Arrives au Cambodge, la corruption reigne!

Apres des longues heures de voyage et quelques problemes (entre autres de pas prendre le bon train a Bangkok et de devoir passer 10h dans un train SANS lits) on est finalement arrive au Cambodge. Pour passer la frontiere et obtenir un visa il faut, dans le cas normal, payer 20$ mais ici il faut encore rajouter 100Baht aux policiers, qui y insistent et qu'on voit apres se partager l'argent. C'est partout ici comme ca. Chaque personne qui te rends un service (deja paye) on redemande une partie de cet argent mais nous sommes assez vifs et on ne se laisse pas faire.
Demain on se leve tres tot pour voir le coucher de soleil a Angkor Wat, vous aurez des photos, je le promets :)
(Annick)

There is another impression here, however, when you look beyond the let's-rip-tourists-off. On the way here (a taxi ride over a new tarmacced road), we could see mostly poverty. Small miserable huts along the road, rice fields, people plowing their land with buffaloes, improvised constructions and fences, and no other roads other than this main one, only dust/mud paths.
This evening, I went for a walk to the centre of Siem Reap, a hub for many westerners. Among the idiot-tourists drinking and smoking, the tuk-tuk and motorbike drivers offering their services, and the many street shops trying to get you to buy something, I found a little man at a side street, selling books. The man had no hands. He was patiently waiting for me to inspect his selection, and when I bought a guide book about Cambodia, his agility of his arm stumps to get his wallet out of his pocket, take out 4 dollars change, rip the plastic cover of the book away so I could read it, was actually impressive. And very touching. A man, living with the consequences of the country's history (many landmines still remaining here), remaining honest, polite, and keeping up hope to make enough money selling his books (at a lower price than a book store! [as I afterwards checked]) to care for his family - with no hands.
After a touristy temple day tomorrow, I hope to see more of this sad, but touching country, drenched in history. Good night. Joé