Siem Reap and Angkor

Our first BAB intern trip was this weekend. Angkor What Tour 2007. We went to Siem Reap to see the temples at Angkor. The trip overall could not have gone better. We rented a bus - which turned out to be a van - and piled 16 of us into it for the five hour drive north. The first night there we went to dinner at a place called Dead Fish Tower, which was kind of like a big treehouse. Two of the interns ended up doing karaoke on stage after dinner. After dinner we went dancing at Angkor What? bar. Turns out our "Angkor What" catch phrase was not an original.

The next day we spent eight hours at Angkor checking out the temples. It was amazing, stunning, beautiful. Also very hot and filled with Japanese tour groups. My favorite temple was Preah Kahn, because it was deserted when we were there so it was easier to really appreciate the history and grandeur of the place. In the afternoon there was a massive rain storm. Four of us bought ponchos from the children there that sell everything from bracelets to musical instruments, and ran through the rain to Angkor Wat - the main temple. There was a monkey there named Mickey Monkey who came up and sat next to me because he was cold in the rain. I got to pet him. It made my day. There was another monkey who had a pet frog, which might of been the most amazing thing ever. He held onto the frog by its leg and wouldnt let it go.

The children at the temples selling things are pretty amazing. They approach tourists in group and follow you around waving bracelets, postcards, musical instruments, water, hats, tshirts, and other items at you. They ask where you are from, what your name is, and then tell you the capital city of whatever country you live in. It is exhausting telling them no. One guy in our group was physically showing them his empty wallet and they still wouldnt leave him alone. When it first started to rain a few of us had gotten into the van to stay dry and the kids surrounded the van waving ponchos at us.

The second night out in Siem Reap was a slightly more tame repeat of the first, then the next morning we headed back home. On the drive home there was a huge thunderstorm. We passed through one village and saw a house on stilts that had collapsed in the wind. It was hard to see someone who has so little to begin with suffering additional hardship. The drive from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is competely rural - just villages with houses on stilts. It did not appear that the people had access to clean water, and many of the houses had make-shift plastic things out front to try to catch rainwater. We stopped a a rest stop on the way there and all the villagers rushed to try to sell us fried tarantula and other insects. It was hard but I managed to resist the temptation.

After getting home from Siem Reap I was exhausted and took it easy. Monday it was back to work. My group is still working on editing the Family Law manual. It is turning out to be more work than we had anticipated. Hopefully next week we will get started on Children's rights.

Last night we went out to celebrate two birthdays. Had dinner in one huge group, then went to a place called Elsewhere, which is an outdoor patio bar with a pool in the middle. We all ended up in the pool, which apparently happens pretty frequently there.