Whizzing through Cambodia

Hey all,

its been a gasping 13 days since our last blog i believe!! And gasping in terms of distances and speedy experiences of Cambodia!

Well we're back in Bangkok, feeling very well travelled and very much the adventurers, after our circular route thru northern Thailand, Laos, the length of Vietnam, and through Cambodia, only submitting to one flight, with the rest overland! Took us just over 2 months at our leisure!! Might have needed more time though if weather had been better in the middle of Vietnam, but 2 months is plenty to do it, for future reference for any interested blog readers. (obviously a little more for thai beaches).

On our last day in Vietnam, walking down a small street in Saigon, we saw an accident. Paul and I were walking side by side and a woman was calling us from across the road to come into her restaurant on the right hand side of street. Then a motorcycle coming towards us beeped (as they do) so we veered a little into the left hand side as he was passing. He wasnt driving that fast but probably too fast for the street he was on. Unfortunately there was a woman behind us who was about to cross the road diagonally from left to right, who didnt see him, and he hit her. All I saw was her flying up in the air backwards and falling with a big smack on the back of her head. (I can still hear it). She didnt lose consciousness, so all the people including the motorcycle driver pulled her up off the ground, and started patting her on the head, and putting back on her hat. She was glazed looking with her knees buckling from under her. We moved on as a crowd was forming and we didnt want to be oogling at her. But we both thought, that woman needs to go to hospital and they shouldnt have moved her, and thought her skull must be fractured with that impact, and we were both shaken from seeing it all so closely. The next morning, at about 5.30 am, we were woken by what sounded like a brass band. Paul said 'that woman is dead'. When we were checking out of hotel at 8am, I asked the woman working there what the music was about, and she said someone on that street died. We still dont know and never will whether it was her, or just some resident who passed away, but both feel that we know it was her. I dont know why I'm including this, maybe just because we saw it, and maybe if we hadn't been in Saigon walking down that street, there wouldn't have been anyone in front of her, and she would have seen the bike. Lots of if's. Just life I suppose...

Anyway, moving away from morose ramblings... Altho, tales from Cambodia are sombre in their own right given the countries history.

We travelled across the border with a company called the Mekong express limosine service (just a bus with a loo and free water). We had avoided the many insistences that we get our Cambodian visa before we go at exorbitant prices, knowing that we could get it at the border for $20. Course as we approached border, guy working on bus comes down insisting everyone on bus gets through him for $25 dollars. We said we were going to get ourselves. And he said that was fine but we would have to get taxi to restaurant where bus would be waiting for him. So despite the fact that the bus would stop at the border, it would not wait for anyone who wanted to get visa themselves. Funny enuff, he seemed to make the bus on time with the passengers after border check, after getting all the visas!!! Another day, another scam!! I think its typical of all buses crossing border, so think you just have to take the hit.

On to Cambodia. We arrived in Phnom Penh, got ourselves some digs, and settled down for a few days. We both liked Phnom Penh. Accomadation not as nice or snazzy or cheap for that matter as Vietnam but did the job, and still better value than Thailand. I dont know if anyone knows much about Cambodia's history but a brief synopsis is:

In the 70's the Khmer Rouge with Pol Pot as their leader were in power in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, and set about trying to convert cambodia to communism rapidly. For 5 years, the cambodians were systematically displaced from their homes, starved, beaten, tortured and killed, families were torn apart, and people kept in detention centres reminiscent of the Nazi concentration camps. Awful stuff really. We both read 'first they killed my father' - great book, very informative on what went on in those 5 years.

Anyway, in Phnom Penh, we spent an afternoon in S21- tong sleung, the Khmer rouges primary interrogation and extermination centre. It was a converted school, where 16,000 people were interrogated and tortured before being killed. Only 8 people who were in tong sleung ever survived to tell of the horrors that happened there. There are photos there of many of the corpses and also photos of the men women and children (some practically babies) who were brought in as the Khmer rouge were meticulous about their record keeping!

We also got a tuk tuk out to Choeng Uk, the Killing fields. They have erected an monument there in memory of the approx 15,000 killed there. Within it are literally thousands of skulls on shelves up to the ceiling that they have taken out of the ground. The grounds themselves are literally just a field with sunken ground here and there on the edges of which people were shot probably before their corpses were pushed in. The awful thing was as we were walking around we noticed that there were bits of clothes evident in the dried mud on the path we were walking and also many small white shiny patches which on further examination turned out to be bones. The place is heaving with bones, even on the ground we were walking on. The bones and clothes are all coming up through the soil... Understandably we only could bring ourselves to take two photos, and even that we weren't that comfortable with.

Phnom Penh is very poor, with lots of people and children begging. And they look poor, they are dirty and thin, and its very sad. However, the people are lovely, and seem upbeat despite their awful recent history. We both felt safe and comfortable here walking the streets. We stayed away from the tourist area, and really saw the whole city centre by foot and tuk tuk (sore feet sometimes tho).In the city itself, you dont really see many tourists at all, suggesting there arent alot, which is a pity because its a lovely city, and will be really beautiful in a few years i would say. The backpacker area is up on the lake (a little dirty and rat and cockroache infested, but lots of guesthouses). It was fun up there with lots of tourists, and windy streets, cheap drinks and food and hammocks out on balconies where you could relax for the evening. Spent 2 evenings up their with the masses. There was lots of kids with boats on the river selling boat trips (see photos), again thin, dirty, but always happy and chirpy. We had this booklet 'stay another day' (free) on Cambodia, and one of the boat kids spent a good 15 mins poring over the photos lapping it up. He nearly split himself smiling when we said he could keep it.... it was a booklet and free - we wished then we had a proper book to give the little mite! They work all day on the lake to help support their families and they were all between 7-12 years of age.

We got the bus to Siem Reap, after deciding to speed thru Cambodia (two months of Malerone had started to make both our hair fall out more rapidly than normal, so thought best to get off them quick eh!!!!). The water festival was starting in Phnom Penh, and by the preparations looked set to be brilliant with stages and banners and stalls being set up all around the river area, but thought we'd better head on our merry way to avert baldness!!!!

Siem Reap is very much a town with more money. The kids begging here are cleaner and healthier looking but still evident. Actually, they must have a really high birth rate, there are TONS of kids, and babies, from what we saw in Cambodia.

There are also LOTS of tourists in Siem Reap, lots of nice places to eat and stay, and its a nice spot we thought in general, although the centre is quiet tiny! There are a lot of older package tourists and american families on holidays etc.

Anyway, We rented bikes and did a 29km round trip out from Siem Reap to see some of the many ruins out in Angkor Wat - ruins of temples, cities and monuments. Have to say, it's the most impressive archeoligical site either of us have ever seen. We just gave it one day, and picked a few places we wanted to see, as our backsides were aching after that, and it was enough for us, but if you were really into history, you could spend days out there. We contemplated getting a balloon ride, but when we got there they were doing something with a soldering iron to the base so we though we'd save our money and skip it (never mind me being afraid of heights, so glad for excuse!) but took a photo of it, and got back on our bikes.Stopped for lunch and were harrassed by kids selling books and bracelets (10 for $1). 'We give you peace and quiet if you buy'. They say 'where u from', we say ireland, they say ' population 4 million, capital dublin, population 1.5 million - conas ataw too!' Again tho, we refrain from buying cos it only encourages families to have them working instead of school, and also working on streets puts them in all sorts of dangers'. Its hard though, cos they don't understand, and are killing themselves trying to make dollars....

We stayed in a nice place called the Golden Temple (had some bad reviews, so they are killing themselves trying to make sure u have a nice time). Nice place, with free internet, tea and coffee and bananas for $15 for air con room with tv etc, and a nice balcony with round comfy wicker chairs to chill out on.

The day before we were set to leave, Paul got a temperature (again). He loves that thermometer, in and out of his mouth every 15 minutes :) We are on our third thermometer, he dropped one and I dropped one, but they are too valuable to go without one!! After the last time, we said we wouldn't delay, and rang VHI, and got a tuk tuk to find the NAGA international clinic for a check up. Back and forth on road for about 1/2 hour and couldnt find it, until eventually some guy tells us its shut down (thanx Lonely Planet, 2007 edition!!!), and the new Angkor Royal Hospital is further down road. At that stage, Paul said he didnt feel that bad and sure maybe we'd leave it. He had had pains and aches, and a temperature, but reckoned it felt like a flu - altho after the dengue, we didnt really want to take chances. We were going to Bangkok the next morning, so we decided after lengthy debate to wait til then. And in the morning, a good chesty cough, and sniffles had arrived for the long trek across the border. On arrival in Bangkok, sure enough, the doctor in international clinic just near khaosan road checked him out, and confirmed Flu (for the grand price of 4 euro). He's presently up in bed, feeling miserable physically but we're both delighted it is, as we thought, just the flu. So its paracetomol and bed for him, and blog writing for me, with hourly nurse checks!!!!

Think thats all, the only other thing was the border journey. We opted for a taxi, tuk tuk, bus combo to get to Bangkok. The buses to border were only $4.50 each and took 5 hours, but given Paul wasn't well we opted for a $27 (thats about 20 euro between us) taxi to the border which only took 3hrs. Never saw a 'road' like it. Pretty much a dirt track all the way, I'd say there's huge money to be made on car suspension in the siem reap area! An adventure in itself but gladly just a 3 hour one, not a 5 hour one on an even 'bouncier' bus!. We crossed border without any hassles, got an 80 baht tuk tuk (2 euro approx) to bus station, and straight onto the expensive 207 baht 4 hour bus with loo, rather than the 48 baht 6 hour train. Then taxi on arrival to khaosan and back to New Siam in about 10hrs total journey time. If Paul had not been sick, it probably would have taken 15 hours!!! The only failing was getting a room with fan and shared bathroom again. We were in a hurry to get rid of bags and go to doctor, but should have got air con and tv for the extra money given Paul is sick. Hopefully he'll be feeling better though by this evening!

So, we find ourselves back in Bangkok, dab hands at this stage. After our circular trip, Thailand seems so wealthy and privelaged in comparison to the other places we've been. It's nice to be back, but we're probably a little less tolerant of certain things that we overlooked before, like cleanliness, and customer service, after seeing how the other countries do things in comparison. But it's going to be nice to see Bangkok again through wiser eyes. Seems high season has arrived, and the place is looking and smelling cleaner - first time to see it in a 'dry' season. They also seem to have prices on the stalls for everything, maybe a change, or maybe a regular thing in high season. I'm glad tho, I prefer paying an average price, as I cant haggle still, so its time to throw out some t-shirts and buy some new ones. Pauls a dab hand now though, for taxi's and the like! The travel books dont remind you when they advise you to pack light, that obviously less clothes means they wont last as long, so its a necessity now at this stage to start replacing some essentials.

Whats next? We have a blank slate. Maybe Phuket, and Ko Lanta, Maybe Hua Hin and Ko tao again, or else... early flights to New Zealand to get christmas there? We'll probably get at least a week on a Thai beach somewhere though. It's the first time since we left that we dont know where we'll be next week, so we're going to take a few days here to regroup and decide! Suggestions welcome tho! We are thinking about buying a cheap car, tent and some surfboards in New Zealand even though we are just there for a short time, but we have to see about money, but think it might work out better value to invest on arrival? Christmas in a tent and on a surfboard would actually be lovely!

Just thinking out loud now, so better get publishing since you all must have withdrawal symptoms, its been so long! With deaths, sombre histories, and ongoing snuffles on Paul's part, I hope the blog hasn't been too dreary! We're both chirpy and upbeat, the sun is shining here, and we're getting excited about the next phase of our adventures!!

Hope you are all well, and getting into the festive season at home! Missing you all as always! x

Elaine and Paul

x

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