Cambodia

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It's me again, with an update of my journey through Cambodia.

I have been following the snake-like Mekong river through the flat paddy fields of Cambodian countryside. My first stop was at the Ancient City of Siem Reap, home to many historical temples built in the Angkorian era, 9,000 years ago in the 12th century.

The temples are all very far apart so I was taken around by a Tuk Tuk driver to various interesting sites. My Tuk Tuk was extra special as it was like a covered carriage attached to a motorbike, with heart shaped windows and a silk cloth seat, I felt like a Prince!

The most famous of all the Temples is Angkor Wat, this is surrounded by a huge moat which is 4 miles long and 200 metres wide. The Temple is a huge brick pyramid with intricate carvings, along the corridors sit Buddha statues with incense and offerings. I was able to climb the central pyramid, I had to be careful as it had very steep and narrow steps, some of which had crumbled away due to age and weather. From the top I had an amzing view of the rest of the Temples.

One of my favourite temples was Bayon, it is made up of huge stone carved Buddha faces, each one slightly different. Walking around was quite eerie, it feels like you are being watched! Another very interesting temple was Ta Prohm, it stands in the middle of the jungle and the trees have grown inside it so that the roots drape themsleves over the bricks. It looked very familiar as it has been used for many action and adventure films such as Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones.

After leaving Siem Reap I headed to Battambang where I helped at an Orphanage for a few days. The children have been taken in here as they have lost their parents due to fatal illnesses or they just cant afford to look after them. There are about 90 children at the orphange aged up to 18 years old, and they are all expected to look after each other, like brothers and sisters. The girls and boys have seperate blocks of bedrooms, with about 4 bunk beds in each room, all without matresses and very few belongings. All children are given a school uniform and a set of books, they start school at 7 O'clock in the morning, have a break at 11 O'clock,with another afternoon session from 1 O'clock until 5 O'clock. The children at the orphanage are very lucky as people have to pay for school in Cambodia and some families can't afford to send their children. I spent a few days playing with the children, doing arts and crafts and teaching them English. I found them all very friendly and happy and was sad to say goodbye but my time in Cambodia was running out and so I packed my bags and headed towards Vietnam.

I hope you all have a fantastic Summer Holidays and have as much fun as I'm having!

Take care and be good

Stripey xx

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Comments

[Stripey]

Thankyou!
Thank you Stripy! We have loved hearing about your adventures and always get very excited when we hear from you! We hope Sarah is behaving herself and looking after you properly! See you soon. Love from, Tigers. xxx