FEBRUARY 7 - FEBRUARY 9

The last few days have been very interesting. From the atrocities of the killing fields in Phnom Peng to the peace of the Buddhist Temples in Siem Reap and all in between. Tuesday we did a 5 hour quad bike tour in the blazing heat from seeing the killing fields, through many of the local and very poor villages to the zoo and a large lake. The Killing fields were terrifying, confronting and sad. The surprisingly small site has signs posted around for tourists to read about exactly what happened in each area of the fields. All of them are too atrocious to post on this blog.
The quad biking took us through dozens of local and very poor villages where we were greeted each and every time with big, wide smiles. The kids are especially friendly racing out in droves to wave, say hello in English and ‘high five you’ as you slow down to catch their hands. I’ve never seen poverty like this on this scale before but our random stops to stock up on cold water, bananas and fuel gave us a chance to talk with the locals and the kids – all of them very happy to see us. It was a hard slog – all of us have suffered some gastro and fever – just getting use to the area – but it takes its toll in the hot, sunny weather.
Thursday we flew to Siem Reap on a little plane with propellers. It’s only a 50 minute flight but the alterative is a 6 hour boat ride (no thanks). Siem Reap is poorer than Phnom Penh but caters well for tourists. We’ve had some down time to chill out and stop for a bit. The hotels have been beautiful – thanks Kazza – you rock!!
This morning we hit the temples. We saw the sun rise at Angkor Wat – which was breathe taking. We have hired a guide and a Tuk Tuk driver to show us through various temples – which are Buddhist at the moment – but have changed from Buddhist to Hindu to Buddhist over the years – and the markings of each religion are evident .. For example Buddha carvings have been changed into Hindu carvings and so on. They’re big on recycling!
This afternoon, we’re chilling out again and just relaxing by the pool which is lovely to stop for a minute!