Kampuchea

Again, we had quite the entrance in a new country. As you leave immigration, you are greeted by several cell phone booth girls "Ladyyyyy, you want to buy SIM caaahhd," "Sirrr you need phone caaaahd." It was hilariously unexpected! And after that, a hoard of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers all craving your undivided attention (and $... mostly $) so they can drive you wherever you want (kind of, they like to stop at their buddy's hotels  and restaurants along the way and sell them to you). After some haggling, we agreed on $7 US with one of them (rip-off, we know, but we hadn't yet learned to care about $2-3). We arrived at Hak's House just past the market area (amazing hostel for $3 pp for fan room!) in our little tuk-tuk before making plans for the coming days.

In the evening, we found meals for $1 each before biking (for $1 per bike) over to the night market and seeing all of the stalls selling all sorts of things. Fairly quickly, we got used to haggling on prices and how to visit with the people. Not all spoke much English (Khmer, not the same alphabet either), but you still manage. We also got accustomed to being asked by every passing tuk-tuk if we wanted a ride (which is a lot, I'll say that much) and how to say no. And how to say no to the many beggars and children selling a million things we didn't need. By the end of the night, you kinda feel like you must be wearing an ATM sign or something; very emotionally draining.

The next morning we had arranged to be picked up at about 0530 by a tuk-tuk for our day tour of Angkor Wat and the many other surrounding temples. A quick breakfast near the temple and then we were off to see the ruins. Quick history, the Angkor Wat temple is not a single temple. There are dozens and dozens of temples all of the Siem Reap area (and all Cambodia, I think) that date back as early as the 9th Century, I believe. Some of the temples are in shambles, and many have been restored to as close to their original form as possible.

Again, this is one of those things writing about will not do justice, so just look at some pictures. Pretty much, our tuk-tuk driver David drove us around all day so we could visit a whole bunch of temples built from stone with some dating back more than 1000 years. It was an incredible piece of history to be able to see first hand, as the handiwork and planning is comparable to that of the Incans, Mayans, and Aztecs.

One thing we don't have pictures of is the hoards of people and children trying to sell you things. It's their livelihood, and they go hard! It was pretty draining having to say no, and we so often wonder if we should just buy to help!

That night we had a quick dinner back in town before wandering around the night market again and buying a few little souvenirs (despite knowing we didn't want to accumulate stuff).

Next morning was an even earlier pick-up at 0430 as we wanted to catch the sunrise over the Angkor Wat temple! I couldn't believe the number of tourists who woke up to see it! Joke was on us though, it was too cloudy for a sunrise!

The rest of this day we drove around with David seeing many more temples! Some were absolutely huge, like little cities with mazes of stone walls, hallways, courtyards, high ceilings, and multiple floors to higher and higher temples. We were also able to go on a little hike underneath a waterfall, finding a vine along the way that was strong enough for me to climb! Vines are amazing, in case you didn't know. We also got to see the temple where much of Tomb Raider was filmed years ago.

The next day we toured a silk farm where the silk worms were grown and used to make all thins silk, the women working their were unbelievably talented.

After Siem Reap, we bussed our way over to Battambang, a city further west. There we got to ride a bamboo train! The tracks were built by the French way long ago, and the cars were simply an 8'x10'
bamboo mat on a steel frame which was removable from the 2 axles and motorbike engine on the front. So when you came up to another car coming at you, the more empty car was unloaded, and taken apart and removed from the track in about 20 seconds while the other car passed and rebuilt in 20 seconds after. Pretty Crazy! We also explored a few massive caves in the limestone mountains, some of which is where many people were killed during Pol Pot's regime in the 70s. The caves were also home to millions of bats that we got to watch fly out of. A steady stream of bats flew out like water from a faucet for over an hour.

We also got to do a nice little cooking class with a Cambodian lady, who also took us shopping at the local market showing us how to purchase things there. The curry, seafood salad, and chicken amok were delicious!

We then headed south on a 6 hour bus to Kampot. There we rented a motor bike and made our way up the mountain to some super old French ruins (all in the rain). Apparently in this area there is still the occasional wild tiger, but we weren't lucky enough see any. At night, I heard a girl scream in our little bamboo everything hostel, so I went to see what was up. She watched a monster tarantula crawl across the floor and outside. Glad we had mosquito nets to keep them out!

We rented a bike again the next day and drove through town to Kip, a beachside town and visited there. On the way back we found our way to a pepper farm, and some more huge caves in the limestone mountain. They were the coolest things to see! Going though the back roads and local villages way outside the city where not many tourists go was definitely out favourite part, especially diving this little scooter through such deep mud!

The next day we made our way to Phon Penh. The hostel owner found us a 'taxi' that was cheaper than the bus. I'm pretty sure it was just her family that wanted to make some extra cash so he drove people around for 5$ pp. She told us we could purchase 3 seats instead of 2 for extra room, and still be cheaper than the bus. So we did. By extra seat she meant we'd fit 3 in the back instead of 4! Plus 1 driver, and 2 more in the front passenger seat. Us white people take up a lot more space then Cambodians!

Phom Penh was a totally crazy city full motor bikes and millions of people. We went to the killing fields there, which was an area designated as a remembrance for the 2-3 million of 7-8 million Cambodians slaughtered in the 70s genocide. It was also the place where many horrific killings occurred and where thousands of skulls and clothing has been found in the ground.

Afterwards we were to one of the concentration camps called Tol Sleng and it gave such an eerie vibe. But it was extremely good to see and such a humbling experience.

That night we went to the weekend night market with a girl we met from New Zealand and enjoyed a very authentic Cambodian meal. Unfortunately, I was never able to find deep-fried Tarantulas or bats like I'd wanted to try, so now I have an excuse to go back there someday!

The next day we hopped on a bus that would take us to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam!