Cambodia

Hey Hey! I’m back from Cambodia safe and sound! Since most people didn’t even know that I was in Cambodia, I’ll get you up to speed. My last day in Khao Lak was spent chilling by the pool with the Wicked DMT’s. Chilling by the pool turned into a pool party as the sun went down, more beers were cracked, and more friends joined in! It was a blast, and the guys had me convinced that I should miss my flight to Bangkok and just stay in Khao Lak for the rest of my trip. I was seriously considering it, especially the next morning; I did not feel like waking up and going to the air port at all. I decided it wouldn’t be travelling if I didn’t see more of Thailand and Cambodia… At the moment I’m wishing I had stayed in Khao Lak. It’s only been a few days and I miss the ocean and the familiar faces. Now I’m sitting in a cramped room and don’t know a soul. Hopefully that will change soon.

So I left Khao lak and headed to Bangkok as planned. Right away its apparent that things are much busier here. On my way from baggage claim to the bus stop I was bombarded with people asking if I wanted a taxi. First prices were 700Baht for a taxi, and as I got closer to the bus stop it was down to 400B. Then I started to hear from people saying that the bus was closed today… riiiiight. Finally I got to the bus stand and bought my ticket for 150b. The bus was pretty nice too! Leather reclining seats and AC, and it dropped me off right in front of my hostel!

I wandered around town a little and started going into travel shops to see what my options were for Cambodia and other things to do. I ended up booking a trip to Cambodia that left at 7am the next morning. So next morning I was packed up and on a bus to Cambodia! This is where things started to get a little sketchy. After 4 hours of driving we pull into a restaurant and suddenly have people there yelling at us to get out. I guess it was our stop. It didn’t seem very organized and they didn’t seem to have a good idea about who was going where or who had paid for the visa already The next thing I knew we were filling out Visa applications for Cambodia and handing our passports over to these people. They told us that the visas would be ready in 30mins once we walked to the border. Wait, walked? Yep. We had to walk about a half a Km with all our gear to the border check where we were handed our passports back. We went through the Thailand border, had to walk another half Km to the Cambodian border check, then another 500m to our ride. It was +30 outside and I had a 40lb pack on. I was a little warm.

I was buddied up with 3 young American guys and another driver who didn’t speak English. First stop was for gas. For some reason it took 3 of them to fill the tank which happened to be in the trunk with all our luggage… One of the American guys got out and kept an eye on them. Ahead of us was a 3 hour drive on one of the crappiest roads I have ever seen. It was like sask roads in spring only with more gravel and mud. I tried to sleep, but every few mins we hit a huge bump or have to swerve to dodge a cow/person/car/dog/giant hole and your head slams against the window. After 3 hours of this we finally reach the city Siem Reap.

Eventually we arrive at the hotel and I meet my guide Mr. Seyha who is going to be showing me around the next few days. The first thing he asks me is if I want to go out to a restaurant for supper or to his friend’s wedding reception instead! I couldn’t turn down the chance to go to a Cambodian wedding reception so I said ya! After a quick shower he picked me up and off we went to this wedding reception. There were about 500 people there and I was the only white dude so I stood out a little. I kept getting the look “who the F is that guy?” Now this wedding was very fancy, more than I had anticipated. I felt like a tit for wearing flip flops, but It was so hot out! I guess I was expecting something a little more 3rd world. I’m new to Cambodia, gimme a break. It wasn’t long before the beers were being cracked and everyone loosened up a bit. Cambodians love to do ‘cheers’, so every minute someone at the table would yell “cheers!” (in Camboian) and everyone at the table would have to take a big drink. Food was brought to the table on a large plate that everyone would take from…. Using chop sticks… awesome. I’d have to show off my chop stick skills too. I’m alright, but no master by any means. I managed ok, and everyone at the table watched me with a huge grin as I attempted to get the food from the center of the table to somewhere near my plate. I think they were pleased that I tried and did alright haha. Everyone started to loosen up and they would talk to Seyha to get him to translate to me. I found out later that it is very good luck to have a foreigner at your wedding. Just before we left the drunk people started coming out. There was live entertainment and one lady had gotten up on stage and was trying to steal the mic away so she could sing, another guy was out busting a move on the dance floor. One guy at our table was yelling at the waiters, I don’t speak Cambodian, but I could tell it was very slurred. It was hilarious to see that weddings weren’t that much different here than back home.

Day two started early and we were off to see the temples of Angkor. We stopped at about 10 different ruins and Seyha told me the history about each one, when they were built and by who, which religion, when they were found and even the country that was funding the restoration. He also talked about the war in Cambodia and how 3 million people were killed in 3+ years (1975-79) and how there are still 6 million land mines unaccounted for in the country. It was amazing how many details he knew. So many of the temples were really amazing with the detail they still had. Many were built in the 9th century and were being destroyed by huge trees that were left to grow for nearly 300 years. I watched one group doing restoration for about 10mins. It took four men using a wagon to move a single stone into place; I was imagining how much effort and manpower it would have taken to build just one of these temples. The trees looked like huge snake bodies curling around each building crushing them with their immense weight. Our last stop was Angkor Wat. This is the most famous of all the temples here and also the largest religious building in the world. To enter you cross a huge moat along a causeway that is 250 meters long and come to the “third gallery”. A building with 5 entrances one for the king, one for elephants, one for horses, one for generals, and one for common people. After this building was another causeway that was 350 meters long leading to the “second gallery”. This building had a wall about 100 meters long with thousands of detailed carvings about a story that progressed as you walked along the wall. It was really amazing. After this building you enter the main area where the 5 main towers are. It was very impressive, and a very tiring day.

One thing that I thought was annoying was all the children trying to sell you crap as you entered each of the sites. As soon as you get out of the car there are three of them selling you something. One had a book, one had postcards and another had bracelets. It was the same three things at each one and by the end I was getting really annoyed. One child followed me the entire way as I climbed up to the peak of one temple asking me to buy postcards. I was hoping to enjoy the scenery and the moment but it was hard with this kid asking me every 30 seconds to buy something. Eventually I agreed to buy her postcards if she would take a picture of me at the top… finally she left me alone and I could look around a little.

That night I wandered around Siem Reap and explored the city a little before I headed back to Bangkok in the morning. The way home was almost identical to the journey there. Confusion, long sweaty walks, and rough roads. We got stuck in traffic about two km from the border. It had rained the day before and turned the roads to mud. There were trucks stuck everywhere and people falling off their motorcycles into the mud. It was kind of funny watching everyone as we sat there for 30mins waiting for people to get sorted out.

Tonight I leave Bangkok on the overnight train and go north to Chaing Mai. This is mountain and jungle country. I’m going to be doing some trekking, rafting and elephant riding for the next 3 days. So stay tuned for more!
There are more pics in the photo album of many of the temples if you want to check them out…

Until next time!

Nate.