http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Cambodia en-us Tue, 01 Dec 09 10:55:34 +0000 Tue, 01 Dec 09 10:55:34 +0000 Well having spent an eventful and unpleasant time in Vietnam I was really looking forward to a change of venue.I was still fighting a fever but it seemed to be somewhat under control after 5 days so I decided to fly to Siem Reap the little town that services Angkor Wat. It was an afternoon flight and as flight time approached I certainly wasn't feeling any better. When we finally departed I was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-457155.html This post isn't that educational and doesn't deal with any site seeing. It is all about kicking back and having a little fun.Ever since I had stepped off the plane from a dreary British summer to the humid heat of China I had been looking forward to a swim in the sea. I didnrsquot spend more than five minutes in the hotel when we arrived. All I did was drop my bag and change into my swimming co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Sihanoukville/blog-456415.html Die Khmer sind bis jetzt das aufdringlichste Volk in Asien klar hat man in jedem von Touris hufig frequentierten Zentren viele Locals die einem ihren Scheiss andrehen wollen. Jedoch haben sich diese meistens mit einem freundlichen bdquoNo thanksldquo abwimmeln lassen. Anders so die Menschen hier in Cambodia. Da jedoch unsere NervSchwelle schon sehr sehr hoch ist machen wir hier mal kei http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-456410.html We left crummy Dalat behind wishing wersquod never bothered and headed straight for the Vietnamese coast to a town called Mui Ne. The bus journey was much like all the rest long hot the bus driver trying hard to travel at the fastest speed possible and no toilet stops. On arrival we were greeted by the bluest of sunny blue skies and tallest palm trees beautifully placed along the seas edge w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455910.html Hi againI decided to once again take the easy option and fly to Phnom Penh from Bangkok and arrived in the evening rush hour which means that the traffic is even crazier than usual After I managed to fight my way out of the airport through the throng of taxi and tuk tuk drivers I was lead to a taxi to take me to my hotel.....we drove about 100 metres to another taxi which I was transferred into. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-455766.html Well you know me. It was only a matter of time before I did something dumb. We awoke yesterday raring to go on our second day of touring Angkor. It was another perfect sunny day despite weather forecasts to the contrary. Kong met us downstairs at 9am and off we went in our little tuktuk passing finally a caravan of elephants on the road. Our first stop was Preah Khan a 12th century Bu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455708.html Step aside Great Wall. Get out of here Yangshuo. Move down the list Ha Long Bay. You've been demoted Summer Palace. We have a sight that beats them all a sight that is really too fantastic to put into words. It trumps all else we've seen in Asia and honestly it trumps most ancient sights I've seen anywhere else in the world. The fantastic thing is this sight was buried in the jungle http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455291.html Motorbikes and Camrys RuleIrsquove been wanting to comment on modes of transportation on our journey through Thailand Laos and Cambodia but never quite got to it. As we will be leaving for home in a few hours Irsquoll throw it in here. Each place wersquove travelled has its own preferred common carriers. Every country has had a vehicle called a tuktuk but the configuration has varie http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455233.html Welcome to Cambodia people Siem Reap is the town nearest to the Angkor Temples so here I am Well its pretty wild compared to the well ordered Malaysia and the touristy Thailand. Clouds of dust fill the streets small children work all hours of the days trying to shift nick nacks to the tourists drugs are offered blatantly in the street hey sir you wan cocaine and lady er can I have a la http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-455217.html I feel compelled to share the very little I know about the state of healthcare in Cambodia. I want you all to read this because You should never take for granted how good your own life is or lose sight of the inequity in the world Some of you as medical professionals may have some good thoughts or ideas about appropriate responses and Some of you might have an idea about fundraising and reso http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-455079.html Week Two So herersquos another interesting week to tell you all about and it starts with Monday 16th November where even though I set an alarm which actually worked this time when it went off I thought I pushed the snooze button but knowing my luck it was actually the lsquoexitrsquo button and I ended up sleeping in longer than I planned to. Unlike last week it wasnrsquot a mad rush http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-455015.html We made our way East from Siem Reap to Kratie this took a monotonous 12 hours by various buses all of which broke down at some point. We eventually arrived in the dark never a favourite for any traveller but were kindly greeted by a man and his tuk tuk and a sign for the guesthouse we had earmarked to head too. So off we went and ended up at YouHong Guesthouse 5 for a double ensuite not ba http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-455010.html Salut Le 14 novembre dernier on s'est elance de Kratie vers Ban lung dans un minibus local. A part les choux dans notre dos qui laissaient echapper une coulisse entre nos jambes un jeune qui ecoute sa musique sur son cellulaire sans ecouteurs un passager qui refuse de me laisser de la place et un autre qui se vide le nez de facon peu gracieuse directement sur le plancher ca s'est bien p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Banlung/blog-454985.html We finally made it to Southeast Asia. It's been a dream for a long time. We have great friends in Singapore so we stopped there first and then headed out to Cambodia. Our first stop was Phnom Penh where we stopped at the exquisite Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda and then made our way to the rather sobering Choeung Ek better known as the Killing Fields. The next day we took off for the an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-454982.html Salut a tous le 12 novembre on est parti pour Kratie un autre 7h de route. On est arrive a bon port accueillis par une meute de tuktuk qui nous offraient tous la meilleure guesthouse comme d'habitude. On a decide d'aller voir un guesthouse recommande par le restaurateur de Kampot mais etant trop cher pour nous nous avons opte pour un guesthouse suggere par un chauffeur de tuktuk. Aussit http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-454975.html DAY 19 Sorry for not posting anything for a while too much moving around. DAY 19 We travelled to Phnom Penh today it was an easy cheap and short flight with Air Asia. We arrived at the airport and have to admit it was a lot better than we had expected it was pleasant if small. Our hostel owner greeted us with a named sign and big smile. We hoped into our tuktuk and made our way through t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-454627.html After reading through a few blog entries written by other folf describing the hassle they had crossing the Cambodian border by land through Poipet we tought it would probobly be best to spend a little bit extra and fly into Phnom Penh. Doing it this way we wold reduce the risk of being scammed robbed or ripped off by some dodgy taxi driver or phony immigration officer. It was probably worth it as http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-454587.html Banteay SreiThe most popular sites at Angkor are overrun with tourists every day so we took the opportunity to go to two of the temples that lie some distance from town. The first is called Banteay Srei or ldquoCitadel of the Womenrdquo. It was built in the 10th century as a Hindu temple much like the temple we saw at Vat Phou. What makes it unique is that it was built of pink sandstone. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-454520.html Flying in from Kuala Lumpur via Air Asia we arrived at Siem Reap at 8AM minus 1 hour from Perth Singapore KL Manila time. The airport is small but very charming. As prearranged we were picked from the airport by the tour guide I booked Saron. But apparently we were also picked up by the hotel so Saron said he was surprised to see 2 placards bearing my name In the end he just s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-454037.html Are cycling days are now behind us. We arrived in Battambang this afternoon after cycling for the past three days. I know one little lady who is excited that the cycling is completed. She was complaining that 33c with 90 humidity is too much...The last couple of days have been our best from a cycling standpoint. We had the best roads today and yesterday with a wonderful tailwind set up sail http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-453471.html