Salina Siem Reap

... humour to ward them off; we've had to say "No thank you" more times in a week than we have in our entire lives<br>- There are too many tuk tuks and not enough customers, which means you get harassed for a tuk tuk ride at every 10 meters. At least, they are polite and don't keep on insisting.<br><br>The need-to-improve-badly:<br>- We've not experienced it first hand but based on our books and according to locals to whom we've talked, there is a LOT of corruption ...

... walled city with large multi-faced entrance gates. There were yet more gigantic stone faces at Bayon Temple. One book suggested we count to get an exact number of staring eyes, but I was happy to trust Lonely Planet&#8217;s count of 216. At every temple we visited, there were groups of children selling food, drinks and souvenirs. In near perfect English they would follow us, calling out &#8216;Lady, where you from? America. The ...

... family and I were staying in Siem Reap for a few nights, before flying down to Thailand, to visit the highly impressive ruins just outside the town. There in a little coffee shop I found an advertisement for an NGO (Non Government Organisation) called the Cambodia Orphan Fund who wanted a person to improve liaison between the tourist industry and incoming visitors and the charity itself. I arranged to link up with ...

... Whilst this was not specifically asked, he informs us that he earns $60 per month from the restaurant, and $60 from the building site. This is just around $2 a day (!) or 40 cents per hour.<br><br>From the $120 earned monthly:<br>$60 is to live on<br>$40 goes to support the family<br>$10 on education<br>$10 to be saved per month<br><br>[As a comparison of spending habits, we are spending $3 to take a tuk tuk into town every day, $25 ...

... in other Taxis were not so lucky forking out four times the going rate in hotel bills where the tuk tuk drivers dropped them off.<br><br>The stress of the arrival is soon melted away with a few delicious local Angkor Beers. The next morning we all rent bicycles and pedal to the sites together. I had allotted two days to see them and those days were certainly filled up to the max. We cycled for about 30 km each day ...

... walls of dancing nymphs and other figures but the ones on the inner wall are really well preserved.<br><br> I had some lunch and then it was on to Preah Khan, a large temple complex outside of Angkor Thom. It's one of the area's largest complexes and has endless hallways and alcoves to explore. I actually ended up getting turned around in it and coming out at the wrong entranceway. I didn't realize it until I noticed that the boy selling fruit wasn't there...From ...

... around placing a giant spider on people, mainly to their bemusement. Eventually the driver finished his lunch and let us back on, nobody hesitated!<br><br>At the next lunch stop a few of us stayed on the bus. A couple of locals were shouting down the bus at each other, I didn't really think much of it, although it was a little unusual. Soon enough, everyone was back onboard and we set off again. The girl I was sat next to commented on how fast we were ...

... as well, which the Tuk Tuk<br>driver though was absolutely hilarious. When we arrived at the stadium,<br>we immediately realized that we were about to be VERY out of place. We<br>had worn the little cotton dresses we bought on the tourist street the<br>previous day, knowing that we were going to go out for dinner and<br>drinks afterward, and also assuming that, similar the U.S., some women<br>dressed up for boxing matches in Thailand. We were VERY wrong. The<br>crowd ...

... statues.<br><br><br><br>Now I know why... because we're freaking crazy to visit Bayon at 12pm ...

... top of the hill. Wandered back down the elephant track with eight or nine elephants carrying tourists. Dark by the time we got down. Only about 8 km from town, so when we got back most of the group wandered into town for tea and ended up having fish and chips at Molly Malone's. Saw a guy carrying a six-foot by six-foot pane of clear glass on the back of his motorbike. Not great for dodging around traffic.