Cambodia- Siem Reap and Ankor Wat

Having been fortunate to have lived in Cambodia I figured combining a bit of travel writing to my blogging creations would be good fun and hopefully to those poor souls who follow my ramblings ;) So I will break Cambodia up into a number of parts as there is a lot to tell that will benefit any of you out there in internet land who might be thinking of visiting this special place.

With anywhere you travel there are upsides and downs, for me though there are certain fundamentals in what 'makes' a Country stand out, and at the core of that lies the people. Like most south east asian Countries Cambodians are generally wonderful and friendly people. Don't get me wrong they like to hustle as you will see shortly, but to a certain extent you cannot blame them. After all this Country has only recently come out of what was basically a civil war, under the evil dictatorship of Pol Pot and the Kymer Rouge (once again backed by western governments and China) which saw millions murdered in cold blood. This is very much a Country finding its feet again, and finding it quickly.

What always amazes me when you visit any of these 'third World' Countries is that the less people have the friendlier and happier they seem to be, maybe we could learn a lot more from these nations than we think, they have not been infected with corporations and capitalism so have retained their humanity thus far. I remember having a conversation with a Cambodian girl who said to me that I was 'lucky because I come from a rich Country. I explained that although on the surface it seemed good to her, the west has pretty much sold its soul and lost its authenticity, and that given the choice I think I would prefer to have the latter. She looked at me like I was nuts.

Anyways enough of the politics and more of the stories that make me look like Ive never been abroad! First stop was where most people go in Cambodia, Siem Reap the home of the famous temples Ankor Wat. I had wanted to go for years and so I finally rocked up in the City via a long coach journey from Bangkok where I spent most of the journey stressing as I had gone swimming in the sea in Koh Tao with my debit card, which was probably by that point, floating somewhere around the Island of Koh Samui!

So I arrived and was having a walking around the well known 'Pub Street' in Siem Reap ( I wasn't drunk or planning to get drunk as I dont drink) and what I will tell you now may contradict my 'friendly Cambodians' somewhat, but I must point out this was the only bad experience I had in my nearly 2 years there, and it wasn't even that bad, its actually quite funny looking back.

So I was walking around and I came across this girl dressed in literal rags, she had a baby in her arms and she was showing me an empty bottle for her baby and basically begging. Strangely and this is what really hooked me in was that she wasnt asking for money but that I buy her baby some milk. Now my heart strings had already been pulled to snapping point, and the fact she was asking for food rather than money made me think it was authentic. So off we went,. We walked for a short while to a small shop which sold the baby food, I was shocked at the price of this powdered milk she was showing me at $25. I dont have kids so I had no clue as to whether or not this was the right price so I went with it. At that point she also asks if I can buy her brothers baby some milk too! It was at this point the penny dropped that I was probably being scammed! I had gone too far to turn back now and I bought her the powdered milk only to see her an hour later waltzing a Chinese tourist off with an empty bottle in hand! I later found out that the girl is in cahoots with the shop owner and they all get a piece of the pie! I actually laughed and admired the cunningness of the scam, like I said I learnt my lesson early!

So onto Ankor Wat for sunrise the next morning via a tuk-tuk. These are not like any other temples, Ive been in Asia long enough now to think if you've seen one temple you've seen them all! But no these are unique, and its not just Ankor Wat, which is just one of many you can visit, all unique and with architect that astounds when you consider what they used to build with at the time. Thats if they were not using some kind of levitation technique (apologies for my conspiracy side coming out here)! Its not just the temples its also the general energy around the place, you can definitely see that there was a big reason why they were built on this specific site. When you get to Ankor Wat be prepared for the tourists, you can escape them by going off the beaten tourist trail to find a secluded spot, but thats the rebel in me because I dont think you're supposed to. And so it was I found a wonderful place to watch the Sun come up over the main temple. I couldnt help but laugh at the hoards of people I could see battling for photographs. Realistically you need two days minimum to take in all of this site and visit the different temples, take lots of water as even walking to and from the tuk tuk (thats without climbing up some of the temples) can be exhausting in the heat.

After a few days I left for Sihanoukville on the coast which is the gateway to the Islands, I will write a part two to talk about this as I was there for a while. Also check out the below video of a family I was helping at the time and their remarkable journey and the extreme poverty they exist in to get a taste of how some people live!

Tony Sayers
Love, care, courage