Greetings from Cambodia

I write from an internet cafe in Siem Reap Cambodia and can say with absolute certainty that we are not in Thailand anymore. After returning from Phuket, we spent a relaxing two days in and around Kanchanaburi: tooling around on bikes, visiting Erawan Falls and Hell Fire Pass. On Tuesday morning, we left Kanchanaburi on the 8:00 bus bound for Bangkok beginning our longest day of travel yet. Two buses, one tuk tuk, one metered cab, one pick up truck, one shared taxi and countless miles of unbelievably bad roads later, we found ourselves at the Sydney Angkor Hotel, in our eight dollar luxury room complete with hot water, soft beds and cable tv. The hours between our lovely room in Kanchanaburi and our even more posh room in Siem Reap, were some of the most harrowing of my very sheltered - I now realize - life. We made it to the border easily enough, but once we crossed the border, we literally crossed into another world, one where my independent traveler confidence quickly spiraled into the advanced stages of culture shock. After a less than pleasant border crossing experience, I found myself in a country where I didn't speak the language or know the cultural norms, carrying a pack that in itself probably cost more than what the average Cambodian makes in a year, not to mention everything in it, and completely at the mercy of the local people. Luckily for me, I wasn't alone and Steven helped immensely, not only to calm me down, but also to get us to where we were going unscathed, if a bit shaken up.

After we got passed the initial shock, we have found Cambodia to be a beautiful country, filled with beautiful people, but also one that is very poor and undeveloped (at least in the rural areas - in the more urban areas, it is somewhat similar to Thailand except with less street venders and more people begging for money and selling things). Many of the homes we've seen are wooden homes on stilts without running water or electricity. Riding along the rural roads, you feel as if you've not only crossed into another country, but into another period of time entirely.

We've spent the past two days touring the temples of Angkor and have found them to be fascinating and awe inspiring. We've returned to the hotel each night not only physically exhausted from all of the steps and walks, but emotionally exhausted as well from our numerous encounters with the local children quite insistently peddling their wares. It has been hard to see so many children selling crafts or begging for money, often followed up with a plea of "dollar for my school?" It would be impossible to give all the money you wanted to these children as their are throngs of them pushing the same goods in front of you pleading you to buy from them. I have cold-heartedly resisted a lot of their overtures, but Steven has succumbed a few times and has taken some of the pressure off of me, making the kids happy in the process. A few times we've had more time with some of the kids and found them to be very sweet and talkative, once they cast off their hard sell facades.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Phnom Phen by luxury $6 bus and are looking forward to the change of scenery and the cushioned seats.