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Published: August 12th 2008
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After one last Friday in Chiang Mai, Jessica, Rose, Laith and I boarded the night bus to Bangkok. The ride was largely uneventful beyond the usual crying babies, frequent stops, and the girl in front of me reclining her seat all the way back into my lap. The only real struggle was finding room on the bus for the mountains of luggage that we had between the four of us!
In Bangkok I met up with Liv, David and Wes. Wes had gotten in the day before and crashed at David's apartment. As all of us hadn't had much sleep, the morning didn't contain much but unpacking and repacking, breakfast, and hanging out at the mall while Liv and David went to the dentist. Wes and I killed time by bowling. Who knew Bangkok malls contained bowling alleys? After what was shaping up to be a blowout by Wes I came from behind to win 115-113. Woo! From there we sped off to the airport for our Air Asia flight to Phnom Penh.
Getting into Cambodia was easy - all we had to do was turn over a passport photo and $20 for our visa. Contrary to guide book
warning lamenting the absence of ATMs in Cambodia, we found them everywhere, including the visa line, and they all dispensed US $. At least I won't have to worry about changing any excess money back!
Despite opting for the “mid-range” Hotel Indochine over budget backpacker fare, our A/C hotel room with private bath right on the river front cost a mere $10. I love traveling in the low season! Of course, to get there we had to fend off a whole tuk-tuk ride warning us of the mosquito problem at our hotel. We should definitely go to their friend's place instead...Having heard this scam quite a lot we held firm and got to the hotel we wanted. The evening was spent wandering Phnom Penh and sampling foods. First a riverside cafe for Angkor beers and fish amoc (the local fish curry). Then a street vendor for a baguette mystery sandwich, and another for a durian/dragonfruit drink. We only asked for dragonfruit, but they added durian syrup to the mix. I have to confess that the smelly fruit is growing on me! We capped off the night with wine and banana blossom salad at the Titanic Restaurant, where we were
treated to live music and traditional apsara dance.
Sunday morning we hit the market early in search of food, ending up at Bojangles (nothing like the southern version) for baguettes and pancakes. We walked to the Royal Palace to see the famous Silver Pagoda, a total let down after all the build up. The pagoda is known for its silver floor tiles, but years of visitors and civil war have left it in poor repair. Most of the tiles are covered with tape, attempting to hold them down to the floor. The others were covered with carpets, keeping you from seeing much of anything. It might have been better if they had just closed the interior to visitors and let us peer at the floor through the windows!
We had just enough time after the palace to visit Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the site of the infamous S-21 prison. The prison was used to hold and torture people during the Khmer Rouge reign, and many of its prisoners were taken to the nearby Killing Fields for mass execution. The Khmer Rouge documented everything. Rooms that had held prisoners are now filled with portraits, mug shots and victims post-torture
and death. The amount of bad karma filling the buildings was a little overwhelming. And it was heartbreaking to see blackboards (the prison was a school before the war) sharing space with instruments of torture. Some of the cells still sported what appeared to be blood-stained floors. Wes asked me if I would take my children to a museum like that, and I am certain that I would. What happened there was an atrocity that should never be repeated. It was hard to remind ourselves that similar events are occurring in other parts of the world right now.
Anxious to move on to something less depressing, we caught a 5 ½ hour bus to Siem Reap. Our driver was a little too in love with the horn, honking at anything he could see within a mile radius of the bus, just in case they didn't realize we were coming. My hearing still hasn't fully recovered.
Dara and our driver picked us up at the station and took us to Marina Villa guesthouse. Dara runs the guesthouse and a tour guide business along with his sister, Ponheary. While it is empty today, his children return tonight and Dara assures
us it will soon be loud. We settled into our room and set off to the Old Market area for a pizza dinner.
This morning we got our first taste of Angkor, visiting Angkor Wat. The temple truly is impressive. It reminds me a lot of the Mayan ruins in Guatemala, although different styles or architecture and bas reliefs. Dara is a great guide, explaining the politics, religion, and history of the area along with sharing a great deal of knowledge about the architecture of the temple.
We had a few hours free this afternoon and are now off to see Angkor Thom.
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Billy
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YAY!
You're finally there! Send our best to Dara and Ponheary (and Marina!) Don't forget to eat at Blue Pumpkin in town--and visit L'Artisans d'Angkor (it's a local artisans school that teaches impoverished children various trades, like sculpture, painting, etc.) Just reading this is making me miss Siem Reap!