Began my last ever school holidays (hopefully)... with a 5-days trip to Cambodia with Tangy, Kx, Dr. Ruzica and Richard Ho(My Thesis Tutor). We had quite a fun trip during the 5 days and explored the ancient Khmer civilization's pride, Angkor, not forgetting the drinking and chatting sessions with the two tutors. The architecture and planning of Angkor was really impressive and amazing but it was sad to see that Cambodians today bear little traces of the way the ancient Khmers led their life.
Cambodians today, ruled by a corrupted government, are leading a life hardly close to their glorious ancestors. We were told that an average blue collar worker earns only about 20 US dollars a month, while on the other hand, the rich(corrupted of course..), can afford condominiums priced at 200,000 US dollars at one go... The streets in Siem Reap were full of children trying to sell dated tourist merchandise and 'tuk-tuk' drivers flocking towards any tourists walking towards them.
Even though there are more than 2 million tourists visiting Angkor every year, with a one day pass costing 20 US dollars (not to mention its almost impossible to see everything in one day..so most tourists would eventually purchase a 3-day pass), the people hardly reap any benefits from these revenues thanks to their ever corrupted 'government'... Its quite depressing as you start to realise that the more tourists visit Cambodia, the corrupts become even more powerful, while the poor could only watch and wonder why these tourists could spend their one month worth of salary just on one meal. I would really like to visit Angkor again but its pretty sad to see how their people live today. Lets hope someone assasinate those a*#holes corrupts one of these days... :P. Anyway, here are some pics taken... DIDN'T MANAGED TO GET THE MOST IMPORTANT VIEW OF ANGKOR...omg...bleah..
Cambodians today, ruled by a corrupted government, are leading a life hardly close to their glorious ancestors. We were told that an average blue collar worker earns only about 20 US dollars a month, while on the other hand, the rich(corrupted of course..), can afford condominiums priced at 200,000 US dollars at one go... The streets in Siem Reap were full of children trying to sell dated tourist merchandise and 'tuk-tuk' drivers flocking towards any tourists walking towards them.
Even though there are more than 2 million tourists visiting Angkor every year, with a one day pass costing 20 US dollars (not to mention its almost impossible to see everything in one day..so most tourists would eventually purchase a 3-day pass), the people hardly reap any benefits from these revenues thanks to their ever corrupted 'government'... Its quite depressing as you start to realise that the more tourists visit Cambodia, the corrupts become even more powerful, while the poor could only watch and wonder why these tourists could spend their one month worth of salary just on one meal. I would really like to visit Angkor again but its pretty sad to see how their people live today. Lets hope someone assasinate those a*#holes corrupts one of these days... :P. Anyway, here are some pics taken... DIDN'T MANAGED TO GET THE MOST IMPORTANT VIEW OF ANGKOR...omg...bleah..
The architecture . . .
The carvings and ornaments . . .
The Angelina Jolin tree . . .
The people . . .
Around Siem Reap . . .
A couple of group pics taken during the trip
