Blogs from Knar, Siem Reap, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 5

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar November 28th 2011

Hi Home, I'm now writing to you from Battenbang, Cambodia and it has to be said that we have very mixed opinions of the country so far... We flew from Laos on Friday morning to Siem Reap,Cambodia, and spent the day being ecotourists. This first started with eating at a great restaurant for brunch where 100% profits go to the children's hospital. We then went and visited the hospital and they were asking for volunteers to give blood so we enthusiastically agreed. Sadly, as I donated in England last month I couldn't do it but Jenny was allowed and we both still got the free t-shirt at the end which was highly valuable as most of our clothes were at the laundrettes! We then went and found a spa and had a massage and a facial ... read more

Angkor

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar July 12th 2011

mekong I

clashvalian

You can't compare the temples of Angkor to anything you've ever seen or will ever see. It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity that drags you into desiring that it won't be. I sincerely believe that if you go anywhere in Asia for a somewhat extended period of time, this is a destination you must put at the top of your bucket list. The people of Cambodia are INCREDIBLY interested in sharing their culture and history with tourists. Most people respond to smiles or nods and granted, I was in the two touristiest parts of Cambodia. I did hear some stories from fellow traveler’s of prostitution, but never encountered that. Got into Siem Reap and found a hotel close to the center of town. Afterwards, we rode into a hill close to Angkor Wat ... read more

New Adventures

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar June 12th 2011

Temples

MortenTastum

Here is the latest news from my travels, even if they are a few days delayed. Will work on getting more up to date while in Bangkok Airport on my way to Hong Kong. So far the vacation has been great and I have a lot of fun experiencing all these new places. Hope those of you that are still reading my scarce quantity of blogs, are enjoying it. Best Regards, Morten Day 7 First day in Hoi An, a wonderful small village outside of Danang. The first thing we went to do was a visit to the tailorshop Yaly in the old quarter. Here I picked out fabric for a suit I wanted and fabric for a shirt, before I was measured. Having checked this off my to-do-list, we walked around town and saw some ... read more

Buckets, Trains and Boarder Scamming

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar May 15th 2011

Koh San Party

thompch

I've finally made it to Siem Reap but it has been difficult. I missed the 05:55 out of Bangkok on two occasions due to bumping into some great people and getting a little carried away in the bars. However, on Sunday I managed to make the train and was sat ready to go at 05:20 at Bangkok's main train station. I was a little apprehensive about making the journey via this route as it is clearly blogged about the scamming that goes on at the boarder I was heading to, not only that by taking the train instead of the bus you are required to make couple of shared taxi rides. By 05:45 I was the only backpacker insight and I was getting a little nervous!!. But in true backpacker style 05:53 my savior arrived in ... read more

Dear Angelina Jolie...

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar March 13th 2011

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Keontor

Dear Angelina: I hate to admit it but I was doing a bit of celebrity bashing and made a joke about your adoption(s) with a fellow traveller. But now, after having spent nearly a week in Cambodia, I GET IT. This is a lovely country and the people here are capable of both warming and tearing my heart apart. They are the gentlest people I have ever met. They have beautiful smiles, are very thankful when you give something and bow their heads so pitifully after you have done a "service" for them. At times, the begging is overwhelming and even annoying. It is almost as if the children have adopted a specific soft whimper sound when they are asking you to buy their pathetic trinkets as you try to run on and off of the ... read more

To Angkor Wat and beyond

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar January 16th 2011

Trash Dam

BrokenBradley

Siem Reap The road to Siem Reap was worth the trip in and of itself. A constantly blending and weaving of cars from one side of the road to the other with nary a painted line to direct drivers for the entirety of the recently paved main national highway of Cambodia. After the first few hairy minutes, I just accepted that I was in the car and there was very little I could do to control what was happening so I just relaxed. Despite the fact that there was minimal leg room, and the people in front of us had the seat before the stairway down to the bathroom (and thus tons of leg room themselves) they felt the need to recline their seats all the way. This made the ride extremely uncomfortable, particularly for ... read more

Siem Reap - Angkor watch

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar September 9th 2010

Angkor Wat

BullyandSpence

Thursday, 9th September Yesterday we signed ourselves up to the chauffeured company of Lucky, the guy who brought us to town from the bus station. It's the way to do it here - hire these guys for a few quid a day and they will take you wherever you wanna go. And then they will try and persuade you to go somewhere much further away for more quids. We haven't the time nor the inclination. Anyway imagine our surprise when leaving the hotel and a man who looks like Lucky but isn't Lucky (ooh racist) is standing over a tuk-tuk. Is Lucky just a pimp? Will this guy try and blow us? He certainly doesn't have the little fellow's charm. We took the tuk-tuk to the Angkor park or site or whatever it calls itself. Via ... read more

Siem Reap (or, nearly having more encounters with cambodian medics)

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar July 17th 2010

jessandhan

Well, we have made it to our last stop! We arrived in Siem Reap on thursday and went to see the temples at Angkor the following day. We had a lovely morning, despite the sweltering heat climbing over things we were probably not supposed to climbing on and pretending we were in tomb raider. However, when we were actually behaving sensibly, we were walking along the side of a temple and Hannah was looking at her feet to make sure she didnt lose her footing when she banged her head on a low arch (and it must of been very low for it to catch such a small persons head!). All Jess heard from behind her was a scrambling noise when she turned round to see Hannah falling off the edge of the temple. Cue a ... read more

Meeting friends, departing Thailand, and Hello Cambodia!

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar April 12th 2010

Fay having fun?!!

FayChrisbie

Goodbye wonderful Chiang Mai We really loved Chiang Mai. Despite being the hinterland of the working class red shirts who have taken over Bangkok, we have found the people to be extremely friendly, far more relaxed and much more fun than their Southern counterparts. We won't forget the friendly hospitality of A, our cooking school host, or the smiling faces along the river during our rafting tour. We really wish we had more time for the place but after seven nights in Thailand's relaxed second city its time to head south, and on towards Cambodia. Not before one last activity in Chiang Mai though. We venture 40 miles north of the city to the forest, where we spend 2 hours swinging through the trees at Jungle Flight. Its all good fun, and very entertaining, even ... read more

Our friend on our 3rd class train To Cha'am!

"Change the Y to I and add ED." Remember that one?

Asia » Cambodia » North » Siem Reap » Knar February 23rd 2010

Knar students

jessw

I will say that you don't even begin to fully understand how ridiculous English can be until you try to teach and explain why we have so many rules and why so many exceptions to those rules. I learned that rule - change the Y to I and add ED - early on in my education, but I don't ever recall asking why we do it that way. The secondary school students we teach in the evening want to know WHY. And what can we say? "English is strange. You just have to remember." When they grasp the formula, then you have to explain why it's not always true. Study becomes studied, worry becomes worried. Then they expect play become plaied and you have to explain the difference. And fly becomes flew??? Come on...get outta ... read more

Testing their listening skills. We say a sentence, they have to spell it out.

Brief history of Cambodia

Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, whose Angkor Empire extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Subsequently, attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the ...more history

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