Cambodia to Bangkok 10 July to 16 July

Saturday 10 July – Phnom Penh – Siem Reap
We were collected by minibus at 7.15 and taken to the big bus and left at 8am. The landscape is extremely flat and in some places looked like outback Australia. It was dry and boring interspersed with rice paddies and villages and towns. We arrived around 2pm and as the bus entered the depot they closed a gate behind which kept all the touts out so we weren’t inundated with accommodation touts and tuk tuk drivers. We got a lovely young man named Longdy who took us to town in his tuk tuk for $1US each. He took us to a guesthouse of his choice but we didn’t like the location so he took us to another one but it was on a main road so we went back to the first one and got the room for $8 instead of $10 and as it turned out it was in the perfect spot. The currency is Reil but all the ATMs give out American dollars. We arranged for Longdy to collect us in his tuk tuk tomorrow. We walked around town, went to the night market and ate at the local food markets for $1 each. Except Peter accidentally ordered two bowls of soup so we gave one to a tuk tuk driver. Bought a couple of books off a man with no legs. He had been a soldier fighting for the communists and trod on a mine in 1990 when he was just 24.

Sunday 11 July – Siem Reap
Longdy collected us in his tuk tuk at 8am and we headed off to Ankor Wat. We had the most amazing day – the temples are incredible. The first port of call was Angkor Wat itself. We walked across a long causeway across the moat and looked at a few buildings in the grounds then into the temple itself. We took an hour or two here and then Longdy took us to Angkor Thom. The second temple was amazing. At first glance it looks like a jumbly pile of rocks all piled up on top of each other then you see the faces in the rocks. The carved murals are in quite good condition and really interesting. The temple had three levels and we explored the whole place – it was amazing. We saw the Elephant wall and the Lepers Wall. It was extremely hot but the exploring was amazing. The one with the faces and the one with the trees were our favourites. The one with the trees had been left overgrown and in a state of disrepair and you could walk in and out all over the place. Longdy told us that in high season it gets so crowded it takes 4 hrs just to see Angkor Wat and we saw so many temples. Near one of the temples we followed a track through the bush (remember this moment!) and found the North gate which had a pretty good garuda in the corner. Most of the statues and buddhas have lost their heads – destroyed or plundered. There are lots of children around the temples all trying to sell little nik naks and are very persistent. They all speak excellent English and when you tell them where you are from they immediately start reciting facts about your country including Julia Gillard being the PM which as you know was a very recent change but they had it down pat! Longdy then took us back the way we had come so we could see all the places we had visited. A slow tuk tuk ride back to town finished off a truly wonderful day. We went down Pub Street and had some 50 cent beers and a meal. Bought the amputee (from whom we bought the books) a beer and had a chat. He is 44 and was 24 when he lost his legs. He was in the army for 9 years and gets a $45/month pension and supplements that by selling books. (A good few of the books including Lonely Planets are all good photocopies and not originals).

Monday 12 July – Siem Reap
Had a late start to the day – made enquiries about a bus to the infamous Thai/Cambodian border – our guest house charged $10 but the bus company was $7 then $8 so we decided to go with the guesthouse as he said we get a sticker to walk across the border and then get in a big VIP bus with a toilet. We walked around town and did some shopping. Met a fellow who asked us if we could speak English and asked us what swamp meant. Turned out it was a good ploy to get a conversation going so he could ask for money for books for his orphanage! We still don’t know if there was an orphanage or not as everything is just photocopies. We gave him $1 – we laughed about this with Cilantro as they also got pulled up and their word was meadow and they gave him $2!!! When we were eating at the night market we saw a person going along the street on their bottom so asked the waiter if they needed a feed. He went and got this person who turned out to be a little old lady who couldn’t walk so we bought her a meal ($1!!) and she was so thrilled to be sitting up on a seat there. We gave her another dollar for another meal and got a takeaway for a man we had seen on the footpath. We couldn’t wake him up so just left it beside him but we found out later that he is a hopeless drunk and the next morning when we drove past him he was still asleep with three unopened meals beside him. Very sad.

Tuesday 13 July – Siem Reap, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand
Happy third birthday Jessie
The minibus came to collect us to take us to the big bus but a Russian couple reckoned they had paid for their meal but the guesthouse owner said not so they wouldn’t let the bus go. We sat in the heat while a very heated discussion ensued ending in nasty insults from the Russians who eventually paid – around $7! We then went to the big bus which was a ¾ bus. Because we had requested specific seats (11 & 12!) we were put on the bus first then all the bags were piled up behind the back seat then the rest of the passengers got on and luggage was piled up the aisle and we left around 8.30am. It was around 150 Kms to the border and we had two stops in that time. Got to the border around 11.30. Got our stickers and walked across the border – no problems. Then we were shoved in the back of a troop carrier and taken to the ‘big’ bus which wasn’t VIP and didn’t have a toilet! It was an uneventful trip with one loo stop requested and another stop to fill with gas – we were all told to get off the bus and we didn’t know why so all refused! Then we realised they couldn’t fill the bus with gas with us on board. We finally got into Bangkok around 7pm (it should have been around a 5 hr trip). A rather longer trip than it should have been. The bus dropped us in the middle of the tourist area and we walked up the road and found a guesthouse and then went for a walk. It seemed to be a pretty happening place. We ate at a table in the street.

We have to say that we really loved Cambodia and her people and would definitely go back again. All the kids seemed to be in schools and English was widely spoken. They have certainly come a long way in the last thirty years and you really wonder how they all survived and how they are so happy.

Wednesday 14 July – Bangkok
Dell’s ankles are completely rashed and swollen. Walked around then met a plain clothes policeman who told us that today was the last day of a Government subsidy to tuk tuks. For 5 baht each we could have a tuk tuk for the day to see all the Wats. We saw two then we went to the gem centre then as a favour to the tuk tuk driver to the tailor which was ridiculous and then to another gem centre. Then it started pouring rain and he wanted us to go somewhere else as a favour and we said no and got him to drop us back. Sat in a bar in the street near our guesthouse and watched the world go by. Motorbikes riding on the footpath and they all seem to target Dell!!!!

Thursday 15 July – Bangkok
Caught a taxi to the station to book our tickets for the train. Unfortunately they only had upper bunks left. We then walked to China town but Dell’s ankles were itchy and sore and Peter started feeling unwell so we went to the shopping centres which weren’t up to much but were air conditioned. We then walked all the way back and down a street which had nothing but guns and ammunition for sale. Then Peter went back to the room to lie down and Dell went to buy a couple of shirts. Peter had a temperature of 102.4 so got some drugs from the chemist. We went out to dinner then to bed. (Remember that little walk through the bush in Siem Reap??!!)

Friday 16 July – Bangkok – overnight train
Dell did some shopping, Peter not too well. Were out of the room by 12 noon and sat in the guesthouse till 1.15 then caught a taxi to the station. Went to our little restaurant with the litre jugs of beer and had lunch. And then it was on the train and off for an uneventful trip.