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Published: August 7th 2007
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After already completeing a Visa run in June we already knew what to expect from the trip to the Cambodian border from Bangkok; what we didn't know was what awaited us the other side of the border. We knew from other travellers that the roads in Cambodia were not exactly of M11 standards but this was even worse than expected. Five hours of travelling in a cramped sweaty minibus on roads that wouldn't of looked out of place after an American airstrike. Averaging a top speed of 15km/h this was one journey we don't wish to repeat!!
After leaving Bangers at 7am we finally arrived in Siem Reap about midnight. After buzzing around the city via moto (a tuk-tuk with a moped pulling it) we finally found a place to stay. Siem Reap is a pleasent place with some fantastic eateries but other than that not alot going on. It's mainly popular because of the Temples of Angkor.
Being one of the seven wonders of the world we'd always thought this was guna be a highlight whilst travelling Asia. We weren't dissapointed either. It's a really surreal place to visit and is unbelievable how the Khmer Empire could
of built these all those many moons ago.
Geek bit:- During the Angkorian period the ruling god-kings built imposing temples to as a way of asserting there power. Translated to if you build one then i'm guna build one better and so on. This resulted in more than 100 temples being built between the ninth and fifteenth century. The sight was only discovered by the western world in the 19th century and the rest is history (pun alert)
These temples spread around a 3000 square kilometer area so obviously we weren't planning to visit them all.
We started early in the morning and spent the whole day travelling around via moto to the Temples we'd picked out as the ones we really wanted to see.
The main temples were Angkor Wat (the one you see photographed the most), Angkor Thom and Bayon (with all the faces) and of course Ta Phrom which was where Tomb Raider was filmed and the jungle has been left to take over as you'll see from the photos.
A puka bit of backpacking sightseeing and apart from our hired moto driver for the day dissapearing and leaving us without transport for a
while it was a day well spent.
We feel this was a good time to visit Angkor because the sight has recently been brought by Chinese investors who plan to turn this place into a sort of Disney world Asian style. There is a vast amount of restoration going on but if you'd been sitting in a field for 1000 years open to the elements then i reckon you'd need a bit of a facelift too!!
With my birthday lurking it was time to scour the lonely planet and see where in Cambodia we can have a little boogy and top up the tans. Destination Sihanoukville; it also happens that Nigel who we'd met in Thailand was guna be around the area so we arranged a meeting place and spent a few days with him.
Not alot of sightseeing to be done here, in fact none at all but with a beautiful beach and places that sell Vodka red bull buckets it was a place where i managed to not remember turning 27!!!!
Back on the road a couple of days after me b'day and off to Phnom Penh. A totally poverty stricken capital but was
interesting nevertheless.
The backpacker bit was to visit the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) just outside the city.
Geek bit:- During the Pol Pot regime and with the aid of his Khmer Rouge comrades there were around 9000 men, women and children beaten to death, shot, beheaded or tied up and buried alive. This happened between 1975 and 1979. It is hard to believe or even understand the it was not that long ago at all. In 1980 bodies were exhumed from 86 mass graves but a further 43 graves have been left untouched.
As you are walking aroung the site you can visibly see bones and items of clothing protruding out of the groung that you walk on and in the memorial tower there are thousands of unearthed skulls of the people that died here.
I wouldn't exactly call it a 'great day out' as it was a somber experience but kinda interesting nevertheless.
Our moto driver asked if we wanted to visit a shooting range on the way back to the city and after learning that in Cambodia for $2000 you can blow up a cow with a hand held rocket launcher i quite fancied my
aim with an AK47. Not a cow though, just a target will suffice thanks. I've been reading a few Andy McNab (Bravo two Zero) books on me travels and wondered what it was like to fire a gun like this. You don't exactly see advertised down the St ivo rec a chance to fire an AK47 so this was my chance to do it.
We pulled up at the gates of the shooting range and was offered a menu on what you can shoot and how much it's guna cost. There were signs everywhere stating no photos allowed as this apparently is illegal here. After learning that and just seeing the Killing Fields something just didn't feel right. How can you visit a sight of mass graves and then go and fire the gun that probably killed half of them.
"No thanks mate" let's go Daz!!!
Cambodia was interesting but pulled a bit to hard on the old heart strings for our liking. The Khmer Rouge and Mr Pol Pot really screwed this country up and with the evidence of landmine victims begging everywhere along with young kids it all concluded to a bit too much.
You have
to feel for them though and hopefully with the increasing tourism trade from Angkor it will catch up with it's neighbouring countrys.
Another shaded bit on the map and time to head to Vietnam..........
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