I was looking through my notes on my ipod this morning and I found my (sadly) half finished entry from my trip to Cambodia last year . It's not finished..to my own disappointment..but I thought I may as well post it anyway as it's still for me atleast..an interesting read.
"So..Cambodia was interesting..completely no idea what it was gona be like..and well..it was an experience..and not one I plan on doing again..the place did grow on me tho..but I was so glad to be leaving..!
Within the first fifteen minutes of meeting our tour guide and driver for the next three days..we were driving along a fairly main road..(well I call it a main road..because it was one of very few roads that was still in a decent condition..ie. no huge holes..rocks..or flooded..)..and our driver ran over a dog with his mini bus. Omg..I can still see and hear it happening clearly in my mind..one minute we were just driving along..(they use the horn to beep at things a lot in that country..ppl..tuk tuk's..motorbikes..bicycles..cows..cars..dogs..basically all things that are in the road..)..and then there was a bit more excessive beeping plus braking and we all looked to the front where we could see a lil dog happily trotting along the road. Then all of a sudden the little dog just disappeared under the mini bus where we then hear the bus hit something..then a bump..and then a yelping kinda whine..which omg was horrible to hear! We then looked behind and the poor dog has ended up under another car. You then see another dog standing at the side of the road all alert and looking concerned and amazingly!!..you see the dog that had just been run over..TWICE!..on his feet and running across the road to get out the way..it was amazing the poor lil thing survived..if it hadn't I think I would've actually thrown up.
So after that ordeal we went to see the artisans..at the silk factory..not before going through the muddy flooded roads though..thought we would get stuck..but the bus made it through. The artisans at the factory were amazing..takes a lot of skill and good eye sight to do..I now appreciate how silk is made and have finally figured out how they do it..it is pretty impressive. After that we went to another place with more artisans..but these were more of the carving type..where they would carve out of sandstone and wood..that was also pretty impressive..so now I appreciate all the hand made sculptures too..
After that we stopped off at some huge market which was a bit like a maze to get around. Cambodia's a place to bargain..they told us usually by 30% is how much you should bargain it down by..within a few minutes WE'd been offered a 60% mark down and in the end we got two for a 70% mark down (on the price of just one)..and then witnessed a couple come by..who bought one for the amount we paid for two..ha.."
Written on the 22nd October 2009.
It's a shame I never completed this entry as this was only the first few hours of our arrival in Cambodia and we were there for four days. I'll post some photos up as it was quite an amazing place to visit..but I guess it just wasn't my kind of thing to do. I appreciate having done the trip now I'm back..it was a good experience..but at the time I just didn't enjoy it. I was also suffering from dehydration at the time and was not taking to food too well..so I guess that didn't help. I did appreciated it whilst I was there..and I didn't just let my time there pass as a blur..but I didn't need to go to places like this to see how ppl live to appreciate what I've got. Walking around the ruins of angkel wat was like being in a film (think tomb raider)..and to think these temples were made in the tenth century! Absolutely amazing. Most the stone had all been carved (..again making me appreciate the work of the artisans)..and put together..WITHOUT cement..something I did struggle to get my head round..but then again the stones were quite large and heavy..I tried lifting a piece that had fallen over time to get a better perspective..and well I guess you could understand why they didn't fall down..but how on earth did they get them up there in the first place?! Another amazing thing..and I thought was quite a good idea when learning the reason behind it..was the stairs on these temples. They were so narrow and steep that to get up them you actually had to climb up them using your hands and feet..which was quite a scary ordeal..especially for someone like me..who is scared of heights. The reasoning..was so that you would respect the building. You would tread with care..mostly for your own safety and from difficulty..and not damage the temple. As I said before..I will post up some photos soon and then you can all see for yourselves.
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