Safe in Phnom Penh
Hello all,
I am in Phnom Penh right now, the capital city of Cambodia, after two very difficult journeys. The trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap was ridiculous (see Amar's entry on the site) and the journey by boat from Siem reap to Battambong although beautiful, was uncomfortable to say the least. We have discovered that the time required to travel from place to place is double the time quoted by the official that you purchase your ticket from. Foreigners also must pay absurd amounts to make these journeys, just a fact of the Cambodian life. The people here are unbelievable beautiful and the children in particular have a way of stealing your heart. It is very difficult to see them in such living conditions and even more difficult to imagine what they have been through over the last century in terms of political discourse. Amar is reading a book right now on the civil war of Cambodia in which the Khmer Rouge killed millions of innocent Cambodian people. If anyone is interested there is a great movie called the Killing Fields that is a good history of what it was like to live during their regime.
Siem Reap was unbelievable and we spent 4 days there visiting the temple city of Angkor Wat. It was inspirational and spiritual. We were fortunate enough to catch both sunrise and sun set at the main temple called Angkor Wat its self and spend the rest of the days exploring the numerous ruins. My favorite temple (Ta Phrom) featured gigantic tree roots woven into the ruins of a 500 year old temple. I could have stayed there my whole life it was so beautiful. The last day of our 40 USD pass was spent with our good friend Alice checking out our favorite sites one last time, this time by bicycle instead of the standard rickshaw tour. It was a perfect way to end our time there. We finished out our time in Siem Reap drinking beer and watching football in good conversation with Alice about her life in Belgium. Everyone has such interesting stories to tell and I always enjoy to hear these stories.
After a quick stop over in Battambong we arrived in Phnom Penh aboard the easiest bus ride to date. The guest house we are staying in is in the heart of backpacker country and has a beautiful deck built on stilts out over the water. A perfect place to read, write, converse and reflect. Although, the room conditions are horrid, however we have made the best of it and don't mind it for a few days as it was so cheap (1 dollar a day). We are off to see the killing fields and torture areas that the Khmer Rouge used tomorrow. It will be difficult to see, but I think something that I need to experience while I am here. Anyways, once again, hope all is well and I will be in touch. Take care and thanks for taking time to read, I love sharing my adventures.
Peace,
Dave
I am in Phnom Penh right now, the capital city of Cambodia, after two very difficult journeys. The trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap was ridiculous (see Amar's entry on the site) and the journey by boat from Siem reap to Battambong although beautiful, was uncomfortable to say the least. We have discovered that the time required to travel from place to place is double the time quoted by the official that you purchase your ticket from. Foreigners also must pay absurd amounts to make these journeys, just a fact of the Cambodian life. The people here are unbelievable beautiful and the children in particular have a way of stealing your heart. It is very difficult to see them in such living conditions and even more difficult to imagine what they have been through over the last century in terms of political discourse. Amar is reading a book right now on the civil war of Cambodia in which the Khmer Rouge killed millions of innocent Cambodian people. If anyone is interested there is a great movie called the Killing Fields that is a good history of what it was like to live during their regime.
Siem Reap was unbelievable and we spent 4 days there visiting the temple city of Angkor Wat. It was inspirational and spiritual. We were fortunate enough to catch both sunrise and sun set at the main temple called Angkor Wat its self and spend the rest of the days exploring the numerous ruins. My favorite temple (Ta Phrom) featured gigantic tree roots woven into the ruins of a 500 year old temple. I could have stayed there my whole life it was so beautiful. The last day of our 40 USD pass was spent with our good friend Alice checking out our favorite sites one last time, this time by bicycle instead of the standard rickshaw tour. It was a perfect way to end our time there. We finished out our time in Siem Reap drinking beer and watching football in good conversation with Alice about her life in Belgium. Everyone has such interesting stories to tell and I always enjoy to hear these stories.
After a quick stop over in Battambong we arrived in Phnom Penh aboard the easiest bus ride to date. The guest house we are staying in is in the heart of backpacker country and has a beautiful deck built on stilts out over the water. A perfect place to read, write, converse and reflect. Although, the room conditions are horrid, however we have made the best of it and don't mind it for a few days as it was so cheap (1 dollar a day). We are off to see the killing fields and torture areas that the Khmer Rouge used tomorrow. It will be difficult to see, but I think something that I need to experience while I am here. Anyways, once again, hope all is well and I will be in touch. Take care and thanks for taking time to read, I love sharing my adventures.
Peace,
Dave
posted by Amar | 7:58 AM
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