Sweatin' in Cambodia

Leaving the tigers was tough, but we boarded the train to Bangkok (3 hours) early on the 17th and then took a bus (5 hours) to the Cambodian border (well, several km from the border). At this point, the sky turned dark and it began to rain. From that stop, we were transported by tuk-tuk to a stop even closer to the border. As we were getting off the bus we met another American who is currently living in the Middle East (small world) so we all shared a tuk-tuk. We had been chatting for several minutes when Isaac realized he left his camera bag on the bus- YIKES! We asked the driver to turn around, and said a lot of prayers. Luckily we found our bus and the camera bag and its contents were inside- Whew! So, back again towards the border. When the tuk-tuk driver dropped us off a friendly young Cambodian assigned himself as our guide to help us cross the border. He reminded us repeatedly to watch our bags and pockets, for as we approached the border we were swarmed by people, begging, and pulling at our clothes. It was heart breaking. We moved quickly through the departure point, and our guide continued to lead us through the mud and muck, across the border. He offered to arrange a taxi for our transport to Siem Reap (the buses were all gone for the day). We were tired, and well aware that we were likely being pulled into a scam, but decided to allow him to make arrangements. Once in the taxi, we were able to really look at our surroundings... the immense poverty was gut-wrenching. The roadways of rust-colored mud were riddled with potholes and small lakes! People and motorbikes were everywhere, wading through the muck. Many small children were without clothes, in the road, and unaccompanied by anyone. Mud and garbage was piled up against buildings, and in random spots through the road. It is said that an unknown airline is paying an unknown government official to postpone the development of the road, indefinitely. This must be the case, as this road (from Poipet to Siem Reap) sees high tourist traffic. The ride on this bumpy "road" was bone-jarring! Our driver worked to avoid the countless potholes, but it didn't seem to alleviate the bounciness in the least! After another 5 long hours, we were actually hurting from the experience. The paved roads of Siem Reap were heavenly! The town itself appeared quite westernized, with fancy hotels and twinkly lights hanging everywhere. Once inside Siem Reap we made another transfer to a Tuk-Tuk. The "guide" on the tuk-tuk was part of the same company as our first assistant in Poipet. He took us to get cash, and then recommended a guest house. The Green Tree guest house is a large colonial style building close to the center of town. It was clean and the price was right, so we took it. We made arrangements for the driver to pick us up the next afternoon to purchase our tickets for Ankor Wat and to watch the sunset from one of the temples. We had a long glorious sleep that night, and a lazy morning watching the NBA Finals. That afternoon, our driver, Ngo, picked us up and took us to the temples. It was an easy hike, along a lush forest trail, to the temple. Clearly the other tourists in town wanted to see the sunset as well, becuase they were all there! We meandered around and snapped some pictures, but the charcoal skies indicated that rain was fast approaching. We hurried back down the trail, but couldn't beat the downpour. We got soaked! After cleaning up at our guest house, Ngo picked us up and we went to dinner at The Dead Fish Tower. This expansive, ecclectic retaurant had tables on mutlti-tiered platforms, traditional Cambodian dancing, and a crocodile farm! It was great! We invited Ngo to join us for dinner and had a very nice time talking with him about his life in Cambodia. This morning Ngo picked us up at 9, and we headed for Angkor Wat. We visited 3 seperate temples, including the jungle temple where "Tomb Raider" was filmed. The jungle temple was absolutely unreal, with massive trees sprouting from the ruins- stunning! All of the temples were amazing, but the weather was un-godly hot and humid! After touring the temples, we went out into the country to visit a landmine museum. A man, Akira, who was once a child soldier, now spends his days defusing landmines with little more than a stick and cigarette. He has cleared thousands of mines and UXO's. He also started the museum to raise awareness, as well as an orphanage. We actually met a man from the states our first night in Siem Reap, who works with Akira, and told us some amazing stories about his work. After the museum we partook in a little shopping and worked on our bartering skills.
We didn't try too hard, as it just felt selfish to haggle over a dollar or two, when that amount of money could support a family for a day. We did make some good finds, and supported some families=). Whew! What a day!!! Tomorrow we plan to move onto Pnhom Penh for a day or so. After assessing the time needed for travel, we have decided to cut the Vietnam portion out of our trip. We'll just have to add that to our growing list of must-see places=). We plan to fly on to Laos, and spend a week or so there. We will head into Bokeo National Park for our tree-top gibbon experience on the 26th!
Well, I hope my ramblings made sense... I'm trying to recall as much as possible and type quickly!