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Published: August 30th 2012
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As soon as we arrived in Kampot we knew that we were going to like it. There was a really relaxed feel to this small riverside town and with the sun shining again it was a great place to be. The first thing to do was stroll along the impressive banks of the "Kampot River" - a wide river made of a number of rivers as they near the ocean. We then stretched our legs further and wandered round the nearby houses, shops and stalls - a big mixture of colonial, modern and wooden style buildings.
Our first day trip from Kampot took us out into the surrounding countryside. First stop were some salt fields and we learnt about the salt harvesting from the nearby sea water. Next up, fittingly, was the local pepper plantation. Kampot pepper is famous worldwide and we saw how it was grown and dried for sale. Tina decided to taste a peppercorn, probably not a good idea with the coughing and spluttering that ensued. Our next stop took us to some caves, where some local children took up positions of impromtu tour guides to practise their English - their English was more impressive than the
caves! Our final destination was the seaside town of Kep where we stopped for "Crab" lunch before heading out on a boat to Rabbit Island for a couple of hours. The island was picturesque but the weather had closed in a bit and we were lucky to get away with a dry boat trip back.
The next day trip took us up onto Bokor Mountain - an impressive 1000m above sea level. We arrived at the top to a blanket of cloud, but when it cleared we had superb views over the surrounding jungle and ocean. The hill station at the top was derelict and a reminder of times gone by, an old church up there was littered with bullet holes. We drove on to a temple at the other side of the summit where Mark was accosted by some visiting monks that were keen for a chat and a photoshoot. He was only to pleased to oblige. The final stop was at a waterfall where we ate our pre-made lunch of rice and veg/meat. It's a pity that there was a lot of rubbish littering the place - a theme in Cambodia - we guess they've had more
pressing issues to worry about.
Back in Kampot we took a couple of sunset cruises along the river in longtailed boats. It was a great way to cool off and enjoy a cold beer whilst watching the fishermen sail past us out to sea for their nights work. Local children took great delight in waving to us from the riverbanks and we even managed to get a couple of Kingfisher birds flying up and down along side the boat. Another feature of Kampot was watching the final stages of Wimbledon - a brief reminder of things back home.
With a heavy heart we moved on to the capital Phnom Penh, having heard mixed reviews about it. We decided to treat ourselves to a decent hotel, having spent the last week or two in stuffy prison cells. Our Riverside "Mekong view" hotel was a superb treat, but did mean we had to get tuk tuk transport whenever we wanted to get nearer to the sights. This was 2o minute ride on main roads and quite regularly we were both crapping ourselves as the tuk tuk drivers used all of the road (both sides) and the pavement to weave through
the traffic snarled streets.
First up we took a travel guide walking tour, taking in the hill summit Wat Pnhom, where we decided to release a caged sparrow to give us good luck. Unfortunately it decided to peck Tina and then fell to the ground instead of flying. We then realised this poor bird was far too young to fly and we struggled to understand how this experience could give us good luck. The salesgirl got a few strong words! Other sights included the National Museum, which was mainly dedicated to early Khmer history and the Royal Palace - a hugely impressive expanse of beautiful gold enriched buildings, belying the general state of Cambodian wealth (or lack of). We also stopped by at a few of the markets- the Central market offered mainly food - although we passed on the selection of deep fried crickets. The Russian and night markets were more clothes and souvenirs orientated - we bargained hard and bought a few bits.
On a fittingly awful day (there was torrential rain throughout our time in Pnhom Pehn) we visited the genocide museum Tuol Sleng S-21. A converted school of all things, this was where over
17,000 Cambodians were tortured and subsequently sent to their death under the regime of the Khmer Rouge and its leader Pol Pot (1975-1979). A guide there walked us through the classrooms converted to cells as he explained about the horrific tortures that took place. It was a chilling few hours, thousands of victims photos were on display - taken to prove their captivity and death to the Khmer Rouge leaders.
On a rare sunny day we went out of the city to the Killing Fields where all detainees at S-21 were taken to be executed having confessed (often whether guilty or not). Some of the mass graves had been excavated, but others remained intact. A compulsory audio guide showed us around and also served to keep everyone quiet and respectful whilst they learnt more about the horrors. For the most part bullets were too expensive to waste, so farm implements, hammers etc were used to kill the prisoners - some being buried before death. Men, women and children were all captured and killed - the Khmer Rouge had sayings such as
"Better to kill an innocent
by mistake than spare an enemy by mistake."
"'To destroy you is no loss, to preserve you is no gain."
We'd reccomend that if you don't know too much about the Khmer Rouge then take a bit of time to find out. An excellent although difficult book which captures the life of a Cambodian family at the time is "At first they took my Father" by Leong Ung is well worth a read.
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