Cambodia

I have most of my pictures up on Flickr now, however I was using Bean's camera a lot in Cambodia, especially in Siem Reap, so I'll have to add those later.

Bean and I took a bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap ... It was a long day. We boarded the bus at 7AM, arriving at the border around 2 (I think), at which point we had to get our Visas settled and whatnot. This would have been an easy process had the rain not come out of nowhere, delaying our bus and preventing the immigration officers from wanting to leave shelter to go across the street to get the actual Visa.

Once we got on our bus in Cambodia, we drove through torrential rain on a terrible road. There are rumors that a Thai Airway is paying off the government so that they won't fix the road to encourage flying (I can now see why this might work). The road was like driving in a really bad, pot hole infested alley way for 5 hours. We didn't get much rest on this leg of the trip :)

When we got to Siem Reap, we found a guest house very quickly and went to bed. The next day (Thursday) we went to Angkor with a French girl we met on the bus, Charlotte. We started at Bayon, which is a temple with many faces "built in" to the temple. (Bean has all of these pictures, so I'll have to add them later.) All of a sudden, it started pouring rain again. So we found shelter and bright colored ponchos (since we all forgot our rain coats) and moved on to the next temple, which was Preah Khan. Preah Khan is less visited by tourists, and since it was raining, we basically had it all to ourselves. This temple was less well kept (aka it was kind of falling apart, and trees were growing through it). I really enjoyed this place, I think in due part because we felt alone there. We then went to Ta Keo, which is the tallest of the temples in Angkor. Charlotte and I decided to just walk around the temple since it was still pouring and the stairs were very steep, while Bean ran up and took pictures :) Next, we went to Ta Prohm, which is known for having been left for the "jungle to swallow" (in other words, it should have been in worse shape than Prah Khan). While it wasn't in good shape, and there were massive trees growing through it, it was being worked on, which was slightly disappointing. We ended our day at Angkor Wat. I can pretty much sum it up with one work: HUGE! It was truly amazing to see. All of the temples were incredible in one way or another, and if Angkor Wat wasn't flooded with tourists it would have been my favorite hands down, but I really couldn't decide at the end of the day which one I liked the most. I loved being able to go just about anywhere in the temples, there are few places that are off limits. I felt very free to explore :)

We went to dinner in Siem Reap that night. Bean brought a bunch of balloons to hand out to the kids when they tried to sell us stuff. I could not believe how much fun these kids could have with a balloon! These kids who we see nightly here working, always selling something, suddenly turned into a child who was their own true age. They were having fun, instead of tediously begging people to buy something. It was such a good feeling to know that something as simple as a balloon could still make someone's day. The next night, they all remembered us, and we were thrilled to be able to give them more balloons.

The next day, Bean and I just walked around Siem Reap. We got some Mexican food (a burrito for Natalie ... which didn't come close to comparing to Speedy Taco, but they gave it their best), massages and did a little shopping. It was a good relaxing day.

Come Saturday, we took a boat from Siem Reap to Battambang. We sat on the roof of the boat, in the direct sun (my nose was BRIGHT red), and dodged branches (the "path" was so narrow in places that we had to jump out of the way when tree branches and bushes came at us). We rode through a number of floating villages. It was incredible to see that people still live in places like this. They are huts on the water, many of which get flooded whenever a boat goes by ... But they don't seem phased. We felt like we were in a parade for a good hour or so, because as we rode by, we would hear all these kids helling and screaming "HELLO!!!!" and we'd look over to find dozens of naked children waving like their lives depended on it.

Upon arriving in Battambang, we got a bit to eat and went to bed early. On Sunday, we took a half day cooking class where we made 3 Kmerr dishes and visited the local market. After that we took a nap (food comas are the best), and then took a tuk tuk around for an hour to see the city. We ate dinner at the hotel, then set out to find a happening place to hang out for the night (which didn't happen).

Monday we took a bus to Pnom Penh. Besides the poor mother and son combo who were sick the whole bus ride, it wasn't too bad. We got in to Pnom Penh, ate and walked around. We saw Wat Phnom, which is on top of the only hill in Phnom Penh, listened to some music in the park, then watched movies on the lake at the guest house in hammocks the rest of the night. On our way to the guest house we were in our first fender bender of the trip (which is nothing less than a miracle considering the way they drive) ... A Land Rover-ish car scraped the side of our tuk tuk ... It was great, the driver looked back, said "Sorry 'bout that" and moved on ... No harm, no foul I guess.

Tuesday was a depressing day to say the least. We started out at Choeung Ek (also know as the Killing Fields), where we looked at mass graves, human skulls and "killing trees". Words can't describe how terrible it felt to be there. Not to say I didn't want to be there, but it's not exactly a place I'd like to go daily. Afterwards, we went to the Tuol Sleung Genocide Museum (the S21 Prison). This is where they were tortured before being taken to the Killing Fields. There are exhibits with pictures of prisoners that took my breath away. Some women had babies in their arms, some looked terrified, others looks as though they were doing everything in their power just to stay strong. While this made for a depressing day, if I'm going to be in Cambodia, I better see why they are where they are.

Yesterday we travelled back to Bangkok. All in all, Cambodia was more of an eye-opener to me than anything else. I am so lucky to have the things I have, in terms of material things and opportunity. It was a beautiful country that needed to be seen, and hopefully I'll get to go back again, but I am glad to be back in Thailand. We'll be staying in Bangkok until Saturday or Sunday, then Bean flies to Australia, and I go back to Ban Phe to start work. I'll be observing new teachers and giving feedback for the month of October with TEFL Intl ... Back in my little room with Leo Lizard :)