Matt Fong’s Blog

We arrived at the Thai border town of Aranya Prathet after the border with Cambodia had closed, so we were forced to spend the night. Starting out early the next day for the remaining part of our pilgrimage to Angor, the day was looking pleasant with partially cloudy but mostly sunny weather. The journey from Poipet (a gambling oasis immediately on the Cambodian side of the border) is 6-8 hours by minibus depending mostly on road conditions. The paved road was at first decent?then some pot holes started to appear?which turned into major pot holes?and eventually one of the worst all dirt roads I?ve driven on. Then came the thunderstorms, at first from a distance but they quickly came closer. To make matters worse, our minibus had popped a tire. After a long bus ride and under the cover of lightening we finally arrived at the tourist town of Siem Reap late that night.

The journey was well worth the time because Angor was incredible. I?ve been to the Mayan ruins in Tikal, and Angor was definitely on a similar scale. It?s a huge complex yet the small detail that was part of every wall and statue was amazing. We purchased a 3-day pass for US$40 but probably could have gotten away with only purchasing a single day pass for US$20. We biked around the “mini-tour” our first day and rented a taxi the second to visit some of the outermost ruins.

Hurricane Ivan? Ha. Some of the flooding in Siem Reap during the 3 days we spent there definitely looked like some of that television footage you see of storms. Check out my pictures to see what I mean.

We took the 5 hour riverboat ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Pehn down the Mekong River the next day and spent one day in Cambodia?s capitol. The touts at the unloading dock were aggressive, but I guess that?s expected for the lucrative tourist trade that is just beginning to boom. A visit to the Choeung Ek killing fields shows Cambodia?s chilling past with over 8000 skulls on display from genocide that happened only a couple decades ago. Add this to an in-your-face visit to the War Museum in Siem Reap and you can start to understand the poor state of this beautiful country. Our private tour guide had been shot several times and lost a leg to a landmine (apparently landmines still currently kill/injure 4 people a day in Cambodia?s northern territories).

From Phnom Phen it was off to the beach town of Sihanoukville. We rented motos and had an awesome time. US$4 buys you a 100cc moto for the day. Navigating the street potholes is an adventure in and of itself but we eventually found our way to a local waterfall/swimming area. I soooo wanted to jump off the 25 foot high rocks that looked right out of a postcard but decided my life and safety was more important. The other couple of days were spent chilling at one of the most beautiful beaches I?ve seen. It was like the Oregon Coast with gorgeous greenery except there wasn?t a large rock or freezing water in sight.

I had a small case of food poisoning as we left from Sihanoukville on the 4 hour speedboat to the Thai border. Probably wasn?t such a great idea to travel that day-but I?m almost an expert at using squat toilets .

Our flight itinerary had us arriving Taipei?s Chiang Kai-Shek airport at ten thirty in the evening and departing at eight o?clock the next morning. After we had cleared customs and immigration, we had the option of taking the last bus into town at 11:30 and of course we took it.

So without a guidebook, without any ability to communicate in Taiwanese, or any idea what was open at midnight, we were left stranded in downtown Taipai with 7 hours to kill. It started out looking like it was going to be a long night?the next bus back to the airport didn?t leave until 5. The air was humid, stores were closing, and mucky puddles lined the sidewalk.

Then our luck turned around and we meet Sunny, the only English speaker we could find at Taipai?s central train station. Actually we were randomly introduced by a taxi cab driver trying to explain the cost of a taxi ride. She too had several hours to wait for her train ride home. Sunny was the best translator/tour guide anyone could have and a new friend (turns out she too had just returned home on a flight from the U.S.). From 1am-5am Sunny managed to find us an open bar (we had Taiwan?s only locally brewed beer, Taiwan Beer J ), had us eat Stinky Tofu (apparently a Taiwanese specialty), and showed us the Chiang Kai-Shek monument (the Golden Gate Bridge of Taipei). Thanks again Sunny!

We?ve been in Thailand for two days and have already had 4 2-hour massages (yah, the trans-pacific flight was killer). We also squeezed three people onto a tiny motor-bike and weaved through traffic (what an adrenaline rush). More to come later?