Cambodia - Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2008
1
13
Trip End
Jul 17, 2009
Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Sunday, June 28, 2009
We left Cambodia about 6 weeks ago and became rather lackadaisical during a month in Indonesia. We are now back in Thailand and will be home in 3 weeks … here's the Cambodia story anyway. We’ll get Indonesia to you as soon as we possibly can …
We left Saigon on what seemed to be a pretty luxurious coach (not by home standards but a big step up from most over here) and the ride to the Cambodian border was pretty smooth. Obtaining our visas at the immigration checkpoint was quick and painless except for our driver pushing and shoving Lois through the various security controls … I thought she was going to flip out at one point … I’m glad she restrained as the guards had some scary-looking automatic weapons
Waiting for the sunrise
. We traveled through Cambodia’s countryside and although it was very beautiful with stilted houses and fields rolling out like patchwork quilts across the landscape, we noticed that the earth was yearning for the coming monsoon.
After being on the road for 7 hours we arrived in Phnom Penh where the majority of passengers were disembarking. We had about a 30 minute wait before continuing our journey to Siem Reap … hungry … we were directed to the bakery down the street where the staff spoke no English and all the labels were in Cambodian. It was like a lucky dip … we chose a few familiar-looking items and returned to the bus. We were a little surprised to find Dairylea cheese inside our sugar-coated doughnuts … not so much of a surprise was that Lois ate hers and finished mine.
Back on the road, there were only half a dozen passengers left so we got chatting to a couple of girls from Ripon, one of which turned out to be a journalist for Tyne Tees Television.
At the toilet stop Lois jumped off to stretch her legs and was mobbed by a group of Cambodian kids
Beautiful Angkor Wat
. They were selling fruit and had the patter of 40 year old salesmen … one sweet-faced little girl brought out her pet tarantula and tried to scare Lois into buying something … thankfully Lois isn’t scared of spiders … me on the other hand would have freaked out big style!As dusk fell we realized that our luxurious coach was actually infested with cockroaches and we spent the next 2 hours fighting them off.
We arrived in Siem Reap around 8pm and surprise surprise we were dropped 2 miles out of town at the bus company’s head office where they tried to sell us their rooms and taxis. After the cockroach invasion we were in no mood to be touted so flagged a tuk-tuk … the driver of which tried to help us find a room but after being bumped around on dusty, pot-holed roads for half an hour we asked to be dropped in the centre so we could go it alone.
Soon after, we bedded down in a slightly damp-smelling room in the Heart of Angkor hotel. We were just happy the journey was over.
The next morning we went for a walk around the small city and the dusty streets made it feel as if we were on the set of an old western movie (sorry the photos don’t show what we mean)
Sunrise over Angkor Wat
.As we sat outside the Red Piano bar having breakfast we realized that Cambodia would be very emotionally challenging as every few minutes people with missing limbs or severe disfigurements came begging at our table. We felt bad that we had no money to spare and still with over 2 months left of our trip we had to let our heads overrule our hearts.
Later that afternoon we were sat outside a supermarket down near the river having a much-needed caffeine hit (diet coke) when a rather grand tuk-tuk pulled up. We were admiring the black and silver chariot when its driver came over for a chat. His name was Soeung Bun Long (Long for short) and he was an English and Chinese speaking driver who we decided to hire for the following day to take us around the Temples of Angkor.
He seemed like such a sweet man … he told us about his family … his wife was deaf so nobody wanted to marry her, but Long went to her village and chose her to be his wife and in turn he believed he had been blessed with two beautiful children.
In the evening we went in search of some traditional Khmer food … Lois had Fish Amok and I had the Fish Curry … both of which were said to be spicy but in all honesty they were completely bland
Sunrise over Angkor Wat
. We tried to get an early night as Long was due to pick us up at 4am the following morning. He was bang on time and we set off in the dark towards the Temples of Angkor. After purchasing our day passes we drove on to Angkor Wat where we witnessed the most magnificent sunrise.
One of the most inspired and spectacular monuments ever conceived by the human mind, Angkor Wat was built by Suryavarman II (r 1112-52) to honour Vishnu, his patron deity and to be his funerary temple.
After watching the skies come alive with hundreds of different shades of pink we met Long for breakfast before heading back inside Angkor Wat to explore the vast corridors and view the remarkably well-preserved carvings on every wall.
The central temple complex is surrounded by an 800m long series of exquisite bas-reliefs. The Churning of the Sea of Milk depicts 88 asura (demons) on the left and 92 deva (gods) with crested helmets on the right, churning up the sea to extract the elixir of immortality … it was truly beautiful
Sunrise over Angkor Wat
.Next on our list of must-sees was Ta Prohm … this 12th century Mahayana Buddhist temple, which unlike the other major monuments at Angkor, has been abandoned to riotous nature. The temple of Ta Prohm was used as the set for shooting Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie and many other blockbusters, which is not surprising as the tentacle-like roots of mature trees which strangle the stonework give the place an eerie lost city feel.
There was a small building within the complex containing a statue of Buddha, where if you stood inside against the walls and banged your hand on your chest, you would hear an echo … clapping your hands didn’t work in the same way as you would imagine … only the chest cavity would produce the echo.
We then visited Ta Keo which was built by Jayavarman V (r 968-1001). A massive pyramid which rises more than 50m, but it was never completed so is lacking the elaborate carvings seen on the other temples. Lois had her trusty walking sandals on so she tackled the steep steps on Ta Keo, leaving me on the first level in my flip-flops.
Beautiful sunrise at Angkor Wat
On our way to have lunch we stopped off at Thommanom and Chau Say Thevoda which was less well-known temples en-route to Angkor Thom.
We entered the fortified city of Angkor Thom through the Victory Gate and Long took us to a restaurant where he gets fed for free right in the centre of the complex. We were being bothered by kids trying to sell us things so after lunch we left Long and went to explore the many wonders of Angkor Thom.
The city was built by Angkor’s greatest king, Jayavarman VII (r 1181-1219) who came to power after the disastrous sacking of the previous Khmer capital by the Chams.
The walls surrounding this magical city stretch more than 12km and are 6m high and 8m wide every step of the way.
The main attractions that we explored within the city were the Terrace of the Leper King, the Terrace of Elephants, Baphuon which was taken apart piece by piece by a team of archaeologists before the civil war and their records were destroyed during the madness of the Khmer Rouge, so is now one of the most ambitious restoration projects at Angkor
Soph looking 'horny' at Angkor Wat
. Last but not least was Bayon which we both felt was one of Angkor’s most stunning temples. There are 216 gargantuan faces of Avalokiteshvara (Buddha of compassion) watching over visitors in this memorable temple. Built around 1200 by Jayavarman VII in the exact centre of the city, some people believe that the faces bear more than a passing resemblance to the king himself. Elaborate bas-reliefs on the outer walls depict vivid scenes of 12th century Cambodia, including cockfighting and kick boxing.
The temperature was soaring towards 50 degrees centigrade and by 1pm (after being there for 9 hours) we decided to call it a day and head back to Siem Reap.
We went to find Long who was fast asleep in his chariot. On the way back he asked us if we would like to see his home and meet his family; a lovely gesture so we agreed.
We pulled up outside and were welcomed by Long’s wife. His two beautiful children were very shy and the little boy in particular seemed to be scared of our western looks
Soph at sunrise
. The home itself was actually only one small room with a double bed, a tiny sink and kitchen area where damp and mould covered the wall and what we can only imagine was a grotty outdoor bathroom. The four of them shared than tiny space but seemed happy nonetheless.
We had agreed a daily rate of $12 with Long but after seeing the way his family live we had no hesitation giving him $20.
Later in the afternoon we were for an Indian meal which was nice apart from Lois’ portion was a tad on the small side and we shared a bottle of the local Angkor beer. We again tried to get an early night as we were due to leave on a 5 hour bus ride to Battambang the next morning.
Battambang was written up in the Lonely Planet as an elegant riverside town, home to the best-preserved French-period architecture in the country … what a load of bollocks!!!
I’d been battling with a stomach bug since Nha Trang in Vietnam which came out in full force when we got to Battambang
Wonderful sunrise
. Thankfully Lois found us a really nice cheap room with satellite TV, etc as I spent the next 3 days in either the bedroom or bathroom.Lois on the other hand went out in search of the architecture and came back severely disappointed, so she spent the next 3 days taking care of me. She can be really sweet when she wants to be!
The only good things were the intense thunder and lightening storms every night which we watched from our large window and sometimes from the covered rooftop terrace.
We booked our bus to leave Battambang and were sat in the hotel lobby waiting to be picked up when another guest (a Cambodian man) who had heard I was unwell sent his friend to the pharmacy to get me his favoured remedy. The guest disappeared to his room and the friend returned with sachets of Phosphalugel … when I tried to pay him for them he simply said his friend had taken care of it … a very sweet gesture and it actually worked for the 6 hour journey to Phnom Penh. No roadside toilet stops for me!!!
We’d opted for the cheap local bus to Phnom Penh … these are always good for comedy value as the locals generally can’t take their eyes off Lois which amuses me no end
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
. This time however it was me who would be examined … a family got on part way through the journey and pretty much stared at me the rest of the way … the husband even took a photo of me on his phone. We arrived in Phnom Penh around 4pm and as always they dropped us in the middle of nowhere. The touts were particularly aggressive, one of which I got quite short with. We told them all to leave us be, got our packs on and made our way back to the main road where we hailed a tuk-tuk to take us around some hotels.
The first one he took us to was a bit of a dump, the second was well out of our price range, so in the end we got him to drop us off on the Tonle Sap riverside and went in search ourselves.
Soon after we found a seemingly nice room above a bar / restaurant which overlooked the river and we had views of the palace and national museum. It was the cheapest room on the riverside and we soon found out why … it was infested with a wide variety of bugs, the electricity rarely worked and a resident gecko left Lois a present each night in the form of a turd on her pillow.
The next day we were told that it was a public holiday for the King’s birthday so most sites would be closed for the next few days … darn public holidays
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
! Thankfully this information was wrong which we found out when we questioned one of the palace guards. We waited until the air had cooled somewhat, donned our long pants and sleeves out of respect and returned to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda.
Hidden behind it’s protective walls the palace is very beautiful with an air of peace and tranquility as you stroll around the lush gardens. The ceremonial halls exhibit classic Khmer architecture. Photography was not permitted in many of the buildings much to Lois’ disappointment.
Later that evening we took a stroll along the riverside and decided to have a bottle of wine at one of the many stylish-looking restaurants. It just so happened that they stocked the exact same bottle of Montepulciano that we drink at home … so we had 3 ha ha!!!
I had spoken to a particular amputee a few times who was selling books as he didn’t want to beg. After a couple of glasses of wine I couldn’t resist buying a book and some postcards off him as he was so utterly charming whenever I had spoken to him
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
. While Lois tried to liven things up by plugging in my mp3 and swinging the bar staff around, I induged in an intellectual conversation with a controversial French reporter. Lois later slurred that she’d been having her own intellectual conversation with the bar manager … yeah right … sure she did!!!
The next day we were still a bit merry from the wine so spent most of our time in various restaurants feeding our faces.
On our last full day in Phnom Penh we had arranged to go to the Tuol Sleng Museum and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.
We started out at the Tuol Sleng Museum which was formerly a high school, but in 1975 Pol Pot’s security forces turned it into Security Prison 21 (S-21). It was the largest centre of detention and torture in the country and almost everyone held there was later executed at the Killing Fields.
Walking around the grounds and into the school buildings you could feel only sorrow
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
. As we entered some of the classrooms which contained only a rusty single bed, a torture device and a gruesome black and white photo of a poor soul who had been tortured to death we both felt physically sick. We continued to walk quietly through the buildings and could only imagine the horror that these innocent men, women and children had faced only 35 years ago.
One of the buildings displayed thousands of black and white photos of the prison’s detainees. Both of us struggled to hold back our tears as we looked into the eyes of these people who had been massacred by their own kind.
Detainees who died during torture were buried in mass graves inside the prison grounds. During 1977, S-21 claimed a terrifying average of 100 victims per day.
The tour of the Tuol Sleng Museum was a gut-wrenching experience and we will never forget the faces of the people whose lives were destroyed within those buildings, especially the beautiful Cambodian children.
As we left the museum grounds and headed towards the car a man began to chase us down the street begging for money
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
. I turned round to say sorry and was horrified by what I saw. The man looked like he had had acid poured on his face. His looks actually scared me and I feel so guilty that I couldn’t bring myself to stop. I still see his face clearly in my mind even now. Back in the car we headed to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek where there are 129 mass graves. There is a blinding white stupa that serves as a memorial to the approximately 17000 men, women and children who were executed there by the Khmer Rouge between mid-1975 and December 1978. Encased inside the stupa are almost 9000 human skulls found during excavations in 1980. Many of these skulls still bear witness to the fact that they were bludgeoned to death to save precious bullets.
Lois and I didn’t feel it was appropriate to take photos at either Tuol Sleng Museum or the Killing Fields out of respect for the victims and their families.
That night we were in desperate need of a drink after an emotionally exhausting day so we went back to the bar from the previous night. We had a delicious meal, 3 bottles of white, topped up by some vodka 'Flirtinis’
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
. Needless to say I was hammered … not going to incriminate myself any further! Thankfully Lois was just about in a fit state to get us home.The next day we checked out, ate loads and then got a tuk-tuk to the airport where we would begin our mammoth journey to Indonesia.
Photos will follow tomorrow and Indonesia entry will be with you when we get chance.
Lots of love to you all
Sophie and Lois x x x
