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Other entries in Angkor

Cambodia

Cambodia, wow, what a......strange country. There are 2 things you notice when entering cambodia.
 
The first, is a meter from the boarder, entering Cambodia from Thailand, at Poi Pet, you enter some kind of imitation Las Vegas, a half km of Casinos, (gambiling is illegal in Thailand, but thrives in Myanmar and Cambodia.) Las Vegas style, but smaller casinos and resorts, except that out the front of the buildings, the road resembles more of a farm track, and there are trades men, woman and small children pushing carts of goods over the bridge at the boarder. It has that seedy air of boarder towns, but may be more of an up market seediness than other boarder towns in back water countries.
 
The second, is that they drive on the wrong side of the road.
 
We left the boarder control 4 at a time in a 30 seater coach where we were all grouped together again in another building. Apparently it was for the suspension of the bus as the road was really bad, I smell a fish some where. After being ripped off at the currency change, 82 to the Baht and not 113, we all got loaded onto a bus to head for Siam Reap, 12 people on the same 30 seater coach. The guide on the bus, who had perfect English, gave us a brief history of the country, telling us about the times that he was a child solider and all of the trouble the country has been through, and we started our 7hr bus ride. He told us that the people of Cambodia wouldn't 'rip you off' or try to 'over charge you'  'Its just the Cambodian way.' They all seem so far to be really friendly people, you wouldn't think it judging from there past infractions on humanity.
 
Its only a 150km from Poi Pet to Siam Reap, but an un-named airline is paying an un-named government agency to keep the road un-emproved  (according to the bible), so more people use the planes. Its was being improved, new bridges being built and in 2years time it will be finished, (but that has been said about alot of roads here) and hopefully bring alot more tourists, and tourist money into the country, but as with all things here it looks like taking a long time.
 
On entering Siam Reap, it was hard to know whether or not you have crossed through a black hole and gone to another country. The road between the boarder and Siam Reap looks like Africa would, I would imagine having never been there, people more poor than in Nepal, with a dead straight road, and rice paddies as far as the eye can see, dead flat. On entering Siam Reap, the roads are immediately improved, and the price of the hotels, you could live for a month out here on the price of a nights stay. Big five star hotels at $2000 a night at the most expensive to cheaper $100 a night rooms. Its the biggest change in how different people can live that I have seen this year. Considering that only 8 years ago they were still in a minor civil war here, (using locos for target practice with there bazucas and using the front carrage of the train for land mine clearance, simply driving over it and exploding the front carrage to clear the mines. You could go cheap or free if you were brave enough or dumb enough to travel in that carrage.) they have done a good job of turning this area into a very profitable one. All the children from 8 up, have perfect English, and have never known war which is a good thing (just the ever presnt threat of land mines 4-6 million left, 90 hectares cleared and 3000 to go. 47% of villages considered 'still unsafe.')
 
When we arrived the bus dropped us off at their hotel, and the hard sell began, to get us to stay. Not what you want after 9hrs travelling on bad roads. The hotel was in the middle of now where. The American girl on our bus who was teaching here, said that she new a better place for cheap hostels, and so the bus company took me, Megan (american girl) and another English guy, David, to another of their newly opend hotels. I think that we got a good deal, beacuse for $4 we got what you would expect from a $15-25 room. Very cheap, I don't think all of Cambodia will be like this.
 
Me and David organised a Tuk Tuk to go and see Ankor Wat the next day and made a start on the Temples. At the ticket counter for the pasrk the exchange rate was 4100 Riel (Cambodian Currency) to the dollar where every body elses is 4000. When I mentioned this to the member of staff at the boarder,

'More money for Cambodia then?' he laughed and said 'Yes!'.
 
Everything there was on a grand scale, huge moats and the entire site set over 100s of acres of land. It puts the people to shame who built the Stone Hendge Cricket Centre (SHCC), sure they where big lumps of rock, but the carvings on the stones here are delicate, skillfull and lots of them, built into huge temples, 10times the size of SHCC. It must have taken a lot of slaves to complete the temples. Some of the steps were more like making an attempt on Everst than a temple (I would like to see the stats. on injuries and deaths from falling down them or off the tops of the temples, beacuse around every turn there was a potential death trap of some sort.) Lara Croft/ Angelena Jolie Temple (Tomb Raider set) Ta Phrom as archologists would probably know it as) was very spectacular, tumbled down with huge trees over hanging the walls and their roots holding up some walls and knocking others down. 
 
By 3pm temple fatigue had set in, it was hot, humid and the day was drawing to a close. It was to cloudy for a sunset over Angkor Wat, so we bid far well to the temples and made our way back to Siam Reap for a shower and dinner.

The next day I went for a walk around the non touristy parts of Siam Reap, it was the sam eas any other city in this part of the world. Dusty noisey and scooter driving like they are on a speed way. I found my way to the south part of the centre when I found a park and gardens with the back drop of a huge hotel. There were huge trees in the park with furit bats hanging in the top of them.

 You know when you are in a hot country when you here cicarders. You know when you are in a tropical country when you can see fruit bats in the trees. 

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