The last couple of days here in Siem Reap have been hectic.. Over 7 hours of temples yesterday !!! Its full on-climbing mountains-temples-soo much walking-and man it was bloody hot out there, the only relief was the tuk tuking between the temples with the breeze in your face. Our tuk tuk driver Sabuth (pronounced without the h on the end) arrived to collect us at 9.30 am- cant believe we only woke up at 8.20 !!!! Rushed off at 8.45 for a $1.50 breakfast-what do you get for $1.50 ?? At a restaurant mind you , Bacon, 2 eggs, a hot baguette, butter, apricot jam and cream cheese, one we get at home, a triangle in foil with a cow pic on it, just cant remember the name of it ......We raced back to the guesthouse for a quick shower and there was Sabuth-biggest smile and esky full of iced water on board-and did we need that water thru the day!!!!!! The temples were breathtaking-some were built in 800 AD for those who dont know that is 1211 years ago !!!!!! We saw both Hindu and Buddhist temples- they were all so beautiful-Sabuth told us the stone the the temples came from a mountain about 70 km's away and the stone was transported by elephant!! You need to see the photos of these structures to appreciate the enormity of what must have been invovled in their building it is un imagineable. The carvings in the stone walls are beautifull, such detail-still so clear, we have so many photos and videos to share, im sure you will be as fascinated as we are !!!!We saw so many monks-lit incense and were blessed in a Hindu temple!!! What an experience. The last temple we were to visit was Angkor Wat- the countrys pride and joy but we were exhausted and just coukd not do it !!! Next time Angkor Wat. Poor Sabuth seemed a bit sad that we had to end our Temple trek before seeing Angkor Wat but we just could not do it - our legs ached-we were so sweaty and dirty- all we wanted by 5pm was a shower and a rest !!!!!! Back at the Guesthouse and a shower and 10 minute sit down later and we were off again for a 50 cent ice cold beer or 2. Kev was chatting to a young aussie cple @ the soup dragon where we were relaxing and they were floored at our energy, are we really that old ???? little did they know we felt like we were dying !!!!!! We hatd a early dinner and were home in bed by 10pm EXHAUSTED !!!!!! Needed to regain energy for todays trek out to 'The Floating Village'
Siem Reap- as I sit here having a cold beer it is beautifull- geared for tourists-so clean-so different from sitting in Sihanoukville- yeah there are children here trying to sell their wares-looking for a drink or a bit of food but nothing like Sihanoukville...Nothing.....Here we had not seen the poverty we saw in Sihanoukville until we went today to the floating village.....How do you compare poverty? You dont , but what we saw today will haunt us for the rest of our lives......How do you erase the vision? You cannot remove what is etched in your memory-today will stay with us forever. 'The Floating Village' a place we feel at this moment we will never visit again but urge anyone who comes here to visit. Why wont we visit again? The overwhelming saddness maybe ?-the guilt of being who we are and what we have ? These ppl live on Tonle Sap lake. The poorest of the poor live in makeshift homes on the water-our boat driver tells us many children between baby and 6 years old die - how ?? they drown- they fall into the dirty water and drown.............They cant swim........ Many families lose their lives during monsoon-which is set to start now- storms sink their homes and the families all drown in the murky waters of Tonle Sap lake.....There are at least 5000 ppl living in the floating village, trying to survive, many we were told also die from illness- they are so far away from and cannot pay for medical help.....Many drink the water from the lake in the village-many become ill and die-they know no better-do you even have to wonder where the urine and faeces from the homes go ??? Everything is on the lake-floating-we went to the floating school for orphans-Oh god this was probablly our lowest point in all of our time here-the children broke our hearts in 2-there are over 100 of them............ There was a little boy- maybe 3-the saddest eyes I have ever seen-he fell over and a bigger boy accidently stood on his tiny arm- he stood up, bottom lip quivering-just reminded me sooooooo much of my Jaybaby-It shattered me, i picked him up and rubbed his arm-oh god these children have no mummy daddy nanny or grandad to cuddle them wen they hurt.....I just want to know what becomes of these children- I cant find an answer...................... Im in a public place and I am finding it sooo hard to hide the tears streaming down my face........ God the killing fields were shattering but this? this is so real-its here-it is now...................................................................Back later
