Temples, Beggars and Cockroaches

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On our last day in Bangkok, we spent quite a bit of time formulating a plan to cross the border into Cambodia. We learnt that we had various options to choose from but only one way was going to keep us away from the scammers, and not break the bank. We found an amazing website that gave us step by step directions on getting to and through the border in true backpacker style.

We woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning to make sure we were at the Bangkok train station before 5:30 am. We purchased our economy car train tickets (for about $1.50 a piece) and were rolling down the tracks before 6. The train ride was another hot and sticky, bum-numbing 6 hour ride. We spent the time admiring the beautiful scenery of the countryside, while listening to music and taking breaks watching the locals getting on and off at every stop along the way.
 
When we made it to the border town, Tuk-Tuk drivers were lined up ready to overcharge all of us Westerners for the quick ride to exit customs. We managed to bargain one of them down to $3 and made our way down the dusty, smelly streets. The driver dropped us off at the scammer visa-on-the-spot shop, just as our research had warned us. We grabbed our packs and walked right through the
parking lot, past the shop and continued down the dirt road on foot. The scammer shops charge $45 US for a Cambodian Visa, while official customs will give you one right as you enter for $20 tops. Once we got our visas and stamps and walked across the border, there was a free shuttle bus waiting, to take us to the bus station. There, we got into a group van that took us the rest of the way to the Siem Riep city centre. Despite the smog, dust, heat and exhaustion, we made it into Cambodia with much more ease than we had expected.



During the 3 days we spent in Siem Riep we hired a driver (for a very affordable price) to take us to all the temples in and around Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the largest Buddhist temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. While there, we got hassled by large groups of young kids to buy bracelets, books, and postcards but the temples where immense and beautiful.







One night we took a courtesy ride from our hotel into the downtown area, to check out the night market. We shared the ride with another couple from our hotel and ended up joining them for dinner, drinks and trivia night at the local "Irish" Pub. They were also doing a charity raffle, and we won one of the grand prizes, a tour for two to some local villages, but as we were leaving the next day, we donated the prize back to the pub and they auctioned it off. The busy streets downtown were filled with beggars like the ones we saw at the temples. We even caught one of the kids giving us the finger when we refused on camera!

 On our 4rth day, we hopped on a day bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia and our next destination. The city was only 300 km away but it took us 8 hours to get there driving through the one lane dirt roads the whole way there. We made a big mistake booking our hotel through Hotwire's blind hot $10 deal of the day. As it didn't ended up being as 'hot' as we had been led to believe, as it was way outside of the touristy area. We decided to make the best of it, however, and set out to walk the local motorbike packed streets. We found a great restaurant with spicy beef soup and enjoyed our time watching the locals hustle in the streets. When we got back to our room however, we were welcomed with a big fat cockroach right at our door. It took us a while to locate it, after it made a run for it and hid under our bed. But Dave was able to catch it eventually while Alice yelled and screamed standing as far away from it as she possibly could.




The next day we set out to learn about the horrific history of Cambodia's past. We hired our favorite Tuk-Tuk driver to date, "Ricky Bobby", to take us to the Genocide Museum in an old Cambodian prison, and the killing fields where the prisoners were eventually taken to be killed. The prison was an old high school that was turned into a prison by the Khmer Rouge between 1975-1979. Over 20, 000 prisoners were housed, tortured and executed here during the rise of the Genocide killings.



At the killing fields we were given a head set at the entrance which acted as our personal tour guides while directing us from station to station marking the significance of each spot. After each station you could choose to listen to a short story by one of the genocide survivors which really gave us a feel for the events that happened there. Everything that we saw and heard that day was horrifying. We saw the prison cells the prisoners were crammed into, the weapons used for torturing them and mass graves they were thrown into when it was all over. It was a very uneasy day, but we were happy that we were able to learn as much as we did no matter how unimaginable the events may have been.

On our second last day in the country we made our way to the Vietnamese embassy to apply for our visa's and booked an afternoon bus for the following day to the whole land border crossing all over again.


To our loyal and loving readers,
With love from the dusty, historical streets of Cambodia,



D'Alice