cambodia
Siem Reap
November 28, 2014
Flight from Hanoi was uneventful. Landed in Siem Reap near sunset. We expected a car to pick us up, but instead it was the four of us, four pieces of luggage and two backpacks in a tuk-tuk. We were all crammed in, plus the weight wasn't distributed evenly, and so we were going down the road sideways. We moved the weight around so that we didn't tip over. Our ride to the hotel was 30 minutes through some pretty extreme and depressing poverty. The hotel is okay, and the price is right at $89 per night. However, the room Robin and I were originally placed in also has a broken air conditioner. As much as I hate air-conditioning, there is NO way we could survive without it! It's BRUTALLY hot as hell here. Low 90's with very oppressive soupy, syrupy humidity. We were given another room, and they said they were going to move us out of it when the air gets fixed in the original room. We don't really care; we just have to have air that works.
We met a friend of Kenny's for dinner. We walked through the boiling streets to a very cheap Indian restaurant that had excellent food. Five people - $35!! Now off to bed for a wakeup at 4 AM.
Flight from Hanoi was uneventful. Landed in Siem Reap near sunset. We expected a car to pick us up, but instead it was the four of us, four pieces of luggage and two backpacks in a tuk-tuk. We were all crammed in, plus the weight wasn't distributed evenly, and so we were going down the road sideways. We moved the weight around so that we didn't tip over. Our ride to the hotel was 30 minutes through some pretty extreme and depressing poverty. The hotel is okay, and the price is right at $89 per night. However, the room Robin and I were originally placed in also has a broken air conditioner. As much as I hate air-conditioning, there is NO way we could survive without it! It's BRUTALLY hot as hell here. Low 90's with very oppressive soupy, syrupy humidity. We were given another room, and they said they were going to move us out of it when the air gets fixed in the original room. We don't really care; we just have to have air that works.
We met a friend of Kenny's for dinner. We walked through the boiling streets to a very cheap Indian restaurant that had excellent food. Five people - $35!! Now off to bed for a wakeup at 4 AM.
November 29, 2014
Got up at 4 AM so that we can see the temples of Angkor Wat at sunrise. Our tuk-tuk driver was waiting out front to take us. We were first in line to buy tickets at 4:40, waiting for the booth to open at 5 am. Unfortunately, it was the wrong line (the three day pass, not the one day), and the correct line was around the building where the other 200 people were. Thankfully that line went fast, and we got to the temple grounds. It's still pitch black, and this wall of a thousand tourists is moving down this walkway that has water on either side with no rails. I was so glad that Robin (and many others) had cell phones with flashlights, because you really can't see where you are going. Then you crowd together like mice on the edge of the lake to wait for the sunrise in the blackness. Oh yeah, did I mention that there are about a hundred gnats per person flying around your face? (OMG, as I was just typing this, a spider came down from the ceiling right onto my iPad!!!) Since we certainly weren't close to being the first people there, we were about six people back. Plus everyone has their cameras raised so high in the air, because the whole goal is to get the reflection in the murky lake in front of the temples. At one point, I thought I might as well just take a picture of the camera screen of the girl in front of me. Every time she took a shot, she immediately came up to take another one, which completely blocked any shot I was trying to take. All of this was in vain though. The sunrise was the most boring sunrise ever, just clouds and no color at all. But the temples are amazing!! Angkor Wat (in particular) in perfectly preserved, while Bayon Temple is more rundown but certainly more interesting. But by 8 AM the heat is totally unbearable, and all I wanted to do is to get back in the moving tuk-tuk to get some hint of a breeze. We were back at our hotel by 9:30 for breakfast, which was passable at best.
Went to lunch at Hard Rock Cafe because we can get something for Anton. Five people - $100! For lunch! That's what we get for eating at a westernized restaurant.
Got up at 4 AM so that we can see the temples of Angkor Wat at sunrise. Our tuk-tuk driver was waiting out front to take us. We were first in line to buy tickets at 4:40, waiting for the booth to open at 5 am. Unfortunately, it was the wrong line (the three day pass, not the one day), and the correct line was around the building where the other 200 people were. Thankfully that line went fast, and we got to the temple grounds. It's still pitch black, and this wall of a thousand tourists is moving down this walkway that has water on either side with no rails. I was so glad that Robin (and many others) had cell phones with flashlights, because you really can't see where you are going. Then you crowd together like mice on the edge of the lake to wait for the sunrise in the blackness. Oh yeah, did I mention that there are about a hundred gnats per person flying around your face? (OMG, as I was just typing this, a spider came down from the ceiling right onto my iPad!!!) Since we certainly weren't close to being the first people there, we were about six people back. Plus everyone has their cameras raised so high in the air, because the whole goal is to get the reflection in the murky lake in front of the temples. At one point, I thought I might as well just take a picture of the camera screen of the girl in front of me. Every time she took a shot, she immediately came up to take another one, which completely blocked any shot I was trying to take. All of this was in vain though. The sunrise was the most boring sunrise ever, just clouds and no color at all. But the temples are amazing!! Angkor Wat (in particular) in perfectly preserved, while Bayon Temple is more rundown but certainly more interesting. But by 8 AM the heat is totally unbearable, and all I wanted to do is to get back in the moving tuk-tuk to get some hint of a breeze. We were back at our hotel by 9:30 for breakfast, which was passable at best.
Went to lunch at Hard Rock Cafe because we can get something for Anton. Five people - $100! For lunch! That's what we get for eating at a westernized restaurant.
Robin and I decided to go to one last temple about sunset. It's the Ta Prohm Temple and is the one that Angelina Jolie shot Tomb Raider at a few years back. This one was amazing and is the one not to miss! Not only because the jungle has completely overrun the whole ruins that makes it haunting and mysterious, but also because we went at the end of the day and were practically the only people there. The heat is a little more bearable at sunset. The temple has giant 200-year-old trees with massive root systems that have completely engulfed many buildings in the temple. They curl around the structures like boa constrictors. I can see why they used this particular ruins to film the movie... Makes me almost want to see it!
Robin and I finished the evening up at a wonderful little Italian restaurant called "Momma Shop" that was extremely hard to find on a dark side street. But the Margherita pizza was excellent and the total bill was $9!!
Robin and I finished the evening up at a wonderful little Italian restaurant called "Momma Shop" that was extremely hard to find on a dark side street. But the Margherita pizza was excellent and the total bill was $9!!
November 30, 2014/Dec 1, 2014
We had no idea what we were going to do today and it ended up being a really nice day. Robin and I took a 45-minute tuk-tuk ride into the country to go to the Cambodian landmine museum. (I say "country" but it really is more like jungle. I've never seen so many insects!) The man that started this museum used to be a child soldier fighting for the Khmer Rouge. His family was killed when he was 5, and he was burying land mines for them by the age of ten. Later, he had a complete change of heart and now clears the country of landmines. In addition, there is also an orphanage behind the museum, and many of these kids have lost a limb due to the buried landmines. Supposedly there are anywhere from 3 to 6 million landmines still buried in Cambodia. The man was a CNN Hero finalist a few years ago. The museum was very small and we got through it quickly, but still well worth the $5 entrance fee.
We had no idea what we were going to do today and it ended up being a really nice day. Robin and I took a 45-minute tuk-tuk ride into the country to go to the Cambodian landmine museum. (I say "country" but it really is more like jungle. I've never seen so many insects!) The man that started this museum used to be a child soldier fighting for the Khmer Rouge. His family was killed when he was 5, and he was burying land mines for them by the age of ten. Later, he had a complete change of heart and now clears the country of landmines. In addition, there is also an orphanage behind the museum, and many of these kids have lost a limb due to the buried landmines. Supposedly there are anywhere from 3 to 6 million landmines still buried in Cambodia. The man was a CNN Hero finalist a few years ago. The museum was very small and we got through it quickly, but still well worth the $5 entrance fee.
Robin got us into trouble with her Texas friendliness. There was this young guy riding a bicycle along the road. She said (as a joke) "do you want to hitch a ride?" and the next thing we knew he was hanging on to the tuk-tuk. For 25 minutes! He was supposed to be going to one of the temples, but changed his mind and decided go to the museum with us instead. He didn't have the $5 to get in, and so he was just hanging out near the entrance with our tuk-tuk driver. I saw him go into this one are off to the side, and so we ran and jumped into the tuk-tuk to make a quick getaway! He was a student from Warsaw and traveling alone for 6 months, and we have realized that these solo backpackers are starved for human companionship.
We had our best meal of all today at a restaurant called "Aha". It was definitely a gourmet restaurant, and it was attached to a men-only gay hotel. The dessert was probably one of the best desserts I've ever had. It was bananas sautéed in something sweet and chili peppers, with cane palm ice cream. Dessert with a kick! It was awesome.
We spent the rest of the day shopping. Unfortunately none, or very few of the stores (stalls, really) have AC, so in the blazing sun of the afternoon there isn't much reprieve. We have to get back to our hotel room for AC.
Dinner was at a vegetarian restaurant. It was good, except they had no running water in the bathroom. If you want to wash your hands, you have to wash them in the ten-gallon bucket of water on the floor!
So we are now preparing for our 27-hour flight home. Our thoughts on SE Asia...? We both like Cambodia and Siem Reap better than Vietnam. Hanoi was just too chaotic. The people of Cambodia are much friendlier and willing to help. We especially did not care for the attitudes of many Vietnamese men. But, as we thought, the highlight of the trip was the three days in Bai Tu Long bay.
Thank you for my wonderful life and fantastic trip!
Dinner was at a vegetarian restaurant. It was good, except they had no running water in the bathroom. If you want to wash your hands, you have to wash them in the ten-gallon bucket of water on the floor!
So we are now preparing for our 27-hour flight home. Our thoughts on SE Asia...? We both like Cambodia and Siem Reap better than Vietnam. Hanoi was just too chaotic. The people of Cambodia are much friendlier and willing to help. We especially did not care for the attitudes of many Vietnamese men. But, as we thought, the highlight of the trip was the three days in Bai Tu Long bay.
Thank you for my wonderful life and fantastic trip!