Phnom Penh

Cambodia

July 1, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

The rain is incessant so Jeff and I decide to skip the beach at Ko Chang and go directly to the Cambodian border. I misplaced my passport photos so the border guards ripped me off for a couple of extra dollars for the visa. We spent the night in Koh Kong - a dusty and unappetizing place. Actually the hotel was comfortable and had a lovely garden.

The next day, Jeff and I had a disagreement. He was in a hurry to get to Phnom Penh. I wanted to travel slowly to Sihanoukville. So we compromised. He went his way. I mine.

Now, here's an adventure to remember:

I made a reservation on a mini-bus that was due to pick me up at 8:30. It arrived on time at 9:15. After fifteen minutes on a rutted dirt road we were stopped by the police and abruptly sent back to town to the police station.

Siem Reap

Cambodia

July 2, 2002

I left early in the morning by boat to Siem Reap -- the city close to Angkor Wat. This three-hour ride was calm and scenic. Beautiful river, beautiful wide Tonle Sap Lake –- so wide that no land can be seen as we traveled north.

Arrival was at a spot in the middle of the lake. No pier. We climbed aboard a smaller boat.

And since I had made an advance reservation, my driver, standing in his long-tail boat, held a clearly lettered sign, “Welcome Jan Polatschek.” In the middle of a lake. In the middle of Cambodia.

Kantharalak

Thailand

Phra Wihan

Cambodia

December 1, 2004

Dear Family and Friends,

Giacomo and I traveled east from Nang Rong, a five hour bus ride to Kantharalak, and checked into the Kantharalak Palace Hotel.

The next morning we hired motor-bike taxis and sped south to the Dangrek Range, the mountains of the Thai-Cambodia border.

Unexpectedly, our drivers took us first to Khao Phra Wihan National Park - one of the sites designated as "Unseen Thailand." I'm glad we saw it.

Down a long railed stairway, past the "good luck" sticks "holding up" the mountain, was a small sensitively carved bas-relief executed directly into the sheer face of the cliff, looking outward to the deep valley and plains below. The smooth and detailed images are a mystery to the archaeologists.

Then, across the border to the main site.