cambodia

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frustratingly, i made a long blog entry, only to have it deleted as i was posting it. this is a second and shorter attempt.

overland travel from thailand to cambodia is as bad as they say. on the thailand side, the roads are paved, the van is cool, and it is generally a pretty safe feeling. once at the border, however, much like the thai/burma border, it was generally much poorer. children held umbrellas over people's heads and then asked for money. pickpocketing children swarmed around extra bags.

we had paid a bit extra to get our visa taken care of quickly. scam number one. although we were assured we would breeze through the border, complete with our proud little "P.K." stickers on our shirts, we ended up in the slowest line, waiting a long time for a taxi which then deposited us at a somewhat abandoned bus station where we waited another two hours with only 2 other "P.K." travellers.

our bus arrived, windows pried open and the arms of foriegners hanging out, all seeking the relative cool of the scorching sun, away from the stuffy interior of the bus. the only available seats were along the back, in the middle, with all the backpacks behind us, threatening to crush our skulls at every bump.

and speaking of bumps, the cambodian roads appeared to be every bit as bad as people claim. largely unpaved, full of potholes, and when there was water that hadn't drained, mud threatened to claim the weaker vehicles.

we shared this road with massive trucks, small cars, mopeds, rickshaws, wagons, pedestrians, and cattle. our bus driver made it known that he was much faster and more intent on driving with a mission than anyone else on the street, by spending most of the 7 1/2 hour ride to siem reap leaning on his horn.

that night we arrived in siem reap, and joined two other guys in a tuk-tuk to a guesthouse.

the next morning we slept in, then got up and rented bicycles. it was pretty awesome. we rode around to places we could never have seen in a tuk-tuk or on foot. people in houses, walking on dirt roads, fields of water buffalo, etc.

that late afternoon we went to angkor wat, just at sunset, hoping for some good photography. even though it was speckled with tourists, it was really beautiful. we sat outside the east entrance and watched the sun set with a very tame monkey (so tame that he was laying on his back, resting against my leg) and our tuk-tuk driver.

the next morning before sunrise, our same tuk-tuk driver (named sna) took us to a floating market. on the boat, we travelled up and down a river and witnessed people selling their produce and such in their boats. there is an entire community of people who live, work, got to school, and play on or above this murky river. crocodiles also live in this river, as proven by the numerous crocodile traps.

the same morning, we went back to angkor wat to get more pictures. there are actually several temples, and really too much to see in a few days. it was really interesting that one section of angkor wat could be hindu and the next section buddhist, and this somehow wasn't a problem. statues of shiva were followed by statues of buddha.

at noon we caught a bus to phnom penh. the roads were actually paved, though it was incredibly warm. weak A/C and windows didnt open on the bus. this time, instead of mostly travellers, were were some of the only non-cambodians on this bus. we arrived in phnom pen, stayed there just for the night, and this morning got on another bus to sihanoukville, which is on the coast. we are currently staying just meters from the beach. it is a nice beach, though children walk up and down and ceaselessly ask you to buy their bracelets or fruit. their spoken english is remarkably better than many koreans, though they can't read or write.

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Photos

child in siem reap
this child was just up the road from our guest house.

angkor wat
with reflection!

angkor wat
with monks

floating market in siem reap
this was our boat. we were the only 2 foreigners we saw on that river.