July 04, 2004

Cambodia - July 3, 2004

*** Spotty Safety record ***

Faced with the prospect of spending 40 hours in the back of a pickup truck, navigating muddy, washed-out roads and braving torrential rain, I decided to fly from Laos to Cambodia. The old russian-made turboprop did nothing to evoke confidence, nor did the unscheduled stop at a small town in the south of Laos ("simple maintenance," said the pilot). However, I did make it in one piece to Siem Reap, Cambodia - where I found the roads flooded under six inches of muddy rain water. As soon as I was settled in at my hotel, I checked on Laos Aviation's safety record... second worst in the world!

*** Toothless, smiling, and wildly famous ****

After 12 hours of non-stop rain, the skies finally cleared enough to allow me to rent a motobike guide for three days of exploring the spectacular (10th - 13th Century) Angkor Temples. With over 70 well-preserved temples within 50km of each other, there was a lot to pick from. A lot of the temples were in remarkable shape after having been lost to the jungle for over 500 years and i had some of the less popular ones all to myself. It was a bit surreal, tramping through the underbrush to find partly collapsed temples looming against the tropical foliage. In the afternoon of my first day, I was at the Ta Promn temple (where parts of Tomb Raider were filmed). Suddenly, it started to rain. Really rain. I rushed into an antechamber to take cover and found myself next to a smiling, bald man. He had really big ears, no teeth, and spoke in low, slow tones. We chatted for half an hour during the downpour as he asked me "where you from?" "what you do?" "how much you weigh?" Then, as the rain subsideded, he tapped my pocket where I had stored my Lonely Planet guidebook. Thinking he was going to recommend another temple, I pulled it out and started to open it. He shook his head, smiled, and pointed to the cover. There he was, smiling, stooped, and posing happily for a picture. He was a local legend!

**** "Hey you, motobike!" *****

After Siem Reap, I headed down to Pnomn Penh, a crazy city where anything goes. For a fee, you can fire rocket launchers or AK-47s, then go watch Khmer kickboxing (much, much more violent than Thai Kickboxing) and finish off your day at the local brothel (most guesthouses have a ladyfriend for hire).I spent my first afternoon at the Genocide museum. It was a sobering, somber visit in which I learned of the Khmer Rouge's atrocities. It was difficult to stomach, but very educational. Even more difficult to stomach was the motorbike ride back to my guesthouse, during which my driver insisted on breaking his last record. He flew into oncoming traffic, through congested alleyways, and onto crowded sidewalks. Sadly (for him), he didn't break his record.The next day, I opted to walk. One of Pnomn Penh's charms is that it's full of people with motobikes to hire. You can't walk for 30seconds without hearing "hey! motobike!" with a smiling khmer pointing to his ride. It soon became very tiring, saying "no thank you!" especially to those drivers who insisted on riding next to me as I walked, imploring "cheap price, get on!" Finally, on one particular street where I was harrassed by 7 drivers in a span of 20seconds, I lost patience. "Now why the hell would I want a motobike now after I just said no to 7 others?" I exclaimed to the eighth driver. Grinning from ear to ear, he simply patted his bike and said what he knew in english "ok! motobike?" How to argue with this logic? Sighing, I climbed on and paid him 10 cents to take me to a cafe.

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