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Published: December 23rd 2006
Tonle Sap Lake
Floating hut on bamboo poles on the lake Fri 8th: Time to leave Siem Reap for Battembang across Tonle Sap Lake. A short bus ride to the floating fishing village of Chong Kneas to board our boat for the journey....and what a boat!! No more than 2 metres wide with seats running lengthways, to accommodate 12 tourists, 2 locals and all our backpacks. The backpacks were securely (!?*!??) stored up the back behind the driver who, by the way, was steering with a steering wheel and gear stick from a truck!! What an awesome trip though and not one I was expecting. There were mangroves and huge numbers of water hyacinths right across the lake. In fact, the boat had to zig zag its way across depending on where the channels were. Some channels were mapped out with breaks in the fence and white flags. We passed many floating villages where people lived on boats, in little huts on bamboo or in stilt homes. Six hours later we finally docked at Battembang and onto our hotel.
Headed out to check out the town and to go to a local restaurant for a Khmer cooking class. The class started with us choosing 3 dishes to make then it was off
Tonle Sap Lake
A break in the fence plus the flag guiding the boats through the channels to the markets to buy all the things we needed. It was good fun until we bought the fish. Still can't get used to the Asians attitude to animals. The fish were still alive when the chef chose them and the stall holder hit them on the head to supposedly kill them before scaling and definning them. Thank God I'm a vegetarian. What a hoot the class was and hard work given the temp/humidity of the day, so a few beers were drunk...and we completed the class accident-free!
Sat 9th: Pretty cruisey day today. A 1/2 day motor bike tour was organised but it ended up really being a full day. It was such fun and each of the moto drivers were good value with excellent English. My guy, Thony, decided I needed to wear his krama (think that's how it's spelt) which is like a checked tea towel, on my head and face to keep the "Cambodian Snow" at bay....a red dust which gets into everything. Our first stop was at a village wat then we headed along a very dusty and pothole riddled road to a pretty little village at the base of limestone mountains where work
on a Buddha being carved into the cliff had to be halted 'cos the bamboo scaffolding was falling down! We also visited some "Killing Caves". Apparently, the Khmer Rouge had many places throughout the country where they systematically murdered the Cambodian people. Very sobering...like the Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh. After lunch we headed on a long ride to the Bamboo Train. This was squares of bamboo which were placed on 2x 2-wheeled axles and powered by a small motor....one carriage for us and 2 for the bikes, which came with us. Once we reached our destination it was only a short ride back to the hotel.
Sun 10th: Public bus trip today to get us to Kampot and it was not the most pleasant of trips. I was in the front seat and for 5 hours were sujected to the driver constantly honking his horn...I think, at times, it was at imaginary obstacles. Add to that a TV blaring either Cambodian karaoke or B-grade Khmer comedy and I was more than glad when the journey ended at lunchtime in Phnom Penh. The arvo trip was more pleasant buswise but the road left a little to be desired. However
Tonle Sap Lake
A floating village. Don't you just love the TV aerials in abject poverty? , this IS Cambodia and all part of the 'journey'. Arrived safely in sleepy little Kampot.
Mon 11th: A "bouncy" day was in store for us today, our guide told us...and he wasn't wrong. We headed up into the mountains in the back of a 4x4 pickup to visit the ruins of Bokor Hill Station which was built by the French as a resort for them to escape the heat/humidity and bustle of Phnom Penh. Reaching the ruins required a 3 hour, 32 km (one way) grind up a barely passable road full of rocks, potholes, crevasses (which I thought the pickup was never going to get out of) and mud. Never before have I had to hold on so hard to prevent myself from being tossed out back of the pickup. Hard work but a blast all the same. The trip back down the mountain only took 2.5 hours cos it was downhill and he was going faster. However, this meant the bumps were harder and there were many times that my bum was airborn off the seat. My chiropractor is going to love me when I return home. Must admit, we were all pretty glad to get
down the bottom. Hot bath was in order but hey, we're in Cambodia!!! Luck to have a hot shower let alone a hot bath. Oh well, we can but dream. ;-).
Tue12th: A minibus for the 3 hour ride to Sihanoukville today. However, he had to stop for petrol...but not at a service station. Rather, we stopped at a roadside stall and filled up with old bottles of Pepsi filled with petrol!!! Interesting way of doing things. Had the arvo free so some of us went to the beach. Had a ball with some of the local kids who were down there for a swim too. They wouldn't leave us alone; jumping on us in the water, building sandcastles with us and just generally chatting with us in their broken English. They are such beautiful, innocent kids who know how to have fun. Had dinner down at one of many restaurants on the beach. Were offered "the best happy pizza anywhere". Told him we didn't want happy pizza...."I have good other pizza then". Happy pizza (or any "happy" food in Cambodia) means it has weed on it. In Cambodia it is legal to eat dope but not to smoke
Biker Chick
Thony and me. Dig the headgear on me!!! :-) it!! Figure the logic to that!
Wed 13th: A boat ride around the islands was the itinerary for the day. We visited Koh Chalau where we did some swimming 'n' snorkelling then it was onto Koh Ta Kiev where we remained on our own deserted beach...swimming, snorkelling, eating and drinking. Mmmmm, what more could someone ask for? The evening we went back to the beach for dinner where we were attacked by a whole bunch of anklebiters trying to sell us bracelets, key rings and paintings they had made. One of the kids was a 16y.o. who was trying to earn enough money to put himself through school, Education in Cambodia is not free. That's why so many of them are on the streets begging or hawking trinkets.
Thur 14th: A free day to do with what ever we wanted. A few of us decided to grab a couple of tuk tuks and head into Sihanoukville township/the markets to check the place out. Didn't last too long in there as it was hot and soooo humid. Went 'n' hung out in a cafe while the cloudcover built up and things cooled off a bit. Walked back to the
Buddha carving
Ok, anyone for a climb? hotel and spent the rest of the day lounging around the pool until sunset when I headed to the beach for some photos. Caught up with some of the kids from last night and they hung around and chatted with us for a while....din't even attempt to sell us anything! Surprise, surprise!!
Fri 15th: Public bus trip back to Phnom Penh. This one was a much better trip....a driver who wasn't having an affair with his horn (?) and Cambodian karaoke/comedy at a bearable sound level. Arrived in Phnom Penh just on lunch, ate then grabbed a tuk tuk and headed to the Russian Markets for some last minute shopping. Final dinner with the group at an NGO restaurant in the heart of Phnom Penh. Said farewells to those leaving early in the morning as our tour was officially over.
Sat 16th: Had planned originally on spending the day sightseeing but instead I spent the day as a volunteer at an orphange/home for streetkids which teaches them skill for everyday living as well as Khmer and English. This had to be one of the highlights of my trip. To see how enthusiastic these kids were to learn, to
The sign says it all!!!
Post - Tourist - Police. All of the above. Perhaps none of the above grow and develop skills to help them be productive citizens was just awe-inspiring. Words can't describe the emotions they evoked in me, their willingness to learn, to better themselves and the respect they had for themselves...that they deserved better than being a beggar on the streets.
Sun 17th: Spent the morning with the children again. Was greeted enthusiastically by a young girl who had stayed up last night to make me a friendship bracelet. Well, one easy lesson in how to bring an outwardly tough person to tears. After the experience of being with these kids I left there just before lunch with an warm and very humble heart. They are a bunch of kids I will never forget. They have taught me so much...about life and about myself, that from adversity comes strength and that with the right guidance and support anything is possible. Arrived in Ho Ci Minh City for an overnight stay, with the kids from Phnom Penh still very much in my head while I darted around for last minute gifts. Had to have a chuckle at Christmas celebrations, Vietnamese style. What a laugh.....short, Asian guys dressed up in the red santa suit but with
no padding or white beard!!! Just seemed like a comedy of errors especially with traditional chrissie carols sung in Vietnamese!!
Mon 18th - Thurs 21st: Spent a few days R & R on Phu Quoc Island, a tropical paradise off the coast of Cambodia (but owned by Vietnam) to gather my senses, strength and realisation that this Asian Encounter had come to an end. Phu Quoc was beautiful. Just a typical tropical island but without the tourism, highrise, crowds and hype of the better known destinations. It was with regret that I didn't have more time here. However, if I had to trade my time with the streetkids in Phnom Penh to get more time on Phu Quoc....forget it the island.
I currently sit at the airport in HCMC waiting for my flight home, finishing this blog in the airport's internet cafe and wishing like hell that this was the beginning of my adventure rather than the end of it. Where did the time go? Till next time beautiful peoples....................
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