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Published: March 10th 2005
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The temples of Angkor Wat have been calling Graham and he has heeded the call. He left a few days ago and has had quite an adventure getting there..his update follows below. I on the other hand, have stayed in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a few days and will be travelling with a fun group of Europeans for awhile. We go bungy jumping tomorrow, rock climbing the next day, take a trip to the small village of Pai, go on a 3 day trek, and then head to the southern islands of thailand. We hope to all meet up in Southern Thailand or Bangkok in the next week or two..along with the Principia Nepal abroad which includes my sister and confidente, jenni jane. They will be stopping in Bangkok for a few days, so we look forward to showing them around.
until our next entry,
brett
And here is Graham's copious account:
Last Sunday, I said good bye to Brett, as he and I will meet up later on in our trip. I wanted to travel through Cambodia so I left Chiang Mai on a overnight train to Bangkok. Chiang Mai was quite good to me and I really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. I wanted to travel through Cambodia so I left Chiang Mai on a overnight train to Bangkok. The train ride went quite smoothly, much more organized than the Indian trains I was on earlier in the trip. I sat across from this family from Bangkok who included me in our there conversations and then invited me to join in with them for a Northern Thai dinner on the train. What a sweet family they were and the food was excellent. I reached Bangkok train station at 6:30am the next morning well rested and fed. Upon arriving I found a travel agent office where I booked a bus to take me to Siem Reap. I was going to take the long route of tuk tuk's and pick-up trucks and a couple of busses but decided against that since it just did not seem like the best idea. The first part of the bus ride went quite well on a huge double decker bus, with great company of a german couple I made friends with. However, just shy of the border crossing from Thailand into Poipet, Cambodia is when my trip became very interesting to say the least.
I was taken off the bus along with a group of other tourists who did not already have Cambodia visa's and sent into a restaurant area on the side of the road. I thought "oh great, this is when the real journey and adventure begins." A fellow in the restaurant wanted us to buy visas from him for $10 US dollars more than the going rate and he would fix our passports with fake ones basically that would get us through. I did not want to participate in this and chatted with a few other people and we decided to take our chance at the actual border crossing. Finally we were picked up and put in the back of pick-ups and taken to the border area. I was a little nervous at the departure area of Thailand as there were many touts and shady characters all around and tugging on me and such. I recieved my departure stamp then had to get my visa, before entering Cambodia. I paid only a few dollars more than the going rate and got a legitamate visa then worked my way to the crossing. In all this process at the border took close to 3 hours. Once through the border I was taken to another terminal via motorbike and sidecar. I had made some new friends who I plan to carry the rest of the journey out with.
Next thing I knew my bag was being picked up and taken to a bus and I had to go after it, then I was on a bus with no one I knew from the border or my original group and got the last seat on the bus, of course the worst one, as it was the last for many reasons, use your imagination. In a nutshell to not let this e-mail be too big, sorry, the trip from Poipet took about 8 hours and we only had to go 150km or 90 miles, so it was slow going, dusty, dirty, dangerous, dark and every other d in the book. I had quite a good time though as I was determined not to be discouarged. Saw a truck turned over along the way of this dirt road, with bamboo everywhere, kids running through fields away from cars chasing them, broken bridges that had a couple of planks to get our bus over with the help of a blow torch in the hand of a young boy. I could go on forever of this journey, but basically it was quite the life changing experience and I glad to have made it to Siem Reap. One more thing, I was taken straight to a guest house and did not want to stay there because of the crazy corrupt way of how this whole part of the trip turned out. I fended off the 5 guys that were quite determined to have me stay at there guest house and got onto a motorcycle and went to one of the guest houses in my Lonely Planet book.
Just spent the past few days enjoying and appreciating the beautiful and sophisticated sights of Angkor Wat Temples and tombs. I will share more about Angkor Wat individually with you as there is so much to show and tell. The Mine Museum started by Aki Rai, who helps children and young adults who have been affected by the mines in the area, that are still active, was also quite informative and touching. I am headed to Phnom Phem the capital of Cambodia in 20 minutes, by bus. This route is suppose to be much better though.
I look forward to updating you again soon and sorry for the long e-mail, but it was quite the journey.
Love Graham
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Graham-I'm enjoying your and Brett's email descriptions.Keep them coming.Look forward to hearing all the details.Sabra - Sabra