Cambodia

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After heading out of Thailand I landed in the Siem Reap Airport in Cambodia. It was late at night and the immigration officer literally threw my passport back at me when he found out I had neither the right money, photos, nor forms. After I found some forms and paid a lot more money he allowed me to pass through. I arrived at my guesthouse, wandered through the relaxing lizards to my room where I was met by my new friend for the next few days, the spider. Some hotels leave mints on your pillow, in Cambodia they leave spiders. I immediately left the room and went down to the outdoor bar to relax my nerves and decide what to do with this spider that I think could take me down if it came to it. I decided to be logical and reason with the spider. I told him I would happily sleep on the floor as long as he didn’t come near me. In the end I took all of my clothes out of my backpack and shoved them in the crack between my bed and the wall, and slept with the lights and tv on. My first full day in Siem Reap was nothing but intense. I set off with my tuk tuk driver, a wagon/carriage deal behind a motorcycle, to Angkor Wat. I was so ready to take pictures and hike around, I had no idea what I was in for. Simply put, Cambodia is hot, end of story. I hiked through the temples and ruins for 9 hours that day, and at times literally wrung the sweat out of my shirt. At one point I sat on a rock staring at a field thinking "Or I could just stay here forever" and I wasn't thinking that because I loved it so much, I was just so tired and overwhelmed by all of the poverty and disfigured children. In one temple the kids would just appear from behind columns and whisper to you for money like little ghosts. Above all else, Angkor was everything it is said to be, amazing, beautiful, haunting, historic, the list goes on. You could easily spend weeks exploring every corner of it. Day two in Siem Reap I decided to take it easy and go to some "museums," a museum could be some old rusted blown up tanks in a field, and just explore the city. I did some shopping, which I love because people are always very happy to talk to you when you are spending money, and then I found a place called Seeing Hands. Seeing Hands is an organization that trains people with sight disabilities to give massages. Since their senses are usually heightened they give amazing massages, and are able to make money for their families. I spent two hours getting the most fantastic yet painful massage ever! I really enjoyed traveling on my own in Siem Reap, I met many people both locals and fellow travelers, and I think it really gave me time to let everything sink in. While Cambodia is officially the hottest and most intense country I have ever been to, I would love to go back and explore more of the landmine free countryside.

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