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Kampuchea… CAMBODIA !

Date : 15-19 May 2007

Travellers : Amy , Peter and Alexis

Covers : Siem Reap and Phnom Penh

Some general and cultural infos

1. They trade in USD mostly (or Riel sometimes). So this trip isn’t as cheap as I initially thought it could be.
2. Cambodians speaks Khmer language which sounds like Thai to me…
3. Siem Reap Cambies looks like Malay. Phnom Penh Cambies got some chinese looks =)
4. There is NO traffic law. A motorbike with 4 person hugging tightly is a normal sight. Wearing helmets only occasionally. Most vehicles on road are motorbike and tuk-tuks. Cars minimal. It is superbly ultra challenging to cross a busy intersection coz there isn’t traffic lights.
5. Cambodians are rising and building the country. Many are still recoveing from the scars of Pol Pot and Moulin Rou… I mean, Khmer Rouge. Mentioning Pol Pot is like mentioning Voldermort. The name sends shivers down the spine of Cambies esp whose family were involved. After understanding a bit of history, I truly detest Pol Pot (and hope he rots in hell).
6. Angkor Wat is a World Heritage Site. Really awesome!
7. Poor kids speaks English too. "One dollar, one dollar, one dollar, one dollar, one dollar, one dollar, one dollar"
8. It is common to see victims of land mines around the places. There is even a kid as young as 10 years old.
9. Lonely Planet Cambodia dared us to eat durian (tis even counted as a dare?), fried crickets, fried spiders, fermented fish and duck foetus.
10. Number one on economy list is agriculture. Then fabric and garments. Then tourism at number three (number 1 tourists are Korean, surprise surprise)

Picture paints a thousand words

This is a tuk-tuk. Our excellent guide, Mr Siela, a university student.

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap

Sunrise

Yep, we climbed that high!!

Long corridor of Preah Khan, a temple.

Lara Croft and her assistant

Sopo Amy looking at a

bas - relief

Bayon. 216 faces looking at you.

Local Khmer food, which actually tastes nice!

Notice the stir fried frog legs (ew?)

These kids dashed forward when they see a camera! They are selling bananas at Tonle Sap lake.

A floating school!

We have the opportunity to see the villagers haul it closer upstream.

Talk about ‘moving’ places.

G.E.C.K.O at Tonle Sap

I’ll show you what really EWWWs !

Fried cricket and bettle.

Upon tasting one each, we threw the whole bag away. There goes my 2500R.

Is this Tarantula?

Segmented colored legs with fur.

But it certainly tasted better than cricks and bettles.

(WHAT?? you say)

Look at the spoon.

What do you see?

yep, the eyes and beak of an unborn duckling.

It tastes like a normal hard boil egg, promise.

Naga!

Multi-headed serpent

Now this…. If this pic doesn’t bother you, ask me for more. I’ll show you torture rooms, cells, etc.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Rooms and rows of mugshots.

That Pol Pot freak. Sicko.

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Yep, go, Cambodia. Rise up!

This was a great trip…. Truly.