Remember that eight-hour bus ride I mentioned in my last post? It was one of the most beautiful, and bumpy rides of my life. At first it seemed that the bus ride would be a normal, tedious ride. We drove for about an hour on a paved road away from the city, but then all of a sudden the bus made an abrupt turn on to an unpaved, dirt road. The bus hopped and wiggled, people fell from their seat and luggage rained down from the overhead racks. We screamed and laughed and generally enjoyed the adventure. Our bus driver paid no mind to our noisemaking and flew down the road at breakneck speed while we tried desperately to grab on to anything—windows, doors, seats, each other. Everyone and everything bounced along as we flew down the highway towards Siem Reap. As the city fell away behind us, Cambodia’s true beauty was revealed. The glistening river surrounded by fields of greenery; shacks on stilts lined the riverbanks, their tenants working their small gardens while placid brown cows grazed in fields; now and again, palm trees would shoot up out of the landscape to puncture the endless blue sky. In a word, the landscape was ideal. I’d never seen such beauty in one place.
Finally, after about four hours of driving through the wilderness, our bus came to a rest stop. Everyone got out to relieve themselves and sample some of the local cuisine. This meant fried bugs. No, I’m not kidding. Spit-roasted tarantulas and fried crickets. There was even a bowl of live tarantulas sitting out so that you would know the fare was fresh. I was still feeling a bit queasy from the bus ride, so I did not partake. However, my peers had a blast daring one another to try the bugs. It was particularly entertaining to watch people try to wolf down the massive tarantulas, which are eaten whole off of a spit. They were pretty good-sized creatures. Most people chickened out after the first bite or could only eat the legs. However, a few had strong enough stomachs to swallow the whole thing. Eventually we boarded the bus, refreshed and amused, to finish our long drive to Siem Reap.
The next day we began our touring of the ancient temples of Cambodia. The archaeological park contains a number of ruins, most of which are well-preserved. They are surrounded by ancient rainforests, which are home to wild monkeys, boars and snakes. Our first stop was Anchor Thom, where we were able to ride elephants. It was literally one of the coolest things I have ever done. We went in groups of two or three and sat in sedan chairs attached by a large strap to the elephant’s back. The handler rode bareback on the animal’s neck and steered by putting pressure behind the elephant’s ears. The ride took us around Anchor Thom, one of Siem Reap’s most famous temples. Afterward, we all bought pineapples and fed them to the elephants while petting their trunks. The elephants were kind and reminded me very much of my horses at home. I felt a pang of homesickness looking at them.
It didn’t last for long though, as we were whisked away to explore Anchor Thom.
Though millions of tourists come each year to visit the temples of Siem Reap, they are still not very well regulated. We were pretty much given free access to climb through their ruins and peer into the faces of the enormous, carved stone heads that adorn the top of the temple. It was truly amazing to touch stone sculptures that have endured nearly 800 years. We spent the next two days exploring the archeological park. We visited a number of temples, including the famed Anchor Watt. It was truly an amazing experience. The temples were archaeological marvels set in some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. Overall, our EFT to Cambodia was a huge success! I am so glad to have visited this amazing country. Because it is still a nation in transition, I am eager to see what the future has in store for Cambodia.
