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Published: October 24th 2007
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Cambodia
the bumpy road Helen hits Camodia!!
Arriving in Cambodia After meeting my new tour group and spending one night in Bangkok we headed off towards the boarder of Thailand to cross into Cambodia at Poipet. First impressions once we'd crossed the boarder - man alive its humid!! Waited around in Poipet for about half an hour before getting on a bus to Siem Reap along National Road Number 6. The main problem with this road is that is basically a mud lane for about 120k which makes it rather uncomfortable on the old bum!! Surprisingly I managed to nap! Mum has always said I could sleep on a clothes line!
Ankgor Temples at Siem Reap One of the main attractions of Siem Reap is the amazing temples which we went to as a group for the day. As part of the Cambodian culture everyone is expected to cover up below the knees and cover shoulders. For an English person just arriving in a very hot country this was great!!!? After about 10 minus of walking around I was red faced, shiny and oh so sweaty! I look so attractive as you can see from the photos!???!! Shame that
Ankor Thom
Guardians of the temple the disgusting Spanish people at the temples didn't get the message about covering up! It's not a nice sight to see a 60 + lady in hotpants and vest top! I thought the temples were amazing, so much to see though could have spent another day there! The tomb raider temple is especially amazing. It is over grown with trees and partially knocked down, got the feeling it wasn't overly safe but a brill experience!
Also in Siem Reap we went to the floating village on lake Tonle Sap which at this time of year (rainy season) is really full. All the trees are flooded and only just show under the water! The locals make their living from lots of fishing and tourism.
The "Half an hour" bike ride Next we went to Kamphong Cham on the Mekong river. We decided to do a bike ride to a local temple which Serey (our guide) assured us was a max of 30 mins ride!! He must be an olympic bike rider cos there was no way you could have covered the distance we cycled in 30 mins!!! Over an hour later we arrived at the temple, a little
Photo with the locals!
Please don't laugh at how sweaty/minging I look!! worse for wear and slightly red faced! The next challenge was to climb the mountain to get views over the river and the city!!! We were promised a nice cooling breeze at the top! Much to my upset the breeze did not exist and I continued to overheat for a good while longer! Not a pretty sight! I'll spare you the photo! It's just now worth the embarrassment!
Home Stay aka my first (and last) sampling the Cambodia rice whisky! We did a home stay at Takeo with a family of 8 Camodians staying within their own wooden house. They made us feel very welcome and we learnt how to make spring rolls which was cool. Serey decided it would be a good idea for us to try the local rice whisky which was pretty strong!! didn't stop me from samplin it and then getting on with practising my Cambodian dancing! I'm getting pretty good now!??!
Hitting the beach Next we moved to Sihanoukville which is on the south coast of cambodia for a bit of time on the beach. We did a day long tour of the local islands which was so nice and relaxing.
The gang!!
The hot and sweaty group at Angkor Thom We were the only people on one beach for the whole afternoon which was just great! Being in the water was as warm has having a bath! it's a hard life!
Bucket Gate Following day was a free day so went for the best massage in the world in the morning and then hit the beach in the afternoon. I thought it would be cool to take some local cambodian kids on the banana boat. It was my first experience of it so a tad scared but really enjoyed it especially when they throw you off!!!In the evening a few of us decided to sample the local whisky and red bull in a Mekong Bucket which is always a highly entertaining experience!!! A number of drinking games later we were all a little worse off and slightly worried about the 6am bus we had to catch! Oh well was def worth it in the end even if the bus ride was slightly paunful!
Phnom Penh
After the bus breaking down and the bus driver trying to fix the engine whilst we were still moving?!?!?!, we eventually arrived safely to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We
the kings swimming pool
believe it or not this is a swimming pool of a king from the 12th century - understated!! he used to bath in here with his thousands (!!) of wives!! decided to have a look round the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda which was pretty cool. Quite a peaceful place and for once not too many tourists!!Next day we did a group trip to the S21 prison and the Killing Fields. The S21 prison was the most haunting and emotional place I've ever been to. The Khmer Rouge would torture and kill people who would not tell them what they wanted to hear in the most brutal ways. If they confessed to the crime of being educated (!) they would be sent to the Killing Fields. Haven't put any photos up, one because didn't take many and 2 cos the ones I did take are way too depressing!
In the evening we went to our tour guides house for dinner which was truely yum! Unfortnately the tuk tuk that I was in broke down on the way in the flooded streets and I had to get out and push in a foot of dirty water!! As you can imagine I loved doing that!?! Highly amusing though especially with all the locals standing around laughing and not helping!!?
Next stage
Anyway, I'm now on my way to
The Tomb Raider Temple
An amazing temple that is being unfortunatly distroyed by trees. It was used in the Tomb Raider movies apparently. Def one of the best temples we've seen so far! Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City for the next phase of my tour! I have completly loved Cambodia and wHopefully this time I will be a bit quicker with the old blog and even get some photos up on good old facebook for you all! Hope you've enjoyed my little tale! x
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Helen
non-member comment
Am SO jealous!!!
Hey! So glad you've done your first entry, is great to hear what you are up to! I am so jealous though! I'm sitting here at work with the dull grey sky of England outside and looking at pictures of lovely warm beaches! Can't wait to read what happens next! Also, have just told everyone who sits near me about the spider-food..eugh!