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Thread Number: 1635
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Original Message
"Reflections on Cambodia"

Posted by mocha madness on 11-07-08 at 04:09 PM
I was excited to learn that Cambodia was on the AR radar this cycle, and after watching the one + episode in Cambodia wanted to throw in my two or three cents worth.

Having two of the contestants, who I assume are college graduates, admit to the camera that they didn't know where Cambodia was.....embarassing. Showing your ignorance in this way was overshadowed by speaking Spanish? to the taxi and tuck tuck drivers? Yelling at your boat driver to speed up until the engine overheats....Karma strikes!

Ok, here are my credentials to comment. My wife and I have been to Cambodia a half dozen times from 1996 to 2004. My wife lived in Phnom Penh for her work and we have traveled throughout the country. Between us we have been to Angkor Wat five times, and those were all multi day visits.

My conclusion is that the brief stop over in Cambodia was disappointing. At best a small "tourist" level version was shown The tasks they had to perform in and around Siem Riep was so lame. The frat boys weak attempts to get a "gravity feed" going was hilarious. You have to crank it, and use a little muscle!

If they had flown into Phnom Penh they could have raced around the capitol city, had a stop over night, and the next day take off by fast boat for Siem Riep. They would have landed at the floating village, which is a Vietnamese fishing village, and could have then proceeded directly to Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat is a huge complex of temples, and they could have had some tasks taking them to a variety of places to find clue boxes etc. Here is the real kicker....we have never heard of this "echo" room in the Angkor Wat temple. Unless someone has better "intel" on this I have to think it is a made up task.

Siem Riep has really been taken over as a tourist hub. The airport was expanded so international flights could fly direct, and they could offer package deals to see Angkor Wat, and leave right away. Cambodia is a very interesting country that has a unique history, but this brief look via the Amazing Race was a disappointment to us.


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"In their defense..."
Posted by udg on 11-10-08 at 07:46 PM
OK, I admit that I mocked them for speaking Spanish at the Cambodians, but... I speak two languages: English and German. Whenever I'm in a situation where people are speaking not-English, my reflex is to reply in German. So, yeah, I'd have been asking the boat drivers to go "sehr schnell, bitte!"


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