Cambodia so far................

Its been a while again and in that time we've been to Sihanoukville.....chilled on the beach for 7 days, back to Phnom Penh and on to Siem Reap for temple overload.



Sihanoukville


This place really encapsulates what is happening to Cambodia. Development, development development on a mass scale with little regulation or monitoring. What was said to us by a Cambodian guide was 'the rich are getting richer and the poor much, much poorer''.


Foreign investment is coming in and soon-to-be-resorts are slowly sprouting up all along the amazing coast [nothing moves fast in Cambodia]. There are a lot of people getting on with it and making dollars from the tourists but there are as many that are being left out this new Cambodia and they are the poorest in the country. And the poorest in Sihanoukville are the beach hawkers, who on the whole are kids trying to selling everything to anyone, from fruit to scarves to postcards. They ask for your empty pop cans, plastic bottles and your left over food. Like all places with tourists with cash, ''tourists'' can buy whatever you want and in the very recent past that was so true. Things are slowly changing and there seems a much better awareness by everyone on issues around trafficking and all types of exploitation.

We have great photos and experiences of Sihanoukville - blue seas, beaches, BBQs and a real beach riviera feel every night. The skies are huge and the sunset is beautiful, lighting up is amazing colours. We didn't experience this area as fully as we probably should have done but unfortunately Emma got sick for a few days. We missed out on the amazing islands in the Sea of Thailand and the Ream National Park.

Phnom Penh


It has taken me a while to warm to Phnom Penh. We visited the National Museum, getting an introduction to the Angkor experience and the Royal Palace/Silver Pagoda. Amazing, amazing, amazing ..................... We also did another cookery class and spent some cash with NGOs working with the city kids. The markets are great, full of every label - copied of course, as well as snacks from things that you would continually eat [all sorts of Amoks] to things that you don't [deep fried crispy spiders [we have the cook book!!!]]. Restaurants Friends and Romdeng, the great FCC bar and our breakfast place of choice The Shop.





Siem Reap


Its difficult to descibe Siem Reap. This town has the majority of tourists coming through it because of Angkor Wat and the other temples. These temples date from the early 9th to 12th century, built by god-kings along with cities and palaces. These were abandoned and the jungle grew around until Europeans came and '"rediscovered"' them. They are amazing structures - architecture and art of a Khmer civilisation that included part of Thailand and south Viet Nam. The Lara Croft movie and Tome Raider 3 [I think] computer game partly was shot here. So the clique are is huge stone faces in the middle of the jungle - and its true!!! Pictures do not do the place any favours. Its like having all the best UK religious buildings in a 10 mile square in the middle of the jungle with frogs and screaming crickets all adding atmosphere. I have truly seen nothing like it before.





Saturday we leaving for Bangkok and then to the northern jungles for trekking around 25th December. I can't remember but something else is happening then too............................