What we did do was visit Ream National Park.
Upon arrival at the park, we walked across a rickety wooden dock to board our homemade rickety wooden boat.
We had about 15 people on the boat and to a one, we all grabbed for the lifejackets and put them on. Once we were convinced that the boat was not about to sink, we enjoyed a beautiful one-hour ride down the river.
The boats took us to the dolphin station, but alas, no dolphins were there to greet us that day. From there, we walked toward the rain forest. The first part of the walk passed through people's backyards (observation: picking up after oneself is not a high priority here).
The area also was covered with rice paddies full of water buffalo. This rain forest can't hold a candle to New Zealand, but here's Gordon hoofing it in. We were promised that there would be a beach at the other end of this walk. Sounded good to us.
It was hot, hot, hot and humid. There was a nice beach at the other end of the trek, and gods be praised, a bar. We never knew that a beer could look that good and gratefully sampled the local Angkor brand...not bad.
Cambodia has many stories to tell, especially the historic period between 1945 and 1998. The area has been occupied by the French and the Japanese. Just when Cambodia became self-sufficient in the 60's, the growing war in Vietnam spilled over into the country. During the 1970's the "Reign of Terror" under Pol Pot's democratic Kampuchea resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people. Today, the country has a parliamentary system with a prime minister. The King, Norodom Sihanouk, has returned to the throne as a symbol of national unity.
