For those of you who remember (or who actually bother to read journal entries in the first place ) I was ranting and raving a while back about the amazing experience I had in Cambodia and how I was going to post the photos really soon. OK, so “really soon” has come and gone, but I’m finally going to submit some of the pics. I may get round to some of the more touristee shots and architectural wonders later, but for now (as I have been lucky enough to have 5days access to photoshop and the internet at the same time) I’m just going to submit under the “Photojournalism” category and put up photos of the Cambodian people and things that convey their way of life.

I’ll try to submit them more or less chronologically of our trip. (“Our” or “we” being myself, another South African girl, a Canadian girl and an American guy; all of us English Second Language teachers in Korea at the time). We started the journey in Thailand because it was cheaper to fly to Bangkok than Phnom Penh. After one night in Bangkok, we caught the train to the border, crossed into Cambodia at Poipet, and hopped into a taxi to begin our 9day adventure. That car journey from Poipet to Siem Reap (the small town near the Angkor temples and where we spent the first four days) was an adventure in itself. The roads had more potholes than dirt roads in Africa (which I didn’t think possible!) and the trunk of the car kept popping open, only to shut again when we went over another sketchy piece of road! Mercifully (and miraculously) our luggage did not bounce out; and the gear box did not fall out the bottom of the car (as it sounded like it would about halfway into the 166km journey!)

The first set of photos I’m submitting are from those first four days where we encountered the culture, history and modern-day faces of Cambodia. It went by in a whirl of colour, magnificence and affability; the Cambodian people are some of the friendliest and helpful people I know. And this in spite of their (fairly recent) horrific history under the Khmer Rouge regime. I truly hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I value them as a record of the most amazing experience of my life.

Clare