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Published: January 15th 2006
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Right where do i begin????????????????????????????????????????
Well from Siem reap we headed south through the heart of cambodia by public bus to a small village called Kampong cham. From here we set of early the next day to arrive at Kratie. The route down has been an experience all of its own, stopping off a random villages to taste frog/ snake and large spiders- your not missing out!
From Kratie we went on a riverboat tour of the Mekong in search of the irrywaddy dolphin - a very rare shy dolphin, which as it happens was very rare and shy- but we did catch a glimpse of a couple at one point before they swam off. The next day we all hired bikes and went on a tour of an island in the mekong. This was a crazy experience as it started with the crossing which consisted of a small river raft full to the brim with scooters/ bikes and people with various food for sale.
On arrival we cycled through the island, and through the small farming communities with cattle and foul by the roadside. Not one person on the whole island failed to great us
Classy Monk picking his nose!
If he can do it then it must be alright!with a 'Hello!' and not one child failed to run after us on the bikes waving'. one girl who was no more than 4 years old came over and asked where i was from to which i replied England - Laveley jablee she said!
The island was just a great experience of rural life in cambodia and we were made very welcome/ Two of the girls in our group got taken into a school and had to talk to a large group of buddhist monks!
From Kratie we head to the cambodian capital Phnomn Penh which is just bustling with millions of scooters and tuc tucs - mayhem to the maximum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We spent the afernoon in the markets and then went out for a meal in the evening. Boll took us to a local night club which was an experience - I experienced what life was like being constantly chased after by the opposite sex (not that its a new experience!!!!)ie like being a women!
Lots of older men with huge beer guts and knee replacements surrounded the dance floor hoping to be picked up - nice!!
The next day we headed to our homestay for the
a local delicacy
cockrroach a l'assiette! (a plate of bugs) evening. Very basic accommodation but lovely people. We had a traditional cambodian meal and then proceeded to tour the village giving sweets to the local kids- (well i didnt like them alright!). We were lucky enough to come across a wedding in the local village - these wedding celebrations go on for three days so thats one serious hangover.
On the way to Sihanoukville we visited the killing fields which i really could not comprehend the enourmity of the genocide here in Cambodia and in my lifetime! over 3 million people have been known to have been murdered under the poll pot regime. from infants to the elderly, at first tortured in many ways and then lead to a mass grave, some stripped and one by one hit on the back of their head to fall into the mass graves.
Many of the graves are still unearthed and clothes of the victims still lay about sprawled all over the fields you walk through. Thousands of remains lay in wheelbarrows and bins are slowly being shipped into the central shrine. There is an erry silence as signs show a tree where they killed all the children and pictures of the
Geoff tries a spider
i had a leg- nothing special victims on display.
By the end of the war new reports have shown that 7 million- over half of the population of cambodia died as a result of the regime so every other person you know! The worse thing was that all the people responsible for this were not arrested and have lead a full life - some only dying recently.
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Chad's friend
non-member comment
seen no comments on this blog so wanted to add one. Good description of which I can't imagine the anormity of most of the things mentioned. Great to see you today. Speak soon, looking forward to the curry. x Chad's friend