Life in the Fast Lane: CAMBODIA: Siem Reap day 1 (July 13th)

After one more night in Bangkok we sadly said goodbye to Thailand. We were excited to meet a new group of people from all over the world who we would be touring with for the next three weeks. We had an early breakfast and jumped into a couple bus-vans to head to the Thai/Cambodia border. Once there, we had to abandon the autos to cross the border on foot. Getting the visas and going through customs went smoothly, and after about 30 min or so we were officially in Cambodia!

Since this is being written a little after the post dates, I can tell you that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Cambodia. I think Em is a little more of a Thailand girl, but we both were very surprised at how much we enjoyed our time here. After a couple bus rides from the border, we arrived in Siem Reap, possibly my favorite stop to date. The Cambodian people are sooooo welcoming and nice. They love to interact with you and they always have huge smiles on their face. Also, with 50% of the country’s population being below the age of 18, there were many more children around to interact with which Em and I both loved. Their warm, positive nature is even more amazing after you learn about the nation’s deeply sad and recent history, and the intense poverty that has resulted from it.

Our first night in Siem Reap, our tour leader told us we would be having a group dinner, but kept it a secret as to where we were going. We all loaded up into tuk tuks and weaved through the city, down a maze of muddy roads until we came to a small hospital and school, run by a non-profit organization called New Hope. After a quick tour of the two-bed hospital, a free service for the families in the local community, we got to visit the school. In Cambodia its very normal for kids to go to school from about 7:00 in the morning until around noon. Then they are dismissed, many times because they need to go work to help make money for their family. Then they return to school from 4:00 until 6 or 7. So we were thrilled to get to visit a couple of the classrooms that were still in session, even though it was late evening. The kids were very anxious to get to practice their English and many had their standard set of questions, “what is your name, where are you from, how old are you, how many brothers/sisters do you have, and are you married….if you answer yes to the last one, then the next one was how many children.” And of course, they love to have their picture taken, and want to see it on the screen immediately. It was soooooo much fun. I would love to come back some day for a longer stay to work with the kids there. Emily was just trying to figure out how she could bring a couple back with us. Once school was let out it was time for dinner. Cambodian food is very similar to Thai food, just not as spicy or flavorful, but still very good. I also got to sample a Khmer (Cambodian) favorite. We eat peanuts as a snack with our beer. Here, they eat crickets. They were tasty enough for me to go back for seconds. Emily didn’t have the stomach for it (and she calls me a picky eater).