlatives!!!! It was so fabulous that we got up at 4.30 one morning to see the sunrise over it (along with quite a few other people it has to be said - apparently it's the 'thing to do'). We also climbed to the top of a temple one day to watch the sunset - again, with quite a few other people, but it was quite awe inspiring none the less. By the way, the photos all say 'Angkor', but there are various temples over a very large area, one of which was used in the film Tomb Raider and the Tomb Raider game. I'm so pleased that the Cambodians have got this jewel
in their back garden because it brings in lots of tourists (somewhere around 5 million a year I think) whose money will eventually improve the lives of all Cambodians. In fact it's already good news because all children are now given a place at school for half a day and also hospitals have been set up to provide children under 15 with free medical care. An interesting fact is that 'Siem Reap' means 'Thais defeated' because Thailand once tried to take it from Cambodia. I'm glad they didn't succeed as Thailand already has lots of pulling power where tourists are concerned.
From Siem Reap we travelled pretty much all day to cross the border into Thailand and back to Bangkok where we had our last meal with the group and said goodbye to Savath. Then we checked into a Sofitel for a couple of nights to enjoy some 5-star comfort and do some shopping. However, the shopping was a bit of a disappointment because we gave our rucksacks to Savath with our donated clothing, intending to buy two suitcases and fill them to the brim with new clothes and goodies, but we shopped for two days solid looking for
all sorts of things from clothing to jewellery to bags etc and saw very little that we would actually want, or that we thought anyone else would want. Other than the usual silk scarves and ties, so much of it was tourist tat. We've also come to the conclusion that Thailand's market is catering for Asians, Chinese and Japanese rather than Westerners as the sizes are ridiculously small and the designs are very blingy. The fashion seems to be aimed at either tiny teenagers or grannies - yes, I know I'm a granny, but I'm thinking of how grannies looked 50 years ago).
Oh well, never mind. We've had a fabulous journey, we've had lots of fun with far-flung family and friends and seen many wonderful places. Nothing in this world will take that away from us, but we are so ready to come home now. Just to give you an idea of the logistics of our trip we've slept in 32 different beds including two trains and a boat. In fact, in the last 28 days we've changed hotels, packed and unpacked rucksacks and worked out how to use showers etc 18 times.
Just one last amusing
story which concerns an intended scam by a tuk-tuk driver this afternoon on our way to do this blog. You may have heard that one of their usual tricks is to tell you that the Wat (temple) that you are intending to walk to is closed and he can take you somewhere that's open. When he said "Where you going" we said "Walking" and he said 'Wat King is closed today, I take you to MBK instead" - priceless. He couldn't work out why we were laughing fit to burst!
We hope you have enjoyed reading our blogs - at the very least it's put peoples' minds at rest that we are still alive and kicking.
Love and best wishes - Angela and Harry - after 3 months we're finally on our way home. Yay!!!!!!
PS: There are 34 photos on this blog - just so you don't miss any.
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Glenda
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Hello again
It really has been lovely following your travels, what a wonderful experience for you both. Have a safe journey home and I look forward to seeing you back at WORK!! Ange in the cold UK. love Glenda