Cambodia

Cambodia is very beautiful and loaded with friendly people. But at the same time it is in many ways odd, strange and bissarre. It is more or less like the ADHD-child of the south-east Asia or like the wild west of the east.

In some ways Cambodia is a sad sight too. Nowhere else I have seen so many bad effects of tourism and foreign investment. Take for example the beautiful Angkor Wat. If you have not been there you possibly imagine some mysterious, beautiful ruins surrounded by lush green. Just you, the ruins and the steaming djungle, right? Well dream on dear blogger. Angkor Wat is a world class tourist trap, I'm sad to say. Angkor Wat is American tourists flying in with direct flights from Bangkok going "awesome" all day long until they fall asleep in a five star hotel run by some Chinese investor. Angkor Wat is Japanese photo tourists running (yes, its true) to get the best positions for the perfect sunset shot. Angkor Wat is a dissapointment!

So dear friend. If you want to see more of the real Cambodia you have to skip Angkor Wat and the FCC in Phnom Pehn. Why not go to Battambang and the surrounding wetlands? But stay away from the milk shakes there! My stomach and I have tried them out and thats why we can not remember anything from that part of the journey.