Siem Reap; First Impressions

I have to admit, leaving Thailand this morning was a little bit harder than I expected. I arrived back in my local town of Surin after a 15 hour bus journey from Chiang Mai to find the familiar again. I know this city so well from living nearby for the past 6 months, and even the bus drivers in the station knew me and helped me find my bus. Sitting there at 5am eating chicken on a stick and sticky rice (one of my favourites) I realised how comfortable I had become, and suddenly I was struck with fear at leaving and heading somewhere new. But before I thought about simple things like ordering food and getting around, I had to get over the border. I have to say, the thought alone terrified me. I have heard some really bad horror stories about the guards holding your passport until you pay them a bribe of a colossal amount of money to get it back. Not to mention the scamming taxi drivers who grab your bags from you to get you to pay them huge fares. I was trying to mentally prepare myself for all of these possibilities, but I still found the nerves creeping in as I approached the border this morning.

I need not have feared. A lovely man who works in a resort just beside the border gate was on hand to help me figure out what booth I was to go to to fill out my forms and he translated everything for me. He even organised for a shared taxi for me with other locals so I wouldn't have to pay a lot of money to get to Siem Reap. So there I was, happy to be through the visa ordeal, and sitting in a taxi with a local business man. Little did I know that taxis here like to make the most of the space in the car. About 10 minutes later I found myself squished in the back seat with the business man, a local 50 something mammy who kept smiling at me, and a young smartly dressed man with a briefcase in one hand and a live clucking chicken in a box in the other hand.

Driving the two hours to Siem Reap, I instantly saw the difference between Thailand and Cambodia. This country is noticeably poorer. The people in Thailand live in basic accommodation, but majority have a concrete house and a car. In Cambodia, outside the city everything is communities of wooden shacks, bicycles and old motorbikes as the mode of transport, and near naked children running around with stray dogs. It is clear from the amount of people sitting outside their houses that employment is quite low here, and many are disfigured as a result of land mines left over from the war in this country only a few decades ago. Like Thailand, people with a disability don't seem to get much help, and many rely on begging to survive. In Thailand his has improved slightly compared to Cambodia, as many blind people have found jobs in the massage business, and people with physical disabilities find work on stalls in markets or selling bus tickets. Although I have noticed one thing about Cambodia that has surprised me. Their English is really good compared to Thailand. Thailand's education is questionable I have to say after working in the sector, but the difference between Thailand and Cambodia's standard of English is shocking. I want to know their secret!! My classes would be such a success.

I am heading off to the world famous Angkor Wat temple complex tomorrow, so there will be pictures galore in tomorrow's blog along with a bit of a history lesson, and maybe a reference to 'Tomb Raider' once or twice (google it if I sound mad).

Sawatdiikha.