Pack your bags - we're going on a guilt trip.

I actually haven't finished telling you about my Southeast Asian trip - I still have a bit more to share with you but I will intersperse it between other posts so I don't become that party bore.

Last time I left you, I had just left Hanoi - begrudgingly.  

I had wished I could change my whole itinerary and explore the rest of Vietnam.  But it would be a pain and not much was refundable so was unenthusiastic about going to Cambodia.

When I fell in love with Hanoi and had such an interesting and fun experience, I thought I had peaked too early. 

Between you and me, I am a moderate optimist.  I said to myself that was the amazing bit so just accept the rest will be okay.

I had arrived in Siem Reap at night and had no bearing and quite frankly no interest.

I thought,"Well, Angkor Wat is apparently beautiful, it's a wonder of the world right?  Come on, let's tick that box Naomi."

I woke up and found that my hotel was quite sweet - Palm Spring-y.

My room on the right - went against my philosophy and stayed all four nights.

My room was on the right - the one that all the geckos seem to congregate to.

The garden was enviable - frangipani and mango trees.

 Natural orchids growing on the tree.

  I am sure there is a proper name but in laymen terms, 

anorexic lilies.

The flow of the bath entertained me  - doesn't take much sometimes.

But I wasn't in the hotel decor analyzing mood.

As I don't plan things properly, I haphazardly looked at my guidebook but was drowning in the humid heat.  

I promised that I would not complain about the heat but the 

43 degree heat was making me feel faint. 

But I had tourist guilt so left the hotel and let my feet lead me somehow to Angkor Wat.

 Now Wat in Cambodian means temple.  

So when I looked at my free hotel map of Siem Reap, there were loads of wats so I just headed to the nearest one.

I didn't get the whole - Angkor Wat vs wat thing.  

I couldn't be bothered bringing my guidebook because it was heavy and as usual I would wing it.

(I was not a particularly fastidious student either.)

So I'm looking around. Not really getting it.

Although a monk's orange/sepia/crimson gowns are an absolute vision for me.

These mini pagodas are funeral headstones.

With a little botox, this dog could look ten years younger.

The dog would follow me around but then curl up again - adorable.

I think this one was called Wat Bo.

Lovely frangipani trees were in bloom.

Nice but I didn't understand why people would come all the way here for this.

Uh huh. Yep. Pretty nice.

Of course, these temples have nothing to do with Angkor Wat but that was only after I did the proper tour that I knew.

I just walked around aimlessly.

I thought I would just enjoy not having to be anywhere at a certain time.

I wasn't in the mood to shop but only went in to find shade.

Then this real odor bordering on stink overwhelmed me.

It was an open meat and fish market in mid forty degree heat.

I know that this is not particularly appetizing but I did think no one is going to accidentally buy horsemeat when they asked for beef.  

You see what you are getting.

The one that got away - plenty more fish in the sea ladies.

Not quite the fish counter at my local supermarket.

I found myself in the old town of Siem Reap - not particularly pretty.  Mind you Hanoi ruined it for me.  

My eyes had become too accustomed to architectural stimulus.

This was the cutest bit of Siem Reap.

Wanderlust was a boutique with the cutest clothes run by an ex Conde Nast magazine editor. 

It was lunchtime and even though I am quite adventurous with food, I was a bit at a loss.

These were green mangoes and some other fruit in a chili garnish.

Dried meats and fish was useless to me.

Not into the whole nondescript molluscs thingy on a wagon

 in midday heat.

I was getting hungry but this was not gator burger mascot 

but just a souvenir. 

Who buys these things??

"Please feed our hungry fish your dead skin."That made me momentarily lose my appetite.

I found the most touristy cafe and had the local beer and 

ashamed to say it but a bruschetta.

I just wasn't feeling adventurous at all.

But after a drink and a snack, I gave myself a mental pep talk 

and went to Tonle Sap lake.

It is a  large freshwater lake that is 

designated as a UNESCO eco-biosphere.  

I wanted to see what that meant in real life.

I got on a tuk tuk and set off.

I reached countryside really quick - 

this is a huge patch of water lilies.

Sorry I couldn't get a better shot but even with a better camera 

I don't know if it would have captured it.

Went through a few towns and the prerequisite parting of the goats.

The poverty was quite apparent.

Cambodia is still firmly a third world country and recovering from the last sixty years of politics. 

Independence from the French.  Civil War.  

Bombing during the Vietnam War.

  Pol pot and his holocaust that killed around 3 million people.  

They have had it so rough.

The roads were not paved properly - 

so if you go ladies, wear a sports bra.

After twenty minutes, I arrived at the pier.

It was dry season and the water levels were the 

lowest of the annual cycle.

The pier was quite slippery and would not have passed a standard health and safety test.

I had my own boat all to myself along with a boat driver and guide.

The water was very muddy but in high season the water apparently is nice and clear of silt.

I didn't take a picture of the overbearing guide.  He spoke good English but he gave me the hard sell and telling me sob stories.  

But he was so dirty and his hygiene was terrible that I was getting dizzy with the heat and smells and his disgusting habits which I won't get into.

We sailed by parked boats.

Children were swimming in the muddy water...

This was one of the spirit houses that Southeast Asia have to soothe the ghosts.

We were headed to the villages that are situated on the water.

It didn't quite sink in what that meant until I sailed past their basketball court!

There is the village in the distance.

 There are two "neighbourhoods":

one is local Cambodian and one is of Vietnamese refugees.

They escaped the Pol Pot regime and found refuge on the lake in the seventies and just stayed.

Isn't that window box of flowers sweet?

The local shop.

This was a fisherman fixing his nets.

Normal life - hanging laundry, airing the carpets.

I peaked inside the house as discreetly as I can - whether land or water - I love looking at homes.

I need to get a hammock as well.

This was a rather posh house because it had a patio on the side.

The parking lot.  Don't know if you get parking tickets here.

I couldn't get over that people actually lived here.  

This was not a set for Waterworld.

This was the local church.

Stores even on water have competition. The other store in town.

This is where the birds perch - the guide told me that they were made for wildlife to perch.

The guide said they were taking me to the local orphanage and that I should take some goods to them.  I was not prepared as you might have gathered - for anything.

I only had 40 dollars on me as I was not expecting to do any shopping and had already paid for everything upfront. So he took me to the local supermarket to buy food.

So I told them I only had 40 dollars.  The guide told me he would take care of it and I thought for forty dollars in Cambodia I would still be able to buy a decent amount of food...But the local vendor didn't speak English and my guide brokered the deal.  

He said he would take care of it.

We got back on the boat and headed to the orphanage.

These were the local beggars.  Mothers who were using their own children as a hook which was ironic in front of an orphanage.

The orphanage was for children of the Vietnamese refugees.

Now, there is an unofficial request in Cambodia ask that pictures not be taken of the children at orphanages. But this kid asked me to take of photo of him so I obliged.

The school corridor.

Only to illustrate the "playground".  
Swimming in the water is not recommended.

When I got back to the boat I asked the guide to deliver the goods to the orphanage.  

He then lifted two cases of water and one box of instant noodles.  I could have gotten more at my local shops in London. I had been given this huge sob story and yet obviously monies were not distributed properly. I blamed myself.  I should have paid more attention and not expected that the guide would do the right thing.

I would have loved to get a bottle of water from the floating cornershop but I had no money left. Well, I did have three pounds but they wouldn't accept that nor American Express so I was just dying of thirst in the meantime.

I was miffed at the tour guide and just looked at the surroundings.

Men playing cards at the local cafe.

You see half a boat on the left side of the picture.

There was a girl with a snake around her neck that was about 6 foot long and about 20 inches in diameter. I hate snakes and nearly dropped my camera at the alarming sight. I did not take a picture because I was busy screaming.  Apparently snakes are a very popular pet in these village as cats and dogs don't adapt easily.

I think this house can't make up its mind - should it be a land house or a water house?

Those stick are preventing the house from toppling over!

As I left the boat, the guide expected a tip.  

I had no energy to argue so I offered him my last three British pounds but he didn't want that.  He wanted "dolla dolla".  

Of course, I forgot how the greenback despite its economic turmoils is still king in most of the world. If you gave most third world people the choice between twenty pounds sterling and twenty dollars, most people will take the dollars even though it is explained that sterling is stronger.

 He kept pleading for more money to which I reminded him I spent all my money at the orphanage.  He then told me borrow money from the tuk tuk driver!  I left politely.

Back on the road back to town.

I was still taken aback by the poverty - Vietnam did not have this.  Not near Hanoi anyway.

The stagnant pooling of water could not be healthy and why are there unattended children on a main road?

This was a restaurant that had hammocks instead of seats.

This was not a deserted house...

Finally got back to town.

I asked the tuk tuk driver what I could do just for an hour or two because I was going to just chill out by the pool in the afternoon and he took me to the Lolei group of temples.

They are located just out of town as well and 

they are the oldest group of temples.

Built around 876, over a thousand years old.

I found that out because I eavesdropped on this Korean tour guide and they didn't think I was Korean so I just stood next to them looking at the temples! Cheeky me.

They were in need of restoration.  These monuments have only been rediscovered about a hundred years ago and then due to the political mess that Cambodia has had for the last 60 years, monument restoration was the last thing on anyone's mind.

Luckily, much needed restoration is taking place on some structures.

Stunning carvings.

The temples are still active and monks are in residence next door - their laundry drying.

 Due to the changing religions a thousand years ago, a lot of the carvings of various deities have been removed.  Cambodia wavered between Hinduism and Buddhism, so the respective ruler would have carvings of the other religion etched out with many of these empty niches remaining.

They didn't remove this entirely but just chiseled out the face. This was a Hindu god so was carved out by the Buddhists at the time.

This is the remnants of another nearby Hindu temple.  The original statues of bulls remains in remarkably good condition.  Quite astonishing after a thousand years of rain, sun, and wind.

 Sad testimony of the looting of the statues inside the temples.  The French explorers, especially Andre Malraux didn't think twice about cramming as much as they could before days of luggage allowance.

He was notorious about emptying out temples.

Emptied shrine

But just before the Pol Pot regime, Americans also colloborated with locals and sold a lot of statues to private collectors as it was illegal to take out religious artifacts out of the country. It still is.

Another one of many shrines where the statue has been taken.

 The area in general is full of man made lakes and moats.

 These irrigation channels were dug at the beginning of the Khmer dynasty over a thousand years ago.

 One of the temples that make up the Lolei group of temples.

This was a bit more like it.

The entrance had a protective stone carved of multiple snakes.

 The children who were around 6 years old working saddened me.

They ask that even if you feel bad for them never to buy anything from them because it just encourages parents to make their kids work instead of sending them to school.

 I am not a huge kiddie person - takes a lot for me to say kids are cute.  But I can see why Angelina Jolie keeps adopting kids every time she goes to this part of the world.

These girls were just playing and not trying to flog anything.

 I then nearly had a fainting episode so headed back to the hotel.

But do you see spirit houses again?

The little orange/brown mini pagoda in front of the house in the slight right of center?

This house has one just to the left of the house in front.

Now this may be controversial for me to say this but 

I must get it off my chest.

I understand that religion and spiritual beliefs are important for a lot of people everywhere but it pains me that these poor people sacrifice money to buy a spirit house that is about 1/30th of the size of their real house.  These spirit houses are not cheap and yet these same homeowners were the same ones sending their 6 year olds to sell postcards. 

( I saw the same kids outside the temples go in for a snack.)

I went back to the hotel feeling very saddened by the poverty and child labour I witnessed.

Siem Reap downtown district - not very pretty.

I headed to the pool and mulled over the day's events and I was upset at myself and the guides at getting ripped off while trying to help at an orphanage.

I am aware of the discrepancy between my hotel and the rest of the town.

  I was getting tourist fatigue and tired of organizing my own transport and getting dodgy guides so I booked an official tour with the concierge.

The sun was setting and the next day I would finally get to set my eyes on Angkor Wat.

Hope you join me there. x