The One Late Entry That I Couldn't Post in Communist China

Different is a word that does not quite do Cambodia justice. The streets are somehow more chaotic than those found in neighboring countries, food menu's boast specials such as 'fried cow's intestine' and 'sweet and sour river snake', the local markets are a labyrinth of stalls and smells, and the people here are some of the most beautiful kind souls i've ever come across. Gone are the mega shopping centers of Malaysia, the carefree almost excruciatingly slow pace of life in Laos, and goodbye sappy Thai music... Cambodia is a place of its own.

 32 hours spent playing musical chairs with buses was a small price to pay to get to this third-world-country. Once I arrived in Siem Reap, two new travel mates richer, I was ecstatic to explore. Without intending to, I had arrived in the second largest Cambodian city during nationally-celebrated Water Festival. The weekend also happens to be the busiest two days of the year in Siem Reap - go figure. Food stalls lined the streets selling anything from hot-dogs to beetles. Massive floating shrines dotted the shoreline of the river running through the center of town. Tuk tuk drivers and stall owners sold their services and goods with unabashed screams and swindling. All the hustle and bustle was a bit overwhelming until I caught sight of the boats on the river. I was thrilled to be a spectator of sports again and immediately began discussing with my new mate Maria the tactics involved in boat racing with nearly twenty people having to paddle in unison.

After a day of being nearly overwhelmed by the festival activities, I finally got a phone call through to my Kiwi mate Keri who was in town with her student excursion group from Australia. I was thrilled to see Keri and almost surprised to actually hear her accent; after a year in New Zealand I had stopped noticing the strange vowels and incomprehensible slang.With Keri technically working we couldn't visit long but made plans to try and meet up the next day at the Angkor Wat temples. Maria, Sarah, and myself rented bikes for $1 and rode through the sweltering heat, despite the early morning hour, to the famous temples.

When Angkor Wat actually came into view, so did the thousands of tourists all heading inside. The girls and myself decided to head to some of the further temples to avoid the crowds. Riding past elephants and monks, we arrived at a large temple with far fewer people milling around. As I walked up the steps I ran into a few kids from Keri's group and was surprised to find Keri so quickly amongst the dozens of temples and thousands of people in the area. We posed for a few pictures, both took note of how impressed we were by the beauty of the ancient temples, and then had to go separate ways. I met back up with Maria and Sarah and the three of us spent the better part of 9 hours riding from one stunning temple to the next. After a death-defying bike ride home through Cambodian traffic, we arrived at our hostel exhausted but feeling grateful for the day's experience.

The rest of Siem Reap passed in a blur of daily excursions and relaxed evenings. As we were making our plans to leave the city news spread that a massive stampede had happened in nearby Phnom Penh and that hundreds had tragically lost their lives. I immediately became aware of the somber faces around me and even the tears being shed by locals watching the news. By nightfall, as I was leaving the city, nearly every home had made an offering to the spirits of those lost. Throughout Cambodia, hundreds of thousands of candles burned beautifully through the night.

After a near-sleepless and very motion-sick night on a bus, the girls and I dragged ourselves into a tuk-tuk just as the sun was rising in the beach-side city of Saukville. A water-polo playing Canadian girl joined our trio and the four of us found a beach-side resort to spend the next few days relaxing at. Hearing about the bitter cold taking over home was surreal as I lay out in the hot sun sweating and tanning! Initially planning on heading to Phnom Penh to visit the historical war sites, i've been enjoying myself too much on the beach to drag myself inland, so the educational tour will have to wait another week or so.

-Ash