Phnom Pehn. The Real Cambodia.

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Phnom Pehn. The Real Cambodia.

One of the reasons why we ended up in Phnom Penh was probably because how many travelers do, Bangkok Airways is just too damn expensive. For about a fifth of the price to fly to Siem Reap on Bangkok Airways ($450 USD/ return), we easily opted for Air Asia to Phnom Penh from Bangkok ($75 USD/ return).

Phnom Penh is a bit rough and definitely shows the aftermath of the 1970’s. For those that don’t know (because I didn’t), when America bombed the shit out of Vietnam they also bombed the shit out of Cambodia where the Khmer Rouge (communist influence) fled. The Khmer Rouge headed south where they enslaved, brainwashed, and killed hundreds of thousands of their own people. This was an indirect result of the Vietnam War and is very disturbing to understand. I don’t know if I’ll ever completely understand this chapter of history, but after seeing the movie “The Killing Fields” I got the basics.

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Angkor Wat. Wat an Amazing Place!

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Angkor Wat. Wat an Amazing Place!

The 5 hour bus ride to Siem Reap was quite the adventure. We were assigned to two seats towards the front but since the bus was empty in the back we switched seats to sprawl out and recoup much needed sleep. After 2 hours into Cambodia’s quite scenic and story-telling countryside we stopped in a little town.

In this town, I was feeling a bit thirsty so I thought maybe I’d try to drink some fresh coconut juice. After asking the guy on the side of the road to go ahead and prepare my coconut, I reached into my pocket and realized I left the money in the bus. While I was walking towards the bus, and while he hacking away at the coconut, HIS BLADE came flying at me and I ran for my life. Well it didn’t make it nearly that close to me but it shook me up a bit because if I were standing in front of him I would’ve been cut. So I went back into the bus and never came out.

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Ban Laem. A Taste of Cambodia.

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Ban Laem, Cambodia

My 30 day Thailand visa that was given to me on arrival was about to expire so my options to extend another 30 days in Thailand were to fly international or take a bus to the border. While flipping through the Bangkok Post, there was a tour company called Fine Day Tours which had an advertisement for 2000 Baht ($50 USD) for a 7 hour trip to and from the Cambodian border. The tour company did an exceptional job and the 7 hours wasn’t so bad.

While arriving to the border there was a dramatic difference between the two countries. I know not to judge a country by its borders but there was a huge difference in the quality of life. If Thailand is a 2nd or 3rd world country then Cambodia is definitely 3rd or 4th world. The asphalt literally stopped and the dirt roads began. There were many people begging for money and disabled, probably evidence of the recent genocide and civil conflicts in the 1970’s. Amongst the border town there was dusty air, children without shoes and in all due respect a primitive lifestyle presence. But I really can’t have my honest opinion of Cambodia until I see more of the country, which this tempting trip to the border definitely inspired.

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