Ho Chi Minh City to Cambodia-part two

After checking into our hotel, the Meridien in Siem Reap, Cambodia, we bused to a boat trip through the floating village of Chongknease.  Floating villages in the Tonle Sap Lake are inhabited by about a million people.  This freshwater lake is between the Tonle Sap River and the Mekong River.  It floods seasonally.  The homes along the “banks” are on stilts to withstand the high water times.  The floating homes within the lake are anchored and must relocate to deeper waters in the dry months.  These people have been living like this for thousands of years.  

To say that this is a freshwater lake is stretching it.  The lake is used for bathing, cooking, fishing, etc. (no garbage pickup or septic systems here.)   I’m feeling guilty and unsettled that we tourists are gawking and taking pictures as these folks go about their daily lives, like a theme park attraction to us.  On the other hand, the Cambodian people are welcoming tourism and are relying upon it to revive their country after the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime.  Supposedly, the proceeds from the boat rides go directly to the villagers.

After the boat ride we go back to the hotel for a buffet dinner, a tradition dance show, and sleep-no sleep for me.  The dinner didn’t sit well in my stomach and I couldn’t sleep all night, so I decided to skip the next day’s activities.  Four temples are on the schedule.  Since this is really what we came for, I’m dismayed to be missing Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.  I hear later that one of our group passed out from heat exhaustion and I’m happy I skipped.  Picture credits to Bob.

I revived after a few hours of sleep and walked a couple blocks to the Soffitel where the group was having lunch.  On the way there I passed the Children’s Hospital where mothers and crying children waited their turn in the dusty yard outside, flanked by two four star hotels.  Again, they’re happy to have us, but the contrast is startling.

At each temple we visited were women and children hawking postcards, books, and clothing.  Later I read that buying from the children encourages them not to attend school.  Although, along the way we passed this studious little girl as she swung on a vine and read aloud from her school book.

Our itinerary was ambitious in covering four temples in one day.  Bob managed all four.  I skipped the morning and some of our group skipped the afternoon.  Some folks broke off from the group and took Tuk Tuk rides to markets or to get massages.  I heard that you could get a three hour massage for $30! 

The temples were fabulous, Ta Prohm and Banteay Srei.  To me, the most impressive was Ta Prohm, the one where Laura Croft, Tomb Raider was filmed.  Everywhere roots of huge strangling fig trees have grown down over the walls. 

At the exit from Banteay Srei was a group of land mine victims turned musicians.  Our guide tells us that estimates say there remain a million undiscovered mines in Cambodia.

The heat was oppressive.  Any worries I had of not finding a bathroom are moot when you’re dehydrated.  What did people do before bottled water?

Along the way our guide had been telling about his life and the luck that had brought him to this point.  His story was one of crossroads, lost love, education as a Buddhist monk, generous sponsors, arranged marriage, education in business and tourism, and return to his community to sponsor and educate others.  He's been guiding Viking River tours for a number of years and Viking has become a sponsor of the school he established in his community.

Dinner and show again.  The next day we’re not scheduled to leave the hotel until 2:20 PM.  If we were more adventurous, we would have struck out on our own for a massage or shopping.  Instead, I went for a swim at the glorious hotel pool.  Bob was busy updating his computer with everything that he hasn’t been able to do since December, security updates, transfers to the cloud etc.  I should have done the same but was suspicious of an unsecured network.

Confusion abounds as to the logistics of our return to the ship, which is now also in Cambodia.  We are all scheduled to fly out at 4:20 PM.  Travel gremlins have interfered to split the group into two, one at 4:20, another at 5:20.  Further snafus delay the second flight and eventually cancel it altogether.  At the airport we’re all  in the dark as to which flight we’re on.  Our Viking excursion representative, having handed over the responsibilities to the very capable local guide Sim, had been scarce the entire few days of the trip.  One of our companions had been busy documenting her disinterest by taking a picture of her leaving the hotel in a Tuk Tuk and one of her sunbathing by the pool just an hour before our departure.   

At the airport, a fellow passenger finally took charge, and with his resonating voice, read out the names of the lucky first to leave.   That’s us.  Arrived back at the ship around 7.  There’s no place like home.

The unfortunate others ended up flying to Bangkok, some catching a 2 ½ hour bus ride to where the ship was docked outside of Bangkok, others opting to stay overnight in Bangkok because they had an early tour there the following day.