C is for Cambodia – Places I Dream of Seeing

  My C dream location is Cambodia, a strange choice for many I know but I remember the first time I ever watch Tomb Raider and saw those fascinating ancient temples, I just had to learn more.  The temples with their jungle back drops are amazing, and the ones that visitors can actually go to are just the beginning, it is unknown exactly how many other treasures the jungle has claimed or reclaimed as one can never be sure which was there first.

I would obviously need to get a lot fitter before I could contemplate hiking into the jungle in search of hidden gems and given the fact the number of temples they have found are just a fraction of the buildings the believe to be hidden then a fair bit of hiking will be required.

Some of the more complete temples would take a full day of exploring to do justice to on their own and once more I would need to take an extra suitcase to carry all the batteries and memory cards (and yes I know you can’t actually put them in the suitcase these days) but these are the sort of place you want to be at sunset and sunrise I know I would sit for hours just staring at the buildings letting my imagination run wild about all the things those stones have witnessed through the years.

Of course there is more to Cambodia than just temples.  There are the lovely beaches and clear blue seas.  It is not somewhere you think of in terms of beach holidays normally but I should imagine the tourist trade will eventually transform coastline into a sea of hotels and condos.

The other attraction for me would be the wildlife, more specifically ELEPHANTS!!!

I love elephants and the chance to see them in the wild while they still exist in the wild would be awesome.  It is a tragedy that we have to even think that way in this day and age when we understand how ecosystems work that we cannot stop our fellow man wiping out integral parts of it.

However those reasons are mainly focused around one issue, poverty. And this is another reason this holiday may for ever remain a dream.

While I would want to see people living traditionally without interference from the Western world I imagine the actually reality of seeing how they live day to day would be incredibly hard.  I know obviously already the main cities are modern but it is not just the conditions people live in but also those they live under which puts me off.  Google images of Cambodia and along side the pictures of temples you see armed police and violent protests, people laying dead in the street.  I know it is an issue with many places some others will probably appear later in the list but in an ideal world I would be there tomorrow.

Please feel free to leave your C suggestions down in comments 😀