Vagabonding : Cambodia

Viva la revolution!

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I tensed and picked the best escape route down the wet street behind me.

The student, intoxicated with the frenetic energy of the setting had decided to probe the policeman directly in front of me. The cop, standing in full riot gear with shield, mask, club, and enough tear gas grenades to start World War 3 never even flinched…..we both breathed a sigh of relief.

In front of me, 5000 students were shouting, raising fists and banners into the air, and marching to protest the fact that they cannot afford university. Cops stood at the ready, and among a very small gathering of locals I stood with Alex, 2 lone gringoes in a sea of protest and high energy.

How do I always walk into these things on accident?

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Posted in Cambodia |

Goodbye Cambodia

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My days in SE Asia are suddenly growing short.

I decided spur of the moment that I am going to fly into Orlando on May 1st to meet my parents, sister, husband, niece, and nephew on their holiday in Florida. The decision was mainly driven by my family’s current state of health. As much as I plan to keep traveling, they get priority and I do not want to miss what could be our last trip together.

Going from the ultimate freedom of backpacking to the heart of tourist hell in America (Disney World) while being 12 hours jet lagged is going to be a true test of my manhood. Its worth it to see my family. From there, I will hitch a ride with them back to Kentucky until I can arrange my trip to the Netherlands and Germany. I dont want to stay home long. After being a vagabond for so long I feel like Im crawling back into my cage.

I booked a 10 hr bus at 07:00 tomorrow morning to go back into Thailand and then I will hop a boat to Ko Chang, a large island southeast of Bangkok. I’ll finish my trip there before flying out of Bangkok. Cambodia has grown on me and I would love to stick around if only I had more time. Given a choice between Pnohm Pen and an island with buckets, scuba diving, and the ocean….unfortunately the island wins in this instance so off I go!

Posted in Cambodia | Tags: Cambodia, ko chang, siem reap

Vagabond in Cambodia

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The Cambodian sun in April (the hottest month) is a force to be feared!

I spent the last of my three day pass exploring around the temples again, this time at the temple where the movie “Tomb Raider” was filmed. It was amazing to see the huge tree roots that had just engulfed these temples and tore them apart over centuries. Some of the trees were easily 10 ft wide in diameter and they cast shade over the temple site which invites moss and vines to creep up the stone walls. Its no wonder they chose such an intriguing site to film the movie.

At one of the temples, I was surrounded by the usual mob of little kids selling postcards and bracelets. I had already purchased postcards from one of them. One of the boys could not have been more than 7 years old and counted the 10 postcards for me in English, then French, then Spanish, then German. I was thinking…wow! I started counting in Mandarin Chinese to see if he knew and he finished my numbers up to 10! I would be willing to bet that he knew Japanese as well. How many adults do you know that can count to ten in 7 languages? Unfortunately its probably all the education he is going to receive because his parents have him out of school to work the tourists.

A Cambodian police officer approached me on top of the temple, which was strange, the temple was small and really did not merit having security full time.

“Would you like to buy a souvenir?”

It took a minute for my rusty brain to comprehend that a uniformed police officer was asking me like everyone else to buy something.

I answered “no thank you”.

“No…you should buy a souvenir”. His face was serious.

He had something shiny in his hand…Im thinking, WTF is this guy trying to sell me. He gets close enough and I can see that its his badge! It took a full 5 or 6 seconds for me to realize that he is “encouraging” me to buy a souvenir, I guess from the kids…who knows. My friend Kara was watching the whole event take place and wondering what the hell I was up to. I politely but firmly told the guy that I had already bought something and that I had spent a LOT of money in Cambodia….which was no stretch. After a lot of smiling at each other and me keeping my cool and confidence, he walked away and left us alone. My heart was racing because earlier in my travels I met a 19 year old German girl that was robbed by a police officer here. Fortunately, it was broad daylight and I got off easy.

My American friend Kara and I celebrated the end of our adventures by exploring Angkor What, the famous after hours pub here until 03:00am….it was probably the most dangerous temple that we have explored as of yet, at least feels like it. She is off today to Bangkok to meet her BF so once again, I am on my own and a vagabond. I will never get over my addiction to the feeling that you get when you do not know what the immediate future holds….