Motorbike Sir?

First here is a brief recount of my visit to Angkor:

Our first day, Darren and I hired out moto drivers to take us to a temple about 60 km away called Beng Mealea, which is not apart of the normal temple circuit. Beng Mealea was a great introduction to the temples here. Because it is so far away from Siam Reap, it gets almost no visitors. It is also completely swallowed by the jungle, with a good portion of the temple structures having collapsed. Trees grow out of rocks and visitors are allowed to climb around at will. All around us birds and insects made a considerable racket as I nearly walked through a massive spider web with a five inch spider relaxing in the center. Another time I saw a three foot snake slither away as I approached. Unfortunately the batteries in my camera died after taking 5 pictures, so I only got a few shots.

Over the next three days, we hired out motos and saw a dizzying array of temples around Angkor Wat. Knowing that we were not pressed for time, we saw the temples at a nice relaxed pace. Each day we stopped in the market and bought some bread and fruit and ate lunch sitting amongst the ruins. I saw many people being shuttled around in massive tour busses, rushing to see as many of the temples as possible. A few times I just sat for hours in the shade, watching Japanese tourists take pictures of each other ever few meters.

Some of my favorite temples (if you plan on visiting) were:
Angkor Wat
The Bayon
The Terrace of the Leper King and Elephants
Preah Khan
Ta Prohm
Beng Mealea
Banteay Srei
Ta Keo

We also visited:
The Baphuon
Banteay Kdei
Eastern Mebon
Kbal Spean
Bakong
Preah Ko
Ta Som
Preah Neak Pean

I enjoyed all the temples, though by the end of the four days I had seen enough. Some of the less spectacular temples are still interesting, though compared to some of the more popular temples, they don’t stand out. What struck me the most was the number and size of the temples – it gave me a good impression of how great the Angkor Civilization was at its height. It is hard to convey in words and pictures how amazing this place is. Angkor should be near the top of everyone’s list of places to see on the planet. I look forward to coming back here and visiting some of my favorite temples, as well as checking out some of the ones I didn’t see. All I can say is go.

——-

After a month of exploring a bit of Cambodia I think I have made some decisions. Bear in mind that my plans change from day to day, but barring any major developments, I think I will look for a teaching job in Phnom Penh.

I originally wanted to teach in Vietnam, but Cambodia has captured my heart. For all of the shit this country has been through – war, genocide, and poverty – this country has some of the most light-hearted and optimistic people that I have ever met. Today I visited the Cambodia Landmine Museum which is run by an ex-Khmer Rouge soldier who has single-handedly removed 20,000 land mines from the countryside (check out the story of In addition, he provides housing for a dozen or so land mine victims who hang out at the museum and attend a local school. I got talking to a 16 year old kid who had his leg blown off when he was six. He was all smiles as I asked him some questions about his life. He said that he was done with school but when I asked him what he was planning on doing now, he didn’t understand as his English was not very good.

As far as an actual teaching job goes, I have not looked for one yet though the impression that I got from checking out the town is that there is plenty of work if you are interested. I might not make as much money as I would in Vietnam (Cambodia is also more expensive) though I should still be able to live comfortably. So my plan is to head to Bangkok tomorrow. There are a few reasons for this:
1. Cambodia has no ATMs, and I only have a $50 travelers cheque left
2. I need to leave the country to get a business visa.
3. I should mail a package home (the postal service in Cambodia is notoriously unreliable)
4. I want to chill out for a few days and indulge in some western entertainment – good food, a movie theater, and maybe a bit of shopping.

After that I am resolved to settle down and get into the expat life. I think it will be hard leaving the freedom of the road, but my financial situation necessitates a bit of income generation.

Cheers,
Neil

Tags: Cambodia

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 9th, 2004 at 3:52 am and is filed under Cambodia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.