Another bus ride. From Laos into Cambodia - Siem Reap. I am glad to leave Laos. Not that I haven't loved it! I would love to come back in the future, explore what I missed. But it's time to leave. By now it is nearly August and there are only a total of 28 days left to go all the way south to the Mekong delta and up north 1600km to Hanoi. Spending any more time here and we'll have to rush through both of these countries. When originally Angkor Vat and Halong Bay were the planned highlights of this holiday. Laos was supposed to be a quick visit. We'll need better time management next time.

Anyway, back to Laos. There is one thing I hated about this country: hidden charges. When you rent a motor or a bicycle there is no possibility of parking anywhere for free. Everywhere there are security guards wanting a few thousand kip to look after your vehicle. And they don't, they just go back to sleep, watch TV or do whatever else. Or the 20.000 kip transaction charge for every ATM withdrawal and the ridiculously low maximum amount you can withdraw per day. What really got into my skin: Voen Kham border crossing into Cambodia. We arrive with the bus and everyone has to exit, get their baggage and go through border security. Which is nothing more than a squalid wooden hut in the middle of nowhere. You pass your passport through the hole for the departure stamp and wait... until the uniformed officer inside tells you to pay $. The infamous "stamping fee". There is nothing you can do. You can fuss all you want, jump up and down, demand his name, number, etc. saying you'll report him but when a whole busload of people in front of you have already paid, you have no chance in hell.

The Cambodians aren't much better either. First a $1 fee for medical examinations. At least they checked my temperature to make sure I don't have avian-, swine- or whatever flu is on today. But then again, monkey-see, monkey-do and the Cambodian border official wants the $1 stamping fee as well. What joy!

So, after all of this, and the USD 23 visa we have made it across. All the stands in our way now is a ferocious drug-sniffing guard dog. It's sound asleep. Perhaps its smell is better in slumber

Another bus waits for us on the Cambodian side, and we pack our stuff. And wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. Apparently there is another bus coming from Laos whose passengers will join us. But it's not coming. So after waiting for at least two hours in vain the bus driver decides to go. Our torturous adventure in Cambodia starts. From the border it's only a few hundred kilometres to Siem Reap. But what we didn't realise at the time of booking is that there is no "highway" connection. So the bus goes all the way south to Skuon, almost as far as Phnom Penh and then all the way back up north to Siem Reap. Just great. The atmosphere is tense as a Belgian couple get off at Kratie after an argument with the steward. Another girl has a constant quarrel with the same guy and she's visibly upset. What the hell is going on? What are we missing?

Welcome to Cambodia. People are trying to get as much money off of tourists as they can. Off of anyone really. The Belgians have been told that where they are headed doesn't have electricity due to monsoon floods, and decide to buy a ticket to Phnom Penh. When they realise nothing of is was true obviously they are upset. The girl, Adi, heard the same story and the promised bus that would take her to her destination never showed up. I am glad we are on the going where everybody else is going. About halfway to Skuon we stop. The steward pulls out plastic chairs and places them along the walkway, creating another row of chairs. Then at least 20-30 people enter our already full bus. Their bus broken down because of too much weight, we take them along. A few hours later we stop. And wait. And wait. And wait. Yes, we broke down. There is something wrong with the rear wheel and for at least the next two hours people are trying to fix it. I too go have a look, but quickly turn away as seemingly none of them really know what to do, or how to do it and just squat around the wheel pondering what goes where and what the hell does this piece of rubber doing here now that we put everything back in place!? Scary really. Deciding that the problem is unfixable the bus is stuck. And we wait. And wait. And it turns out that at Skuon another bus is waiting for us, the one that will take us to Siem Reap and we are NOT THERE! A jó kibaszott kurva öreganyádat!

People are really getting agitated now, battering the - otherwise friendly - steward with questions, complaints. Nobody really trusts him anymore, not after the scams he's been pulling on some of the people. He's on the phone constantly, probably trying to arrange something and the angry mob surrounds him. Mostly women. Finally he phones for a minibus to pick us up and take us (us as in the part of the bus going to Siem Reap) to the stopover, a mere 20 minutes away. But he wants $5 per person! WTF? Some of the women are about to lynch him. Then, out of the blue he lowers the price to $3 per person. What kind of a minibus is this that the price changes within minutes? Seeing as there is no other choice, we - reluctantly - agree on his option.

So there we are, 19 of us in a minibus that in Europe, or anywhere in the civilised world for that matter would not carry more than eight people. And all of our bags of course. This is just the start! Not soon after we depart the driver gets a phone call, instructing him to pull over, stop the car and wait for his boss who will take over the wheel. Things start to get really out of control now. We plead with him to go faster, not to stop, but it's futile. He just stops in the middle of nowhere. One of the girls hops behind the wheel yelling she'll drive us... somewhere I guess. Total madness. In the end the boss arrives - apparently the original driver only knows his way around in the city - we make the connection and arrive at 2 in the morning in Siem Reap. Instead of ten in the evening.

Up to this day I do not know how much of this ordeal was a scam. I do know that he was making the best of the situation for himself and make a few additional bucks. I'm just glad we arrived safely and it only cost us a few extra dollars[*]. In retrospect though.... we behaved like sheep led to slaughter. We could've just as well been kidnapped, held at gunpoint and relieved of all our belongings. A scary thought really.

The bus pulls in at Siem Reap bus station, looking outside I can see dozens of tuk-tuk drivers buzz around, shouting, waving guesthouse brochures. Another madhouse. You cannot even get off peacefully, get your bearings, a whole swarm of them is already shouting in your ears about this, that place, hot-water, aircon, TV, prices. I thought I saw the last of them in Luang Prabang. We pick one that seems sympathetic and cruise through the city at night, crashing into bed exhausted. Finally here.

It is true what I heard from others about Cambodia: people are really, really friendly. And really, really poor. You cannot walk down the street without somebody begging you for money, food. Or sell you postcards. Or books. The whole town is swarming with kids carrying basketfuls of photocopied books. And really good quality too. I guess about 90% of backpackers get their Lonely Planets from here. All you hear is kids shouting "buy postcard, buy postcard", "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten" them counting the postcards you are supposed to buy. Like some mantra repeated over and over and over. Do these kids know how to count to eleven? Would they know how many cards I want if I say "six", or do they have to restart their whole session again? Not a big fan of seeing such blatant poverty.

The worst are the ones coming during dinner/lunch. You cannot in any good conscience have a pleasant meal without being annoyed. It's not like I feel superior or something, but it just doesn't feel right having dinner in a restaurant when you see/know people outside going hungry. And it doesn't feel right either to just ignore them. That's so barbaric. And their friendliness? It's a facade so you befriend them and choose their services and not that of someone else. I absolutely detest these fake appearances. I understand that everyone is poor and that every bit counts, but this just gets on your nerves. Especially because they're very good at playing in to your guilt. "I have family", "I have many kids", etc. etc. It's very disillusioned when you see the same man a day later smoking marihuana and generally being stoned AND drunk the whole time. Yes, good use of your money...

Siem Reap. Siem Reap is a forgettable dust town. Nothing really worth seeing. There is a small night market we visited the first night in town, but the almost beggar-like calls of the salesmen there to buy something quickly put me off of any potential purchases. The food market at least has nice fresh food. Especially the grapefruit. Well, grapefruity as it's probably something else entirely - pompom or whatever - but the taste is similar. And I just love peeling this weird tropical fruit to discover its rich, sweet, delicious insides!

With the millions of tourists visiting nearby Angkor Vat every year a huge number of luxury hotels have been built in this town. The best (sober) time I had here is buying a ticket to a five-star hotel's swimming pool with Lee (yes, the same one I met in Malaysia) and Tali, sipping delicious mango shake end enjoying being rich for the afternoon. We deserved it after three hard days of temple hunting!

Getting drunk is so very easy. There is actually a street called "Pub Street" filled with bars, one fancier than the next. The best though is 'Angkor What?', THE place to go at night. At $5 a bucket of cocktail, this is unbeatable. A Red Bull & Vodka one lasted me the whole night and there was still some left when we left; s***-drunk. Oh, here I bumped into two girls I met in Bangkok. Such a small, small world. But back on track: thank god not all of us were 100% drunk as hookers wait right outside promising a "good time". I did get punched by one when I refused her offer, and it was quite a hard one at that. The best one though was the tuk-tuk driver who tried to get us home the hundred orso meters to the hotel. Very, very persistent, he just wouldn't b***** off. Finally Lisa - an Australian girl we met - promised him to pay 2000 Riel if he were to follow us to the hotel. He stopped harassing us after that...

But I'm getting very off of the timeline. Just one more intermezzo...

Ms. Kitty has been maimed. Fantastic Ms. Kitty, the umbrella I have so lovingly cherished from Bangkok on has had enough and broke. All I have left now is the fabric which I spread with my hands, using as an impromptu umbrella, shield or accessory. Hey, it still works, and if nothing else it puts a smile on people's faces.

Ok; back on track.

We arrive at the otherwise very crappy hotel at two in the morning. Cambodians have a fairly dark skin colour, much resembling India. For some reason I do not like Indian people, find them untrustworthy and subconsciously this image is projected on these people as well. The squinty eyes of the manager look as if he would rob you any minute, his "henchmen" would jump at the first opportunity to relieve you of some money; the constant battering of "where you go today", "we make plan to visit temple", already annoys the hell out of me. It's not a very comfortable atmosphere. We spend the first day exploring the dust, finding an ATM to get money and make plans to see the sunset at Angkor Vat. There is six of us. Jenise, the Canadian/Indian teacher girl who accompanied us from Sii Phan Don, and Adi & Tali who shared the same hellish bus ride with us. Back in the lobby suddenly Lee pulls up. Most accidentally, as he probably meant to stay at the other '#10 GuestHouse' having the same name. So, we assimilate him, and have a group of seven. The sunset plans literally wash away as around five thirty a huge thunderstorm starts, lasting well into darkness. Oh well, some other day. It's time to prepare for tomorrow our first visit to Angkor Vat at sunrise.

Our tuk-tuk driver isn't too happy about chartering him at 4:30 in the morning, but for $15 he shouldn't complain. All he did anyways is drive us to the complex, then sleep until we were done, take us to the next temple, sleep, rinse and repeat. He would do the same at home anyways.

Puffy-eyed, sleepy, we stumble into a tuk-tuk on Thursday morning and drive for about a quarter of an hour to Angkor Vat. After shelling out $40 for a three-day pass we are allowed into the premises. Angkor Vat is actually just a single temple inside the whole 'Temples of Angkor Vat' complex which is immensely huge. In an area of 30 by 20 kilometres there are dozens of temples. Some in better shape than others. Angkor Vat is just the most famous, especially for its intricate mural carvings.

We arrive, Tak - our driver - goes to sleep and we make our way through the outer gates of Angkor in the pitch dark. There is already a small crowd present; yes this will be very, very touristy! The Angkor temple is surrounded by a huge moat, inside of which is an enclosing wall, smaller ruins and the main temple. As we inch closer the sky starts to brighten slightly to the left of the three towers of Angkor, turning the sky from black to dark purple, pink, yellow and finally blue as the glowing disc of light rapidly rises in the sky. A fantastically marvellous sunrise, made even more special by the cloudy horizon. Only the throngs of tourists and the local vendors disrupt this serene moment. The food-vendors are great! They come running, repeating the same words over and over; just like the postcard kids: "you buy food from mee", "my number is number twoo", "you remember mee", "my name is James Bond, you remember mee", coming up with the craziest names so we'd remember them. And once you have agreed on buying, or even just a 'maybe', there is no escape. There were at least a thousand tourists there for sunrise and when we came back an hour later for breakfast Mr. Bond did remember that we promised to have breakfast at his place. And breakfast I need. As long as I am taking the malaria pills I need to definitely eat in the morning.

As Jenise and Adi don't have too much time to spend, they break off and the remaining five of us take the guided tour so kindly offered by British lawyer Lee. He found an old Angkor history/guide book at the hotel and as we walked through the Angkor we were told about the meaning of all the carvings, the interesting details and architectural and design marvels of each temple. So much more enjoyable to know what the murals are actually about. Also a lot better than hiring a real guide: I listened in to some and could hardly understand a word English they said. The most important and best known mural at Angkor Vat is the 'Churning of the Sea of Mlik'. It is a vast decoration of the demons and gods alternately pulling a huge snake wrapped around a pillar that thus turns the sea around creating the elixir of life. Or something similar. I kinda remember this from the college by padlizsán, but it is soo much better, immense and gripping in real life than looking at some photos taken by someone.

Most of the murals were about armies of gods or demons marching to battle, fighting. Not only at Angkor, but also at Ta Phro and the other temples. It gets a bit repetitious after the tenth orso, but still there were a few details that caught my attention:

• generals marching to war on elephants had their importance denoted by the number of umbrellas the slaves held up above his head.
• one mural had the Chams fighting the Khmer. The Chams have recruited some Thai fighters who were a disorderly bunch just rushing into battle with anything they could hold on to, whereas the Chams behind them were marching in orderly fashion.
• one of the scenes had a scene of the final judgement; when people die they are judged by the gatekeeper and the bad ones tossed into hell. This is then depicted akin to Dante's 'Seven Layers of Hell'. Most curiously hell very much resembled Africa... oops; you couldn't get away with this nowadays.
• 'The Leper King'. The king fights off an evil cobra, saving his country, but then falls ill from its bite and finally dies. WTH? Why the sad story?
• not really a carving, but just goes to show human nature: several walls are adorned with sculptures of goddesses. Of ALL of them the breasts are shiny; the tourists touch them. He, well, we do like breasts, no?

I loved Angkor Vat. The temple itself was in pretty good shape, but the carvings were excellent and most tourists left after half an hour of rushing to see the churning of the sea. Next, we awoke Tak and headed to the fortified city of Angkor Thom. This is the biggest temple complex in the whole area. A 3x3 square km outer wall 20 metres high with 4 huge entrances - one in each cardinal direction - and inside several temples. The main attraction is Bayon, the temple of many faces. Pretty much in ruins, it is beautiful to explore the small hallways, the story of the carvings and trying to imagine what it was like hundreds of years ago. But mostly; trying to hide from the sun. The scorching heat is unbearable. After another two hours here - it's still only eleven in the morning - we head for lunch. And it's just a madhouse. The seven of us load up on the tuk-tuk which normally carries a maximum of four people. Closing in on the lunch-site heads perk up. Girls rush to the counter, grabbing their price list. People come running, literally to us, after the tuk-tuk, shouting "you buy lunch from meee", "very cheap!" in an attempt to secure the customer. Oh god, please drive faster! But the stream of vendors is endless and by the time we stop there is a horde of at least 10-15 Cambodian girls around us, each with exactly the same menu, exactly the same price, all shouting, adding even more to the chaos that this place already is.

I could go on and on about the vats we visited. There is the 'Terrace of the Leper King' with hidden walkways in the walls full of carvings. There is the 'Terrace of the Elephants' where the king sat and watched parades go by on the huge field at his feet. There is Ta Keo, an unfinished temple a bit out of the way, shunned by tourists. Steep, 60 degree stairs go up to the top, the raw surface of the temple only adding to its beauty. There is Baphuon, a temple that isn't much more than a big pile of sand with its masonry scattered around. It is now being rebuilt based on drawings and design plans found. And then there is the Tomb Raider temple: Ta Prohm.

Called so because a scene from this movie was filmed here, it is really a sight to behold. The whole complex is overgrown, huge marble-trees wrap their roots around windows, doors, walls, adding that rough, deserted look to the temple that is only disturbed by the hordes of tourists. Yes, this, Angkor Vat and the Bayon are the main attractions. The afternoon sun casts beautiful shadows, rays of sun finding their way through the windows, creating superb photo opportunities.

By now it is already after five. Tak is quite agitated these stupid tourists won't go home, he cannot smoke his marijuana. There is one more thing left to do: sunset. We puff-puff to the premier viewing site. It is 17:32. It is bureaucracy. These two never mix well. We aren't allowed up. The entrance closes at 17:30. I so hate it when people without power enforce the stupid rules to make themselves feel important. And no, nothing helps.

The next day (Friday, 6th of August) us four boys hire bicycles to explore some of the temples a further away. We are again promptly declared insane, probably with proper reason. The Roluos Group of temples is about 23km out of town to the east but the weather is nice, and exercise never hurts. Bakong is beautiful, not as exquisite as Angkor of course, but the lack of tourist hordes more than make up for what the temples lack in beauty. From here we visit a small vat, Lolei, still in use today. Then back on bike to the main temples up north to visit the ones we missed out yesterday. Anoter 20 orso kilometres in the midday sun. The scenery is gorgeous. Rice paddies everywhere, the odd palm tree sticking out. People working on the fields, children running to the side of the road yelling "hellloooo", "goodbyeee" and the occasional "good luck to youuu". For some reason all that keeps going through my head is the scene from Platoon when bombers fly over exactly these lands and napalm everything. The war is still deeply embedded in the Camobidan psyche. Many houses have some kind of scarecrow at the front gate. Ok, fine. But most of them carry machine guns. I can't even imagine what kind of horror most of these people have to had to go through. This country would be a goldmine for psychiatrists...

We arrive just before closing time, exhausted, at Preah Khan. This gorgeous temple is one of the biggest at Angkor Vat, designed more to be a city than a place of worship. Not many carvings to be found, not a single roof intact, mostly in ruins, but we are the only ones here. Nobody else. Just because of this simple fact this temple has become an instant favourite of ours. Exploring around on your own, nobody in sight; it's pure adventure. Love it! Of course a slight rain starts at sunset, and we slowly make our way back to Siem Reap. Another 20km, most of it in the dark. We've ridden over 60km today. Didn't I at one point say not to rent a bicycle ever again? Yet, I did it in Vientiane, and again at Angkor Vat. You moronic idiot! I order two main courses this night. I think I deserve it.

Saturday is a day of relaxing. We hire a 4WD jeep for the day. Let's do this in style, a Lexus it is. With this, and a driver - costing only $50 for the whole day including gas - we go out to explore some of the temples that are further away. There are only the five of us, the boys and Tali, but I ask two random people at our hotel if they want to join us. Lisa and Jamie from Australia. Very friendly couple.

The most beautiful complex is Banteay Srei. This temple has the most beautiful and intricate carvings of the whole Angkor Vat complex. Well, what can I say... I am not a historian, nor a culture guy, but the fact that the whole temple was full of hundreds of tourists pretty much spoiled it for me. I much liked Ta Keo for example, or Preah Khan from yesterday where there was "nothing" to see and nobody around. So nice, nice, but different.

We return to the jeep, going further north to Kbal Spean. This river that has its source in these mountains is believed to be sacred by the Khmer. So the ancients elaborately carved the riverbed full of lingas, images of Vishnu, etc. I just love lingas. It is the ultimate form of representation of Vishnu, the Hindu 'opper-god'. A linga is nothing else than a gigantic penis. So the riverbed is full of stone penises, blessing the Seam Reap river which then flows into the Tonlé Sap, blessing the whole of Cambodia. Hmm, interesting...

What's better though is the small waterfall just below the blessed waters - which we've blessed as well in our own way - perfect for some relaxation after the 1500m climb. What's more fun, watching giant stone penises or splashing around the cyrstal-clear pool, getting a heavy massage from the cascading waters, or clambering into a liana, pretending to be a monkey? You don't have to ask me which one I'll choose. On the way back we visit one more temple, Banteay Samre. The afternoon light gives a warm hue to the stones and we just bask in the fading sun in the otherwise completely deserted temple. Enjoying the warm glow of the sun, each gathering his or her thoughts, meditating deeply. For me, I was busy trying to get a good shot of Remko without him looking up the whole time. Impossible. Beautiful.....

On Sunday, I've had it. Three straight days of climbing up & down temples, cycling for thousands of kilometres, I have no energy left. I finally give in to the temptation and agree to go with Tali and Lee to a luxurious hotel's swimming pool. We have most of the afternoon to chill as the bus doesn't leave until five in the afternoon. Finally. Doing nothing.

[*] Some people from the crammed van mailed me that apparently the same thing happened to other people a few days later. Well, all I have to say: I was right in judging Cambodia to be not my kind of place.