Cambodia
Trip Start
Oct 10, 2005
1
12
19
Trip End
Ongoing
All over,
Cambodia
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Cambodia - December 22 2005 - January 13 2006-02-06
The whole country needs a lick of paint but the tatty appearance of old colonial buildings just adds to the charm of Cambodia. Poverty is in your face but is a way of life for most of the population, as are the constant reminders of recent wars but the friendliness of the people cannot go unnoticed. The same goes for the evening attire for women/ girls, when dressing for dinner means going out in your pyjamas. Probably a really cool and comfortable choice, and a sensible idea if you just want to fall into bed when you get home after a night on the town!
Krong Koh Kong - I think the border police spotted us coming as they charged us more than the going rate for our visas but as some guys were having a hard time getting into the country we paid up and headed for our first stop, just over the border from Thailand, and it was cold and windy! Our original plan had been to take a boat to Sihanoukville, but the strong winds made for a choppy ride so we took the 'easier' option and booked seats in a minibus leaving the next morning. Alan had his first full English breakfast in months, for dinner and then again for breakfast!
Sihanoukville - After a 5hour ride in a full minibus on unmade roads, getting out only to board ferries across the Mekong or to wait while the road was cleared of rocks, a mad dash of moto riders on arrival at the bus station and a stubborn refusal to be conned into a moto ride, we carried our increasingly heavy packs up the hill to our accommodation - cheap, clean, with fan and cold shower.
And again
We had a perfect Christmas away from the cold dark days of UK - deserted white sands, shallow warm waters, beach shacks and a power cut which meant no fan or water! Fortunately it was our last night when the electric went off as it stayed off for three days and the weather was getting seriously warm!Phnom Penh - The capital of Cambodia. We picked our guest house on Boeng Kak, a lake of thick black water, from the guide book before we arrived and couldn't believe what a shitty area we were in, but once on the decking of our lakeside hotel it looked completely different; hammocks slung around the place, pool table, 24 hr bar, lots of aromatic smells in the air (!!!) - everything was great till we checked in and shut ourselves in the room for a few minutes. The bathroom stunk of pee and there were mosquitoes everywhere! It took some strong shampoo and soap to get the smell in the bathroom to an acceptable level, but after some serious chilling and Cambodian cuisine an incredible sunset made everything good again. We hired a tuk-tuk to take us to the Killing Fields and to Tuol Sleng (S21), an extermination camp used by the Khmer Rouge which contained room after room of black and white photos of the prisoners who were later killed. It was quite a sombre day but definitely worth doing, even when the driver nearly turned the tuk-tuk over. Think he was more frightened by it than we were. A wander around the city didn't reveal much of significance and we formed an opinion of the place which was completely unjust in hind sight - glad we gave it another chance later in the trip.
Angkor Wat 1
Alan was asked if he wanted to go to a shooting range to try out an AK47 or an M-60 but at a dollar a bullet it was a big chunk of budget so early in the trip.... Would've been a great photo opportunity though.......Battambang - in the far North-Western corner of Cambodia, this province was heavily mined by the Khmer Rouge but there are lots of de-mining groups working to clear the fields now. This is the second city, with a population of 40,000, so still pretty small, and not yet really developed for tourists but there are plans for some impressive hotels in time as it isn't far from the Thai border; for now its just old French-style colonial houses along a pretty river with a market and rough roads out to some interesting wats. We had satellite tv and a hot shower, as well as a fan that worked, so luxury unlimited! We hired a moto and spent the day 'exploring', trying to keep the bike out of the ruts and upright and visiting Sampeau Killing Caves which are another gruesome reminder of the KR reign of terror. This was a hot steep climb to the top but the views were great, and I was surprised to see how flat the country really was. The whole reason for visiting Battambang was to pick up the boat to Siem Reap, the most scenic boat ride in the country, taking 4-8 hours depending on water levels in the river. Our boat broke down after getting fishing nets entangled in the propeller so we sat bobbing around for a while whilst all the villagers from the riverside came to stare. These people were so poor with huge families - obviously no tv's here! I was sat next to a little Cambodian boy on the boat and his Grandmother was trying to give him to me for a better life.
Angkor Wat at distance
When she was getting off the boat at one of the riverside villages she was pushing the boy back towards me. I'm glad he managed to get off but it does make you think how life must be for them. That said, the scenery was great, and when we sailed into Tonle Sap lake, it was so vast it was looking out across the ocean. Definitely to be recommended!Siem Reap - this was the base for visiting Angkor Wat, the largest religious building in the world and really impressive! After a full day, feeling pretty templed-out, a night in Bar Street is welcome. This was also the destination for New Years Eve, a real party night where street kids and tourists all danced together in the street till the following morning, no hassles and lots of beer!!! New Years Day was a write-off but after that we hired bicycles and rode a round trip of about 15 miles out to the floating village where we'd docked after the boat ride. Passing loads of vivid green rice paddies, and families living on boats, the rough road soon took its toll on our backsides and we paid for it the next day. Riding to the land-mine museum was painful but interesting, and a bike is a good way of seeing life but avoiding beggars. Loads of different types of mines were on display, along with stories of children who were either orphaned through landmine accidents to their parents, or were maimed walking across the paddies or playing. To know that so many mines are still unfound in the country is a bit harrowing.
Kompong Cham - we had a really nice hotel on the banks of the Mekong with massive corridors described in the guide book as big enough for playing Frisbee, it's true! Our first day showed us a hole of a town with mega-expensive internet connections and a really manky meal at a market stall surrounded by flies.
Angkor Wat Tree
We went straight back to the room after eating, waiting for the food to go straight through - on the one occasion when it would've been welcome, everything stayed put! Next day we hired a moto and rode out to a Cham village and stopped outside a school to take photos of all the kids in uniform on their bicycles. Suddenly we were surrounded by children who wanted their pictures taken and showed us around their Australian funded school. It was a really 'nice' experience and different to anything we'd been through on the trip. These kids have so little and everyone was happy - it was great! It turned our opinion of Kompong Cham upside down and it ended up being an okay place!Kratie - only a few kilometres away from Kampi, home to the freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins that live in the Mekong River. We took a boat ride and saw saw the dolphins, then our driver took us out to the sandbanks in the middle of this huge river, perfect for picnics, and Alan stripped off for a refreshing dunk in the river. We saw sunset from the boat, a beautiful scene and then had a moto ride back to the hotel to partake in a few beers and food at one of the many stalls along the bank. This place was probably the most obvious for girls out in their PJs, and their ability to look comfortable perched side-saddle on the back of a bike whilst carrying the evening meal and a baby!
Ban Lung, Ratanakiri - in the remote North-Eastern corner of the country. This place is red! The dust gets everywhere and doesn't wash off so nice white fluffy hotel towels are not the best way to get dry! There was one road in and the same road out of this province, via Stung Treng, and I dread to think what the road would be like in the wet season.
Angkor Wat with Monk
Buses don't come this far as the roads are too bad. Transport is by pick-up truck, moto, or in a Toyota Camry, 4 adults in the back and 3 in the front which was our choice for getting there from Kratie. Not the most comfortable of journeys but an experience! We shared the back seat with 2 ancient looking Cambodians who fortunately are smaller than Westerners, but have incredibly boney elbows. We went swimming in a natural crater lake where the visibility was incredible, and went for dinner at the 'American Restaurant' which turned out to be a big dining table set out in the middle of a family's lounge. We ate so much food for next to nothing and then got free dessert whilst the family sat at their own table eating their usual dinner of rice. Not many tourists up here, and not many ways of getting back to 'civilisation' so we got ripped off on the return trip and decided to give the South Eastern corner a miss just in case we ran out of cash - nothing so modern as banks on this side of the country!
Kratie - back for the night on the way back to Phnom Penh.
Phnom Penh - Take 2. This time we stayed on the Mekong rather than on the lake. This is the main tourist area full of hotels and restaurants, close to the real attractions of PP, and excellent for sitting with a beer watching the world go by; 7 people on one motorbike, an elephant, beggars, trucks full of monks, shoe-shine boys, working girls... It was like a different city to the first visit and offered so much - I'm glad we went back.
Angkor Wat2
We went to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, very similar to the Grand Palace in Bangkok; had a rest and drink at Friends, a restaurant run by street children, then went to the Russian Market for a spot of haggling and bargain hunting. I ended up with a pair of Cambodian trousers whilst Alan got a hammock, as well as the mandatory cheap t-shirts and sarongs - all very useful stuff!Sihanoukville - our last stop over in Cambodia so we stayed a couple of nights at a beautiful resort which we'd ridden through on our last visit; wooden huts on stilts on the headland surrounded by coastline and empty beaches. To sleep with the sound of the sea and the buzzing of mozzies through the slatted floor is how a night in Cambodia should be. Perfect, apart from the food poisoning that Alan got! It left us with no choice but to enjoy the isolation and take things slowly, preparing for the end of my trip and leaving this lovely, very different country. Going back to the border this time, we went by boat, a four hour trip on calm seas passing national parks and gorgeous islands where we off loaded loads of fresh food from the mainland markets.
Krong Koh Kong - no time for a stop over this time. It was straight to the waiting cab and over the bridge to the Thai/Cambodian border at Cham Yeam. So much for the taxi ride costing 'as much as you want'. We offered all our Cambodian Riel and a handful of dollars and still got asked for more! Whatever - by then we just needed to cross the border and get to Bangkok for the night so a few dollars more and we got to jump the queues of travellers waiting for photos, straight through Cambodian immigration and a short walk through no man's land, past the beggars and vendors selling Baht and finally we were in the land of smiles, good roads and half-decent drivers. Thailand has a serenity only truly appreciated after a month in Cambodia!
