Pictures of Cambodia

Hard for us Westerners to imagine that people are still living like this, but I saw hundreds of huts, some in better and some in worse condition than the one above.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera along on the thee-hour motorbike ride in the surrounding area of Siem Reap. I let out a groan and declared, "I should have brought my camera!" My school director (who was driving the bike we were on) turned back at me and laughed, "Take pictures with your eyes!"

So, I'm borrowing pictures of recent scenes in the area.

Although I didn't go out in the wild to see crocodiles, I did take a visit to the crocodile farm. It just so happened that my school director's uncle is the owner, so we went right in, climbed the tower overlooking the baths and had a cup of tea with him. His English was excellent and he explained that the crocodiles at the farm are actually called "siemen" because they're a cross-breed between Thai and Indonesian crocodiles.I wanted to ask him, "Is THAT how they got soooo ugly?"

You just don't get much uglier than this!

Still, Cambodians and tourists alike are fascinated, if not obsessed with crocodiles! You see them stuffed and perched outside of shops, piled up on each other in other shops, made into colourful purses or shoes, and even laid out as crocodile skin table cloths for a mere $10,000 a piece! (Of course, you can talk them down to $100 if you're a local!)


 

The man at the farm said they ship them (live!) to places like Vietnam and China. I guess the animal laws aren't so strict in those countries. I sure wouldn't want to open up a box of live crocodiles!

Although the Angkor Wat was right down the road from my room, I didn't bother to visit it. Ancient stuff though. That's what all the visitors are here for. There was a wat directly across the street from me and they'd wake me up at times with their droning chants. It sounded like it was coming from a beast deep in a dark cave or something. Creepy.

Whenever I came out of my yard, I'd seen little boys in orange flitting about in the temple grounds across the road. It seemed that they, along with the other locals, were not at all dumb-founded at the sight of a White woman. My kind have become a typical sight these days in this little town.

Siem Reap actually means: "Siam (Thailand) beaten!" because this is where the Thais were beaten when they attacked in some war or other.

There really isn't much here. The electricity is strung around the town on black wires bunched together and hanging loosely on wooden poles. You are constantly in danger of getting a shock from outlets because they don't seem to be properly grounded. So, the Electric City is one thing the Cambodians need to get a handle on!