"Travel Report" a Cambodia Travel Page by Jillworld

Hello Everyone! 21 Mar. 2002

…And that brings me to my current position here in Cambodia. Yesterday, I suffered through a loooong bus journey on the bumpiest road in all existence. It was very tedious, of course being on an old rickety
minibus, and of course taking 3 hours longer than was expected. But I am here now and glad of it - Phnom Penh seems like an interesting place so far. I am about to venture out and see what it has to offer.

Only about 2 weeks now until I am home! I cannot believe that this time has passed so quickly. Right, I have hogged your attention enough; hope you have a wonderful day!!

Love from Jill
xoxox

*******************

Final Edition (I'm Home!!!) April 12, 2002

As you may have realized, especially the ones I have already seen or spoken to, I am now at home in Winnipeg after months of adventure. It's hard to believe that it is all over so quickly, and although I am happy to be back, there are still some mixed feelings about the whole affair. It has been great seeing my family, and gradually, my friends. You just can't beat that feeling - shall have to keep going away to achieve it again...just kidding...well maybe!

So yes, enough of the present...I thought I should sit down and tell you about the last couple of weeks leading up to this point, before I get bogged down with everyday life, and more importantly, before the details fade even more than they have already. Here goes...

I believe my previous letter left me in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at an internet cafe, ha ha. PP is an interesting city, some areas look so pretty, clean and quaint...then when you round a corner, the main road is made of dirt and rocks, and there are naked children running about. The main part of the city, well, the part I explored anyhow, is nestled between the Tonle Sap River, and Boeng Kak Lake. Most backpackers stay by the lake, my guest house's restaurant was right over the water on stilts - while along the river, is where PP's nightlife and nice eateries are. I enjoyed perusing the central market here, great jewelry and fabrics to look at. It's so hard though, because I just want to browse, but as soon as you near someone's stall, they begin to plead with you to buy from them. I found I said the word NO so much in Cambodia & Vietnam, to vendors, street hawkers, and the times that are really hard are saying it to begging children, and disabled people, usually due to land mine injuries. I did hand out money to some of these people, but you can not imagine how often I was asked. It really broke my heart to see, and makes me feel almost guilty of my stable background and good fortune. From PP, I did a day tour out to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. It was a very emotional day - here are the facts. Between 1975 & 79, about 17,000 people, including children, were brought to Choeung Ek to be exterminated. A memorial pagoda has since been erected, and within are the skulls exhumed from some of the mass graves (many graves have been left untouched). The skulls bear the scars of axes, bullets and bludgeoning. Walking amongst the graves, you are at times stepping over leg bones and clothing that have been embedded in the ground. Absolutely chilling, and to think that all this happened, Cambodians killing Cambodians, during my lifetime, while I was tucked away in Canada, having a great time with my toys. After the fields we went to the S-21 prison, a school (now museum) that was used to imprison and torture people before they were brought to Choeung Ek.

From Phnom Penh, I took a boat to the town of Siem Reap. The boat was fantastic, worth the extra money to avoid the treacherously pitted roads. We sped along the surface of the Tonle Sap River, then the lake, enjoying the view of fishing boats and all sorts of activity and life on shore. I sat inside for most of the trip, and tried to ignore the movies playing, as they were familiar films, but dubbed over in Cambodian with subtitles in yet another language. In Siem Reap, I got a ride into town with Bunnak, a young man who I also hired to be my driver for the next few days. It was a bit of an unexpected trip from the boat to the guest house, and in the 30 minutes it took, I burnt my nose and shoulders beyond recognition. It was seriously hot! Siem Reap has grown rapidly in the recent past, to accommodate all the tourists that come to see the Khmer temples of Angkor. To get the most out of my short time here, I bought a 3 day pass and got started right away. Bunnak took me around for the afternoon on his motorbike and I got started on 2 of the almost 100 sites. The next day, his sister Malia took his place - she turned some heads throughout the day as females driving tourists around is a rare sight. Anyhow, everything about Angkor just blew me away! I cannot explain the beauty of these structures. Most of them are over 700 years old...some have been taken over by jungle. Can you imagine seeing an ancient intricately carved stone wall, beneath the roots of a tree, ancient in itself? Angkor Wat, the largest and most well preserved temple, is incredible. I spent hours wandering within its walls, looking at the galleries of relief carvings and climbing higher and higher on narrow steep stairs to its centre court, 55 metres above the ground. I think you'd have to be a real idiot to not be able to at least one fabulous photo here - there are so many opportunities, and things that you cannot pass by without trying to capture it for viewing later. I went snap-happy and have over 100 photos, some which I hope to get on my walls someday, well, when I have my own walls!

I made my way back to Bangkok by bus - at one of the regular rest stops, there was a gaggle of children hanging around being cute. I had brought with me some toothbrushes and pens to give out and thought I should get rid of them. The kids swarmed and were very happy with their new possessions; I just wish I had more! Plus, they absolutely loved me then, and we had a grand old time playing around 'til the bus left, when they enthusiastically waved me off! There were more children at the Cambodian/Thai border, but they were so aggressive - obviously seasoned beggars. I watched another backpacker open up a bag of pencils to hand out, and they were practically mobbed. The kids were so rough and grabby, violently pushing each other. It's pretty sad, and makes me wonder if there isn't something different that can be done for these kids. I know my experience was nicer, but it obviously can create bad habits…...