Actually, its not enough to say just that because so many things happened and i want to remember them here.
After taking the Mekong express from Ho Chi Minh city to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, we met our tuk tuk (or as my dad says, cyclo) friver at the bus station. He brought us to our hotel and made us promise to take his tuk tuk the next day. He was called Number 9 (thats what he said, anyway) He was very good and i decided that if anyone ever wrote a book about him, they should call it either
a) All in a day's work
or
b)Meet me at the corner of the street (which hannah and mum said was very cliche)
So the next day we went to see the toul sleng genocide museum which (despite seeing it before on a school trip) was still as stomach turning. I still can't fathom how...
Then we went to the national museum and the palace which were not very interesting places (though the palace was beautiful)
And then we went to the central market where we bargained like crazy and got chased by beggars (who my poor mother is very susceptible to. I bet she gave at least 20 Dollars to the beggars by the end of the trip) But there was one beggar who stuck in my mind. His face had some kind of condition and his skin on one side of his face hung in folds over the rest of his face. I couldn't help think of the elephant man, Joseph merrick (google him) It was unlike anything i had ever seen in real life and i didn;t know how to respond so i just (as i do to most beggars) turned away.
One dinner (i think it was after the city tour), we went to a restaurant run by an NGO and they sold traditional food like fish amok and roasted tarantulas. When we were waiting for our food to come, one of the waiters came out with something black and hairy in his hands. He went over to the neighbouring table and let them handle it. It was a tarantula. It was terrifying, but fascinating at the same time, like I'd been unwillingly plunged into one of those nature shows where people search out dangerous creatures.
The waiter brought the tarantula over to our table and Hannah held it then passed it to me. It was a curious feeling, the bristly legs of the tarantula felt something like stubble on an unshaven chin, but not so scratchy.
Another day when we were on a tour of the Mekong river we had another encounter with 'dangerous' animals. This time it was bees. We went to a bee 'farm', and we had to stick our fingers into a frame that had bees squirming all over it. Our guide very comfortingly said "As long as you remain calm you'll be fine. But if you irritate them, they will kill you." It was pretty nerve wrecking, but it was worth it in the end because when you drew your finger out of the frame, it would be covered in fresh, Sweet, natural honey, which tasted just DIVINE.
Siem Reap:
Angkor wat was (frankly) exhausting, though i loved the bayon temples with the faces staring everywhere.
One night we went to see Amelia and a few of her friends from an orphanage she works in. We got to the restaurant in the back of a truck, sitting with all of her friends. The food was good and they guys were really funny! Not all were orphans, they just went to the school which was working with the orphanage. When some guys came in late, one of them very politely introduced himself, saying "Hello, I am somethingoranother (their names are so hard to get)"
Then one of the other boys (the main jokester) piped up and said, "well, nobody asked!" :)
After that we ate dessert at this lovely cafe called blue pumpkin before heading to the night market for last minute shopping and then heading home!
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