Cambodia!
Wonderful Cambodia. We arrived in Cambodia on the 25th of September from the Aranya Prathet in Thailand it bordered with Poi Pet on the Cambodian side. We went through customs with very little hassel which was a huge surprise. Except the fact that the guy who was supposedly working there said to me if I pay an extra 100 Baht that I could get my visa quicker. Of course I ignored this and waited.
The government have organised a bus service from the border to the local bus stations in an attempt to combat scams that are very popular in Cambodia espically at this border.
At the bus station we organised a taxi to Siem Reap which cost us about $50US. We then started a journey I don't think I'll ever forget. We spent about 4 very bouncy hours in the back of a small taxi with cracked window screen. The road was just a dirt track with the biggest potholes I've ever experienced in my life. You would think that in order not to keep your car the way it is, you would have to drive slow. Not our driver he raced another driver most of the was from the border to Siem Reap. I was a little frighted at first but it was just funny then.
After 4 hours of that crazy journey we where all starving as we hadn't eat since 7 that morning and by the time we reach the guesthouse it was dark. The driver took us to the guesthouse he had advertised on his car we checked it out liked it and it was cheap cheap so we stayed. It cost us $11 a night between the 4of us, the offical currency in Cambodia is Reil but to my disappiontment and a bit of anger most people dealt in US$ which I feel is a real shame.
Next day we got up late and just walk around the city. It is so cute the city is very small and you can walk around it in about 20 mins. So it really the size of a small town. We ate in an Irish pub for the 1st time since we arrived in Asia.
That evening we had organised a driver to take us to Angkor. If you buy a 3day ticket after 5 o' Clock you can get in that evening for the sunset free and still have your 3days starting the next day. It cost $4o for a 3day pass. There is the options of 1,3and week passes.$20,$40 and $60 respectively. Of course the day we go there was no bloody sun but I'm sure it would have been cool as the view was brilliant anyway.
The next 3 days we spent seeing everything Angkor had to offer there are to many to even begin mentioning names. Of course Angkor Wat and Angkor tomb are the most famous. I really enjoyed it but I have to admit that after the second day I was all templed out. I think it was a case of to much of the same thing at the same time. But individually there where some great temples.
On the third day we only had to temples to see so we went to the flooded village and flooded forest. This was amazing we drove for a while to a small village outside siem reap. Then we got a boat which cost $10 but we bargind for $8 each, and this took us all the way out to the flooded village it was class. There are about 500 families that live in the village but they only live there in the wet season as the village dry's up in the hot months. This seemed very hard to Imagin as it just was a huge area covered in water with houses built on stilts.
Our driver came with us as his family live there and invited us to visit his home and have lunch. On our way there was 2women in the back of our boat with a new born baby. As we entered the village you could see everyone coming to the doors of there houses looking at the newest member of the village. It was a real treat just watching them welcoming the mother home and giving best wishes to both mother and child.
We had lunch with our drivers family. It was a traditional Cambodian meal. One of the highlights for me was when I asked to use the toilet, to my shock I found myself in a 3walled room so no door hovering over a whole in the floor and looking at the fish below the house. It was of course the only option but I really got a big shock.
The village is on Tonle Sap Lake and the Lake is connected to the Mekong river (which rises in China and flows through Laos, along the Thai border, through Cambodia and into the sea in Vietnam) by the Tonle Sap river.
This little cutie pie was sneaking into the bar next to the bar we where drinking in. We had been givin free pop corn so, we gave one of the plates to this little chap he was delighted to get something to eat he polished the plate I really felt sorry for him. It's very common for parents to send their little kids out begging for money. But, i don't like encourging begging so i would prefer to give food or water something i know that the kid will see and benifit from as the money goes back to the parents to pay bill s and then the kid is still starving. After he had finished the popcorn i gave him some 7up which i don't know if it was a good idea. He got so hyper after it. He stayed with us for about an hour just playing like a normal kid and he was really enjoying himself. It's really sad the amount of children and families suffering from starvations and poverty. Espically when the government is selling anything that has any value to line their own pockets.
An example of this is as our driver was telling us that the local football ground and the local school had both been sold to foreigners so they could build huge posh hotels there and make profit not for the country but for the foreigeners themselves. there is so much the government could do with the resourse they have to benifit the country but they choose their own pockets instead.
Wonderful Cambodia. We arrived in Cambodia on the 25th of September from the Aranya Prathet in Thailand it bordered with Poi Pet on the Cambodian side. We went through customs with very little hassel which was a huge surprise. Except the fact that the guy who was supposedly working there said to me if I pay an extra 100 Baht that I could get my visa quicker. Of course I ignored this and waited.
The government have organised a bus service from the border to the local bus stations in an attempt to combat scams that are very popular in Cambodia espically at this border.
At the bus station we organised a taxi to Siem Reap which cost us about $50US. We then started a journey I don't think I'll ever forget. We spent about 4 very bouncy hours in the back of a small taxi with cracked window screen. The road was just a dirt track with the biggest potholes I've ever experienced in my life. You would think that in order not to keep your car the way it is, you would have to drive slow. Not our driver he raced another driver most of the was from the border to Siem Reap. I was a little frighted at first but it was just funny then.
After 4 hours of that crazy journey we where all starving as we hadn't eat since 7 that morning and by the time we reach the guesthouse it was dark. The driver took us to the guesthouse he had advertised on his car we checked it out liked it and it was cheap cheap so we stayed. It cost us $11 a night between the 4of us, the offical currency in Cambodia is Reil but to my disappiontment and a bit of anger most people dealt in US$ which I feel is a real shame.
Next day we got up late and just walk around the city. It is so cute the city is very small and you can walk around it in about 20 mins. So it really the size of a small town. We ate in an Irish pub for the 1st time since we arrived in Asia.
That evening we had organised a driver to take us to Angkor. If you buy a 3day ticket after 5 o' Clock you can get in that evening for the sunset free and still have your 3days starting the next day. It cost $4o for a 3day pass. There is the options of 1,3and week passes.$20,$40 and $60 respectively. Of course the day we go there was no bloody sun but I'm sure it would have been cool as the view was brilliant anyway.
The next 3 days we spent seeing everything Angkor had to offer there are to many to even begin mentioning names. Of course Angkor Wat and Angkor tomb are the most famous. I really enjoyed it but I have to admit that after the second day I was all templed out. I think it was a case of to much of the same thing at the same time. But individually there where some great temples.
On the third day we only had to temples to see so we went to the flooded village and flooded forest. This was amazing we drove for a while to a small village outside siem reap. Then we got a boat which cost $10 but we bargind for $8 each, and this took us all the way out to the flooded village it was class. There are about 500 families that live in the village but they only live there in the wet season as the village dry's up in the hot months. This seemed very hard to Imagin as it just was a huge area covered in water with houses built on stilts.
Our driver came with us as his family live there and invited us to visit his home and have lunch. On our way there was 2women in the back of our boat with a new born baby. As we entered the village you could see everyone coming to the doors of there houses looking at the newest member of the village. It was a real treat just watching them welcoming the mother home and giving best wishes to both mother and child.
We had lunch with our drivers family. It was a traditional Cambodian meal. One of the highlights for me was when I asked to use the toilet, to my shock I found myself in a 3walled room so no door hovering over a whole in the floor and looking at the fish below the house. It was of course the only option but I really got a big shock.
The village is on Tonle Sap Lake and the Lake is connected to the Mekong river (which rises in China and flows through Laos, along the Thai border, through Cambodia and into the sea in Vietnam) by the Tonle Sap river.
This little cutie pie was sneaking into the bar next to the bar we where drinking in. We had been givin free pop corn so, we gave one of the plates to this little chap he was delighted to get something to eat he polished the plate I really felt sorry for him. It's very common for parents to send their little kids out begging for money. But, i don't like encourging begging so i would prefer to give food or water something i know that the kid will see and benifit from as the money goes back to the parents to pay bill s and then the kid is still starving. After he had finished the popcorn i gave him some 7up which i don't know if it was a good idea. He got so hyper after it. He stayed with us for about an hour just playing like a normal kid and he was really enjoying himself. It's really sad the amount of children and families suffering from starvations and poverty. Espically when the government is selling anything that has any value to line their own pockets.
An example of this is as our driver was telling us that the local football ground and the local school had both been sold to foreigners so they could build huge posh hotels there and make profit not for the country but for the foreigeners themselves. there is so much the government could do with the resourse they have to benifit the country but they choose their own pockets instead.
posted by sheena @ 5:53 am
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