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Published: March 10th 2010
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Save the Bears Project
A part-white Japanese Black Bear We had planned a one-day stopover back in Phnom Penh on the way north, but this turned into a two day idyll while we waited for Vietnam visas. The first day was spent on organisation and recuperation, so we decided to do something more adventurous the next day.
Remembering the enjoyment of a tuk-tuk ride through the countryside around Kampot, we signed up for a day-trip to a wildlife sanctuary 45km to the south. Where the Kampot countryside was lush and agrarian and picturesque however, the land we passed through was dry and dusty, clearly in need of the rains which arrive in a month. After an hour of dust blowing in our faces our tuk-tuk driver, Mr. Peter, turned down a road towards our destination. This was our first real encounter with beggars since beginning traveling; a dozen poor decrepit figures lined the short road and directed their imploring eyes at us as we tuk-tukked past. Feeling guilty, we continued to the park.
The wildlife park was an odd experience. It's attachment to an Australian charity and a Lonely Planet reference gives it an air of legitimacy which, when we first arrived, seemed misplaced. A bored gate operator
Roluos Temples
The temples that started it all - after these were built every subsequent king had to prove his awesome-ness by building ones that were bigger and better. sold us some tickets and we continued by tuk-tuk to some ad-hoc looking fenced-in areas. The usual touts and vendors were there but few visitors, and an english-speaking guide attached himself to us to take us around the park. His lack of uniform should have been an indicator, but I must have been day-dreaming as half way through the tour I was surprised when he began intoning the ritual requesting the giving of a donation for his education, and to support his family etc. The guilt-tripping piled up as he looked at us hopefully and we looked at the ground. Reasonable perhaps, but not at all up-front, and I was annoyed at not seeing it coming. Frequently we have felt like dollar signs are tattooed on our foreheads and everyone wants to bleed us for some, whether through charity or by selling us things. It is no doubt a truism that our dollars are able to achieve a lot more here with the locals than they do with us, but it is also draining constantly being forced to differentiate between those who seem legitimate and possible scams, and having to work out what is appropriate and fair.
Despite this
Phoebe and the fish massage
Though these fish look like they've eaten too many snacks and it's put them off their dinner. sour note, the park itself seemed quite good. It does some great work rescuing dancing sun-bears from their captors and other animals from poachers. The enclosures for the animals were impressively set up; I was dreading seeing animals locked in tiny steel cages with no greenery, but that was not in evidence. Phoebe was able to shake hands with a monkey and the elephants threw water at us. The sun was exhausting though and by the end Phoebe's cheeks were matching her bright pink t-shirt. Well and truly fed up with the heat and with boys harassing us to buy coconuts and bamboo for the animals, despite the 'Don't Feed the Animals' signs, we 'tipped' our guide and left, deciding to skip a recommended nearby temple and head back to the city and the respite of the guest house.
The next day we took the bus north to the town of Siem Reap and the nearby Angkor city/ temples. Alex and I had visited these incredible constructions two years ago and wanted to take Phoebe there. The cities/ temples were built 800-1000 years ago in a Khmer golden age when they were a powerful force in the region. They
Silk Farm
A side trip to a silk farm in Siem Reap proved to be very interesting are a source of national pride (Angkor Wat is on the Cambodian flag) and now also a huge source of tourist income. Siem Reap is incredibly developed with near-identical hotels lining the streets, all seemingly called some variation of 'Angkor Hotel'. I struggle to imagine that they could all be full even in peak tourist season. As a result though, plenty of good deals abound and we stayed at the same place we'd enjoyed the free breakfasts at two years ago.
We expected Phoebe would be bored of temples and tired of the heat fairly quickly so pared down the temples visit to see only the bits we thought would be most interesting to her. We started the day with the most famous monument, Angkor Wat, a moated and walled enclosure where once a million people lived, at the centre of which is an inner sanctum containing grand stone temples. We explored for a while and skipped through the bas-reliefs trying to point out interesting bits to Phoebe - huge historical or mythical battle scenes; Hindu gods; crocodiles and turtles; the Khmer vision of hell, complete with all sorts of imaginative tortures etc. After I'd finished boring Phoebe with
Ruins at Ta Prohm
Phoebe being an intrepid explorer this, we bypassed the larger but less impressive Angkor Thom and went to another temple which we hoped she'd like, Ta Prohm. The attraction of this temple is that it is little changed from how it was 150 years ago when Europeans first saw it, crumbling and covered in huge trees which crawl improbably over the great stone ruins. Phoebe loved it, leading us off down passages and around crumbling structures with great enthusiasm, imagining herself as some intrepid explorer.
Our trip was cut short however when we decided to sit down for a rest and chose a shady spot under a tree. It didn't take long to realise that in fact what we had sat under was some sort of prickle tree that dropped it's prickly things onto the rocks that we were sitting on. The very numerous prickles had firmed lodged themselves into our pants and backsides! We ambled back to the tuk tuk driver and attempted to explain the situation, to his amusement, and asked him to kindly take us back to our guest house so we could change. The trip back was uncomfortable as we all sat in positions trying to avoid the prickles doing
Bas-Reliefs at Angkor Wat
Me giving Phoebe history lessons (and Phoebe feigning some interest) further damage. Once changed and refreshed we headed out to see a pre-Angkor group of temples (which Alex and I didn't see last time). This was nice as sunset approached, while Phoebe charmed some locals and was given some little Angkor-style sculptures as a gift. The day finished with a great meal while watching a charity-organised traditional Apsara dance.
So, a good day for Phoebe exploring the temples, while Alex and I also enjoyed visiting again. The highlight of Siem Reap for Phoebe however was definitively the fish foot massage, which she insisted on going to twice. This had great novelty value, as it involves immersing your feet in water so that tiny little fish can nibble your dead skins cells off!
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christine giles
non-member comment
more of unexpected
you 3 are letting yourselves experience the spectrum of life .your memories will be special.Remember when u reminded me of the Indian trip i took @19. xxAC