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Josie's Giant Adventure
Between 1975 and 1979 a quarter of Cambodia's then population was killed or starved to death. It's hard not to think about that when you're there. I wonder in amazement that there is a country left at all. There is a lot of work still to be done though, there are loads of problems of corruption, a lot of very poor people constantly trying to sell you things and I thought there was a particularly noticeable rich poor divide. This all made it a bit of a heavy going place to be.
First I went to Siem Reap which is the town near the famous Angkor temples. It's geared up for tourists with loads of extravagant hotels and there are some nice bars and restaurants. I spent a day from sunrise to sunset at Angkor being driven around by a teenager on a moped. He'd put on his best shirt for the occasion. Sunrise at Angkor Wat was beautiful but not as spectacular as the sunset which was the most impressive I think I have ever seen. Angkor has loads of temples that range from between 1100 and 600 years old. It's amazing that some of them are still standing. Some are so old that huge trees have grown through the temples with roots hanging over the walls - it looks really amazing.
After Siem Reap I got the bus from hell down to Phnom Penh, the capital. Very loud Cambodian music was blaring out and it does not, unfortunately, make pleasant listening. The driver beeped literally every 10 seconds and had the loudest horn ever. Nothing he beeped at actually moved out of the way. I haven't witnessed so much unnecessary beeping since the broken jeep in Bolivia and taxi drivers in Cuzco. The bus was boiling hot and packed with 3 people sitting on a lot of seats. At the first stop, most of the locals bought hard boiled eggs to eat on the bus, so it smelt really nice. It was an interesting experience though.
In Phnom Penh I wondered around the town a bit and met up with some friends who are volunteers in Cambodia. It sounds like they have a hard job and it was really interesting chatting to them. Phnom Penh was pretty quiet when I was there are it was New Year so a lot of people were away and things were shut. But as part of the New Year celebrations kids stand on every street corner throwing water bombs - nice to be cooled off in the sweltering heat.
Then I made the journey to Thailand. I really thought I'd seen it all with journeys and transport on my trip. I was so, so wrong. My "bus" turned out to be a taxi but they were attempting to fit the same number of people in it as you put on a bus. OK, that's an exaggeration, but there were 9 of us. 9 people in one car! Granted, 2 were actually small children, but that's still 7 adults and 2 children in one car. The driver shared his seat, the 2 kids and their mum sat in the front passenger seat and I was in the back with 2 Cambodians and a Frenchman who cracked open his first can of beer at 7.30am. Given our traveling circumstances, I couldn't really blame him. This taxi journey took 6 hours and we had to cross 4 rivers on car ferries. Well, I say ferries, but it's a miracle that some of them float! The first and most impressive was 3 wooden rowing boats with big logs tied onto them that the cars, and in one case a truck with a bison on, drive onto.
Finally after 11 hours and a few safety concerns, I made it to Lonely Beach on Koh Chang which was to be the stunning setting for my last week.
Lots of love
Josiexx
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