Tuesday, April 26, 2005

khmer country (part 1)

there's alot to write about my trip to cambodia. so, being the lazy person i am, here's some excerpts from my diary entries during my time in khmer country.

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22 Apr

things to do in cambodia:

1. take TONNES of pics
2. buy "krama" scarves and tees for friends
3. not get ill/robbed/kidnapped
4. eat duck embryo thingy

23 Apr

i'm here! in cambodia! khmer country!

the airport at siem reap is really tiny and is equipped with a few ceiling fans to provide (little) comfort from the devastating heat. yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is the dry season in cambodia and temperatures go up to 40 degrees celcius at times. fabulous!

the welcome party included some kids that were begging. they looked at most 10, had decent clothes, scraggly hair and a permanent "peeease serrr...US dolllller serrrr" on their lips, complete with outstretched hands and pouts. i felt immensely sorry for them, but was angered by the fact that they were spending their time, on a school day too, banking on the sympathy of tourists. what were they doing there? they should be learning, playing, growing, helping around the house...anything except trying to earn an extra buck or two by doing nothing but looking absolutely pathetic!

i may seem pretty hard on beggars, but in a country like cambodia where education is free and there can never be a shortage of work to do - even landmine victims turn to their artistic sides and become trained in music and handicraft rather than beg - it's baffling that children are still begging for money.

anyway, in siem reap, there are signs of the booming tourism industry. the main road, national route no.6 (not unlike our malaysian road no.1) is lined with countless hotels of all "stars", guest houses and other forms of accomodation. most of them come cheap, so i guess it's all very lonely-planet-traveller-friendly, when it comes to finding a place to stay the night, at least.

i had the whole of the first day off, so my fellow tour-mates and i acquired the services of several "tut-tut"s - modified motorcycles which were fitted with a carriage - and headed off to the old market to shop for souvenirs.

shopping? on the first day? that defies all laws of tourism!

but shop we did, and we spent more than an hour in the narrow, dark corners of the market searching for the best bargains. everything was dealt in US dollars (bummer), but that was the only downside. the place was tourist heaven. you could find everything under the sun there, including replicas of the temples of angkor, buddha heads, smoking pots (which were very quaint and came in lovely designs...it took alot of self-restraint to keep from buying one), and the "krama" skarves i was looking for.

bargaining is something new to me. however, the best tip is to slash the original price by at least 50% and work from there. the thing that puzzled me most was that the price of t-shirts increased according to the size.

???

the first day basically ended with us tucking into indian for dinner since we were at a tourist area and all the place offered were overpriced smoothies and tacky bars.

there was no sign of local food, although i did spot some people squatting beside the road, tucking into duck embryos that were boiled and served with chilli and onions ala paris restaurant (pj people would know what i mean). i was both fascinated and grossed out by a woman who chewed her way through 3 almost fully formed ducklings by the time i saw her. despite it being on my "to do" list, my sister talked me out of asking for a bite, a decision i (kinda) regretted later. i did snap a picture of the woman eating the offending creatures though.

i was grateful for the naan i chomped down later that night.

lishun at 11:27 PM

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