Hello again!
It's been a long time since I've been able to update this log because I couldn't log in on my own website in Vietnam. I'll try to write down my adventures from the last 1,5 month, forgive me if it's not complete. O, and don't forget to take a look at my pictures, they are all made last Januari when Niek, my boyfriend, visited me in Thailand.
Folow up Cambodia
I've visited Ankor Wat and it's surrounding temples and I must say it's most impresive! It's a huge area with over more then 100 temples, and of course I didn't visit them all, just the most popular ones. You can buy a 1 day ticket for 20 US $ or a 3 day ticket for 40 US $, I bought the latter but I only used 2 days, after that I had seen enough and I was tired.
Ankor Wat itself was the first temple I visited and I loved it, it's huge and the history about it is really facinating (you can read this in every guidebook of Cambodia) but it's not my favorite temple. My 2 favorites are Bayon with it's over 54 gothic towers and over 200 smiling, gargantuan faces of Avalokiteshvara (an ancient king) and Ta Prohm, because it's the most 'natural' site wich is hardly renovated. Ta Prohm is wellknown because of the large trees that grow in and on the ruines, a most impresive sight! When I return home I'll finally put my digital pictures on this site so you can see what I'm talking about.
The first day I rented a bycicle, but that wasn't a succes, you have to cycle 8 kilometers before you're in the park, and the park is so huge, that it takes you forever to go from 1 temple to the other. And a mountainbikeseat isn't comfertable at all if you're not used to it, believe me! So the next day I rented a motorbike with driver who drove me where-ever I wanted for just 6 US $ per day.
After 1 day recovering from all that walking and climbing (yes, some of these ruines you'll have to climb) I departed Siem Reap to go to Phnom Penh by expressboat. This was a very pleasant trip over the Tonle Sap lake and Tonle Sap river, wich gives you a good impression of the normal life in Cambodia, only the price was a bit high, 22 US $. But I do prever traveling over wather then land because of these bad roads there!
Phnom Penh is mostly known off it's Killing Fields and the history of the Khmer Rouge (altough all of Cambodia was the victim of this regime). I did visit the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum, what used to be the the Security Prison S-21, a centre of detention and torture. It's not a happy or beautifull place to visit, but I believe it's a good thing to learn about human history, even the worst pages of our history! When I visited these places I was realy moved and tears came in my eyes, all this violence and crazyness and it's only 25 years ago. I can recomend everybody to read more about the history of Cambodia, especially the regime of the Khmer Rouge, it's something I never realized before I went to Cambodia.
Altought Cambodia has been through a lot off terrible times, the people are still positive and friendly. The motordriver who took me to the Killing Fields invited me to his own house for diner and it was a special experience. The neighbourhood he lives in is very poor and I would call it a Ghetto. The people live there illegaly in their own build 'houses' and a foreigner is an attraction, so a lot of people came to see me, the 'white female'. Diner was prepared by his girlfriend (some kind of soup with vegetables and rice, very nice) and served on a platform where you sit on the floor, the food is placed in the middle to scoop on your own plate and the local wine is shared in 1 cup that goes around. The men eat seperate from the women, but probably because I'm a foreigner, I could eat at the men's table (als because my driver was the only one who could speak English). He invited some friends and he as my translator I could speak with them, some of them lived during the terrible regime of the Khmer Rouge and most of them lost a relative or sometimes they where the only one who survived....
I didn't stay long in Cambodia but it left a strong memory in my mind I'll never forget! I love the friendly people, the only thing what I don't like are the roads, but I'm sure this will improve in the coming years.
I'll be back soon to write about Vietnam.
Love,
Linda
