Cambodia, Hell on earth

Dear Readers,

You may be wondering why I haven't written in so long a time. Steve has been in the hospital overcoming a woping dose of samonella (food poisoning) that made him lose 20 pounds in two days. It has been quite a scary journey.

It all began when we got on a plane for Cambodia. It was only a two hour trip until we landed at Siem Reap, home of the Angkor Wat complex. This was once the capital of the Southeastern Asia world (back in 11 century A.D.) It didn't look like much when we landed. First the "international airport" was like Weyers Cave at home. You walked away from the airplane. They had only one luggage carriage. It costs us $36 to get in and $25 to get out. By that time, we were willing to pay anything to get back into the air!

But all in good time. We got through immigration without trouble and soon found our tour director waiting in line with the cabbies. Our name was on the sign and then off we went-It was only ten in the morning when we arrived. Check in at the hotel was 2 so we had some touring to do. First we went down the only main paved road in Cambodia Highway 6. Anything off that road was dirt. This time we were in a car and traveled to a silk worm farm. Here we observed the life cycle of the silk worm and how they go from the worm to a purse. This like all the other craft places we visited, was a government subsided home for poor children. They come there, learn a trade, and go back to their village. All their goods are sold in town. It was very fascinating to see how these worms are feed, forced into cocoons, and then on large looms, silk emerges. Next, we were driven into the town of Siem Reap where they have the other homes for the poor children-silver working, stone carving, painting, etc. The stuff was gorgegous and I bought a few things. By the way, we never dealt with Cambodia money. They wanted the dollar only. I never saw anything over ten bucks, ever.

Then we were deposited at a open restaurant where we were served some fish stew in a coconut, rice, chicken something, and coke in a can. We bought bottled water every where we went. Cokes were a dollar but worth it. Steve ate the fruit-I never did. I was too scared,

After lunch we went back to our hotel-Hotel Aspara (Aspara means dancing girls at Angkor Wat Hindu temples). The room was nice and large. No hot water ever. Cold showers only. The place was deserted except for Korean/Vietnanese tours that came by while we were there. That afternoon we were picked up and ended out to the Siem Reap River that was very low. It seems we arrived at the end of the dry season and the beginning of the wet time. They were waiting to plant rice any day when the skies opened up. So at this river place, we got on a boat and traveled toward a lake where whole villages floated complete with store, church, and animals on boats. Lemon trees and tomato plants grew in floating buckets. Children traveled in wash buckets for boats.

I'd never seen anything like that in my life. The river was going to rise, they told me, maybe thrity feet above where I was sitting. Buddhist temples were built on silts for the local people when the water rose. Houses on the banks (and I use the word house with lots of laughter) could float (if it could hold together). The driver of this boat looked like a twelve year old boy. His assistant looked like a five year old. Off we went -zoom-on a narrow row boat equiped with a rotor tiller motor and a bicycle chain. We went to the center of the lake (through the dogs, chickens, people, plants, houses with generators and TV antennae) to, get this, a gift/souvenir shop in the middle of the lake for tourist like me. Poor women in boats and dirty children and babies begged for money. We looked for postcards, looked at the fish and snakes in their "museums" that people there lived off of. They had crocodiles there in a pen which I was told they got $30 each for the babies which the Chinese grind up for medicine.

On the way back to our tour car, the boat floundered. I thought we were going to have to swim for it but the little boy signaled his brother to pull over and turn the engine off. Then the boy got into the water and yanked out a towel that had wrapped around the propeller. He gave his brother then thumbs up and off we went. Then we went back to store and were countered with the Koreans at a jewelry store. Did some Christmas shopping and then we went to a grand buffett where snails were BBQed, and alot of horrible sounding stuff. I noticed that everything was cold and everything was at room temperature. I complained to my tour guy. He seemed to think it was great. On the way back to the hotel, we passed the local bar. In the door way were chairs of women sitting there-prostitutes, my guide explained, waiting for a hook up. They were breaking up families so the government had made a law against having a mistress.

The next day we went down to breakfast-again luke warm and scary. I drank some tea but even then I was worried. No drinking water available. Then we were off to Angkor Wat, an ancient town built by the Khmer king who became an ardent Buddhist. The guide said there was a town around the king. He didn't live in the temple-only the gods. The people lived in wooden houses that were long gone. Gods, I said, are we talking about Buddhism? Well, it seems they weren't too clear on that. They never got rid of the Hindu gods, all was mixed together. It's still that way today.

We had a grand time climbing around the vast grounds and ruins. We went to the temple where Tomb Raiders was filmed. I saw something brown and scaly crawling under a rock. Didn't want to know-we were in cobra territory. Then hours and much sweat later, we were off to lunch at another Chinese restaurant. The food was edible and cooked hot. Coke for me! No Ice! Then a huge storm came up. After a short break we were at the main Angkor Wat temple, the one in the postcards, in the pouring rain. We had our rain pouchos. The local kids were naked and swimming the moat. What's that I cried. Water snake, he said. The thing lifted its head out of the water about two feet. Get me off the bridge, I yelled. Later, we wandered through a mile worth of temple. Later in history Buddhist monks will live here. And even the soldiers of Pol Pot, genocide leader. Most of the statues still there are headless, hacked off by the people and sold to art dealers in Thailand. The real statues have been placed in a national museum now to keep the people from stealing them.

I climbed up to the top of the main stuple -almost straight up for 300 steps. Then we were off to an even earlier temple built on top of a mountain. We climbed up a trail in the mud to where a 9th century capital had been built by an earlier king. I know why they left-hauling all the stone up there killed the workers. I didn't climb that one. I let Steve do it and take a picture from the top. I sat talking to my guide-who launched into a tirade against the Thai. I got this everywhere I went. Cambodians hate the Thais except when they are spending money at their casinos. They are really trying to start a war with them. I guess they will hitch up the water buffalos and got after them with sticks. The truth is Cambodians are Thais and Vietnamese racially. Until the french came, Cambodia was just divided up territory. The Fench decided to carve out a country and call it Cambodia. No one has been happy since.

Our last place to eat in Siwm Reap was another Cambodian buffett with a large amount of Koreans. Again the food was cold and I didn't eat much. They had a show of Combodian dancers that was great to watch. That night Steve got sick. That was just the beginning. The next morning we were placed on a small bus packed with Asians. Steve was running a fever, diarrhea, and votmiting. But we had to go. Our plane was in the capital Phom Phen. It was a six hour ride on Highway six. Potholes, poor air conditioning, and one stop for the bathroom. I thought Steve was going to die.