Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Cambodia and NE Thailand

Welcome to Cambodia!

After getting through the border and passing up the shady characters in Poipet I opened up my shocks and got ready to really feel this road...no more nice Thailand pavement. Fortunately this terrible stretch only lasted about 10 km and then I was on some flatter dirt roads that were about to be paved and a few stretches that already were. In a way it was kind of refreshing to enter Cambodia...it felt like things were going to be a bit more adventurous and challenging than Thailand (aka land of 7-11's, snickers bars, and really delicious cheap food).


My first day was a light 50km to a town called Sisophon (at least that's what it was called on my map but there are no road signs anywhere in Cambodia so who knows). The following day I headed to a town called Battambang. On my ride there I noticed all these barbershops on the side of the highway. It was a hot day and I was feeling pretty shaggy so I thought a Cambodian haircut might be nice...my haircut didn't turn out quite as nice as this guy's...or maybe it did but it just looks goofy on a 6' 7" white dude. Regardless, it felt good to lose some hair, it only cost me $1, and he used a straight edge razor around my ears. Good times.

I stayed in Battambang for a day and a half and I really liked this town. My first night I got some grub at the night market in a park by the river. This lady was nice enough to let me try one of her deep fried grasshoppers for free...crunchy and deep fried flavor but I didn't end up buying any more.

My time in SE Asia so far hasn't afforded me too many nice sunsets due to the fact its rainy season and mostly overcast but I got lucky my first night in Battambang.



My second day in Battambang I rode to the nearby Wat Ek Phnom. It was a great ride through a tree lined road with no other traffic other than the occasional motorbike. It was also fun to crawl around Ek Phnom with no other tourists around. The kid below and his sister acted as my tour guides through the Wat.

Before I left for Ek Phnom the guy below asked me if I would be interested in teaching some english that afternoon in his small village south of town...Uh, YEAH! His name is Narreth and he was inspired to set up some English classes for kids in his village after a monk had taught him as a youth. It was really great to hear his story and see some of the rural life of Cambodia that is not on the typical tourist path. It is trully a war stricken country that is just now beginning to get back on its feet. Here is a shot of some kids that me and a couple from the U.K. got to work with for a few hours.

One of my main reasons for going to Battambang rather than directly to Siem Reap (Home of the Ankor Temples) was to take a boat ride across the Tonle Sap and through this floating village. It was a long 6 hour ride on a packed boat but it was really enjoyable seeing the life of the people on the river. It looked similar to most of the other villages I had seen in Cambodia but everyone got around on boats and homes floated. Instead of a shop selling motorbike rims they sold propellers.


Well, I didn't come to Cambodia for the cycling...I came for the temples of Ankor and it was worth it. It quite simply blew my mind and if you find yourself in this part of the world you should make the effort to swing by Siem Reap and experience it for yourself. I took about a million pictures and just picked these ones out at random...Ankor Wat below.

A face at Bayon.

My first day I got really lucky with hardly any tourists around...I rode around Ankor Thom on some dirt paths that were loads fun discovering trees like this one and ancient temples that would magically appear in the forest.
I tried to take this one with the tourists in it to give an idea of how massive these trees are that have grown right into the structures...amazing stuff



I bet you didn't think I was going to show off my new haircut. Here I am at Ta Nei which was off the beaten track on my last day...I got to crawl around this one with absolutely no else around (not even the guys that check your ticket) which really made me feel like Indiana Jones...Awesome


I bought a guide book while I was there and the more I read the more interested I became in the various bas-reliefs. Here is one depicting a cock fight for my Filipino friends.


Here is face I noticed that the light was catching just right through a crack at Bayon


I think my favorite temple was Bayon seen below. How many faces can you count?
I ended up buying an extra day pass in order to see Banteay Srei which was on the road leaving Siem Reap towards the Thai border. It was well worth it...the carvings were by far the most intriquite from the Ankor group...hard to believe that is sandstone below.

After Siem Reap it was back to the road...and there was absolutely nothing on this one heading north to the border town Anlong Veng. I spent two days riding about 140 km on what primarily is seen below (had a few good stretches of asphalt)...fortunately it didn't rain those two days or it would have been a muddy mess.
I think that Cambodia might actually have more naked kids than the Philippines...I rested at one house that had 8 kids and none of them could have been more than a year in age apart...crazy.

Other than Siem Reap this man-made lake in Anlong Veng was maybe the most scenic view I had in Cambodia. But overall I really enjoyed my time there and loved the people I met along way.


Back in Thailand the first thing I did was get myself some delicious cheap khao pat khai...the next thing I did was stop at the 7-11 for a snickers bar...or two or three. Being back on those beautiful paved Thai roads I managed 130km my first day back.

In Far Eastern Thailand I was fortunate enough to meet up with Pete, a former Peace Corps Volunteer from the Philippines. He is now a PCV in Thailand and was helping with an English Camp the day I passed by. It was really great to talk with him about the similarities and differences between being a PCV in Thailand and the Philippines. It was also great getting to help out a little with the camp and meet some other volunteers.
Tomorrow I'll be crossing over into Laos...the country that I'm most excited about and have been dreaming of for a year and a half. I'm thinking it's going to be pretty Awesome.




5 Comments:

At 11:53 AM, Blogger Kelly said...

How many people think that Ian needs to put a good close-up picture of himself and that hot haircut...?
I DO!!!!

 
At 9:12 AM, Blogger Scott Farver said...

Agreed!

 
At 5:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know when I saw him on scype I said, "Don't worry son any bad haircut looks good in 2 weeks." He replied, "It was cut 2 weeks ago." :-( So perhaps not.-Dad

 
At 3:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey buddy - i am glad you made the time in your life to do this then to kindly share it with us ;~}> awesome!!!! love ya - wardbraiard@yahoo.com

 
At 9:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi anak,

cge, i want to see a close up pix of that roadside haircut ;-p...
Wow! the places you've been to... sure you're not serious about going into photography, cinema tography or film? you have talent 'nak, tuod gid ra! just a thought..bayon is kinda similar to bayhon (itsura) in kinaray-a which means face.Halong gid.

 

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