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Published: January 20th 2008
(P)
We alighted from the boat along the Mekong river onto
Cambodian soil and boarded a bus which would take us to the capital,
Phnom Penh. On the way we caught a glimpse of everyday family life as the house fronts were open and inside visible from the road, as in Vietnam. The biggest signs we saw were for the
Cambodian People's Party, and the only other advertising was on shop-front fridges housing cold drinks, namely the ubiquitous
Coca-Cola. It was dark upon our arrival into Phnom Penh, and, for want of daylight and time to look around, we stayed in the Boeung-Kak lake area (a.k.a. Backpacker-land) where the guesthouse eating areas (not the rooms, thankfully!) are on stilts and jut out directly onto the lake. Here was the most basic room of our trip so far, best exemplified in the extra charge for toilet paper...! Boeung Kak Lake is in the west of the city; it is covered in part with green patches of reeds, from within young boys in wooden boats would emerge to offer trips for "only $1!" After a look at the rather murky waters we didn't chance it. Low-rise houses nestled in among the guesthouses and
eateries so certain turnings easily led us to mix with the locals' daily life too.
The Cambodian version of Indian food nearby introduced me to a new variety of Naan bread: Kashmeen, with raisins and nuts filling, topped with what can only be described as marmalade. On another occasion we dined in a neighbouring place, called
"Same same but different". This may seem an unusual choice for a restaurant name, but this phrase is used a lot by locals when - as far as I can make out - they are trying to convince a foreigner that something they are considering buying is similar to what someone else is offering, but slightly better...!
Other eateries included
Friends restaurant, which helps train the underprivileged in the food trade (Nick was drawn back for the honey-glazed meatballs) and the Happy Hour at the
Foreign Correspondents' Club which gave us a bird's eye view of the bustling riverside at dusk. The Lonely Planet guide book informs us that before Cambodia became a member of the World Trade Organisation, copycat companies along the lines of
Pizza Hot,
Burger Queen and
KFC (Khmer Fried Chicken?) were common sights.
We had a pretty
Wat Phnom
Phnom Penhdecent Saturday night out on the tiles in Phnom Penh; described as 'the place to be in Phnom Penh come midnight' the dancefloor at
Heart of Darkness had vibes so good it eventually drew us away from the rum and cokes and our prime spot at the bar.
A walking tour took us to the Buddhist temple
Wat Phnom (modelled on Angkor Wat's central tower) where residents pray for good fortune. The riverside (under development) and the main road alongside - where an elephant slowed the traffic for a while - was lined with many European-style facades, a hangover from the French occupation. I lost count of the number of touting tuk-tuks (motorised rickshaws) we passed, but as we politely declined in favour of the exercise I'm sure they thought us positively crazy to prefer to traipse the streets in the relentless heat.
At the
Independence Monument that commemorates independence from the French in 1953, photos of the King were displayed in huge gilded billboards just like picture frames. The
Royal Palace most impressed us - its gardens (bananas grew in bunches of about 50 beside the ticket office) and buildings alike were spotless, the yellow and white
paint dazzling in the late afternoon sunshine. There is a rather out-of-place looking French pavillion (a present from Napoleon III) and the most famous building is perhaps that of the Silver Pagoda housing 5000 silver floor tiles. However my two favourite buildings were the Moonlight Pavillion (with no walls so the moonlight can shine in during dances and banquets) and the
Prasat Samram Phirum where monarchs took a rest before hopping on the elephant at a specially elevated platform.
On the way to the
Central Market, as in Vietnam we had to hop on and off the pavement to avoid the scooters, its definition not necessarily a designated walkway for pedestrians as we know it back home. Not only did we have to dodge parked motorbikes galore, but people seated at little plastic tables and chairs busy chatting and watching the world go by spilt over the pavement as far as the road. I'd expected a significant stepdown in luxury items as we entered Cambodia from Vietnam, but surprisingly there were many Toyota and Lexus 4WDs pounding the roads.
It goes without saying that many aspects are different in England, including the fact that you cannot simply go
for a quiet stroll in town and choose the shops you want to enter and buy things from. "Shops" often come to you in the form of people typically carrying a wooden pole across their shoulders with a basket of wares on either side, selling mainly fruit or cooked foods. Few items have a marked price so you have to barter (the seller's price can be inflated by about 4 times when faced with a foreigner). I think there is a fine line between a foreigner feeling they have to bargain hard to drive down the price as much as possible and paying a fair price. Perhaps because the difference can be a matter of 10 or 20p and because bartering is to me a mild form of confrontation, I still feel uncomfortable with it, but at the same time I think it's important that locals do not think foreigners are automatically made of money and therefore will pay a ridiculously high price without question. In contrast, Nick appears to handle the bartering thing with ease!
On arrival at
S-21 (Security Prison 21), a former school but known more as the largest Khmer Rouge interrogation and torture centre, the
baking midday heat was contrasted by the cool breezes blowing through the shaded corridors, then further cooled more by the chilling reminders that building gave of the atrocities that took place inside hardly more than 30 years ago. Between 1975 and 1978, only a handful of its 17,000 prisoners survived. Another contrast was the bareness of the cells with the thriving fruit trees visible outside through the barrier of wire-fence, erected floor to ceiling in the outside corridors to stop prisoners even attempting to jump off and escape from their misery.
Led by Pol Pot, the
Khmer Rouge implemented a radical social programme to create an agrarian utopia, aiming to restart Cambodia from "Year Zero" by eliminating educated people and religion, in fact anything that was not in line with their ideals. Those who were not killed between 1975-9 fled the country and left Cambodia with a void of educated citizens. Since city dwellers were seen as 'the root of Capitalist evil,' inhabitants of Phnom Penh were banished to the countryside to make way for Khmer Rouge adherents.
Former classrooms at S-21 were converted to cells, and the innocence-evoking climbing frames in the grounds were used for torturous
S-21
Inside looking out activity - if detainees fell near unconcious from exhaustion, their head would be dipped in cold water to revive them and their ordeal began again. Many were eventually taken to the Killing Fields of Cheung Ek (15km out of the city) to be executed. Remains discovered there since prove that many were killed by a sharp blow to the head to save bullets. (We chose not to visit the site of Cheung Ek, for a couple of reasons but not least that the government has farmed out the running of the place to a foreign company, enraging relatives of the victims amid claims of profiteering from their tragedy; plus we had been to Auschwitz several years earlier, which was enough of a death site to last a lifetime).
It struck me how, despite the horrors of S-21 on a normal street in the middle of the city, Cambodian people have an infectious good-nature accompanied by smiles and laughter, perhaps because they are so happy to be simply alive.
Back in the city centre, Cambodia's
National Museum had a serene courtyard in the centre of a terracotta building and displayed sculptures recovered from around the country, works of art
by Nhok Dim (a renowned painter killed by the Khmer Rouge) and impressive black and white photos of the temples surrounding Angkor Wat. (They made us look forward even more to seeing the real thing, although we were told it takes more than 3 days to see the whole complex!)
After nightfall and an hour or so's perseverence, we tracked down a local Khmer restaurant known for its tabletop BBQs. Whilst we decided on food, 3 girls, dressed in 3 different-coloured dresses complete with logos stood expectantly around our table. Upon closer inspection, they were what is referred to as
beer girls, dressed respectively in Angkor beer, Tiger beer and Heineken beer outfits, eager to pour us a beer of their brand with a beaming smile. I think the men approved!
On our way to
Kratie, we crossed the first bridge built in Cambodia to span the Mekong river.
This is where we spotted the monk. Now we knew from Vietnam that monks are supposed to lead a pure existence in order to help them in their next life, and we had learnt that part of this included not eating meat. Some monks are even limited to
eating only once a day. You can therefore imagine our shock when we spotted a monk on the next bus, dressed in his simple orange robe, happily munching away on BBQ Meat-flavoured Pringles! At first it was a funny sight, then it just didn't seem right! We later asked some monks who befriended us to practice their (surprisingly good) English who told us that in Cambodia monks can eat meat. Perhaps his destiny was not compromised after all. At a pit stop, there were supposed to be spiders for sale (to eat, what else?!) so Nick went on a hunt for them. Alas, they were not to be found but instead he returned with a far more palatable custard apple, a fruit we had wanted to try for ages. Its skin looks like that of a reptile but inside is delicious and creamy, tasting like you would imagine the combination of custard and apple. Delicious.
From our hotel at sunset we could look out across this mighty river (4,200km, the longest in South East Asia) and look forward to the next day's adventure of trying to spot the endangered
Irrawaddy dolphins. Lucky was the name of our guide, so
we were in with a good chance...
The short bike ride took us through picturesque countryside, a lush green after the rainy season. We saw more banana and coconut trees, colourfully painted tombs in field and houses on stilts with either thatched roofs (aesthetically pleasing but traditional) or corrugated iron (ugly but more expensive and therefore a sign of status). Along the river ships transported stone to the capital for building, and road traffic included monks with umbrellas, horse-and-carts and cow-and-carts.
The largest of only 5 Irrawaddy dolphin populations in the world is in the Mekong River near Kratie in Cambodia, where about 35 dolphins live. In such a wide river they are quite elusive, but our patience was rewarded with with more glimpses than we managed to catch on camera - most pictures we took turned out merely as a distant splash in the water! Unlike the grey, button-nosed dolphins we are familar with, these are dark grey and have a bluntly-rounded head. They can live up to 30 years, grow to 27 meters and (understandably with that length to fill) spend most of their time feeding - not a bad life!
We took the bus
Jack fruit growing
Tastes like creamy banana and coconut, and can grow to about 20kg! to
Sihanoukville, premier beach destination in Cambodia, and where we found a strong contender for our favourite beach - Otres Beach (much quieter and fewer people/bars than the main drag, Ochheuteal). Benefitting from the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand in south-west Cambodia, Sihanoukville was named in honour of King Sihanouk upon its creation as a port city in the 1950s so the country could have its own direct trade access to the ocean.
Lunched at a place we'd recommend, called
Bayon, where we sampled the local sour soup and, best-of-all, jack fruit shakes which may well stand the test of time as my favourite drink of this trip. Jack fruits have skin a bit like crocodile scales; we often saw them growing on trees and since they can grow up to 20kg in weight they always looked to be on the verge of dropping off! The menu's back page provided some Khmer phrases determined by the owners to be useful for travelers. Khmer language is not tonal like Vietnamese so it's ever so slightly easier to pick up a few words. Following the phrases was printed: "If Cambodians appear to laugh when you attempt to use these
Can't complain
Bamboo Island, Sihanoukville phrases, they are not laughing at you, but are amused that foreigners wish to speak their language"!
Strolled to the beach along yet-to-be paved roads; some hotels proudly displayed their name board outside - but had not yet even been built! Same-same-but-different (see loose explanation above) beach cafes spilling onto the sand, their wooden loungers (with cushions!) replaced with tables and chairs after sunset for the dinner and drinks evening session. As the sun died down the aroma of BBQs wafted around as fresh seafood and meats were prepared as dishes of the day.
We detected cool vibes at
Sessions beachfont bar on Saturday night, and as we were sipping our drinks the (unexpectedly) Geordie boss appeared beside us to say hello!
At
Otres beach along the shore, in between long bouts of reading and relaxing on the shore, we rented a tire to do more relaxing in the sea(!). The nature too was interesting: as we walked crabs about 4cm long crawled out of a hole in the sand by the water's edge and scuttled away; flying fish about 10cm long skimmed the water's surface at great speed before disappearing underwater again.
Another day we
Imposing Buddha
Mountaintop Pagoda, Battambang ventured on a boat day-trip to nearby the nearby islands of Ko Kteah, Koh Russey (Bamboo Island) and 'Lost' Island, where snorkelling showed us spiky sea anemones, zebra fish, and another intruiging creature (see video). Fresh barracuda fish was served for lunch, during which our guide talked a lot about Cambodia trying hard to develop itself after the Khmer Rouge, but struggling because so many educated people had been lost.
At Cool Banana where we stayed, from a distance I thought a moth was resting one morning between the slats of our front door - it's a good job Nick didn't tell me what it was while we were there because it turns out it was a frog! Yeurgh.
Had a quick stopover in Phnom Penh before the bus northwards to Battambang in the north-west, where joy-of-joys, our bathroom provided us with hot water for the first time in a week!
On the bus to Battambang again the scenery was picturesque - grey water buffalo and sandy brown cows grazed, and some parts lush green from the rainy season and some already parched by the recent scorching sun. Between some houses and the road was a pond
full of round lotus leaves and cerise pink buds that looked desperate to burst into bloom. Straw mats about the size of a parking space were often laid by the road and covered with husks of rice to dry. Inside the bus, the journey began with karaoke versions of Cambodia's heart-throb, though passengers through shyness or more probably tiredness (half-day jouneys tended to leave before breakfast), were not singing along. However, a couple of hours passed and we moved on to a screening of (as far as I could make out) Cambodia's answer to a Samurai drama...before long the majority of passengers had awoken fom their slumber and were laughing and slapping their thighs (including the monks) and I concluded that it was in fact a very popular comedy.
Battambang was quite walkable - as we strolled between several wats (temples) we witnessed a funeral procession presumably of a local headteacher since there was a framed photo carried of a middle-aged man and many children walked in the entourage. The ladies woking in Thu Psar Nat market looked up from their work on foot-pedal-controlled sewing machines to say hello to us. The former Governor's Residence had definitely seen better
Wat Phnom Sampeau
Mountaintop pagoda outside Battambang days. Food and games stalls sprouted up after dark at a night fair, inviting punters to take their chances at the throw-the-washing-up-bowl-over-the-bottleneck game, among others.
The following day was a motorbike trip along roads so dusty that I thought the roadside plants were on their last legs, but they were just covered in dust! I must admit I was too by the end of the day. I truly looked like I'd been Tango-ed:
Wat Phnom Sampeau is an impresive mountaintop temple commanding great views of the surrounding countryside. The views were yet another contrast with a couple of caves also on the mountain housing the skulls and bones of yet more Khmer Rouge victims.
Wat Ek Phnom is older than and perhaps the inspiration for Angkor Wat. After scarpering up the very old and very steep steps we saw its elaborate lintels and very small rooms inside; we learnt this is because they are not for worship but to house gods and ancestors' spirits.
The adventure of the day was riding on the
Bamboo Train, which used to be driven using a punting method along the ground but now has a motor attached. It consists of
a bamboo platform placed on detachable castors on the single track, that is still an active (though little-used) railway. The rule is that you must take your "train" off the track if something bigger is approching in the opposite direction (see our videos). We loaded our ourselves plus bikes onto the wooden platform and off we set. We picked up speed insignificantly and the country views (bar the exotic shrubbery) were similar to those in England.
Next we met Narath of
Narath's English School and helped out with a couple of his classes in rooms rented from the local school. It was very encouraging that the teachers themselves were University students volunteering for what they saw as a worthwhile cause. Narath's motivation for his school was - after having to live on the breadline (or more accurately the rice-line) as he was growing up - to encourage children to study English to get themselves a safe and well-paid job, and avoid having to work in city construction to support themselves. He said it was common for boys in their early teens to work on dangeous construction sites for a pittance; he just wants to give the kids a better
chance in life. A former volunteer even set up a
Facebook group to spread the word. The school survives on donations alone and he is now saving up for a generator; it gets dark around 5.30p.m. when classes have to stop because the classrooms have no lights.
On the
boat from Battambang to Siem Reap (home of Angkor Wat), we passed a Bird Sanctuary on the water and numerous floating villages, from which we received many waves of "Hello!" In contrast to the basic living conditions of people on the banks such as having to wash (themselves and their clothes) in the river, we spotted a television aerial protruding from one of the small fishing boats. Interesting lifestyle priorities!
I tell you, upon arrival in Siem Reap we were relieved we had booked accommodation in advance and had a tuk-tuk transfer awaiting us at the port. The boat had hardly docked and we hadn't a chance to get ourselves and luggage off before it was literally stormed by local taxi men insisting they could help with a ride, singing the ominous phrase "Very good price for you!..."
*****
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