Cousin T got us a great deal, so we decided to join a 5-day tour to Angkor Wat, Cambodia (Jan 6 to Jan 10.) Since there was too much climbing and walking for us to carry a 27 lbs toddler, we left Shaun with my aunt and brought T's baby girl with us. It's a 3-hour nonstop flight from Taipei to Siem Reap; there were 26 people in our tour group. Cambodia is finally recovering from a long period of civil war and tourism is now the biggest industry; according to our local tour guide about 2M tourists visited Angkor Wat in 2007. Angkor Wat is a very popular tourist destination for Koreans, Japanese and Taiwanese. There is hotel construction everywhere in the city of Siem Reap. Overall, I felt it was a very safe place to visit. There were many backpackers from Australia and Europe.
I was sadden by the poverty and divide between the rich and poor. Many children start helping with the family income at very young age by begging or selling souvenirs to tourists. I was amazed by many Cambodians' friendly smiles and the sparkles in their eyes whether they were poor or not. I am more appreciative of our comfortable life in the U.S.
I was sadden by the poverty and divide between the rich and poor. Many children start helping with the family income at very young age by begging or selling souvenirs to tourists. I was amazed by many Cambodians' friendly smiles and the sparkles in their eyes whether they were poor or not. I am more appreciative of our comfortable life in the U.S.
We had a great time visiting all of the major sites listed on this web site: http://angkorwat.org/
(The historical tour of Angkor Wat must have been too boring to Mei-mei! She slept through it:)
(Our local tour guide: Shiao Liv who is a Chinese descendant- his family moved from China to Cambodia when Cambodia was still a French colony)
(When we were touring Tonle Sap in a boat- this kid jumped onto our boat from another boat to sell us some ummy bananas and soda)
(Our bus driver's son traveled with us and made sure we found our bus in parking lots always full of buses!:)
(Banteai Srei Temple)
(Angkor Wat)
(Ta Prohom)
2 comments:
I'm so excited to see another family visit Cambodia! We just got back from an October trip and fell in love with the country and the people. I really do think it's a place everyone should visit in their lifetimes if they can.
You can read about our adventure at: http://littletatertot.blogspot.com
So glad you shared yours!
Enjoy!
R...
Your pictures are amazing! Cambodia is one of those places that I'd love to see. We have 2 friends from there that were refugees and when they tell their stories of Cambodia I just listen with my jaw dropped. I also can't believe the vast difference in the share of riches over there.
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