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Published: June 15th 2008
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The end of the trip went really well. More than anything, i LOVED Camdodia. I would recommend everyone to go there as soon as possible. A little background onthe country before I start (I didn't know a lot of this stuff either)....From 1968-1998 Cambodia has been involved in a civil war. A group called that Khmer Rouge (bad communist people) who was often helped by the US (Cambodia is close to Vietnam and this waqs during the Vietnam War....we bombed the borders and such to try to stop the Vietcong and destroy bases)....so the Khmer Rouge violently took over, forced people out of the cities, killed all of the educated and basically forced everyoen to become peasants so the government could more easily control them. Many peopel starved to death or were brutally murdered, fmailies were separated, etc. etc. So in 1998 the war ended. Cambodia has a king, but its like England and they also have a prime minister who also rules (I think). Bascially after 30 years of civil war, there is little left of the country, so in the apst 10 years they have been working to build things back up, but it is a very slow process
angkor wat
simply amazing. since the country is so poor and many people are uneducated and only trained to be farmers. Needless to say, they love tourists since we bringi n money. The more peopel that visit the country, the faster they can rebuild.
Ok, so we cross the border literally by walking across...after paying doublle fo rour viasa and getting ripped off by some thai guy at the border. assholes. there are bajillions of ksinny little kids everywehre that follow you aroujdna tug on your clothes and say please lady pelase lady and ask for money. usually i am not a fan of kids, but quickly ofund myself throwing out money like i was effing vbill gates (hence...i returned home with $33 in my bank account. whoops). so we get across the border and meet our guide, nicknamed sky, who dresses like a cowboy. yessss. we get on a smaller "coach" bus and ride for 3 hours on the bumpiest road i have been on. like crzy. i was laying on the back street trying to sleep and found myselfflipped onto the floor liek 80 times. driving to siem riep, we passed many very poor areas where people live in shacks
and have bug traps set up to catch food. the craziest thing is these are like the happiest damn pepole i have ever seen in my life. Every person smsiles. when we shopped, no one harasses you like in thailand, they ask polietly and drop the price without oyu having to barter. they are so greatfiul when you do buy something. the people in cambodia all speak english fairly well, unlike thailand, especially the kids which is the cutest thing ever.
so we meet our guide and he starts telling su the history of the country, what we knew litlte about, then tells us he had 6 people die in the war. i was thikning like second cousins, a neighbor, etc. nope a close friend, a sister, 3 brothers and his father. and he says all of this with a smile. then he tells us he was up late the night ebfore because his friedn was driving drunk and went into a river and died. all witha smile on his face. death doesnt even faze these people bebause they have seen so much of it in their life. i cant even imagine talking so freely about the death of
one of my siblings or my best friend. it was really eye opening.
we checked into our hotel (mind you, this whole trip "all inclusive", 3 days $180) and it is goooorrgeous. we deciede to go for the cheapest option when speaking iwth the travel agent because we are all broke, and were expecting a place with cots on and no air conditioning. wrong. this place was legit, complete with beautiful hardwood floors and an infinity pool. robes in the room. the works.wtf. and the most it wouldve been for 2 people in the room aws like $35 a night. jack. pot. this is wehre my love affari with cambodia began. we wenty to amrket across teh street and everything was ridic cheap that i alnmost felt buying buying it for so little (dont feel bad anymore because one ofhte girls elft my bad in a cab and now i have nothing from cambodia. fuck that...goodbye souveniers). the next day we visited 3 temples (im going to spell these wrong) angkor wat, angkor tom and tamprom (definitely wrong). they were amazing. they filmed tomb raider at one of them. i was pissed because i ekept trying to take
pictures and just couldnt capture how freaking amazing these palces were. another note...the kids ehre are nuts. they easily followed me 100 yds walking form the exit to our bus, where i caved in to buying like 37 bracelets, a cowbell and a flute. dont ask....all of my cambodian things...i made it home with the goddamn cowbell. WHAT am i supposed to do witha cowbell. the little boy was precious. needless to say, my mind has been changed, i want children...only if i can adopt like from cambodia a la angelina jolie...but seriously. im not kidding.
the rest of the trip went well. we woke up wednesday morning, took an 8 hour bus ride to bangkok, 6 hr plane ride to seoul, south korea, 14 hour plane ride from seoul to atlanta, 4 hour layover, 1.5 hr plane ride form atlanta to indy then drove home from indy. all in all 52 hours of traveling. my body is confused, but i somewhat feel already adjusted to the time thanks to delish thai sleeping pills. in thailand oyu can walkinto a pharmacy, tell the pharmacist whats wrong and they give your prescirption drugs, not prescriptiont...so i got some sweet sleeping
pills for like $3 and slept for 14 hours straight. ballin. and THAT my friends, is the end of ym asian adventure. fear not---i am already planning a trip to costa rica, so more stories will follow. love you all. thanks fo r listening.
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