Visa run - a second visit to Cambodia

Coming into Thailand, I get a 30 day visa. At the end of June, I had to leave Thailand and reenter to get another 30 days, so I went on a short trip into Cambodia again. I visited Siam Reap and Battambang again but went to sites I missed on my first visit in May.

Near Siam Reap, I went to a floating village on Tonle Sap lake. Houses on stilts are moved when the lake rises. They don't actually float. Fishing is a major part of how these people make a living. Many children here work pretty hard. It's too bad they have almost no opportunities to get ahead in life because many are quite bright and learn several languages (English, French, Spanish German, etc) to speak with foreigners. On the shores of the lake, the water rises as much as 10 meters, so houses are pretty high up. When I visited, the water was still fairly low, so we had to ride the motorbike through what my driver called "a little bad" road. I'd hate to see this road when it's really bad :) Nevertheless, we made it to the villages and back to Siam Reap. In the city, some prices, including food and drinks are quite cheap. The sign on the photo is in dollars. Yes, there is $0.25 cent beer! (many prices are posted in US dollars throughout Cambodia).

I went to Battambang only on my way to Pailin, a border town formerly known for it's production of precious stones. The quarries have since been depleted. This is the region were the Kmer Rouge started their revolution. The number 2 and 3 Kmer Rouge leaders still leave here. There houses are known to everyone. They are hated, so apparently they rarely leave. There are still many mines in some areas. My plan was to spend a day here, but after about 1 hour, I had seen the whole town, so I went on to the border. The only hotel with available rooms had no water, so I crossed into Thailand hoping to somehow make it to a nearby town for the night. I was very lucky. At the immigration, just as I finished the paperwork (and got my new 30 day visa), a man was leaving in his private car. There was no public transport in sight, so I asked him for a ride. It turned out he was going to Chantaburi, where I would have to go on my way back to Bangkok the next day. So, this was perfect. He spoke little English, and I speak only a few phrases in Thai, but I managed to ask him to drop me at any hotel in Chantaburi (he had his wife do a little translating for us on the cell phone). Well, he first went to his house to pick up his wife. They then drove me around until they found me a hotel - a very nice place at a great price. It seems I got a discount because the wife said I was her brother. People in Thailand are known for being very friendly, and that makes traveling here much more enjoyable.