C.A.M.B.O.D.I.A

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I want to say that I LOVE CAMBODIA and I'm really upset that I didn't have the opportunity to stay there longer. I live in the neighborhood, so a trip back is a must.
Traveling to the Thailand/ Cambodia border was a trip. On the Thai side, there are mean-faced serious military men holding AK-47's and the process to exit the country was fairly orderly and uncomplicated. However, by the time you cross to the Cambodian side, anarchy awaits. There are children everywhere trying to hustle you and make a quick buck and all these men waiting in front of immigration office persistently insisting that you need their help. They want to fill out your paperwork for you and take you to a hotel, but claim there is no charge for their service. Unlike Thailand, there was a visa fee of 1200 baht (roughly $40) to enter into Cambodia. and in addition to the Cambodian Riel, you can also use Thai Baht and US dollars as currency there. Everyone wants USD because they end up nickel and dimeing you by rounding up prices.
At first, I have to admit my initial reaction to Cambodia wasn't really pleasant. The people are definitely far poorer than their Thai neighbors and there is an edge to their personality that could be viewed as intimidating. The taxi driver/hustlin' men were overly aggressive and persistent but finally we chose a guy to take us into Koh Kong to find a hotel. We shared a car with two German men who refused to pay the toll tax into town, this altercation led the taxi driver to violently back up while screaming at the top of his lungs at all of us. For a moment, I actually freaked out because though he had the right to be angry, his reaction was waaaay overboard. So needless to say, his aggression had those dudes taking out their wallets in no time.

We ended up finding a very cheap basic place to stay. ($1 a night) The toilets in Cambodia do not flush and every bathroom is equipped with a bucket and water, so flushing is done manually, so that was uh..interesting and take note that if you are still suffering from travelers diarrhea, you WILL use a lot of water!, so I suppose it can be bit wasteful.

The food in Cambodia is pretty similar to Thailand but less touched by fire and far more spicy. They have a fairly raw diet there which is such a nice alternative to the overly cooked and oily food in China. I ate a lot of cockles (small seashell things that are incredibly difficult to open, but definitely worth the effort), which I think was the first time I'd ever had them in my life. Also had some of the best salads there with amazing assortment of green vegetables, some I'd never seen before. It was so refreshing (not to my digestive tract I should add) to have such fresh variety of foods to eat, and Cambodian people are definitely a testament to their good eating.
Cambodians are some of the most attractive people I have ever seen. Their skins are tanned and sunkissed and they have amazing teeth and smiles. The children were the best! They were so cute and friendly, always smiling and waving and asking you questions in their immaculate English. While there I was thinking how interesting it is that these poor Cambodian children 6-9 years old speak far better English than most of my university students.

Well, a few hours into arriving, we decided to hire a tuk-tuk driver to take us to the Mangrove that was about 15 minutes out the city. The ride there was stunning and revealing to the life there. Most roads outside cities are not paved, and the people live in their homemade abodes, which in western standards would be abject poverty, but somehow, without the reminders of skyscrapers or luxury vehicles, you really start to realize that living a life like this is not at all unsustainable, and perhaps, better for you. That is in no way to say that I, myself am willing to give up any luxuries I have.
But anyway, we take this tour around this unimpressive mangrove, then on a boat back to the tuk tuk, I remember taking out my wallet to pay the boy that took us back to the boat, but that is the last memory I have from ever seeing my wallet again. Going back to the tuk-tuk I was approached by these Cambodian men that were hustlin' me to get me to eat at their restaurant, or take me to a hotel to stay, or buy something at their store..etc. I remember them being a little too close for comfort and it was getting dark so I was in a rush to get back to the tuk-tuk to go back into town. Upon arrival, I discovered that my wallet had been abducted! That..sucked.. I lost around 2000 yuan which is roughly $300 but a little less than about half of my monthly salary, so it was quite a blow to me financially. So in the future I will learn to increase my awareness in a foreign country when strange men are invading your personal space and potentially stealing my wallet (also my purse zipper was broken) I did however have my passport, so it definitely could have been worse. But thank God for Shelly, she could help me out until I got a hold of my cash.
So the plan was to go visit Phenom Phen, the capital and go to the death camps of the Khmer Rouge and see and experience a little history, but my wallet getting jacked put a dent on those plans, since I didn't want to be too far away from our departing flight to Bangkok in the 3 days we had left to travel Cambodia.
As usual Moms came to the rescue just in time for me to purchase a bus ticket back to Bangkok to leave so all went well. Thank God!

Aside from that debacle, we took a nature drive to this waterfall, which was pretty stunning. We met this guy Vilak who was clearly some kind of labor mob leader. If you wanted to do anything or go anywhere he could find someone to take you. So he hired these 2 young men on a motorbike to take us to this waterfall, the ride there and back was beautiful, almost too gorgeous for words and its nice to have moments where you can actually see the majesty of the worlds creation.
So, the path to get to the waterfall was just stones, so at first I was thinking we had to get off of the motorbikes to walk there. But we were told that it was too far to walk, so we had to take the motorbike...keep in mind these are not top of the line, new motorcycles that are capable of handling..ahem..bigger sized Americans. So I was a little afraid and skeptical, and the ride to the falls went by without much incident, other than me reaching down to pick a stone out of the way and getting my thumb a seventh degree burn on the exhaust pipe.
We got to play in the waterfall for about an hour and I ended up scrapping ALL the skin off my feet, which was actually kinda painful. Then. on the way back from the falls on the same rocky path, The motorbike I was riding on just fell over and I rolled off of it into the mud.... I wasn't so much injured than embarrassed at my skirt riding over my head. The driver had chaffed his shin pretty bad and it was bleeding but he felt sooo bad and just kept apologizing to me over and over again. I knew something like that was gonna happen, because I had that omen when looking at the rocky road. Then further up the rocky road both my driver and Shelly's driver decide to pull over and insist I get in this small creek to wash the mud off of me, which I was more than willing to do because mud was caked everywhere! so I get in this creek and these two dudes are just throwing water all over me. Shelly thought it was picturesque funny, but really, you guys just threw me in mud, at least give me the dignity to wash the mud off myself.
But despite all the physical trauma, the sights were almost worth the injuries.

So our last day in Cambodia, we needed to buy bus tickets to get back to Bangkok. The previous night we met up with one of the other labor mafia guys who told us he would get us some tickets in the morning and that the bus left for Bangkok by 10:00am. So, ok cool, see you tomorrow..right? So the very next morning he doesn't show and its past 9:30, and we definitely need to get back to Bangkok because we have a flight to catch in 14 hours, and its about 6-7 hours away. So Shelly goes to ask Vilak, the other labor mafia guy who can get things done, and asks him about the bus tickets, so he takes her and hours later, I began to worry...where the hell is Shelly?? In the meantime,The guy from last night finally shows up around 11:00 saying the bus will leave at 3:00 so we have plenty of time and if I still want to buy the tickets, so I told him that Shelly went to buy tickets, and he asked me who she went with and when I told him, he gets up and says he has to go find them! So, I'm kinda freaking out at this point, thinking the worst. He finally returns about half hour later and I'm asking him if he has found them? and what is the actual problem here? and he starts telling me that guy is no good and how he is gonna rob her.
Oh my god..where is Shelly??? So around 1:00 this Vilak guy returns..with no Shelly. I see him from the balcony and start yelling at him and asking him why Shelly is not with him? He says Shelly bought bus tickets and is waiting for me at this restaurant and that I need to go with him.. so needless to say, I couldn't do that automatically. After getting confirmation of Shelly's whereabouts from the receptionist, I reluctantly went to find her sitting in this cabana drinking a coconut. Apparently, she and Vilak went on an impromptu tour while I was replaying terrible events in my head.

So, all in all, despite all the mishaps, I actually love Cambodia. There is an edge of life there that forces you to be on your toes, and its not for the meek or the weak. Like I would say, living in the U.S is like playing monopoly, because its all about making money or finding your way to jail. I'd say Cambodia is like thumb war. enough said.
P.S- I apologize for few little pictures to back up my claim to Cambodian beauty, however, my camera was having some file error issues so I'm missing tons of photos.

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Photos

sun setting around the mangrove
As you can see it's already getting a little late.

magrove
apparently, due to the season..it was unimpressive

boat boy
boy that took us back and last time I remember seeing my wallet.

funny sign
a funny sign I saw

rocky road
This is what I mean by the rocky road.

dangerous pits
a few dangerous pits lurked in the waterfall area..and I got snagged a few times and eliminated all the dermis tissue off my feet.

Comments

[umm Latifa]

via fee
Salaams As usual your adventures were astounding. To charge $40 for a visa is astounding. They must make a lot of money in their economy with this. BUt I gues with an economically deprived country, tourism has to pay the bills and provide jobs for the people. I definitely think that if your um was in another life, the cambodian fire dancer you posed with would be in the running for my affection. He was gorgeous, quite beautiful people. Their level of English surprises me, Tell Shelly that when you guys are travelling together, be mindful of keeping each other in contact with your endeavors Love Umm

[Lia]

omg
Wow!! Those are some scary adventurous experiences, and so different from mine in Cambodia. I'm glad that you and Shelly are both safe, and that you have written this posting with still such a positive edge. I miss you Latifa!!

[Paul]

C.A.M.B.O.D.I.A
There was a sign posted saying the visa fee is $20 USD. However, the thieving Cambodian immigrant officers always ask travelers to pay 25 USD. Most people have to pay 25 USD to avoid waiting forever. I still really don't know why you ended up paying 40 USD, way too much! Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I think, you are a really positive person. That's good though. Paul

[t w]

your new neighbor
hey girl, I want to give you some stuff for your new home in Nanchang. -Lydia

[Tifa]

Hey
Have you decided to stay with the school? I will be officially moved in by the end of August. I'm going to Suzhou for the summer to work. Do you have any travel plans this summer?