My very own tomb raider adventure

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Now then guys. I appreciate i've not got very far with the blogs and i think last time i left you in Phnom Penh so i'll kick start this entry with what i did after, which was go to see the ancient temples of Angkor Waht just outside of Siem Reap. Getting there was a bit of an adventure in itself. I had read previously that the boat up to Siem Reap was possibly the safest of the two options i'd seen as available to me. The roads are fairly hazardous as we've already established so the boat was opted for instead (budget had ruled out the possibility of flying). I had also read that there was supposed to be an upper and lower deck to the boat, however on inspection the boat can better be described as an aircraft shape (without the wings obviously) domed roof, with what looks to be a roof rack stuck on top, obviously just for bags. Even the interior looked like a plane. There were two seats either side of the boat with a narrow isle separating them down the middle. I'd taken my seat nice and early (at the front) and found that, within about half an hour, all the seats on the boat had been taken. More people were still arriving so it was at this point that the deck hand had the 'genius' idea to break out the plastic seats and carefully place them in the centre isle. This now meant that anyone at the back of the boat, who wanted to go to the front to get above deck and clear their head, had no chance. Similarly, any poor bugger wanting to make a trip to the rest room which, you've guessed it, was at the back of the boat, had equally NO chance of getting there. It was at this point that it became very apparent that yet MORE people were arriving to take the trip north with us but there was now a complete lack of space in the boat. This is when the deck hand had a moment of enviable inspiration. Well if we couldn't fit people INSIDE the boat then we'll just fit them to the OUTSIDE the boat. Remember now that the roof was a domed shape which meant sitting in relative comfort or relaxation was impossible. The roof rack i told you about was now the remaining passangers only means of staying attached to the boat as we took to our journey up the river. This fact appeared not to make it to the captain or, if it did, he certainly didn't seem to care. Once we had cleared the shore and set off, the captain wound the boat up to what felt like 80 miles an hour which was to be our cruising speed for the next 3 hours. A trip to the 'top deck' revealed 2 dozen, panic striken souls grasping desperately at the rails, all with the same expression etched on their face 'Why oh why did i not pay the extra for that flight?!' I felt a pang of guilt as i sauntered back to my lower deck retreat. It soon passed.

The trip up the river was just what you'd expect to see from the movies. It was populated by 100s of long boats, the master and commanders of which all doning tradition 'lamp shade hats', fishing the river for their next meal. According to the deck hand most of the people i saw that day spend their lives on or by the river, rarely venturing further afield.

The journey from the 'ferry port' to Siem Reap was a bit of an eye opener. On the periphery of the main road all i could see were people in bamboo huts, lying about in hammocks which was clearly all they had in the world. There were even 'hotels' which were basically huge bamboo huts, with lots of hammmocks in them. It actually looked like it could be a great experiance to spend a night in one of these 'hotels' but i wasn't really there to rough it several miles away from my main focus, seeing the temples of Angkor.

That afternoon in Siem Reap i managed to get myself into a temple and even blessed by some Buddhist Monks! This is where i learnt one of the first rules of Buddhism is that your feet should NEVER point towards a buddhist. This is why many buddhists opt for the 'lotus' positin as it means you can sit cross legged whilst observing this rule. As i am the least flexible person i know it meant that the lotus was waaaaaay out of the equation so i had to kneel in front of the monks in question. The blessing was bizarre. Four men chanting a random verse, in a language i didn't understand, whilst chucking water over me. At the end i wasn't sure if i'd been blessed or had over. I was knelt there, $5 lighter, dripping with water but APPARENTLY it was a life enriching process so i'll give the monks the benefit of the doubt.

The next day was temples day and at no later than 4:30am (yes, you did read that right) i was up and in a tuk tuk on my way to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. It was an absolutely amazing experience. I can't do it any justice with words, the photos will have to suffice. One thing i will say about Angkor Wat is that the place is huge. Definately the mother-ship of all temples. The only thing it was missing was any form of intricate work. After watching tomb raider you expect all the temples to be adhorned with four headed warriors and sculptures of demons. There was very little of this. These things, however, can be seen on the other temples on the complex at Angkor. Again, i can't begin to describe just how vast the site of Angkor (not Angkor Wat, which in itself is only one temple in the complex of Angkor) really is. They do 3 day and 5 day passes to the site and i can easily see that if you were a big time temple geek that you could burn up 5 days. It's staggering.

By 3 in the afternoon i'd had enough. I was all templed out. I'd seen everything virtually everything i'd wanted to see (sadly Angelina Jolie wasn't available whilst i was there) and so headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest. That evening i went out on the town for a much needed knees up.

Siem Reap is crawling with Westerners and the town has adapted to cater for this. The main street (called 'bar street' oddly enough) is like any street scene you'd see in a tourist place in Greece or Spain, with two bars taking the mantle as most popular. One of which was called temple bar. After being sat outside of here for half an hour i had seen no less than 5 middle aged Western men, walking out with their very own local lady of the night. I had playfully joked that the place was a brothel. On walking in to get myelf a drink i'd found i'd hit the nail on the head. The place was filled with perfectly formed little dolly birds all eyeing up middle aged western men for a night of lovely long times and happy endings. I felt quite neglected when none of them approached me......

I'm afraid that following the evenings schenanigans my story is cut prematurely short. The following day i was very poorly sick indeed which i can attribute only to the ice which was served in my drink. In fact i was sick for a further 3 days and had to push back my flight out of Cambodia by a day as i was too ill to get on. Not quite the ending i'd wanted for my time in Cambodia but i guess you can't have everything.

So what did i learn about my time in Cambodia? Well i'd go with the following:

They are some of the friendliest people i've ever met. Despite not having a pot to wee in or a window to throw it out of they make time just to talk to you and engage in conversation. When they're not trying to sell you something....

Never run across a road. Despite every muscle in your body urging you to get across the road as quickly as possible in a frenzied confusion of fight or flight, you must ignore it and walk calmly. Failing to do so will significantly increased your chances of a trip to the fine medical facilites on offer.

The small children have a frighteningly good grasp of English and would give our nippers a run for their money. And that's in a country where school is only compulsory for half a day, if you're lucky enough to go to school that is.

4 people, or their equivalent weight in goods, can be packed onto a moped, not the bog standard 2 that we are accustomed to in our country.

The capital is a bit like Blackpool on a Saturday night with men taking a leak in the street at night and general run down and neglected buildings the norm.

Common sayings include 'cheap cheap, very cheap' and 'same same, only different'

That's it for this entry. Next stop is Thailand. Bangkok, full moon parties and trips to the River Kwai await! See you next time peeps.

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Photos

Long boat
View of one of the long boats taken from the harbour

Deck Hand
The man with so many brilliant ideas..

One of the locals
Cheeky local tryin to thumb a lift

Street view
View of the main road into Siem Reap

4:30 to avoid the crowds
Me stood in front of the crowds the guide book said wouldn't be there at daft o'clock in the morning

Brolly hat!
Gotta love the brolly-hat combo!

Sunrise
One without my mush spoiling the view

Health and Safety
Look at how petrified everyone on the steps looks!