Group Trip to the Angkor Wat Ruins, Siem Reap, Cambodia - Our host and hostess Mr George Richardson and wife Angel organized a trip for guests to go to Seim Reap to see the ruins of many ancient Hindu and Budhist temples. These sites were in the running for one of the top 7 wonders of the world. Last time Mark and I (mom) visited Siem Reap, we flew in and had our own car and driver and tour guide. This time our group traveled 3 hours in a van to the border of Thailand and Cambodia, arranged a tour including transportation, hotel, food, driver, guide and then walked accross the border to a bus which took 5 hours to go 125 km as the road was so very bad. Riding on the bus was like riding the mechanical bull at Billy Bob's although the bus had more moves and you had to hold on tighter to avoid being thrown off your seat.
Immediately on crossing the border, the poor people of the country are highly visible. All our luggage was hand pushed accross the border in a wooden cart by a man. There were wooden carts everywhere pushed by manpower. Trucks were seriously overloaded with recycled metal or handwoven baskets. Eventually we got to our hotel the Angkor Hotel which is beautiful with hand carved wood everywhere, a wonderful dining hall, and a pool. We spent Wednesday touring ruins, eating fantastic Cambodian food, and seeing a show about the history of Cambodia in song and dance. On Thursday we went by van to take a boat on the 100 mile long Tonle Sap lake. This is the lake that connects with the Mekong River. You can go on this lake to Phenom Phen. There are floating villages on the lake. 70% of the people who live on the lake are Vietnamese. One interesting sight among many was a small girl on a boat with her mother. The girl who was about 3 years old had her baby doll and she had a large live snake around her neck. At one point some small child about five years old jumped off a passing boat onto our boat to sell us water, beer, or soda.
We arrived Tuesday and left Thursday to return to Jomtiem Beach, Pattaya, Thailand.
Note: there have now been over 10,000 visitors from 77 countries to this blog. Thank-you for visiting and telling friends.
Immediately on crossing the border, the poor people of the country are highly visible. All our luggage was hand pushed accross the border in a wooden cart by a man. There were wooden carts everywhere pushed by manpower. Trucks were seriously overloaded with recycled metal or handwoven baskets. Eventually we got to our hotel the Angkor Hotel which is beautiful with hand carved wood everywhere, a wonderful dining hall, and a pool. We spent Wednesday touring ruins, eating fantastic Cambodian food, and seeing a show about the history of Cambodia in song and dance. On Thursday we went by van to take a boat on the 100 mile long Tonle Sap lake. This is the lake that connects with the Mekong River. You can go on this lake to Phenom Phen. There are floating villages on the lake. 70% of the people who live on the lake are Vietnamese. One interesting sight among many was a small girl on a boat with her mother. The girl who was about 3 years old had her baby doll and she had a large live snake around her neck. At one point some small child about five years old jumped off a passing boat onto our boat to sell us water, beer, or soda.
We arrived Tuesday and left Thursday to return to Jomtiem Beach, Pattaya, Thailand.
Note: there have now been over 10,000 visitors from 77 countries to this blog. Thank-you for visiting and telling friends.
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