Cambodia
Bought a plane ticket from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for $100 the day before I left. Flew Air Asia, a no frills airline where they charge you for drinks and 40 minutes later touched down in Cambodia.
Cambodia is sort of synonymous with corruption, as are many countries, and my first taste of that involved buying my visa. We were herded into the first line with all our documentation where “officials” walked down the line, grabbed our passports, asked us if we had pictures for our visa applications and when we all said no, said “that will be $1.”
Um, ok.
So he took our passports and threw them to the people behind the counter who were furiously filling out visas, slapping them into the passports and stamping them. We were herded into a different line where the officials would grab a passport off the top of the stack, open it to the picture and hold it up until the person recognized their picture and went up to get it. The posted signs said visas cost $20 but I didn't have any dollars, only Thai money. So I gave him 1000 baht, or about $30, cuz that was the closest thing I had and he shrugged, grabbed the cash, handed me my passport and shooed me away.
Welcome to Cambodia!
Phnom Penh is a crazy place. A friend of mine who has lived and worked here on and off for a couple years calls the country “dark and lawless,” and you definitely get that feeling just walking around the streets. I've never been in such a big city that's so run down. It looks like it used to be more of a thriving metropolis but all the money just picked up and left.
This is the kind of place that makes me feel like a true traveler.
I've also never seen roads so dominated by 2 wheeled transport.
The markets are incredible
And at night the food stalls are interspersed with tiny tables blanketed in smoking incense and fortune tellers waiting to read your cards.
My short list of things to do in SE Asia involved eating some bugs.
Mission accomplished...
I tried a fried tarantula. I couldn't make myself bite into the body but the legs were pretty chewy.
Grubs are disgusting. They pop in your mouth like little grapes. I probably wouldn't mind the flavor if I could get over the texture.
The crickets, on the other hand, were kind of nutty and delicious. I'd happily eat them as a bar snack.
I need to try a scorpion and then I think I'll be done. I can't make myself eat roaches or the huge water beetles. Too much..
I have great pictures of the above experiences but my internet connection is less than stellar, here in the wilds. As you can imagine.
Headed to Siem Reip today by very slow, though air conditioned bus. Angkor Wat tomorrow...
Cambodia is sort of synonymous with corruption, as are many countries, and my first taste of that involved buying my visa. We were herded into the first line with all our documentation where “officials” walked down the line, grabbed our passports, asked us if we had pictures for our visa applications and when we all said no, said “that will be $1.”
Um, ok.
So he took our passports and threw them to the people behind the counter who were furiously filling out visas, slapping them into the passports and stamping them. We were herded into a different line where the officials would grab a passport off the top of the stack, open it to the picture and hold it up until the person recognized their picture and went up to get it. The posted signs said visas cost $20 but I didn't have any dollars, only Thai money. So I gave him 1000 baht, or about $30, cuz that was the closest thing I had and he shrugged, grabbed the cash, handed me my passport and shooed me away.
Welcome to Cambodia!
Phnom Penh is a crazy place. A friend of mine who has lived and worked here on and off for a couple years calls the country “dark and lawless,” and you definitely get that feeling just walking around the streets. I've never been in such a big city that's so run down. It looks like it used to be more of a thriving metropolis but all the money just picked up and left.
This is the kind of place that makes me feel like a true traveler.
I've also never seen roads so dominated by 2 wheeled transport.
The markets are incredible
And at night the food stalls are interspersed with tiny tables blanketed in smoking incense and fortune tellers waiting to read your cards.
My short list of things to do in SE Asia involved eating some bugs.
Mission accomplished...
I tried a fried tarantula. I couldn't make myself bite into the body but the legs were pretty chewy.
Grubs are disgusting. They pop in your mouth like little grapes. I probably wouldn't mind the flavor if I could get over the texture.
The crickets, on the other hand, were kind of nutty and delicious. I'd happily eat them as a bar snack.
I need to try a scorpion and then I think I'll be done. I can't make myself eat roaches or the huge water beetles. Too much..
I have great pictures of the above experiences but my internet connection is less than stellar, here in the wilds. As you can imagine.
Headed to Siem Reip today by very slow, though air conditioned bus. Angkor Wat tomorrow...
posted by KBARRETT at 2:51 AM
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