The cambodian rollercoaster

L writes: We leave Bangkok behind and enjoy duty free browsing at the airport before boarding a rather turbulent but short Air Asia flight to Phnom Penh. The drive in the taxi from the airport to the town center is totally chaotic. It appears that there is no traffic law in Cambodia. Trillions of motorbikes, scooters and tuk-tuks simply drive everywhere. Both sides of the road are fair play even on one-way streets, and it seems that junctions are negotiated with no formal priority aside for "priority to the largest" where clearly large trucks win and get to go first.

We straight away notice that Cambodians use their motorbikes as we would use our cars. 3 people is by far the norm on a motorbikes and in the course of our journey in Cambodia, we notice everything on motorbikes. We count 6 people on one bike (3 adults, 2 children, 1 baby) and variations on the same theme: 2 monks and a driver, one woman with a huge bunch of fresh tobacco leaves with literally just her head and hands poking out, a man with 3 bottles of industrial gas, a driver and 6 pigs in cages (not nice), driver with about 30 chickens hanging from their feet on poles on both sides of the bike, etc...

So, we arrive at our hotel on the Tonle Sap river: the channel leading to the massive lake where the Cambodians get most of their protein (sadly tons of snakes to feed to crocs too) from. Hotel is a clean and simple boxroom affair at USD 12 a night, and prepare to go for a meal. First things first, we stop at a bar terrace for a refreshing beer. Happy hour produces a glass of draught beer at USD 0.5. Angkor, the national Cambodian beer is rather nice. Light and bubbly, refreshing. Sitting at the terrace, we notice straight away that we are in a far poorer country that anything we have seen in a while. Loads of children try to sell photocopied 'Lonely Planets' or newspapers and there are many beggars, more often than not amputees. We decide to carry some small notes for these guys: they have no other source of income. Bars owners tend to let hawkers propose their wares instead of shushing them straight away, a definite sign of solidarity. There is also the consistent and insistent offering for tuk-tuks and motorbikes as soon as you take a step in the street. We enjoy our first meal and Martha orders THE Cambodian specialty meal: fish Amok. A sort of fish stew in a thick coconut sauce cooked and served in a banana leave. Very nice.

The next day, we decide to rent a tuk-tuk for the morning and enjoy the sights of Phomn Pehn: The Killing Fields and the S-21 or Tuol Sleng detention center. Not for the faints-of heart. The tuk-tuk ride of 45 minutes to the Killing Fields is very enjoyable and our driver, Mr Lee pretty chatty and smiley. Arriving there, we buy our tickets and enter the gate of what appears like a tranquil fields surrounded by trees and butterflies flying around in the heat. Then we approach the first sign explaining that at this spot, people from the detention centers where unloaded from the trucks and made to walk to the nearest pit. Then another sign explaining that there, they were killed - up to 100 per day - always using a blunt instrument, whether it be a shovel, axe or sometimes by beating their heads on a nearby tree. All along, a loud speaker would play loud music to try and cover the cry of the victims from a potential farmer that could happen to work on the rice paddies nearby. The rest of the site explains in more detail where mass graves were found, where the "tool shack" was, etc. In case this all seems too surreal in this peaceful site, a huge glass pagoda full to the top of skeletons reminds you of how real it is. This site is one of many in Cambodia where people seen as Khmer Rouge enemies where finally killed, typically after sejourning in a detention camp like S-21. About 2 million people were killed this way under the Khmer Rouge regime.

We come back out of the site, very light headed and we signal to our tuk-tuk driver that we are ready to go. We also tell him how sad we find this place and the usually smiley Mr Lee tells us that he lost all his family - parents, siblings - to the Khmer Rouge, including his uncle here. He was alone for 10 years after this before he finally manages to marry and buy his tuk-tuk, thanks to a New Zealand development grant, to make a decent living. It is heart-breaking and M can't stop the tears rolling while Mr Lee puts hi shades on, turns back and pretends to be busy with his tuk-tuk. The fun is not over though as we then ride to the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. This former school was converted under the Khmer Rouge into detention camp S-21, one of the many detention centres used to 'interrogate' their enemies. The empty former class rooms are bare save for a bed frame and a photo of how the room was gruesomely used. Other rooms explained more about the centre as well as giving a good overview of the context under which the Khmer Rouge came to power and operated. About 2 million people died in the killing fields and only 4 people of the 17,000 that sojourned at S-21 made it through alive. It really made me stop and think that all this could take place during my lifetime.

I won't cover it all but what seems to us worse is the randomness with which people where declared enemies of the Khmer Rouge - anyone educated was declared an enemy of the "old people" (the peasants), pitching Cambodians against one another arbitrarily. Pol Pot banned all concepts of education, family, culture, religion and ownership: incredible and so cruel. The museum shows also how even the people recruited by the Khmer Rouge as forced combatants were in fact themselves victims and were very often tortured and murdered too, when their pasts were discovered. We also feel anger that us Westerners are, as usual very much at fault with our foreign policy. US bombing campaigns against both the communist Khmer Rouge and Vietcong enabled Pol Pot to use fear of a US invasion and a groundswell of support from the peasant highlanders to form his army. Backed by the Chinese and annihalating anything that looked Vietnamese, the KM was then funded by the US and recognised by the UN, over-and-above the Vietnamese invading forces that removed them from power, meaning that KR commanders were not tried and were able to move into new positions in government. The first trial was taking place when we left. Since Prime Minister Hun Sen, leader of the Cambodian People's Party dictatorship, is former KR, many Cambodians are cynical.

Well, how is that for cheering you up peeps? But you see, that is the thing with Cambodia. Everyone over the age of 35 is a survivor (incredibly the average age is 20), yet, despite the horror stories and the rampant poverty (we learn that per capita GDP is $500), everyone is so smiley and seems to have a good time all the time. People openly takes the piss of one another and don't hide that they are laughing at you in the street (in a friendly way). Leaving S-21, we pass in the tuk-tuk a green area where loads of men are playing football with a shuttle-cock (it seems to be a national pastime and they are very skilled). Everybody is having great fun. Life goes on...

Next day, we leave the capital for Siem Reap, the hub from which people visit Angkor Wat. The bus is a simple affair with A/C and funny curtains and we are entertained by Karaoke shown on television as well as what seems to be comic program a la Trigger Happy but obviously Cambodian. Everyone that can understand the language is weeping with laughter. The bus stops after a couple of hours at a restaurant for a rest and many street vendors propose their wares. Alongside the usual pineapples, mangoes and sticky rice, we are also offered grilled spiders from a women with a large pot of them and a live spider sticking to her top the size of my hand. Other delicacies on offer: betelnuts, marinated crickets and skewer of grilled duck embryos. Hmmm. Despite the temptation, we decide to give them a miss and boringly stick to a pineapple.

Angkor Wat is as impressive as we couldn't possibly have imagined. A truly wonder that leave you breathless at each temple you visit. It is in fact a large complex of C12 Buddhist and Hindu temples. Lots to see. We have bought a three day pass and rise at 4.30 on the first day to catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It happens to be equinox (21st March) and the sun should be lined up in an interesting way although nobody including the many official guides here seems to know anything about this. It is really special and I leave you to the photos to see more. In the evening, Siem Reap is buzzing with tourists and locals and one thing we loved was the Royal Dancing (Apsara) show we saw at a restaurant: sounds toursity (it was) but beautiful and impressive re-enactments of scenes from the Ramayana (no pics sadly).

In order to visit Angkor temples, like many tourists, we have hired a tuk-tuk and its driver for 3 days. Negotiations and price has been taken place on our arrival at the Siem Reap hotel with the tuk-tuk owner. Early 30s with decent English, he has joked with us about going on holidays to the coast in Sihanoukville and all. He definitely seem on the wealthy side for a Cambodian and we think we have a good deal at USD 40 for 3-day hire. Over the course of the 3 day we got to talk with the tuk-tuk driver in broken English/sign language. Sarum has been driving his 'friend's' tuk-tuk (the owner we negotiated the deal with) for about 3 years now and in fact came especially to Siem Reap from the capital to do so. What transpires is that the arrangement is that Sarum receives a flat salary for driving the tuk-tuk of USD 30 a month! It comes with a few perks though: he sleeps at his friend's house and has a freemeal each day and also can use the tuk-tuk outside his working hours to take fares and keep them. We find that pretty heart-breaking. The owner makes about USD10-15 a day and yet pays his driver USD1 a day. We had heard that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer - seems the case here. On the top of things Sarum explains that his mum has back problems and he needs to send some money home for her. He will have to sell his mobile phone to do so. No doubt he is playing us a little but his desperation when on the last day we refuse to be driven to a particular shop so that he can earn the commission (v common here and hated by the tourists of course!) is obvious. The best way to help him out seems to be to give him a USD 10 tip - small help really.

Over the rest of our trip and talking to many Cambodians, we understand more about the issue of not having money for men. Marriages can only happen if the husband can provide not only for his wife but also for his wife's family. As a result, it is estimated that a man needs to own about USD 6,000 to pretend to marry a woman. A very large sum when the average salary is about USD 25-30 a month. A young waiter chats to us about this and typical, says how this amount is nothing to us but laughs and smiles about it. No marriage = no children and no salary... Harsh really..Especially since the Cambodians really don't show any affection at all, except quite vigorously between same sex friends - must be very affection starved we think!

Leaving Siem Reap behind, a 4 hour bus takes us to our next destination, Battambang. We picked up Battambang , which is a bit of a detour, off the beaten track and apparently a more slow-paced rural area. Arriving there, a tuk-tuk to the town centre encourages us to book a room at Seng Hout hotel. This is now the third hotel we stay at in Cambodia which seems to be less than a year old and spanking clean, friendly albeit a little generic. But nice staff and all modcons for USD 12, we are certainly happy. It seems like a lot of those hotels are popping up in Cambodia like this - not a bad thing really...Battabbang doesn't disappoint: minimum hassle and a a remnant French architecture randomly distributed around the city. People tends to speak less English than other places, maybe due to the fact that there are less tourists about, but we go to a pharmacy and the owner, an old Cambodian happens to speak very good French.

The next day, we have again hired a tuk-tuk and its driver to visit the countryside. Rural Cambodia is a few km away and here it seems healthier, happier. We notice from our tuk-tuk many villas, farms, rice paddies as well as schools and NGO offices. First stop is the notorious bamboo train. It is a sort of car made of bamboo that is set up on the regular train track and is used to carry people, goods, etc. Its particularity is that it can be dismantled in second it a train arrives on the track. Cool. We are however a little disappointed when the family running this particular bamboo train comes up with a ridiculous USD 12 per person to ride their train for 45 min. They are clearly taking the mickey here and even our tuk-tuk driver who is mediating is not impressed. We therefore leave without riding. The following hours really give us a feel for rural activities We stop at a house (turns out an orphanage - lots here) where children work very skillfully at making huge clay pots to sell; it's important for people collect rainwater here. We stop to meet a family making rice paper to sell to restaurants, very impressive too; and would see a carpenter at work making a wooden river boat if he wasn't hammock-napping. Our driver stops at a small killing field again. The memorial has been donated by an Australian NGO and depicts some scene under the Khmer Rouge. We are very confused when our guide try to explain in broken English that cannibalism was very common in the Killing Fields. We however struggle to understand exactly what he means and indeed if we understand right that the executioners really ate from the fresh bodies of their victims. Since then, I have not found evidence of that fact anywhere but he seems pretty adamant..there seems to be however lots of confusion and lack of education about the genocide. In the evening, we have arranged for our driver to take us to a place recommended for a drink on the riverside. The Riverside balcony bar does not disappoint although I get confused with my reels and accidentally tip the waitress 3 cents. Ooops. We then go to a restaurant from Lonely Planet: Green Park beer garden, and are greeted by 8 Cambodian girls rising in a "wai" at our entrance, then booths inside populated entirely by men. We still have not managed to decide whether it is a hostess bar although it also definitely doubles as a karaoke bar! The students we chatted to inside seemed flummoxed by our line of questioning so it remains a mystery!

On the move again - the hotel owner drives us to the bus and on our way to Sihanoukville, THE beach destination in Cambodia. I listen to a bit of music on the iPod Touch and the bus conductor asks me to show him. He is fascinated by the touchscreen display, clearly never have seen something like that before. His excitement and enthusiasm is almost childlike! Some more harsh negotiations when we arrive in Sihanoukville with the local tuk-tuk gang and we embark for USD 1.5 each with Dutch Esteban, whom we met in the bus, to Serendipity beach.

By then, we have seen a fair share of beaches in our travels and the beach in Sihanoukville is certainly not the best of the bunch. It is dirty and the water carries quite a bit of litter and every square inch is used for beach restaurants selling exactly the same menu (albeit good seafood BBQ and 50 cent Angkor) at the same price. Music from as many sound systems as theyreare restaurants clashes badly and is on all night (until 5am) at deafening level. Even our bungalow which is almost as far as you can go one side of the beach is not spared but fortunately not so loud that we can't sleep. Another hard thing is the number of amputees (they don't even have wheelchairs in Cambodia - just shuffle along) and kids selling tat on the beach. M chats to one of them at length whilst having a pedicure (Viet woman who also shows M "threading" on the much-in need legs - amazing epilation technique - most impressed!) - he was only 8 but spoke good English like so many Cambodians who go to English school during the afternoon (free Khmer school AM). Probably a typical story: Dad dead, brother monk, his mum sells fish and he has to sell all his free time, though normally he sells absolutely nothing as he is selling the same as every other child. Doesn't seem like much of a childhood. There's a project in Sihanoukville: the Cambodian Children's Painting Project that tries to encourage kids (and their families who make them sell and become reliant on them) from the beach by showing them they need skills and confidence to have a different life, and that safety, school, fun and being a child is more important than anything. It also gives them material support, like many other NGOs we visit or see in Cambodia. We go to a CCPP play, meet the staff and everything they are saying seems to make sense so we make a donation and M sets up a meeting with Felix, the manager and impressed, decides to do some fundraising for them back home.

So this is a note of positivity - not all is despair in Sihanoukville! We also have a great relaxed evening on the beach chatting away with Esteban while having quite a few drinks. Nonetheless, after a few days we decide to head into Vietnam early: there is a little consulate here we can get a visa easily before heading into the Mekong Delta by boat from Phnom Penh.

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