Cambodia - Could Have Been Better
Sep 2, 2000   Cambodia
BLOG: Un-related thoughts and activites of the day . . . .

The country is just not quite right after what they suffered at the hand of the Khmer Rouge.
Old posts from my very first travel website and my first backpacking trip (a year in 2000-2001)!

A very interesting time. We liked Cambodia so much our first few days, and left hating everything about it and wanting to get out as fast as we could.

It is a very beautiful country with wonderful small villages with water buffalo, cows, pigs, dogs, half naked little kids running about, etc. The roads are almost all dirt and full of potholes which makes every trip an adventure.
Just over the border from Thailand, it was all so muddy.
Just over the border from Thailand, it was all so muddy.
Fresh sugar cane juice.
Fresh sugar cane juice.
We saw the temples at Angkor Wat which were truly amazing. So many people speak English there, too, and US dollars are the preferred currency which makes the prices higher than they should be. Some of the little kids we talked to spoke many different languages!
We had some guides on motorbikes take us around the temples. It was amazing.
We had some guides on motorbikes take us around the temples. It was amazing.
Ruins at Angkor Wat
Ruins at Angkor Wat
My favorite overgrown temple at Angkor Wat.
My favorite overgrown temple at Angkor Wat.
Me climbing one of the steep temples.
Me climbing one of the steep temples.
There are so many land mines left from the war that many people still get limbs blown off while walking through fields. Don't stray off the paths!
There are so many land mines left from the war that many people still get limbs blown off while walking through fields. Don't stray off the paths!
Then on to Phnom Penh. There’s a bar there called Heart of Darkness which sums up the country pretty well. We saw the prison and killing field where many of the 2 million people murdered by the Khmer Rouge were held, tortured, and then burried. It was so sad. We mentioned to a guy at the tourist office how nice the poeple seemed in Siem Reap, and he said they may seem nice, but they would kill their brother. There is so much corruption, scams, etc. there we weren’t sure we would even make it out of the country.
The Killing Fields. I sat down and sobbed. I won't even get into the details but it is just awful.
The Killing Fields. I sat down and sobbed. I won't even get into the details but it is just awful.
Bones at the Killing Fields
Bones at the Killing Fields
A pagoda full of skulls behind the giant grave holes.
A pagoda full of skulls behind the giant grave holes.

0 Comments

Submit Your Comment
Thank you! Your comment has been received. :) It will be posted as soon as I get a chance to read it first.
Sorry, don't know what happened. Try later :(
Your email will not be shared or spammed in any way. It is only as extra assurance that you are a real person! ;) Leslie's Travel Snacks reserves the right to delete any comment that is abusive, self-promoting, nonconstructive, mean, or otherwise not in the spirit of this website.