cambodia trip

mudcow007

just spoken to a mate who was saying he is flying to Cambodia this weekend for a jungle trek on motocross bikes, the trip is over 2 weeks doing about 30 40 miles per day

he was saying that they have had to go with 250cc instead of 400cc as they have been told that they will be dropping the bikes alot due to mud an rain storms...400's are pretty heavy to pick up

he also mentioned that's its just cost him £600 in inoculation injections!!!


i wanna to go!!!

EKE_38BPM

A few friends of mine have been travelling (gap year stylee) to Cambodia and they all hated it. Lovely scenery and all that, but the people just didn't take well to visitors, bad service in shops/restaurants etc.

Two even got mugged at gun point (seperate occasions).

It seems that the Khmer Rouge killing such a large proportion of the adults meant you had lots of kids raising kids with no adult guidance/role models (pretty much all of the teachers were killed) and this has resulted in everyone being very selfish and having a very short-term outlook. e.g. They don't see that treating hotel guests well gives good word of mouth advertising and that could mean more guests in the future. They just want to screw you out of everything that they have earned (moaning that tips are too small) and take what they haven't (things not in locked suitcases go walkabout).

I do not have Cambodia on my places to visit list.
MC, instead of being jealous, buy a 250 and only ride it in the wood in rainstorms.

Kieran_Burns

You can cycle those routes you know?

There's one that follows the Ho Chi Minh trail and one that climbs up to the Everest base camp.... then goes down the world's longest descent.....

mudcow007

blimey!

it sounds a bit iffy there, i very nearly went a few years on a holiday spend 2 days there then two days somewhere else etc i'm kinda glad i didn't go now


i spent a few days on an Indian island called Agatti http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatti_Island (in the middle of the Indian ocean) an it wasnt very hospitable there either, locals we all shouting "Oi Pommie!"

jonginge

And there's me thinking you were a sacred animal #cowjokeday

MonkeyMonster

JonGinge wrote:

And there's me thinking you were a scared animal #cowjokeday

jejv

Don't forget to pack a wife.

bails87

Wow, I'd heard bad things about Vietnam (very aggressive touts and salesmen, lots of cons) but last year I spent 8 weeks in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, and Cambodia was fantastic. Very poor in places, but people were friendly all the time, e.g. these
cheeky chappies. The whole place just had a 'happy' vibe to it, and then I flew back into grotty, grey, miserable Heathrow in November

Most of them spoke extremely good English and had quite a wicked sense of humour, but they were very good at only using it when appropriate. So a new guest checking into a geusthouse would be spoken to very politely, but a tuk-tuk driver trying to get customers would have a laugh and a joke with you.

I would very happily go back there, Phnom Penh was a really nice city and much more developed than I would have imagined, Siem Reap, where the Angkor Temples are, was a really cool place, nice and chilled out. But neither of those are like 90% of cambodia which is rural and pretty poor. I didn't get the chance to go out and experience that unfortunately.

BTW, if anyone is ever in Siem Reap, go to the Mandalay Inn, "looks expensive, but isn't" is their slogan, and it's true!

As for the jabs, sounds like he was ripped off. Mine were free, there were a few extra that I could have had but probably wouldn't need (I went into the jungle but only for a few days, see the gibbon experience videos on the yutube link above) but I'm sure those would have been <£100 in total. But I suppose 'cheap and cheerful' vaccinations are probably best avoided

jonny_trousers

I went to Cambodia about ten years ago and absolutely loved it. The people I dealt with were absolutely wonderful and were incredibly welcoming. I seriously wouldn't want to go off the beaten track there though.

Yep, friend was ripped off with the jabs.

EKE_38BPM

As I said, it was mates of mine, not my experience directly.

Maybe they went off the beaten track?...

jonny_trousers

jejv wrote:

Don't forget to pack a wife.

Ah, nice Dead Kennedys reference!

flicksta

I went to Cambodia, it was at times tragic and saddening, but always friendly and beautiful.

There are basically no old people yet, Pol Pot killed them all.

jonny_trousers

flicksta wrote:

I went to Cambodia, it was at times tragic and saddening, but always friendly and beautiful.

There are basically no old people yet, Pol Pot killed them all.

But on the plus side there's never a queue in the Post Office.

Bad taste flippancy aside, there isn't a single person over a certain age who does not have a harrowing story to tell, yet they remain incredibly positive and welcoming. Me and my ex couldn't face visiting the Killing Fields, but it was a rare privilege to be able to wander around the temples in the Angkor region completely unhindered.