Part 2

My brother needed another visa for Thailand, to get this he had to leave the country. He wanted to head to Cambodia, I had a little trepidation owing to the dangers listed in the ´Lonely Planet´ guidebook. At first we were going to go by train and bus but that would´ve been to arduous, the roads are very crappy and the trains very slow, instead we opted to fly ´AirAsia´, the first time we went to the airport I forgot my passport so we had to leave the next day. AirAsia felt pretty dodgy, I wasn´t sure of the captain´s abilities, when we hit some rough turbulence I got a little worried, I don´t really like flying.
We weren´t off to a good start in Phnom Penh, the customs official was a bit of a weasel, he actually asked me to hurry up and then wanted money for a visa. As we left the airport we were hit by Cambodia-50 tuk tuk drivers yelling at us, we had no idea what was going on, finally we chose one. The driver was the biggest legend and he knew a lot about Cambodian history, either that or he was making it all up. The travel on the tuk tuk was relaxing and fun but also very polluted, we also had to hold our bags close, otherwise some scallywag might grab it off you (thanks Lonely Planet)
The hotel was OK but I think it was located in the ghetto of Phnom Penh, there were huge piles of rubbish lying around and a market with some dodgy looking food. We strolled down to the main bar area along the river, without the hassling it would be nice, children selling books, tuk tuk drivers, theres just too much hassling, it wears you out. Even in bars and restaurants.
We saw the lovely temple at the heart of Phnom Penh.
Two other things that made the trip woth while were the S21 prison, where the Khmer Rouge took their prisoners and the Killing Fields, where the prisoners and many more were taken for execution. Our tuk tuk driver took us to both and then to the Russian Market, I smaller, dirtier, meaner version of the one in Bangkok. They were a little hostile if you didn´t buy from them. They were also many unidentified meats just hanging around, not very appertising. We had to leave Phnom Penh, so after 3 days we boarded a surprisingly nice bus for Siem Reap, it played some pretty sweet Cambodian karaoke. The trip went quickly. Siem Reap is so much nicer, beautiful old French colonial and less hassling, the hotel was beaut and cheap, and we ate the nicest bbq beef with pickled vegetables in a baguette. We set off EARLY for the temples, our tuk tuk driver made us swear an oath to go with him and then his brother turned up late! So we just missed the sunset. Angkor Wat was so beautiful, amazing and calm, a really lovely place and in suprisingly good condition. I was very impressed, the other temples were also good ( there are heaps of temples on a massive area),just don´t get your hopes up for the Lara Croft temple, it looks good in the movie but it´s not so good in reality.
There was a really cool temple with many faces carved into it, Cambodian achitecture is very impressive and unique. Hassling reached a zenith at this place, everywhere you went, it was exhausting and they are so desperate, they never give up. Whilst I understand it, I really wasn´t expecting it. My tuk tuk driver taught me a trick-give a lolly to the kids, then they go run away happy, this backfired a bit, I gave one of the kids a lolly and then from nowhere about 20 kids and 10 tuk tuk drivers had me surrounded in a frenzy, I´ve never seen anything like it, that was the end of that bag!
I was very happy that I saw those things in Cambodia, but it really wasn´t as I expected it to be. Still, a good experience. We flew back to Thailand the next day, a bit of a relief.












Bottom 2 pictures are at Ayutthaya




We went to Ayutthaya on the second last day. I bit city near Bangkok with many old temples scattered about, It was enjoyable. A little like Siem Reap.
I returned a week early because I run out of money after those 2 and a half weeks.
I´ve enjoyed it in Melbourne more than I expected, however I have had a cold for most of the time, therefore I haven´t done too much.