Same Same But Different

One of the advantages of living in SE Asia is the close proximity to wonderful travel possibilities and Cambodia is one of those, just 1.5 hrs. from Singapore. We elected to land in Phnom Pehn first where we spent several days exploring the squalid lanes of what used to be the Paris of SE Asia. The good bones of the old French buildings are still there and are slowly being restored but there is a long way to go. At night we would wander up the street to sit in the wonderful corner bars under slow moving fans and lounge in lovely old wicker chairs, feeling like we were playing a role in a movie but then as dusk fell wheelbarrows with armless and legless torsos appeared, the bodies were placed on the ground and then they proceeded to somehow roll from table to table asking for money. Land mine victims are quite visible in this country and there is no govt. support for them.

A six hr. bus trip took us to Siem Reap, the staging town for Angkor Wat. With the heat and humidity draining our body fluids we trekked around the various sites (the size of the area is overwhelming) for 3 days until we were "templed out". Most of Cambodia is totally flat, the jungle cleared and turned into rice paddies but around Angkor Wat the vegetation has not been touched which allows one to feel like they have stumbled on the temples like the earlier explorers. Somehow the sandstone carvings have survived the elements and are quite well preserved on many sites. Close by this area is a community of boat people with which we could readily identify. The entire community is on the water, school, shops, etc. Barbecued water snake and it's eggs was the local treat, however, we passed on the offer. Siem Reap is a city of hotels, all competing for a diminishing market and we found that there were not a huge amount of tourists but that could have been due to the rainy season. Cambodia is dusty, wet and fun.