No mans land....

OK, here is my first post!  I'll try and keep it short with no waffle for you!

Right, I'm going to cut straight to Cambodia.  I have very little to say about Bangkok.  The best thing about Bangkok was seeing Hannah and Chris (thank you for looking after me guys!) , but other than that, all I can say is, it is hectic, scary, intimidating and crazy!  They say you either love or hate Bangkok, I'm going to remain open minded until I return there for a couple nights in 4 weeks, and give it a second chance, but at the moment, I am near to hating it!

OK, so 3 days after arriving in Bangkok, its time to hit the road and head to the boarder, Poipet.  On the drive to the boarder, within 30 minutes of leaving the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, you can really see the changing landscape.  On route we encounter the standard driving of the Thai's (crazy with no adherence to any driving rules, its each for their own on the road), and experience the 'long drop'along with the 'scoop and slosh' toilets, I think I'll be seeing a lot more of these.

After a 4 hour drive, we arrive at the Thailand/Cambodia boarder of Poipet which is a bustling market town, with a great atmosphere.  After a spot of lunch we join the queues to leave Thailand.  A relatively simple process, where you have your photo taken and your passport stamped.  The immigration officer grumbled as he had to adjust the height of the camera to take a photo of me, as I'm slightly taller than the average Thai!  I don't think a photo of my chest was enough to clear immigration!  On exiting Thailand, we enter 'no mans land'.  Surprisingly there is a hell of a lot of people in 'no mans land' It is full of casinos used by Thai's to gamble, as gambling is illegal in Thailand.  After we have battled our way through no mans land, we go through immigration to enter Cambodia.  I didn't like to ask what happens if you exit Thailand, but are refused entry to Cambodia....stuck in no mans land I guess!

We continue our journey to the hotel by public bus and arrive at the town of Siem Reap.  Home of Angkor Wat.  In the evening we take tuk tuks to a local village for a tour and dinner.  On route, I'm lucky enough to be on the tuk tuk that breaks down.  The driver gets off, has a fiddle around, and then gets back on saying....."it is working now, it has no brakes, but it is working"......beleive me, you need brakes on a tuk tuk in Cambodia, same as the Thais, crazy driving.  I hold on to the hand rail a lot tighter as we continue the journey! 

On arrival at the village, I feel a little awkaward as we walk around taking photos of peoples houses etc, but the locals genuinely seemed to enjoying us being there.  The children drawed pictures for us, played games with us and we helped them with their English.  They provide a Cambodian meal for us, which was delicious.

We get in our tuk tuk's to return to Siem Reap Center, I try and avoid the one without brakes!  We head stright to the vibrant night market where we indulde in a ' fish massage'.  This involves putting your feet in water while the fish nibble at you to remove the dead skin!  Included in this treat is a shoulder massage and a can of local beer, including a straw to drink it with.  What more can you want for $2!

The heart breaking history of Cambodia is everywhere.  The civil war ended only 12 years ago, 75% of the population is under 21 as a result of all the people lost in the civil war.  Everywhere you look, there is evidence of the landmines, with many peole having lost limbs and other injuires.  There are still new victims of landmines everyday.  Despite this, the culture in Siem Reap is vibrant, friendly relaxed.

Tomorrow takes us to Angkor Wat, again by tuk tuk, I hope tomorrow's has brakes!

Aplogies for the spelling, the spell checker is being a bit selective!

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