Templed out...

Hello again. It's Wednesday today and the last day of temple pass, which costs $US40 for three days access. It's fine with me because I think I could enjoy a day doing not that much at all in the hotel. It has an airconditioner which is all I need...

Today I went a little further afield to Bantay Srey, which was about a 45 minute drive. Normally I have been taken out to the temples on the back of a tuk tuk, but today I headed out in a car instead. It was good because I got to chat with the driver (and help him to improve his English!) It was definitely an interesting conversation. He told me quite a bit about the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and the Killing Fields. His father was killed by the Khmer Rouge in 1978 with a stick, leaving his mother to look after eleven children. The driver really wanted to go to university but once his father died they didn't have enough money for that, so he's been stuck with some pretty ordinary and low paying jobs. His wife is a teacher and gets paid next to nothing. He said that many high school teachers have quit teaching and act as guides at the temples because it pays more. When you realise that a guide gets paid $20 for a day, it goes to show how poorly teachers are paid here...

I'm finding it pretty hard to deal with the fact that I'm effectively a multimillionaire in this place. It feels kind of awkward knowing that I, and plenty of others, are able to come over to gawk at their lifestyle when there's no way in hell they could afford to get to Singapore let alone to Australia. The world is majorly out of balance.... no wonder so many people want to blow us to pieces. Not the Cambodians though... they are very lovely, peaceful people.

The temples have definitely been worth seeing, but I think it would have been much better travelling with a few others to share in the experience. There's strength in numbers, and it would be easier to avoid the hawkers!! Sadly I haven't had the opportunity to run into other like minded travellers, since most of them are German, Japanese and Korean. I've come across a few American tourists, who you can spot because they are loud and domineering (much like their foreign policy...) To be fair, you can spot Australians the same way - they are just a little quieter, a little shorter and have a little more hair sprouting out of their eyebrows... So anyway, I think my days of enjoying travelling on my own are passing and I'm going to have to start heading out with friends, or travelling to meet people. It must be a sign I'm getting old and too set in my ways...

Anyway, I can definitely recommend a trip to Siem Reap and the temples at Angkor. It's a shame that you have to run the gauntlet of salespeople (you want cold drink! you want cold drink!) and the fact that you can't find a quiet spot to sit down to reflect because someone will come up to you and ask for money or try to sell you something. Still, there aren't too many sites in the world like it!

Have a good one!