The Land Of Ankor... finally!
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2005
1
10
58
Trip End
Dec 27, 2005
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Monday, February 14, 2005
From Cantho in Vietnam we ditched the minibuses and found some nice folks to help us get a bus ticket for the local rates. We got to the bus compound early and got on a bus for Chau Doc and paid a measly $1.25pp for the 3 hour ride (given that we'd paid $4pp for the 2 hour journey to Cantho, we felt we had finally won a battle - score: Paul and Virginie 1 Vietnamese 997!!).
We secured seats on the bus- in the last row, but we had seats! The back of the bus is notoriously bouncy and can be uncomfortable if you aren't use to long rides. They kept packing people in though, filling the isle and providing buckets to sit on for those without seats or they just stood
Chau Doc, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
. Everyone was heading home after the Tet holiday. Virginie asked me how many people they were going to put on the buss. I smiled - the bus drivers answer to the question would likely have been as many as want to go to Chau Doc - they'll find a way to fit any willing travelers in and they did, the entire trip they picked people up slowing only to let them hop in and them pushed, jammed and cajoled them into the bus until everyone shifted to make room.)Sitting next to us were a nice little old lady and her granddaughter. The little old lady was so nice saying we were welcome to her country. we smiled exchanged some banter in Vietnamese and before we could get deeper into our discussion of how to reconcile the conundrum of maintaining a capitalism based economy with communism based institutions, I exhausted my vocabulary (2.5 Seconds). We settled on establishing where she was heading and where we were heading (not to tough given that we were on the same bus...) she was nice though and her granddaughter was adorable...or at least she started out that way...
About an hour into the ride, my little spring roll as I called her, decided she either didn't care for that rice porridge she ate that morning and she wanted a refund, or her little tummy couldn't take all the bouncing
Monks Riding Motorbikes
. Either way, we had a major issue we had to squelch fast or risk a wider crisis (there were many other kids on the bus around Virginie and I - one of which was perched between my feet-and I was wearing sandals). This caused us to hit alert status 5, code red, whatever you want to call it. We helped the old lady get...uh... cleaned up (I hope no one is enjoying a nice meal while reading this - because I'm sure it's not as nice now if you are) and then offered what we had in our bag to help her along - first some bread, then water, then a little Pepto Bismol, anything, try anything to keep her... is "plugged" an acceptable term to use? Anyway, she calmed a bit, and then the old man in front of me started motioning to his daughter under my feet that I should give her one of those pink tablets. I'm assuming he thought I was passing out candy and didn't want his daughter to miss out - after telling him it was for the stomach, he encouraged me to give it to her in such a way that made me think he knew something I didn't and that I should just oblige - I did. I then started giving out bread, whatever hoping that we'd gotten it under control. For the most part we did except the little girl with her grandma was "upset" the entire trip - keep those plastic bags coming!Aside from that, we got to Chau doc without incident, and then hiked into town on an extremely hot day all the 2 kilometers being hassled to take a motorbike or a cyclo (bikes pulling a carriage with a seat). They couldn't understand why these foreigners refused to be coached around. we got a hotel and then decided to rent a motorbike and cruise outside the city as there was a nice mountain to climb - on a motorbike (it was too hot and we were to lazy to hike up it). Outside the city we cruised around, got some nice views of the surrounding rice paddies from the top of the mountain (Sam Mountain) and visited a pagoda
Paul and Virginie at the Royal Palace in PP
. We then raced back into town because the sun was going down and the rental didn't have lights - surprise. No worries.In Chau Doc we had booked a ticket from a local agency for the slow boat to Phnom Penh. we were picked up at 7am and paraded through town with about 50 other foreigners (mostly European, Japanese and Koreans - I was again the only American - I only met 3 Americans in all of Vietnam - tons of French, Australians, British, Japanese, Koreans (both of which only seemed to travel in tour groups) but extremely few Americans...) as they lead us all to the boat dock. It reminded me of the pied piper of Hamlin, leading all the "rats" to the waters edge. When I saw the boats, my suspicions were confirmed. ;)
The boat ride to the border was phenomenal. We cruised along at about 8-10 mph on the Bassac River. We passed cargo boats, fishermen/women, there were houseboats or floating platforms all along the river. Everyone was going about their daily routines, fishing, laundry, cooking, kids playing in water. The wonderful smells of diesel, fish food being cooked for the hatcheries etc. We passed through some small tributaries where we passed villages and were greeted by screaming children then entire time "Hello!! Hello!! Hello" that is what Vietnamese parents teach their children to scream when they see foreigners and the children love the game and comply with gusto. Along some of the routs I think entire villages knew we were coming hours before we got there due to the sightings being passed along so quickly...
We got to the border around noon, paid our visa and were jammed into a long metal ship that looked like a converted gas tanker (sort of). We arrived outside of Phnom Penh around 4:30pm and it was a "one hour" bus ride into the city (according to the tour guide it was an hour, but it was over two hours - Southeast Asian guides never get the concept of under promising and over delivering...).
It was a great trip up the river and we were anxious to explore the city, which we got to do immediately because hotels were all booked out and we spent 2 hours hiking around the city with our backpacks fending off offers for rides from motorbike drivers. Nice city at night and friendly people who seemed less, what's the right word..., maybe persistent than the Vietnamese. They understand the words "No thank you", something I think they gloss over in Vietnamese English class without much attention.
We left Vietnam yesterday with good memories, but we were ready to go. Somewhere new and somewhere different - enter Cambodia!!
Cambodians are separated from Vietnam by a lot of mountains, the geography of the mountains being such that historically Vietnamese and Chinese influence on the region was not as strong as influence from the ancient civilization to the west - India. The people have physical characteristics that appear more Indian, their religion and temple architecture more heavily influenced from the west and their language is not tonal, so it is much easier for me to pronounce (though the Khmer alphabet is descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India and is thus difficult for the passing through traveler to pick up = i.e. it looks pretty, but its all squiggles, dots and dashes to me). The reverse seems true and it feels like Cambodians speak English more easily than the Vietnamese.
Phnom Penh is a very enjoyable city; we really like it more than Saigon (HcMc). It has a lot of parks, beautiful temples everywhere and is the meeting point of 3 rivers, the Mekong, the Tonle Sap and the Bassac. It is much cleaner, modern, and quieter than Virginie and I expected. Even the cars and motorbikes seem to drive more organized and use their horns sparingly. It is a very pleasant city with good open spaces and water. And it is filled with relaxed, approachable and genuine Cambodians.
After our hike through town to find a hotel, we decided to splurge and allow ourselves a more expensive dinner in a restaurant on the river. We found a nice place called Taboo restaurant run by a Cambodian who had live in France and spoke fluent French. He and Virginie got along great and he gave us some nice tips about the city. After a double Jack Daniels, a large Lao beer, a nice papaya salad, cashew chicken, and fried rice we got the bill for $10.60 (everything here is priced in dollars and they accept dollars like their own currency the Riel). We had also splurged on our hotel room and got one with ac for $10 too, so we were living the highlife.
We spent today first by visiting a market and buying some trinkets and clothes. they must make a lot of gap and old navy clothing here because all the clothes there had those labels on them and the quality was just as good, only difference was you could buy most any garment, shirt, shorts, etc. for 1-3 dollars. Cheap stuff. I tell you, wish I was heading home from here and I'd get myself a new wardrobe.
We then visited royal palace here which is an architectural wonder. The Cambodians have been rebuilding since their bloody past was put behind them and elections happened in 1991. Their temples, buildings and this rich heritage are being restored with amazing success. It is a huge compound filled with Buddhist inspired artwork, design and colorful gardens. We got kicked out of there at closing time.
For dinner we wanted to go cheap after our binge the night before. We found a young Cambodian motorbike driver we got along with and I told him we'd hire him to take us to a nice local place. He was happy to oblige and took us to a place for some fried rice and beer. We got a good price and paid only $3.50 for the three of us - back on track.
tomorrow we are going to visit the Killing fields where 1000s of Cambodians were killed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge - unpleasant, but a must see. Cambodia really seems to be moving on from its bloody history, but seeing the results of all this suffering sure helps put a lot of current events in perspective.
Take care,
Paul and Virginie
