Poipet to Siem Reap and the road from hell
Hi!
It's another 9/11 again and i haven't heard of any new tragedies. I guess a natural one of Katrina was enough. Hope you are all well.
Am here in Siem Reap recouperating from the 4.5 hours of torture yesterday. It was a long day of travel-to recap:
Left Tony's Place in Ayu at 7:30 am by nice bus. Got to Bangkok northern bus terminal at 9 am and got a seat in the bus leaving at 9:30 for Aranya Prathet which is at the Thai/Cambodian border. Got there in one piece which is amazing since we were in the opposite lane passing about 75% of the time. At A.P. i took a mototrcycle taxi driven by a woman (not usual) and went the 7 km to the border. Crossed, meeting groups of fellow travelers. Many people waiting for their "bus" to take them the 152 kms to S.R. I hooked up with a 3 some from the states and we got a taxi that was totally covered in mud to take us the trip. Started out not too bad. We were chatting and eating crackers and the driver was negotiating the VW sized potholes, dogs, bicycles, cows, trucks and people rather well-for about 1.5 hours. Then the road got REALLY nbad. Add in giant and small rocks and washboard, mud and broken down vehicles. We were all pretty miserable, but kept our sense of humor making jokes about "booble head dolls" and young travelrs admitted to the clininc with "shaken baby syndrome". We had 2 by the side of the road pee stops, and a beer stop in which i bought the driver one too and we swerved and swayed and bumped along for 3 more hours. We wondered when and if those folks on the big bus made it and today i saw one passenger, so guess they did.
Made it to Siem Reap about 8:30 just as it started to pour! Fionally found a guesthouse and dumped our stuff, ate out and got to bed about 12am. I swear, i woke up at 6 am and had not moved the whole night!
The others slept in and we parted ways, and i rented a bike and rode all around the back streets of the town. It is like a step back in time with sweet kids all saying "hello" and the green, water- filled fields and wooden houses and shacks, the monks praying in the temple and amazing bulue sky and white clouds. Very nice way to begin my first day here in Siem Reap!
Found a nicer guesthouse and am set up there for at least 4 days. It is an old but nice wooden house with a private thatch roof balcony on the second floor very near the temples. I set up my hammock and it was sweet just to lie there and read about tomorrow's exploration. Got back on the bike and rode into town (about 20 mins) and found a massage place that is staffed by blind massage therapists. They do Anma and Shiatsu at $3 for 1 hour. As my body really needed it after my 12 hour travel day, i had one with a nice young man named Da-Ley. (interesting name for you local Pidgin speakers). Enjoyed 2 hours of massage in a cool, clean, simple, small concrete building with fans. It reminded me that we don't need spa environment to have a good massage!
So, tomorrow is the big day....Ankor Wat complex. I will be here for many days- may get the $60 for 7 day pass. It will rain some days, so i can take a day or two off when it does. I will write more about the travels soon. You can comment to this blog if you have any suggestions of things to do or see here. As my atsu.edu email has been getting lost lately, may be best to write to both of the following:
mawilliams@atsu.edu with a cc to monicaw@hawaii.edu
Take care and stay tuned...
Monk
posted by Monica @ 5:36 PM
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