Catching up since June 2006 - Part 1

Well, after stop blogging for more almost 2 years, to be exact is 1 year and 9 months, I am back for action. In these 21 months period, I have globetrotted to some of the most vibrant places in Asia and Europe. Most of these trips were funded personally with my hard earned savings. The others were probably done when I was on business trip.

Cambodia 柬埔寨 - Feb' 2007

First and foremost, I went to Siam Reap and Phnom Pehn during Chinese New Year 2007. Me and some high school friends (Chin Hean and Valen) spent 6 days there. In fact, these two cities are the highlights of the Cambodia. You could find all the best and worst things in Cambodia under the sky.

To introduce Siam Reap, I have to talk about the globally reknowned United Nation World Heritage Site - Angkor Wat 吴哥窟. It was an ancient city and the cradle of the diminished Khmer empire. According to the local literature, Angkor Wat was discovered at early last century by a French discoverer. Upon the discovery, this long forgotten city was covered by dense vegetation. Nevertheless, the greenery shroud did not hide the fact that this mystical city was dotted with majestic temple building and magnificent stone carving. The Khmer people were believed to be intelligent architects, brilliant city planners and skillful builders to create such an awe-inspiring city when Europe fell into dark age. Fast forward to the new milennium, the government of Cambodia has realized the socio-economic importance of Angkor Wat to the entire Cambodian and the influx of foreign tourists has brought them substantial wealth. Adding to fact that UNESCO had listed the site into the charter. Major restoration effort is undertaken throughout all these years. Today, there are millions of people like me standing here to admire the beauty of Angkor Wat. One thing I remember very well, the admission fee into Angkor Wat is exceptionally high. My 3-day pass cost me a whopping USD40. The cabby said the average income of Cambodian is probably in that number too. What a contradiction! We had 3 days in Angkor Wat, visited most of the tourist places and had chillout at very same pub Angelina Jolie had hers when she filmed "The Tomb Raider".

From Siam Reap, we travelled to Phnom Pehn by bus. It cost us about USD6 for this 6-hour journey on a trunk-road-style national highway. Along the way, I was dumbfounded with the amount of trash on the side of road. Cambodia needs to put more effort to develop the entire country. Unfortunately, the heat from the weather coupled with heat-conditioned bus made us sufferred through our journey.

6 hour had passed and we were there at the heart of Cambodia. Our hostel was located near the Cambodian King Palace. We have spent another 2-day at Phnom Pehn and visited the beautiful Palace and the horrible Tuol Sleng Genocide ground. From these two places, my mind told me the Cambodian has gone through a history of prosperity and darkness!

Well, I have used my film SLR to take all of my photo. Therefore, I have deep disappointment for not able to upload any of the Cambodia tour photo online. But, I believe Chin Hean could share his Canon-G7 taken photo with me when I beg from him.