Siem Reap and Korean Tourists

Whilst most people are amazed at the beauty and mind blowing architecture of the temples at Angkor (of which Angkor Wat is only one of loads) I am bowled over by the invasion of Korean tourists, a sample is above...now sadly these are not as good as the ones I've seen today but having got up at 4.30 am to cycle to the temples to see the sunrise I forgot my camera so they are all on Ingrid's camera so you will have to wait until I get home to see them...Now Korean Tourist watching is a great hobby to have as they are completely oblivious to being watched, photographed or talked to ... in fact it is a bit like a bubble of Koreans in a Korean-made balloon has landed in the middle of the temples ... as soon as you leave they are no where to be seen.

I'm a bit templed out to be honest - and whilst I can appreciate that they are an amazing architectural feat I am really much more of a modern history girl which may make me a complete philastine but so be it ... anyway I've included a photo of me just so you can see that I did go to Ankhor Wat as well as a picture of a guy at the place I am staying at and his incredible mosquito killing machine ... they keep trying to get me to buy one but I'm not sure there will be much call for it up in the Himalayas.

More things to remind me of Cambodia

- Britney Spears needs to move here ....

- Hello lady Tuk-Tuk?

- The number of people you can get in an estate car...12 is the best I've seen including one person between the driver and the driver's door plus a boot full of luggage

- amok curry, lok lak, foooooooood (as always)

- everything is one dollar be it a postcard, water, rain coat ... the mantra is óne dollar one dollar you pay one dollar'

- kids coming up to you saying 'niam, niam' (food, food)

- the money - banks give you dollars but if you pay for something you may get dollars (good) or riels (not so good as they are worthless) and there are 4,000 riels to the dollar ... challenging for someone who is slightly numerically dyslexic

Up the river to Siem Reap

From Battenbang I took the boat to Siem Reap - 9 hours of torture in blistering hot sun with no shade - I burnt my knuckles and my nose for the fourth time this trip and had a minor hallucination that we went through a cloud of bright red insects that no one else saw but otherwise unscathed. The trip takes you through floating villages and river forests ... incredibly beautiful but a bit intrusive as the river is the place where villagers wash, brush their teeth, work and whilst there is only one boat and a day and it is used by locals there are also Westerners taking photos and filming the people going about their business - not sure how i'd feel with someone pointing a camera at me whilst I was having a bath.

Area 3 outside Battembang, NW Cambodia

Having been spun load of rubbish about Battenbang being a beautiful old colonial town languishing on the river ... read instead Baghdad's twin town, full of crumbling buildings, new concrete monstrosities and unfriendly faces divided by a stinking brown stretch of water.

About 45mins on a scooter through mile upon mile of Çambodian Snow (a thick red cloud of dust that coats everything and anything) takes you to the killing caves defined as Area 3 by the Khmer Rouge during the war and where 25,000 men,women and children were held and 17,000 tortured and killed. Unlike the killing fields in Phnom Penh most of the skulls have been taken away and the caves are now beautiful sanctuaries with shrines and golden buddhas....except in one cave where they seemed to be paying homage to the cigarette...apparently the fag in the mouth is an offering to ensure good health...but maybe my moto driver was forewarned of my legendary gullability.

A couple of things that are making me love Cambodia

- "... you want bracelet, just one ...no? Ok massage? ManiQ? Fruits? No? Tomorrow then .."

- same, same ... but [oh so very very] different

- the highway code ... or lack of it ... save that 70% tend to drive on the right

I finished the day at the Royal Palace but after S21 and the Killing Fields nothing can really compare ... the palace is a palace no where near as impressive as the Grand Palace in Bangkok .. there's a silver Pagoda which is a temple with a silver floor, lots of Buddhas, gold, incense and paper lotus flowers and the throning room ... the photos I took are pretty rubbish so here's one of me in what I thought was my freedom fighter scarf but after seeing the Killing Fields film last night seems to be the enduring symbol of the Khmer Rouge who were anything but.

On to the Killing Fields

The Killing Fields - where people were taken after being tortured to be killed. About 14km outside of PP has now been made a shrine to the thousands who died. As a place it is calm and peaceful but look down at the ground and you see clothes still half buried where they fell from the victims bodies. A temple has been built in memory of those who died and it houses rows upon rows of skulls and clothes recovered from the mass graves. For me though it was this tree against which children were beaten before being dropped on spikes ... to the right you can see bones that were recovered last month.

Arriving in Phnom Pehn .... S21

I am travelling with a girl called Ingrid that I met on the way to Koh Chang - she's lovely - easy to travel with, interesting to talk to - all you could wish for. Lots of people have been saying that Phnom Pehn is a sweay hellhole but my experience so far has been from from that..great food - influenced by the French.... warm funny people - the tuk tuk drivers are hilarious .... lots to see and do.... etc. Yesterday I went to the S21 museum which was originally a school where thousands of Cambodians were tortured by the Khmer Rouge in the mid 70s. The stories recounted by the guide are unimaginably horrible - women raped, their breasts ripped from their bodies, acid poured down the nose, electrocution...to the left are the camps regulations.

Crazy Cambodia

Crossing the border into Cambodia was like stepping out in to the wild west. As soon as I was out of the taxi Iwas surrounded by people wanting to help ... before you know it your bag is disappearing off in to the sunset and you are left stranded at the crossing to deal with the visa. Everyone wants a piece of the action someone will fill out your visa application form, another will stick the photo, another to hand it to the customs guy and so it goes on - all the while you have children and people with limbs missing begging you for money - all quite intense but everyone has a smile and their spoken English has generally been much much better than that spoken by the Thais. After a night in the red dustbowl of Koh Krong fending off the locals - I got a boat 4 hours down the coast to Sihounakville. Stepping off the boat in to a sea of 'moto' drivers (guys wearing baseball caps on mopeds who wil take you and your bags on their 50cc bikes anywhere you want) was again a bit crazy but I'm slowly starting to get used to the initial onslaught of helpers. This place is another laid back beach town but without the resorts and crowds of western families that you get in Koh Chang. It's all just a bit more raw. Most of the children are the friendliest you can meet and whilst they will try any turn they can to get you to buy a bracelet, scarf or bag of fruit their is a genuine warmth and it breaks your heart to see the shacks they live in and the cruising peadophiles. The boy to the right above is a lady boy in the making called San, and is 13 years old - the other day he pointed out an English guy to one of my friends who was in his 30s - a doctor apparently - who had been his 'boyfriend' until a couple of days ago 'but now he like someone else'. It's sick - sex tourism is rife both here and in Thailand and I am trying to get my head round that but peadophilia is something else - evil is the only word that even vaguely comes near to describing it.

I'm now ready to go to the city so Phnom Penh here I come ....

Since my last post I have moved from Koh Chang and crossed the border to Cambodia. Before leaving the island I managed to drag myself up off the beach and went for a trek on an elephant with one of the lovely Dutch girls I've been hanging out with. The sanctuary where they lived was deep in the jungle in the middle of the island and the animals seemed to really love their mahouts - keepers - and had none of the signs of abuse that I am told you should look for - namely scarring on the skin from where the mahout may have got a little too carried away with his stick. In fact as you can see I loved my particular elephant so much and I am certain that she was very happy with me that I am considering bringing one home to live in the garden.

Just to give you a flavour of where I've been and to probably make you just a little jealous .. here is one of the rather lovely beaches at an island off the coast of Koh Chang that I took a boat to the other day ..... nice ... and a just one of the stunning sunsets that the Thais kindly laid on for me!! Sadly my publishing skills leave are rubbish so I have no idea where the photos are going to end up when I upload them so as you can see they are just ending up where they feel like at the moment.....

I can't stop posting things now I've worked out how to send photos!! Here are a few more from the last few days

Fish

It's stopped working so will post more soon x

Treehouse living

So this is where I am staying - pretty near perfection - am going to sleep to the sound of monkeys and lapping waves. Definaltely beats N16 and N22.

Right then finally sorted out getting the photos on to the blog!!

I had a fairly uneasy start in Koh Chang, an island not to far from the Thai/Cambodia coastline, as parts of it seem to be a Club Med for wannabe hippys and I ended up in the middle of it. Have now moved to an idyllic treehouse down the coast and am as happy as a pig in shit. Went on snorkelling off some of the surrounding islands yesterday - something I haven't done in many many years after a bad experience where my brother blocked the breathing tube - anyway I forgive you Timmy as it made yesterday that more amazing. The island above is where I hadmy first snorkelling experience thanks to a lovely Thai guy (also above) who showed me alive and dead (very sad) coral, sea cucmbers and fish like I have never seen before.

Arrived

Have made it - the stories of Bangkok airport being a hell hole are unfounded I am glad to say and I have arrived safely at the hotel. Done some sightseeing today - lots of temples, monks, boats, weird smells and lots of whistling. The thing that strikes you the most is the pollution - I don't know about the greenhouse effect but respiratory disease must be prolific ... I really want to post some photos but am having trouble uploading them if anyone can give me help .... Wamamama where are you?