Travelling Asia is definitely different from travelling in Europe.
In Asia, Singaporeans are highly regarded, cos we are rich in their eyes.
In Europe, we are not seen as Singaporeans, but Chinese. So .. i guess that's
why the treatment we get is much much different.
well, Cambodia is not a most fascinating country except for the world wonder it has.
Angkor Wat (wat means temple) is their main tourist attraction, a world wonder, which i think that's all they need to have! It's like an Asian version of Italy's Pompeii!
Siem Reap (where Angkor wat is) and Phnom Penh (more developed one) are the main cities in Cambodia.
We just reached our guesthouse and we were peeping into a primary school right
opposite. The next picture shows a scene in the city centre of Siem Reap.
First meal we had in Siem reap... delicious dessert at Blue Pumpkin too!
We visited a market in Siem Reap and courageously tried a big big spider.
Yes, we shared one leg of the spider each and the boys ate the bodies.
GROSS! ... but it tastes like Chinese bah gua. not too bad actually.
Took me some time to overcome the hairy hairy legs. still scary.
We continue to wander in the city. and wandered into a high school!
We spoke to 2 friendly Cambodian students who were skipping lessons to chase a girl!
but i m glad that we managed to interact with many many natives during this trip.
It makes the experience more wholesome and fruitful!
We visited their lesson even! Fantastic.
Day2 and 3 and 4. Temple hopping day. This is what we came Cambodia for!
i don't understand why are their stairs so steep!
fooling ard :)
faces on stones
power trees which grew on the temples. big big roots
lovely children we met on the way.
on our way to see sunset. our drivers drove us to this steep hill
and left us there to climb and see sunset. This boy stole our hearts by selling
his flutes on barefoot and climbing along with us up the steep slope.
He even demostrate the flutes to us. I hope he used the money to buy some shoes.
we went to visit the Tonle Sap river for a change. pretty immune to the temples
by a certain time.
scenes we see on the way:
children hopping off their own boats onto the tourists' boat to sell fruits and drinks are common. Kids in a basin paddling to beg for money are also everywhere.
this is my favourite boy throughout the trip.
he carries a snake around and allow tourists to carry the snake too to earn a living.
I gave him the whistle and he loved it! i hope he can get more business with the whistle. :)
what always cheers me up?!?!! MARKETS! this mega market is not targetted at tourists so the things are more daily products instead of gifts and souvenirs.
before we leave siem reap... we went to the famous Angkor wat for the last time!
PHNOM PENH!
after visiting the peaceful, slow paced Siem reap...
we arrived at the busy and messy phnom penh with a bit of cultural shock!
I felt pretty comfortable but became more wary of the lack of security.
everyone was feeling quite down and bored by the city scene.
so photo taking always cheer us up..
we posed in our various "i miss.... " poses
i miss home
i miss my bed
i miss my girlfriend
i miss my laptop
i miss my maid............
the main part of Phnom Penh is the killing fields.
well, the whole genocide began in Cambodia in 1975, until 1979.
The country was being rules by the Khmer Rouge, led by this crazy man named Polpot.
Polpot wants all the intellectuals, like doctors, lawyers, lecturers, in the country to die and wants the whole country to start from the basics again, like farming.
So he gradually killed them and their families in a Chinese cemetery by burying them alive, or torturing them till death. The reason for choosing a Chinese cemetery is to cover up the numbers he has killed. When we visit these killing fields, all the bodies were dugged up and the bones preserved. However, there are still some bones left on the ground.
In the middle of the field is a big tree, where he used to hang a very loud speaker to play very loud music to cover up the screaming voices of the victims.
After his reign, the people wanted to kill him.
So he escaped to the borders of Cambodia and Vietnam. To protect himself, landmines were placed at the borders so that no one can enter the region to capture him. That's why there are so many landmine victims with no hands or legs in Cambodia now.
1975 is actually quite recent. Anyone more on the streets of Cambodia now, who are around 30 yr old or more, would have lived through that awful period of time.
sad... :( ... my condolences.
which i don't wish to review the photographs i took. cos they are haunting!
here are just a few.
Cambodia is an amazing country.
rich in culture.
people are really friendly and hardworking there...
but i wonder how much harder they need to try to get their country back on track again.
i m a contented person now.
