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Published: October 27th 2006
On our arrival in Cambodia we headed straight for Siem Reap, home to Cambodia's architectural gem, Angkor Wat. It was a hot sticky day, and a bumpy ride in a Cambodian tuk-tuk- a scooter with a cabin attached, a different breed to those in Thailand, but we were head over heels for the stud that drove us around...NAD...was his name! The area around the around Angkor Wat is beautiful, you really do not feel as if you are in a developing Cambodia. Our only and short day in Siem Reap was spent exploring Ta Phrom and then Angkor Wat, where we watched the sunset.
The following morning we took a 5.5 hour bus journey from Siem Reap to Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh. During the journey we passed through many villages and were able to see the way of life the villagers lead. Children returning home from school, some with shoes and some barefooted. Their uniform wet with sweat from the heat and dirty from the dusty roads, that they use to get to and from school, the better-off children have shoes and a school bag! Its touching you cant help but feel sorry for them and then it hits you...
NAD
Check him out...its a first come first serve basis only!they dont know any better! Women working in rice fields, in the heat, and then you see people on their bikes and its amazing what Cambodians can carry on their bicycles... a dead pig, a guy on a bicycle with wicker baskets piled 10 feet high and much more...
So as the bus pulls into Phnom Penh, you are bombarded with hungry tuk-tuk drivers that surround the door and say one thing "MADAM, TUK-TUK" and all you want to say "is move out the bloody way i want to get off this bus". Our time in Phnom Penh was somber, we visited the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields, where thousands of innocent Cambodians were tortured to death under Communism rule. It was a hard day to digest, as we knew what we saw however could not understand or believe it. The extent of the Khmer Rouge became clearer when we visited its corresponding museum, where we were faced with the many pictures of the victims. It was upsetting to acknowledge that this had all occurred just before we were born and the aftermath of which is still visible.
Cambodia, has two extremes, its both cosmopolitan and poverty striken. By
Cambodian Speciality
Can you guess what it is...pickled spiders and we saw two guys eating them..crunchy! night you see trendy bars and restaurants, all to match the standards seen in London, however when looking beyond the bar you see the poverty, beggars on street injured from landmines, small children forced to beg and sell to tourists, and when walking through the streets we could not help notice the lack of sanitation, dirt and the smell (and we thought Kho San was bad).
Overall an interesting experience...
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Arti
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He's Mine!!!!
I grabbed him first so hands off ladies......... Not sure I fancy eating my dinner after seeing those spiders. Thanks girls...... Keep the stories rolling, they are a fantastic read. Flying out in 6 weeks can't wait to see you. Counting down already. Look forward to the next update.