I actually survived the separation

So yes, as Tracy mentioned, I did decide to go to Cambodia by myself. At the beginning of our travels, when she mentioned that as a possibility, I laughed, then cried a little bit, and told her that was not an option. However, the honeymoon is apparently over (just kidding, Tracy, love you forever and ever in a not gay way!) and I was excited to attempt a border crossing on my own.

As I discovered quickly, traveling on your own in this part of the world never actually means traveling alone. There are so many people on their own, and you meet people so quickly, that traveling on your own just means that you're traveling with people you've only just met. I left Tracy in Bangkok, but before I even hit the Cambodian border, I was meeting the people I would be spending quite a bit of time with over the next few days- Damian from NZ, and three Brits- Jack and Drew (traveling together, and on their gap year before starting University, which made me officially an Old Woman) and Will, who, though he looks quite young, is actually 22 and made for a very nice traveling companion (as I would discover, my main traveling companion for the following 3 days):

The four of us traveled together over the Cambodian border, which Tracy had warned me about, but nothing can prepare you for Cambodia. I'm not going to say that Cambodia was beautiful. I think if I were to say it was beautiful, it would be patronizing- Cambodia is devastating, and humbling, and eye-opening, and barren, but it is not beautiful. We drove for 4 hours on a completely unpaved road, knocking our heads against the ceiling and many times driving without any sight due to the dirt being kicked up on the road:

But I did meet great people with fantastic stories, including Kyoko Ito from Japan, who I shared breakfast with the next morning:

After that, I set out for the day exploring Angkor Wat and the surrounding Wats.

Angkor Wat:

Then I discovered that the package I purchased actually included a personal tour guide, who brought me to Ta Phrom, Sa Srom, Banteay Kdei, and the temples of Angkor Thom- specifically, Bayon and Baphuon and the Royal Palace. Ta Phrom, by the way, is the one with the trees, featured in Tomb Raider, so you may recognize it:

I did climb this, which was a precarious view from the top, if you can imagine. Climbing up? Not a problem. Climbing down, with sweaty flip-flops? Imagining the horrible headlines back home about tourists not preparing themselves properly:

Bayon:

It's not often that you get to experience one of the seven wonders of the world, so I did enjoy myself quite a bit- of course, after spending all day with my personalized Cambodian tour guide and spending more time asking him questions about the Cambodian people than I did about the temples, all I want to do is throw money at the country for the rest of my life. Seriously, I know Tracy and I are trying our best to have a humorous blog for you to check out when you're bored or whatever, but I've never been so affected by a location in my life.

While I truly enjoyed the new people I met, and was amazed by Angkor Wat, what I will take away most from my trip to Cambodia is the effect the drive along Road 6 and time spent with my Cambodian tour guide influenced me- since we're leaving for New Zealand next Tuesday, this may be the last serious moment I have on this blog, but I really wish everyone knew the full history of Cambodia- it's not something I remember being taught in school, it's something I've had to pick up on my own since I've been here, and it's something I'm embarassed that I didn't know more about before landing in Southeast Asia. They have an incredibly horrific history- this is a country that acknowledges the fact that they have active land mines possibly feet from their main road- and when you talk to a Cambodian, even if they've had years of contact with foreigners, they can't imagine anything outside of what they've grown up with. Everyone they know over the age of 30 is likely dead or still seeking refuge in a foreign country (my tour guide's 2 uncles have been in Canada since the Cambodian civil war, and haven't been back since). Small children play naked in piles of dirt as you drive to Siem Reap.

I could go on for ages, because I saw some things in Cambodia that may haunt me for a long time that I'd rather not go in to, but I know the reason why you're all reading this blog is not for a downer, so I'll cut myself off here. I did arrive safely back in Bangkok from Cambodia along with my new friend Will- along with an older couple that kept us laughing the whole time, John and Caroline (who I thought were hippies in the 60's but turns out they're still hippes at the moment, though they're older than my parents), and Will and I luckily found very nice hostel rooms despite the Tet holiday. Will was nice enough to hang out with me all of today as well, finding a replacement camera that isn't made from devil horns and sadness, which was cool because I basically got to pretend like I've been traveling alone when in reality I've had someone with me since the beginning. Thanks, Will! And I'm so glad we didn't see Chocolate, even if it did involve Kung Fu!

Tomorrow we have a day that's apparently filled with red hawks and lightning bugs, though, so I should probably head to bed- but seriously (really, this should be the last "seriously"), if you're not familiar with Cambodia's history, especially over the last 50 years, please look into it.

And on that uplifting note, talk to you soon!