Well I guess I last left off when I decided to travel overland to Siem Reap. Lets just say its not for everyone. After crossing the border into Cambodia I might as well have had SUCKER tatooed on my forehead. But honestly I didn't really care I just wanted to get there. Besides I was only getting overcharged anywhere from a nickel to a dollar each time. The road from the border to Siem Reap is... well its awful. Two and three foot potholes littered the road almost the entire way so a trip that probably would have taken 40 minutes in the states ended up taking about 5 times as long. Apparently Bangkok Airways had a contract with the Cambodian government not to pave the road so more people would fly, but not my cheap ass.
I did finally arrive in one pie
ce and since then I've been working at a school which I'll describe in another post. But coming over to a third world country is a little overwhelming if you're not prepared for it. You do see a lot of poverty in Thailand but not to this scale, especially away from the cities. I was cruisin along on the back of a moped when I saw these kids playing with a scrap of styrofoam so I stopped and offered them my bag of sun dried cranberries. But don't worry about me, I'm not staying in a shack made of sticks and pooping in a hole. My place is actually very nice and after a long day at the school I've been coming back and going for a swim and relaxing in a hammock overlooking the pagoda next door. All that for the price of a mere $5, you can't beat that. Also a decent breakfast and maid service make this the probably the best hostel I've ever stayed in.
But Cambodia is a really awesome place if you can get past the poverty. The food has been excellent and very cheap, the people are great other than the pushy tuk tuk and moto drivers, and I've met some wonderful people who are doing great things over here. The other night I had dinner and some drinks with the workers of several NGOs and others who have recently set up companies to help out the people of Cambodia.
On the downside the sun can be brutal at times, I'm slowly being eaten alive by mosquitoes, and I haven't found a place that shows the playoffs....
2 comments:
Love the pictures. Especially the shack houses. I saw a lot of that in Jamaica too. Wish I was there with ya!!!
So you are not only traveling the world, but also doing some good in the world. Must be pretty cool helping those kids. Looks like that place you staying is pretty cool too.
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