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Published: September 6th 2005
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Thailand was great and Koh Samui was my favourite place there. It was very beautiful but as tempting as it was for us to stay longer we decided to press on into Cambodia and I am very glad we did. Crossing the border (we made our own way accross the land border to Poipet via a veeerrry long train, bus and 'tuk-tuk' journey) was quite an intimidating experience and also like stepping back in time about a hundred years as the roads and taxis gave way to dusty tracks and ox carts but as soon as we arrived in Battambang, our first base, I fell in love with the place! It's a cliche but the people really are so nice and the relaxed, friendly atmosphere is exactly what I think has been touristed out of Thailand. There are also many many children and they all wave and shout hello at passing tourists!
Battambang - 28th August
Battambang is a smallish town (approx 250, 000 people) and we spent a pleasant couple of days just touring the market and soaking up the cambodian way of life before making our way to Siem Reap. It was an interesting journey to Siem
Steps..
We had to climb these to get to the top of Angkor Wat, not so bad on the way up but the way down wasn't fun!! Reap, having read about this lovely scenic 3 hour boat cruise we decided that that sounded a good way to travel so we set off, at 7 in the morning I might add, looking forward to a nice relaxing trip. By midday, although I had enjoyed the sights, I was starting to get a little restless and then as the waterway got narrower and the vegetation thicker I actually started to feel a little bit apprehensive. Before long we all had to move to the middle of the boat as the plants and trees starting poking in the sides and all kinds of bugs and spiders were catapulted into the boat. I was not amused. Another hour and although the river had widened we had a different kind of plague - loads of small flies decided to descend on us and we fended them off whilst being filmed by some german Tarrantino wannabe. After 8 gruellying hours we finally arrived in Siem Reap and I cannot tell you the relief we felt to get to our hotel and shower!!
Siem Reap - 30th August
Aside from the torturous journey (that'll teach us to trust guidebooks!) Siem Reap was
fantastic, we went to see the famous Angkor Wat - apparently the world's biggest religious building! And we spent some time soaking up the atmosphere. There is a slight french hue to Cambodia due to an old alligience, so there are some great french style cafes and bakeries. The downside being that there are also quite a few french tourists!! (Just kidding!)
And of course no trip to Cambodia would be complete without a trip to the local 5 star spa resort to sip cocktails by the pool and then a few more in the swanky restaurant (well it was my birthday!) We had a lot of fun living it up but nasty Will made me leave and we've journey'd down to Phenom Pehn where we are right now.
Phenom Pehn - 3rd September
Getting down here was no easy task (as you can imagine with our travel luck at the moment). We missed the last bus so went in search of a share taxi only to find that they were ridiculously expensive and so we ended up travelling, as the locals do, in a pick-up truck. I suppose travelling isn't travelling in Cambodia without a 200
mile jouney in a pick-up truck but at least we were on the inside, the people on the roof had to contend with a torrential downpour!!
Phenom Pehn is a great city, we are staying by the river and our street is crammed with restaurants and bars. We've wondered through the old markets and visited the local wat (where I was attacked by a random monkey.. don't even ask). We've also seen the less pleasant sights of the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and Tuel Sleng Museum where thousands of people were held, tortured and killed just 30 short years ago. Although terrible to see and emotionally draining it has helped us appreciate the history of the country a lot more and put into context some of the reasons why it is still so undeveloped.
On a lighter note we have also found time to go bowling - yes the ten pin kind! We've also played some pool and snooker. It's nice to allow yourself reminders of home sometimes! Slighty more unusually we also got to fire an AK47, Kalashnikov, which was very scary (I was actually shaking afterwards!)
6th Spetember
Our next stop will be
Sihanoukville, on the south coast, before moving on to Vietnam. I will definitely miss it here, it's been a true adventure. I will miss the market stalls and little shops ("miss, miss I give you good price!") I'll miss the sights and sounds and smells (most of them) and the general hustle and bustle of Cambodian life and I will especially miss the children coming up and saying hello and wanting to hold hands. All in all, it's been a fabulous place to visit and I hope to come back here again one day.
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Roots
I lolled at that last caption - must read your blog now - x x x