Holiday In Cambodia

 

From Bangkok we took a bus to the border of Cambodia. At the Cambodian side of the border a certain young man leeched on to us and tried to help us with changing currency, eating, transportation and everything. As you might imagine by now, we took advantage of the guys hospitality and left him hanging without any decent compensation. That's just the way poor backpackers roll.

Ride from the border to Siem Reap took some hours by taxi. This was one of the craziest rides so far, with easily over 50 % of the time spend on the opposite lane or side of the road.

Siem Reap was a major backpacker hub, with lots of fellow westerners to throw high-fives at. One of the top things to do in Siem Reap is to take a fish massage. It's a win-win for you and the fish. Fish get to dine your soft hands and feet, and you get something your girlfriend wouldn't give you.

 There it is, behind the moronic tourists, Angkor Wat. One of the wonders of the world and a UNESCO Word Heritage Site. After fish massage, this temple is the second thing you should experience when travelling to Siem Reap and Cambodia.

There was a crazy mass of people trying to capture the magic of sunrise at the Angkor Wat -temple.

It was as if we were waiting some world-class celebrity to enter the stage. It took a long time for the sun to finally rise.

 

Angkor Wat had some steep steps, but not steep enough to thin the herd of tourists. At the back of the latter picture you can see how many ancient window colums tourists have taken as a souvenir. Our guide had some inside info, that the chinese tourists were behind this unique souvenier idea.

At the temple area we spotted a fellow mammal, an elephant. Some sources say, that there's somewhere between 250-600 wild elephants tooting in the tropical forests of Cambodia. This individual was made to wear silly gape and carry tourists as an au pair -worker.

Harry is showing which fingers he wants to have dismembered as a sacrifice to this ancient temple of gods.

 

A statement from mother nature received. 

 

Staring contest was lost against the ancient god. 

 I feel sorry for our guide, because the poor guy thought he could teach us something about the temple to our ignorant thick heads. What a pity. 

   

We found it, the Pub Street at Siem Reap. A place where all the drunk-a-likes gather in a crowded bar and mingle. This bar had a special deal, where you'd get a free T-shirt for every three buckets of liquor you drink. And everybody has to have a shirt, right?

All day and all night - riding with the Tuktuk. The people in Cambodia and basically in all of the surrounding countries spend most of their lives on top of a tuktuk or a scooter. For every tourist there is at least 10 or more tuktuk's available at all times.

 

After Siem Reap it was again time for some near-death experiences on Cambodian roads. This time we were heading to the capital city, Phnom Penh. I figured out the perfect way to skip Cambodian road madness entirely.

 

They don't have kebab in Cambodia, but they have the next best thing, grasshoppers.

 If you are not that experimental in your snack choices, you can always try the local Kentucky Fried Chicken.

 In the suburbs of Phnom Penh lies a thrilling place called "the Killing Fields". It's one of the places where people were killed and tortured during the Cambodian genocide. Killing Fields is a modest, but terrifying place, where you get a glimpse of the cruelty of human nature. Audio tour of the place helps you to understand better what exactly happened here. 

 One of the top three places to have a power nap is definately a tuktuk.

Boatride from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc, Vietnam, is good for sleeping. Although, the motor of the boat is producing somewhat 80 desibels of noise to your nightmares. The scenery along the river is agrarian and flat, but if you're lucky you might see some waterbuffalos pooping into the river.

 If you can't get sleep, get a beer.

To summarize some thoughts about Cambodia. It's obviously a poor third world country, which thrives from tourism. In practice this means, that there are certain places made for tourists to play with themselves. This means, that you probably don't get to experience the local way of life, because staying at the tourist trail is just way too fun.