Archive for 'June 2009'
Hotels in Cambodia
We stayed in very nice hotels. Hotels are great in Cambodia. I particular love the one we stayed in Siem Reap. It’s a Spa Resort. Their breakfast is GREAT! I love their homemade yogurt. It’s a hotel with so many European tourists, so they do very well continental breakfast. So far I found that European tourists are most common in South East Asia rather than American. French tourists are particular common in Cambodia.
Artisans Angkor
We visited two local handcraft art places – silk production and sculpture art
Silk trees from Japan, China, Cambodia and Thailand (from left to right)
Cambodian kids
Many kids work on the streets in Cambodia. They follow tourists around, and try to sell them souvenirs. Most of them are fluent in English and Mandarin. They are so aggressive selling things. Once you buy something from one, then the whole group will follow. If you didn’t buy from others once you buy something from one kid, the rest would complain about you non stop. They follow you until you get on your tourist bus.
My friend tried to get rid of one kid who followed her. She asked her to get back to school for studies, and not to stay on street for work. She replied loudly “NO MONEY, NO FOOD.”
It’s sad when you heard that. Cambodia is full of street kids without parents. Some do work for families. They go to schools in the morning, and work on streets in the afternoon. Personal salary of Cambodia is about USD30.00 a month, so you can imagine how poor they are. A can of coke costs USD1.00. Of course, such thing is not for local, but you can imagine what kind of life Cambodians are having. Second hand clothes are common in the local markets. They are actually imported by overseas charity organisations. However, the local market stores sell them up to USD10.00 a piece. I can’t imagine how local people can afford them.
This little girl sat by the entrance of Angkor Temple and selling flowers. I gave her USD1.00 for her flowers. She was so happy, saying “Thank you!”
I don’t mind buying something from these kids as if I could help them a little, but the fact is that they might stay on the streets forever once everyone thinks the same way as I do. Most are controlled by local gangsters. Many kids are even found in some local prostitute brothel. It’s indeed upsetting. This issue already brought the global awareness.
These two little girls were playing on the ground while we entered the temple. They were still in the same place two hours later when we left. They were totally covered by soil. Most of kids don’t wear shoes as they can’t afford it. Moreover, they don’t have habit to wear shoes.
Rainbow on Angkor Wat
Beautiful scene! It was great that we saw rainbow on Angor Wat!! It was amazing! We were planning to see sunset in Angkor Wat, but ended up seeing rainbow.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is one of the most magnificent places I had ever been. It’s religious, spiritual, mysterious and historical. I really can’t imagine how it was built. It was built in early 12th century. It’s one of the Wonders of the World.
Bangkok air!
I love this plane. It’s with colourful paint and propellers. How nice and beautiful to fly on the sky! We were flying from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.
Cambodian noodle and baguette
Cambodian soup noodle is my favourite. Their local French Baguette is delicious. I missed to try it in my Saigon trip last year, but managed to have it this time. Vietnam and Cambodia were both under the French rule, so more or less their food culture is deeply influenced by France.
Mekong River
The scene is not particular good, but the overall environment is interesting. People live by Mekong, eat by Mekong, and bath in Mekong. Well, any kind of activities you can imagine!!
