Robinson World Tour Part 2: Crazy Cambodia

Crazy Cambodia

We are now in South East Asia in the part they call Indochina which includes Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Lisa and I met our group in Bangkok and left Thailand the next morning for Cambodia. There was a distinctive difference entering Cambodia. The politics here is extremely interesting and well worth a story or two when we get home. The prices of everything are very cheap here. Just to give you an idea Lisa and I can get a full meal and drinks (that is plural for a reason) for 10 to 15 dollars. The one meal we had two seafood platters, two beers and three jugs of mixed drinks for $20 all on the beach. (See Lisa’s expression in the photos below).

This tour is very different from our last one. It’s more about the people and the culture which is extremely different than at home. To sum it up, the word courtesy doesn’t seem to exist in their vocabulary. You have to push and make your way through. Staying in hotels is nice but we do miss the group atmosphere that you get from the camping experience. Our group here is nice but we don’t get the same amount of opportunities to get to know them as well.

Our first night in Cambodia had us in a local village eating at one of the homes. We were treated to an authentic Cambodian meal. Lisa had to use chop sticks as there was no cutlery. We also had a chance to walk through the village and meet some of the children. It was a great experience that really can’t be summed up in words.

We have been to Siem Reap to go to Angkor Wat and the various temples in the area. To see the temples we awoke early to be there when the sun rose. It was a very cool experience. In the afternoon we went to the Tomb Raider (The Movie) temple. It is not as overgrown as in the movie and there was no inside like they showed in the movie but it was still spectacular. We have lots of pictures but have only included a few here.

Our next stop was in Phnom Penh. This is a very busy city with a lot of people. There is quite a bit of seedy goings on and we had to be very careful where we went and our surroundings. To give you an idea of what we are talking about I took a photo of the hotel rules found on the back of our door (check out rule 3 – it is disgusting that they even have to mention that). We have stories to tell on this area as well. The reason for our visit to this city was to go to the killing fields. For those of you that remember this is the area where the government systematically killed thousands of their own people over 5 years and dumped the bodies in mass graves. The day we did this was an extremely emotional day for all of us.

We have also included some photos of the living spaces. Most houses are on stilts for three reasons. For natural air conditioning (they spend most of their time under their houses and in the shade since it is extremely hot and humid here – we have not stopped sweating since we arrived), for flood protection and to keep away from the creepy crawlies at night. There are also some pictures of the things we see travelling down the roads. It is simply mind boggling how and why they would overload their vehicles. We have more stories than pictures but my favorite so far is the mini-van (similar to one of the photos) but add half a dozen people on top with their gear and some of them were standing. It was insane. They also fully utilize their motos (various types of motorcycles).

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves. We’d love to hear what you are doing and what you are up too. Please send us comments, emails or facebook Lisa.

Cambodian Family Robinson