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Cambodia to Bangkok
Entry 12 of 27 | show all | print this entry |
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The second day in Angkor Wat was a marathon. I wanted to fit in as much as possible. I went on the larger tour of smaller temples that are on the outskirts of town. I had the tuk-tuk pick me up early. I thought it would be cooler to start early. The temp has been around 30-33 degrees. I was quick through the temples only slowing to wait for people to get out of the way for photos. I would read in my book and learn about each temple while we drove to the temple so that I did not have to pay for a slow tour guide. After the temples I had the driver take me out to a floating village. I couldn't believe my eyes. As we drove I noticed conditions getting worse.Left aligned photo tag:
Shacks were on stilts along a dirty river that flows to the lake, my destination. I cannot explain the conditions. At one point the smell was so bad I covered my face with my shirt so that I would not gag. I thought about Lindsy and the plaster trap at work which doesn't even come close to the smell in this village. My emotions would rise and fall like a roller coaster. We stopped at a "goverment" ticket booth where I had to purchase a ticket inorder to go on a long boat ride through the village. Once again the goverment lines their pockets, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The tuk-tuk driver gets a cut for taking me out there and the long boat driver gets a portion and the goverment gets the rest, the people suffering in the village, well they get the opportunity to beg when the farangs(westerners) come to visit. Its crazy to think that if they just ran the country different a lot of the suffering would end. Once at the long boat dock, I had to hop from boat to boat until I got to one to take me. The water was disgusting. Brown and dirty. From what I was told by the tuk-tuk driver, they go to the bathroom in this water, eat the fish that live in it and wash in it. Right aligned photo tag:
The long boat carried me out the mouth of the river to the lake. A smaller boat pulled up along side and a little boy, maybe 4 years old, climbed on board swift as a monkey and appeared holding a basket with 6 cans of pop. He wanted me to buy for $1US and then he disappeared. I couldn't believe it that basket must have weighed more than him! We toured the village. There was a floating church and many houses. Then like all tours here, we were taken to a floating restaraunt/store where they want everyone to shop. The long boat operator will get a cut and the village people once again get nothing. I noticed once on the floating store that there was a row of small boats carrying babies, children and mothers lined up at one edge. Left aligned photo tag:
They were begging. Children had very large snakes around their necks and wanted pictures for $1. Some mothers had shaved their childrens heads leaving only a small patch of hair on top that they would decorate. Anything to draw attention for a photo.Some would have bananas for sale. I can't describe how poor, they were. Their clothes were extremely dirty, they were skinny, their teeth heavily decayed and some of the children had foggy blind eyes. Right aligned photo tag:
I noticed some Korean tourists brought bags of candy, contributing to the decayed teeth no doubt, and they would scramble almost climbing over each other in the boats to get to it. I don't think that they were supposed to board the store as they stayed in their boats. I felt nausea come over me. I felt hopeless. I wish I could have helped these people, I thought "if only I knew I could have brought something". I know I am a softy but it is incredible to see how some people live, I wonder what their life span would be. I left the floating village and returned to the tuk-tuk for the drive back. As we drove my glance met that of an elderly women who was sitting and chopping at a piece of wood. I smiled but she did not smile back. I felt guilt come over me for being here. I didn't blame her for not smiling. Us farangs come here often with our fancey cameras driving through their villages too fast throwing dust at them and they do not benefit. She has probably seen many tourists in her 70 years and her life is still the same. After that I sat with my emotions and thoughts for the rest of the drive back. I will never be able to express what it was lik, I think one must go and experience it for themselves. Once back I had a shower and then went to one last temple where I climbed up a mountain and to the top of the temple and sat and watched the sun set. It was nice to sit with my thoughts and look over the land. This would be my last night in Cambodia. I left by taxi to the border at 7:30 AM. It was faster than the bus alright but with a price. I held onto my seat for dear life for 3 hours. We did between 80-120km per hour the whole way. I kept repeating the Dukes of Hazord theme song in my head. Remember this is the road that I described earlier. They put large cement culverts into the road but don't dig them down so the road is left with a large mound and yes our Toyota Camery got some air. At times we were driving with two tires up on the side mounds and I thought we would surely flip. Dad you would be impressed with how those cars hold up maybe better than the crummies back home, you could put the tidy tank in the trunk he, he! These taxis drive the same speed through the towns and villages. At one point I had to close my eyes. They don't slow down when there are people, children, dogs, cows, goats, scooters etc. crossing, they don't care they just lay on the horn and keep the pedal to the metal. I was exhausted by the time I reached the border; 3 hours of an adrenalin rush. Once I crossed back into Thailand I hired a scooter to the bus station where I accidently boarded a slow bus instead of the express so we stopped many times on the way to Bangkok and it took 5 hours. At the bus depot a taxi wanted 500 Baht so I decided to take a local city bus for 7 Baht instead. I walked through the streets with my pack and found a guest house for the night. I was hungry and tired. I sat down at a street stall had some phad thai and relaxed before an early night to bed. Today is a whole new day in Bangkok and I will take it easy today. Tomarrow night I will go to the Airport and pick up my Mom who is coming for a visit. It will be nice to see her.
P.S. I spent 1 hour uploading photos to some of the previous blogs so they are updated if you would like to view.
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