We had a different guide to take us to Siem Reap but the same minibus, which was a shame as it's a very long way and the seats are very, very uncomfortable. I think it's designed for littler people than Europeans. It was another four hours of scary driving with the extra hazards of horses and carts on the main road, quaint but life threatening when our bus overtakes a truck overtaking a moped overtaking the pony. You'd never believe the roads are only two lanes wide then number of vehicles there are travelling abreast on them. I did discover however that even in the wilds of Cambodia's heartland they recognize an iPhone, at least that was the only words I could understand the waiters saying while I took some pictures.
After a couple of hours we turned off the main road and proceeded down a dirt track that got rougher and rougher, passing through poorer and poorer villages. It was at this point that I realized I had not asked to see the new guides credentials. My unease was not helped by the fact that he was wearing a Glock handgun t-shirt. Ir though our time was up but it turned out that we were going for a cruise on Ton Le Sap lake. This is the largest lake in south east Asia and people live on it in floating villages during the wet season. It was surprisingly pretty but it made me very glad that I had the fortune to be born anywhere except here and didn't have to make my living drying fish and making 'cheese' from rotting fish guts. The lake was absolutely huge and pretty rough as the wind gets a chance to kick up some waves across it's length. I was particularly astonished that I could still get a perfect mobile signal in the middle of a lake in the middle of Cambodia. Take that Optus.
When we finally arrived in Siem Reap it was a really pleasant surprise, very pretty, quite green and very quiet, except for the noise of building hotels, there seems to be a new one going up on every corner. The last two days have been temple-ing. So many temples. In fact I've pretty much got one memory of one giant temple. I did write down all the names and details of the ones we went to but I'm not sure it's going to help when I go through the photos. The group had a bit of a mutiny when we realized it was meant to be three full days of temples and asked for Monday off, Som the guide was pretty ok with it, I just hope he still gets paid.
The temples themselves are spectacular, all built between the 9th and 12th century then pretty much forgotten about for 400 years. It's a bit like forgetting where you built Westminster Abbey and Notre Dame. The only tiny downside is the huge crawling mass of tourists everywhere. It's impossible to get a picture without a Japanese person dawdling into shot. I would imagine that 10 years a go it was a wonderful and majestic place to visit, now it's a bit of a nightmare. In some of the more popular temples (I'm blaming you, Angelina Jolie) you literally have to run into place to get your picture before someone else beats you to it. There is also a constant barrage of people trying to sell you stuff. There is also a massive number of children begging and running around outside the temples which explains many NGO's concern for these children's safety. There is still a huge problem with the Gary Glitter brigade in Cambodia and you can see how easily these kids could be bought. They have absolutely no stranger danger programmed into them. There are a lot of organisations trying to help them, but often it's difficult to see where the line between teaching a skill for the future and child labour is, when you see 30 kids under 15 in one shed diligently carving tourist souvenirs it definitely looks more like labour.
Yesterday evening we spent the sunset at a temple. I completely misunderstood. I assumed we were going to take pictures of the place as the sun set and the stone glowed red. But actually we were all meant to sit on the top and watch the sun set over the trees. To be honest Ive seen sunsets; live in a place with some of the most beautiful in the world so it seemed a bit pointless. I was the only one left at ground level and it was the quietest time I had all day.
Back to town for dinner last night made me realize how buzzing Siem Reap is compared to the rest of the country, shops, cafes, bars and unfortunately still quite a lot of the dread-locked breed of traveler filling up the bars. These people are everywhere in their sarongs and beads, wherever you go in the world. I assume they all come from one place in Europe which must be empty most of the year.
So tomorrow is our free day and then I fly back to Oz so not much more to post really. If I happen to bump into another temple I'll let you know.
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