Phnom Phen - Kampot

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  Kampot, Cambodia
Friday, January 25, 2008

After our early morning flight arrived at Phnom Penh the visa was easy just a few forms and $1 if you don't have a passport photo. We got a taxi to our guest house that we'd been recommended by my friend that lives in Cambodia, on the way the driver was trying to explain that its pretty out the way and not very touristy. Its called The Boddhi Tree Del Gusto south of the centre. It was really beautiful loads of plants and tall walls, a little oasis. As it was pretty early we decided to get a tuck tuck around some of the central parts of thew city. First stop was The National Museum its full of really interesting carvings and statues. In the centre is a beautiful court card with ponds full of fish, we sat for a while and read our guide book in the sun. we then went to Wat Phnom. A small hill with a active Wat (pagoda) its the founding place for Phnom Penh. There are loads of small monkeys and a elephant too. There are lots of Cambodian people milling around selling food and snacks under the shade of loads of tall trees. We got some great pizza at the riverside and headed back to our guest house, jet lag kicking in. That evening we had a great green curry and had a early night.

The next day we went to the Central Market, was a real experience but really busy and not too many tourists. We met our friends from the UK for some food  at the riverside, there's loads of restaurants selling both western and Cambodian food all cheap. We then walked to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda only about 5 mins .Was pretty impressive but very busy in the baking heat we only managed to cover about half.

Sunday morning we moved from the south of the city to a more central location with a lot more going on, buy the central lake its a lot cheaper too. The guest house were staying in is very basic but a stunning view over the lake, half the guest house is over the water on stilts. Its pretty polluted with lots of plastic, but if you look past that there's plants and birds and a good breeze too. You can easily walk around to get food and meet people. That night we walked to another guest house and sat on the roof had a view beers, we had another curry type dinner the only vegetables they seem to have are carrots and green french beans, it was a good night the bars play mostly western music and are open till late.

We spent the next week in the city having a good look around and chilling out looking over the lake. Went to some traditional markets that were very interesting with lots of fake designer stuff. The Royal Palace built in 1866 by the French is right on the river front and very grand, many buildings inside the tall walls were added after. The Silver Pagoda (basically a temple) named this as its floor tiles are solid silver weighing 1kg each . We met up with Zoe and Jesse and had a look around, but it was pretty busy lots of tourists getting in my photos.

Met up with my friend Fran whos been working out here for 6 months. Went to see the arts centre that she set up. it was great all the kids sitting there sewing handbags even the boys. The centre is on the outskirts of the city in the slum area. The children who live her work on the rubbish dump collecting and sorting the rubbish for recycling. That afternoon we had fun making necklaces and bracelets, playing with slinky down the stairs.It was great to see this real side of the city as where were staying is mostly tourists
After we went to the FCC were during the war the journalists would sit and sen their stories home. it was an expensive place but you got the best view over the riverside. People watching is great here randomly the elephant from Wat Phnom walked past then had a shower under a sprinkler.

The next day we wanted to ge out of the city and decided to get a tuk tuk to Mekong Island. We didn't really know what to expect but our driver said we could swim there so sounded ok to us. the drive was long and very hot but great to get away from all the noise of the city. The landscape is much drier than i imagined with red soil like Africa. We finally got across the river and bought a silk scarf from a girl showing me how they weave silk. We got to the 'beach' which was the most random place ever. We were the only people there apart from a bunch of drunk Cambodian school kids. The river was very shallow and dirty you couldn't really see your feet, but it was fast flowing so it seemed ok.We got a floating hut on the water and had to buy some chicken and rice it was pretty gross but i tried some to be polite to our driver even though he finished most of it. On the drive back we  got a puncher so we had to wait for it to be fixed meanwhile i was being eaten by ants! The sunset over the rice field on the way back made up for it.

Friday we needed to get some money out and ended up wasting about 2hours in a bank que! finally got some out that was a relief. That moring we watched the film called 'the killing fields' at our guest house, i was expecting something more but it was worth watching to get some idea of what went on. That afternoon we took a moto to the killing fields, i didn't realize how far away it was about 12km. Choeung Ek, where prisoners were brought for execution. Where the genocidal Khmer Rouge disposed of its enemies, men, women and children. The Choeung Ek Memorial contains 8985 bodies. Although estimates suggest over 17,000 people may have been slaughtered there. It was a sickening experience but respectful not to ignore the past and whats happened to this beautiful country.

Saturday we were both feeling pretty ill and needed to chill out but its so hot and dusty in the city.We went to Phnom Penh Hotel to use their pool for $5 each. it was worth it even though we felt like dirty backpackers compared to everyone else. We then went back to the FCC to book our flight from Siem Reip to Bangkok.

Sunday we got up early to get a bus out of the city to Kampot about 4 hours, with very loud Khmer music! A small fishing town set on the bank of the river with a panoramic view of Bokor national park. We got a moto out of the town to the caves nearby. All the locals are so friendly even the old people stop what their doing s wave to you. We walked up the steps to the pagoda built at the top of the limestone cliffs. The caves were really dark I'm so pleased i brought my torch. The local kids showed us round telling us where to put our feet, they jumped around as if on springs. Inside another part of the caves were loads of bats they were really scary. we then went to some river rapids at the bottom of Bokor, they were great although not rapids as its dry season. Went for a bit of a swim but the rocks were all slippery and the water was shallow.That night had great traditional meal in a cafe on the riverside only $1 per dish.

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