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From Steve & Lea's Whirlwind World Tour in Cambodia on Jun 04 '07
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Highlights of Cambodia...
At Steve's insistence we attempted Thai/Cambodia border crossing on our own because it would be "more adventurous". By the time we finished clearing immigration, we missed the last bus. We were promptly herded into a taxi for a three hour journey east to Siem Reap, our wallets $80 lighter.
"Cambodians not talk much about but never forget" - Cambodian tour guide tells us how it is about Cambodia's history
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To call the road to Siem Reap a "road" is being somewhat generous. Lonely Planet affectionately calls it the Boulevard of Broken Backsides and voted it one of the worst main roads in the world. According to locals, the Cambodian airline paid the government a substantial bribe to suspend road upgrades indefinitely so air travel would remain popular.
After 3 hours of bone crunching driving to such 80s hits as "endless love", we arrived.
Spent a day exploring the temples at Angkor Wat. Built around 900 years ago, these temples are spectacular. Went back the next day to view the temples from a balloon.
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Siem Reap did not impress us much as a town. Very touristy, with shopping malls and swanky hotels everywhere. Moved on to Phnom Penh quickly.
The devastation metred out by the Khmer Rouge is evident in Phnom Penh. Approx 2 million people (or one third of the population) was killed by Pol Pot's regime during the late 70s. Half the population is under 15 years old. Kids riding around on motor bikes (motos) everywhere. We visited the "Killing Fields" genocide memorial where around 10,000 people were killed and buried in mass graves. A 12 story memorial houses the skulls of the exhumed remains, with bones and old clothes still littering the surrounding fields. We also visited the S21 prison camp where prisoners were kept and interrogated. Very, very confronting to say the least. Spent a relaxing day in the Phnom Penh equivalent of the Botanical Gardens (a 500m x 100m square of grass) watching the locals run laps and play badminton an soccer. Caught a gold VIP bus to Vietnam.
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