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Published: April 1st 2007
A house in the country side
One of typical shacks that you see driving throught he country side So after a week in Bangkok it was time to take a detour to Cambodia for about a week. Rob and Stuart 2 English guys i met at the guest house came along for the journey....and a journey it was. A four hour bus ride from Bangkok took us to the border of Cambodia where we were instantly greeted by tons of little kids and toddlers- the typical third world child you see on the television commercials. A hard thing to be greeted with as you enter a country. The heat and humidity in Camobodia was even more intense than Thailand- which I didn't think was possible. We got a taxi and took off for Siem Riep- another 3-4 hour journey, over a road that can barely be called a road. A dirt path with pot holes up to 5 feet wide- an extremely bumpy ride. I had also been amazed in Bangkok of the driving techniques of the locals, but Cambodia was in its own league. Scared for my life at times we raced past cars, mules and carriages, families (4 up to 5 people) on motor bikes, past them onto oncoming traffic with a slight swerve just in
Anchor Wat
from a distance... time to miss the car coming head on- it was a....ride.
Passing through a lot of the country side we were first exposed to the poorer part of the country. Reminded me a lot of what I had seen in Ecuador when I went for a service trip with school to the poverty stricken areas. Families living in little shacks, made from bamboo or any other wood, to metal sheets and just any trash they seemed to find for shelter. Extremely basic huts with basically just one room and not much in it. An extremely poor country- one of the poorest I have been exposed to. I was surprised though at how well most people I encountered spoke english. The little kids would ask you where you were from and could tell you the capital of the country and some other odd facts...in an attempt to lure you to buy whatever it was that they were selling. Tourism being, I imagine, the biggest source of money for the country, we were CONSTANTLY being come up to by extremely persistent children who were trying to sell postcards, braclets, fans, anything. A lot of beggers as well, men and women missing
Anchor Wat
Rob and Stuart tackling the stairs....they are a lot steeper and broken away then they appear in the picture limbs or eyes or just deformed in some way....hard to see, thankful to be exposed to though for it created a greater sense of appreciation for my life and health. At times though some of the kids would get nasty if you didn't give them anything- which was bound to happen because we were probably approached about 50-100 times a day- I may be exaggerating, but not by much- it felt like that magnititude anyways. Cambodia is like going back in time...people do what they can to survive- live really simply and take life easy. I actually loved the country and the people- I think we moved through it a little quick and packed so much in, in addition to the heat it was a very tiring trip.
So we arrived in Siem Riep where we explored Anchor Wat and a few of the other hundreds of surrounding temples....a lost civilization. Anchor Wat is the most well known and well preserved of the temples but many of the others had a lot of stunning features and interesting touches (one of them was used in one of the Tomb Raiders i guess....). Anchor Wat was built in the early 12th
Anchor Wat
Inside the main temple century, dedicated to Vishnu, but also has Hindu and Buddhist influences. Almost every inch of stone is decorated with gods and stories of the Cambodian people, Buddha and Vishnu statues among others decorate the temples- and extremely empressive accomplishment for men to have built, especially back in the 12th century. The main part of Anchor Wat requires you to climb up these extremely steep stairs (that were put together in the 12th century mind you) probably going up....50 feet? I made it half way up the stairs and began to remember my new increasingly growing fear of heights. Starting to shake a little as my heart beat increased I almost started freaking out (not that I really would have) but then looking at all the kids at top, and the baby that was thrown over the shoulder of the woman in front of me climbing I decided I better push through the climb...I seriously don't know how some of the little kids got to the top though. The way down was also interesting.... We started our day at 6:00 am in an attempt to escape some of the crowds and the heat of the day- but both caught up with
Anchor Wat
One of the 5 MASSIVE points of Anchor Wat us, and after a few hours and a lot of sweating we decided to retire back to our guest house and take it easy.
We had a tok tok driver named Ty (pronounced Ti) who was our guide, driver, friend for our 3 day stay in Siem Riep. An extremely friendly up beat guy who spoke english very well. He took us out to a local Camobidan BBQ restaurant one night and out to another bar- it was nice to have someone show us more of the real life of Cambodia.
The next day we woke up at 4:30 am (can you believe I got up that early!) to catch the sunrise at a floating village/market. A huge lake outside of Siem Riep is inhabitated by people who live on boat houses. It was awesome to get such an early start because we were the only tourists (although i prefer the word traveler) on the lake, and we had a boat all to ourselves. The children loving to say 'hello' with huge smiles and big waves and the adults going about their morning routines with a slight glance our way...I'm sure it gets tiring having people come in
Anchor Wat
some of the carvings that took up almost every inch of the temple and out of your front yard all day- every day. But it was like something I've never seen before- people, a whole community just living on the water. Beautiful to see at sunrise as well.
So we got back and hopped on a bus to our next destination in Cambodia, Phnom Penh the capital city of Cambodia. A 5 hour bus ride which turned into...oh I don't know 8-9 hours...our bus broke down 3 times, and each time we all got out in the blazing heat in the country side where all the people who lived in the surrounding area came to check us out- probably the most eventful thing of their day. Although the constant breaking down was a little tiresome, I actually was grateful for it, for it gave us the chance to spend some time in the country side. I went for a few walks down the road- which the kids just thought was hilarous and was able to see more of how people lived, which we normally wouldnt have had the chance to see, except through the bus window. A little duct tape for the engine or I think it was the fuel valve that
The Faces Temple
Another temple near Anchor Wat where there are tons of carvings of this face- half buddha and half one of the kings at the time...all smiling down on you kept falling off- and we were off again.
Ty had a a friend who he called to be our tok tok driver for our stay in Phnom Penh, Pissenth- another really sweet, good guy who spoke great english and took us around to some of the more local Cambodian hang out places. It was nice to have someone there waiting for us at the bus station after the ride we had- he waited the 3-4 hours there for us to arrive.
The next day we took off for the killing fields. The communist government of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge party was responsible for the death of 2 million Cambodians- a genocide that I had known nothing about, and that the US did nothing about which lasted for about 4 years ending in 1979- fairly recent. The killing fields were the place where Camobidans were taken to be executed, slaughtered, beaten- all the worst imaginable. Huge holes in the ground are remaining which were once filled with dead bodies...scraps of clothing still remain on the ground you walk on. In the center a case of some of the victims skulls are present, an eery and powerful thing
The Faces Temple
more smiling faces to observe. It was a sobering experience walking through the killing fields and learning about the brutality and inhumane treatment inflicted on innocent people, women and children included.
In a wierd form of irony, after the killing fields Pisseth took us to a firing range....a little shack where you could fire an AK 47 to a rocket launcher if you wanted to blow $200. The boys decided to give the AKs a try, I passed on that...but I did however get lured into throwing a grenade! Hahaha- oh man....i am now a woman who has thrown a grenade...my nervous giggling was at its fullest with that experience...a true rush of adrenaline- you dont want to let go of that thing at the wrong moment. Sitting there afterwards with some of the guys who hung around there- getting a little irie and having 2 police officers walk in and take a go with some of the guns....hmmmmm a little strange.
After our warfare play we went to Tuol Sleng a high school that was converted into Pol Pot's prison during his riegn of terror. More than 14,000 people were tortured there before being killed at the Killing Fields; only
A stolen shot...
just for a little laugh....is that mean? i think it's so funny for some reason... 8 prisoners made it out alive. The jail has been turned into a museum where you can walk in and out of the jail cells and torture rooms and see some of the tools used for torture along with pictures of the vicitms. Visiting this musuem really brought me more in touch with Cambodia's horrific past- and again brought on a weird feeling standing in a room where you knew people were tortured and killed in the most inhumane ways...some of the rooms with blood still on the walls...not too much else to say about all of that....
Our last stop of the day was the National Musuem where there is a collection of art of Camobian's 'golden age' of Angkor. Statues of buddhas and other gods all around- some dating back to the 4th century- really interesting to see such beautiful pieces of carvings and art from so long ago. We finished the musuem a half hour early and had to wait for Pisseth to pick us up. We must have been standing in the begging todderl hangout, where they would take turns carrying around, I'm pretty sure a premature baby, asking for money- and these kids are
some of the little kids
hanging outside of the temples pretty relentless. And after you give some money to some of them they just don't stop- we were seriously harrassed non stop, and it ends up pushing on your patience a little, which makes you feel guilty for having these negative thoughts to these children who are living in poverty. At one point I thought it would be a good idea to go buy a bag of candy and hand that out instead of money...and boy did that turn out to be a mistake. After I gave the first kid a candy the other hundreds (not really hundreds but a lot of little kids) came running up and it was like a free for all...I couldn't believe the greediness and agressiveness of these kids- pushing over little naked toddlers to get their second piece of candy...I was surrounded and didn't really know what to do...trying to tell them to stop and line up- ha- yeah right...finally a Cambodian woman walked by and I gave her the bag of candy- she grabbed it out of my hand gave me a dirty look then the kids a dirty look, stuffed the candy in her pocket and walked away- those little kids got
The Tomb Raider temple
i think this monk was posing for people...everyone was taking pictures and he walked up and just kind of stood there looking at us...a nice shot, eh? what they deserved I thought- no candy. So lesson learned- don't buy candy to give out to little kid beggers.
That night we went out with Pisseth, and I entered into a pool contest where I actually won a game!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it- it was one of the best moments of my time in SE Asia so far- ha! It was kind of a sleezy bar where old white men went to be flattered and swarmed over by Thai prostitutes- many of which I've learned are actually men- which I can not tell at all. (side story...so the lady boys are a well known thing about Thailand and one night when we were out I was talking to this guy for awhile who ended up asking me very innocently if I was a man or a woman!!!! HAHAHAHA- he was dead serious as well- and when I started laughing I think he got even more confused of which gender I really was...I couldn't believe it- I mean I know I'm a big strong girl and don't act or talk like a lady a lot.....by geez- that was definetly a funny highlight- asshole!) But back to Phnom Penh....so the
A night out with Ty
in the Cambodian BBQ restaurant night of the pool tournament I actually made friends with some of the prostitutes, who were actually really cool, kick ass girls. It was cool to hang out with them and get to know them, knowing they weren't trying to use me for anything- although I did have a little of a guard up- but these were the kind of girls I would totally hang out with at home- cracking jokes and being a little rough on the edges- I had so much fun with them. They each had a guy that was arms length away that they were giving a touch to or a little attention to once in awhile, but afterwards gave a quick roll of the eyes or other taunting gestures behind their backs...and basically the girls just hung out with each other. Makes me feel sick about the whole sex industry in this part of the world...they are just so poor that these girls feel like they don't have a choice but to sell their bodies for sex....I just think it is one of the worst things that a woman could lower herself to- not judgement on the girls, beacuse it is what they are brought
up with and for some of them they have just expected to go into the industry- i'm assuming- but to have such a beautiful thing such as making love being stripped from you, for some cash....I just think it's so sad...and gross!
Our last stop in Camobodia was down in Scenicville (not the right spelling, but i forget how to spell it...) a little beach town- and it was sooooooo nice to relax at the beach for a day after our busy Cambodia schedule. We got to relax a little bit- but mainly got harrased by the little kids again- but actually hung out with some of them this time. An older woman waxed my legs- well not waxed, but ripped my hair out with a piece of string, a long and slightly painful process...but in the mean time some of the littlier girls would come and hang out and sit on my chair- I bought a few things from them, and it was actually really cool being able to hang out with them- and all of them spoke great english....although one of the girls turned on me later in the day when I bought fruit from her friend
and not her- she called me a fat bitch....little brat! So one 10 hour day by the beach, and then we were off the next morning to catch a bus back to Bangkok- the worst traveling day by far.
A 15 hour day in the end...we took a road that was in the process of being built- so at one point we went through a mountainside that was literally still being carved out- there were 4 bays that we had to cross, but unfortunately the bridges hadn't been completed yet, so each time we had to get out, wait about an hour, load the car on a boat and take it across to the other side- sweating the whole way mind you- it was like over 100 degrees plus unmaginable humidty- blah. And then just a long trip back to Bangkok to our eden in the Asha guest house where we had stayed before. So it was quite the trip to Cambodia- a lot packed into 7 days, with 4 solid hardcore days of traveling...but i just loved the people and the countryside and everything else we saw. Even though the roads were a pain in the ass, I'm
thankful to have had the chance to see the country before they are completed- because I think after the infastructure starts to improve in these countries they are going to see massive changes, and it won't be the same- maybe for the better or maybe for the worse- but different no doubt.
This morning I caught a flight to Phuket, an island off the west coast of Thailand where Kevin Clark, a friend from Villanova University is flying in tonight with a co-worker. He's on a business trip and has 4 days off- so I'm really looking forward to seeing a friend on this side of the world. A very touristy town though where it has the vibe of spring break...so I'm not sure how much I'll fall in love with the island, but I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun!
So until next time my friends! Hope everyone is doing well, happy and healthy- and would love to hear some more personal emails from you all about what's going on in your lives.
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ellen
non-member comment
well described
I've been here, and what you wrote are true, only I don't have the talent to write everything I observed. I miss the place and the people I've been with. I worked here three years. By the way, I am from the Philippines.