Into the land of the Khmers

The first things you notice in Cambodia is the red dirt. It coats everything, from cars to feet to throat. I'm realizing what sterile lives in Canada where most every road and pathway is paved. But once you look past the mess, you start to feel the relaxed pace of life here. The Cambodian people that I've met are joyous despite their gruesome history of genocide and their lack of possessions and material comforts. Now there's a lesson for us to learn back home.

The trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap was an epic one, with much Buddhist patience required. Although we met our bus at 7:30am, it didn't leave Bangkok city until 8:30 or 9:00am. The trip to Ananya Prathet, the Thai border town to Cambodia, was relatively painless. The driver stopped randomly to buy some decorations and it took a long time to gas up the bus but we got to the border and through into Cambodia with no problems. If only the rest of the journey had been so pleasant!

There are some bus scams going on between Bangkok and Siem Reap in which the drivers make the journey as long and arduous as possible so that you arrive in Siem Reap very late and succumb to staying at a particular guesthouse, being too tired and beaten to search around town for something better. We'd been assured that this was not the case with our company and that we wouldn't be charged any extra money once in Cambodia. But, sure enough, when it came time to get on the bus from the border to Siem Reap, we were told that the trip on the bus would take 6 or 7 hours over bumpy road (earlier, the estimate given was four hours) and that it would be much better if we paid more money to take a taxi. Hmm. Many people gave in to the taxi idea very quickly. I was firm about waiting for the bus but then the driver wouldn't say when exactly the bus would leave. It was during the wait at the bus station that I realized I might have just crossed the border into the Kingdom of Scambodia. The problem with scams isn't so much that you are made to wait or pay more money - the feeling of being cheated is the worst.

In the end, the scam worked because we all stayed at the appointed guesthouse where we were finally dumped in Siem Reap at 9:30pm (arriving by a somewhat circuitous route through town). But it wasn't that bad: I got a big room with a double bed and hot shower...for the princely sum of $8 US per night. The bus ride was actually quite lovely: the long highway was paved in spots, red dirt in others. We passed villages and home, groups of men playing soccer, children on their way home from school, lots of dogs and chickens scratching in the dirt. The conditions in which people live are amazing: a small wooden shacks with no windows, an open fire and earth floor. But I suppose much of life is lived outside and in the community.

On our first morning in Siem Reap, we hired a tuk-tuk (motorcycle pulling a carrriage with seats) and went around town in search of more convenient accomodation. I'm staying at Wat's Up Guesthouse, just across the river from the main market and restaurant area. Last night we saw our first sunset over Angkor and spent the morning exploring Bayon and Angkor Thom. The Cambodian people that I've met are so friendly, shy and sweet. While the hawkers in the streets and around the temples are a bit aggressive, I can't get their lovely cries out of my head: "Hey laydee, you wanna buy pineapple?" I'm slowly learning how to politely but firmly decline their constant offers.

I have so much more to say but I'll leave it for another time. Tomorrow, I turn 27 and I'll be spending my birthday at Angkor. Lots of love to everyone back home!