Jodi News
Cambodia
| Well I have been mightily slack in the writing department over the last few days, mainly because they have been such a blur. My trip down from Laos was a nightmare. A train derailed in front of us and we had to be off-loaded onto buses in the middle of the night. We waited around by the roadside in a drowsy mass for 3hrs before they herded us on to dilapidated coaches. I arrived in Bangkok the next morning absolutely exhausted, but nonetheless managed to get myself across the city to pick up my big red bag, and then back to the hotel. James arrived safe and sound at midnight and we left to Laos the next morning. We are staying in an absolutely gorgeous hotel called Bopha Angkor, where we have a huge room, and lush surroundings. The pool has certainly been a blessing in the intense heat of the the mid-morning. We have spent our time here visiting the temples of Angkor Wat which are absolutely amazing, though unfortunately blighted by the hoards of tourists that descend on it each day. Thankfully a number of the temples are little out of the way so the tour buses give them a miss- but the main sites are overrun. Japanese, German, British, Australian, French... You name it, they're here. And there is a predominance of package tours it seems. No wonder it has been likened to Disney Land. That said it is one of the most amazing sites I have seen and it has been a memorable experience traipsing around the various ruins. Today we went over to visit a pagoda (where I twisted my ankle) and then for a boat ride on Tonle Sap, the largest inland lake in South-East Asia. There are floating villages scattered along it's edges, housing thousands of people. Really incredible. I'm not sure how that eek out an existence here. They seem so, so poor. Our boat driver was paid $10 a month to ferry around tourists. Ten dollars! I simply could not believe it. Particularly when we paid $10 each to the tourist authority to do the trip. It's just terrible. I feel absolutely awful putting up my hands to the numerous beggars, but there are just too many. Anyhow, it has been an interesting trip so far and I'm looking forward to heading to Phnom Penh and then onto Sihanoukville, which is by the coast. Should be really good. I will attempt to get on in the next few days and upload some more photos from Laos and Cambodia... |
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Nov 30, 1999