Cambodia: Day Three

I have been really lucky so far and it hasn't rained hardly at all since I've been here. It's been perfect for buzzing around on the tuk tuk visiting all the temples. Today I did less templing than normal (maybe around 5 hours?). I went to the Roulos Group, which is three of the earliest examples of Angkorian architecture. They consisted of 3 temples, and there was only one that I was really impressed with. I had some extra time so decided to revisit Angkor Wat. I'm glad that I did. I didn't feel as rushed this time and that says how huge this place is as last time I was there for over 3 hours. I think you could easily spend a few days just at Angkor Wat. I had lunch with a guy from Northern England and he told me a slightly scary story. He was down at the beaches in Shanoukville and for no reason a gun was pulled on him. I've heard this kind of thing before. Apparantly it's illegal for anyone but cops to own guns but money gets you anything here. So people who have a little more money, get guns and they wave them around sometimes as a show of masculinity. I don't think many people are actually shot, but guns do go off in the sky. This hasn't happened around me, though I've been really tame this trip. I don't have the security of other people so I do my best to stay out of trouble. Anyways, this guy had a gun pulled on him for LOOKING at a car. The guy with the gun told him not to look at his car or he would be shot. I guess he just slowly backed away. By the way this was at 5 pm. I think there is also a pretty big crystal meth problem here as well. One guy was telling me that his friend is the son of a cop and his dad gives him money to go to school. He has never gone though, and he just spends the money on drugs and girls. He says he just found out that he has HIV but that he (the guy with HIV) isn't that concerned about it. It's a shame that his life has come to this, so few are given a chance here and this guy blew his on drugs and girls.

On a more positive note!:

Today I also decided to veer away from eating delicious noodles and to try the traditional Cambodian dish, Amok. Man am I glad I did! It was scrumptous. It's kind of like a curry, served in a banana leaf with your choice of fish, beef, chicken or pork. It's also pretty garlicy. I've taken to having 2 dinners a night. No, not lunch and then dinner. I will eat lunch, walk around, have a small dinner, get a massage and then go out for ANOTHER dinner. I'm not embarassed by this at all. I'm exploring the country with my tastebuds! Not literally of course, that would be super gross as I almost stepped on a dead rat last night.

I also went for a long walk by the river, to get out of the touristy areas and to see the regular daily workings of the people here. It was interesting and I wish I could say I was surprised by the amount of poverty, but I've been around Asia too much to not know what goes on.

Alright, I'm off for a massage! I'm flying into Thailand tomorrow late afternoon and it's calling for thunderstorms so let's hope that doesn't happen! The last time I was in Thailand it rained constantly. If I miss out on some relaxing beach time again I'll be upset!!

Love ya,
Jen xo