Hello lady...you want cold drink?

Editor's Pick Award

Our Editors awarded this travel blog entry for providing relevant information that may be useful and inspiring for other travelers.

For only $4, we headed north to Siem Reap. Once a small town that has attracted the attention of travellers all around the world. Why you ask? Temples of Angkor of course! These religous ruins in their glory days would put many of the Greek temples and other world reknown infastructures to shame. What now Notre Dame!?! Haha. The largest of them all (Angkor Wat) is unbelievable. I couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like to have one of these suckers in my backyard as a kid. Imagine me as a boney kid with knobby knees standing atop a temple, "behold all my fortress!" Yeah yeah i'm a dork. Tell me something I didn't know. But in all seriousness, these temples should be one of the wonders of the world. The manpower that must have gone into them (beginning around the 11th century) must have been quite the sight. Unfortunately they were left to be ruined by overgrowth, and then destroyed further during times of war.

A tuk tuk driver can be 'rented' for the day for as low as $15. He'll take you anywhere your little heart desires. There are three options for one's viewing pleasure. You may purchase one day, three day or one week passes. We did one long day! Unless you're a crazy architecture buff then one day is plenty. Towards the end, i must admit I was thinking, "no more temples!" The sun is scorching which makes it worse. The day topper was the sunset. Rach was feeling a bit ill and so I sat on top of To Phram alone listening to music while watching the sun light up the green forest of Cambodia below me. I must have been up there alone for a good half an hour. Then as the sun began to set...buses rolled in and before i knew it I was surrounded by at least 75 camera toting tourists! Sort of took the mood away if you get my drift. But for the moments that i had alone up there...well i don't think i'll ever forget them.

What is not scarce in Siem Reap is ambitious children ready to sell you ANYTHING. Over and over you hear, 'miss you want cold drink? bracelet? only one dollar. Ten postcards, see? 1, 2, 3, 4....(as they count each one) where you from? America? Capitol is Washington D.C. Etc.' As relentless as they are you still feel terrible! I bought so many bracelets, cold drinks, and postcards that i don't even know how much money i have left! Then when you buy from one, three more swarm around you. I know its not their fault. They are just helping their families make a living. But two little girls will remain vivid in my mind well into the future. We befriended to little girls (ten years old) while sitting on a bench for half an hour. They were sweet. Well at the end one wanted us to buy from her families stall. Cold drink she says. No more money i'm sorry i say. She teared and said, 'sorry doesn't mean anything to me. sorry means zero.' As we left the other soft spoken one said, 'please remember my country.' The next day over breakfast I was talking to rach about it because it was still on my mind. That little girl was right. Zero means zero. I mean we all feel sorry and sympathize but that really isn't enough is it? Puts a whole new meaning to, 'you can talk the talk but can you walk the walk' eh?

We spent another day visiting the landmine museum a little bit outside of town. Now Siem Reap city center is booming with restaurants, cafes, guesthouses and bars, but the landmine museum is a whole different neck of the woods. Really bumpy muddy roads lined with trash and shadowed by the little shacks on the left and right. I looked at Rach and said, 'talk about the other side of town.' The museum is free and highly recommended. It is an outdoor area with pictures and stories taped up everywhere. It also serves as a school for landmine victims. Many of the limbless children are denied education by there families because of their disability. As you walk within the dirt floor confines, making your way around loose pigs and chickens, you can hear international volunteers teaching english. It is incredible. Did you know that there are still over 5 million landmines still active in Cambodia? Aki Ra, founder of the museum, was a child soldier who once set the mines up. Now he has dedicated his life to finding them and deactivating them. They aren't kidding when they say you should never wander off the path while in Cambodia. Even worse, many of the mines are swept into 'cleared areas' by the rain during monsoon season. Most with the goal to maim not kill. Well Rach and I donated all the cash we were carrying by the time we left, only wishing we had more. It is extremely moving. Visit www.akiramineaction.com to find out more. You're already online so what would it hurt right?

I really enjoyed Siem Reap! The town is great and the kids are adorable. How can anyone not smile at their big brown eyes! Cambodia is definitely on my return list.