Discovering Cambodia

Asia » Cambodia
November 24th 2006

Published: December 5th 2006

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rrose070

Riverside, Phnom Penh

A beautiful promenade fronts the Phnom Penh riverside

Dan, myself, Mandy and Griff crossed into Cambodia from Vietnam at Chau Doc, then boarded another boat, this one a long yellow one looking like a floating school bus, and we rode on the outside deck of the boat with our feet dangling in the spray. Again and again children came racing to the banks to wave at us as we motored by. We spent an incredible sunset hour gazing on the rice fields, to the waves and shouts of workers and children. A bus ride took us into Phnom Penh where we found a really good deal on a really nice room.
Our hotel had signs everywhere - in the elevator, in the hallways, in the rooms - that said, "PLEASE OBSERVE SILENCE AT ALL TIMES!!" What's funny is that the hotel had their workers start drilling and sawing at 6:30 the next morning right above our rooms! Griff took down one of the signs and brought it to the front desk to complain, asking them to obey their own rules and the next morning we slept in. We went to a really neat restaurant G & M had enjoyed before, a volunteer operation where they train street kids to

Killing Fields Stupa

Memorial containing over 8,000 skulls, a small percentage of the innocents killed by the Khmer Rouge

have work in a restaurant. The food was fantastic, and Mandy and I shared a carafe of very good wine…ah, good wine...rather rare in SE Asia. Powerful stuff too, as we closed the night strolling the promenade riverside, and Mandy and I were singing our heads off, then were joined by some prostitutes and katoeys (ladyboys) and we all just howled at the moon. Great fun!!
The next day we toured Phnom Penh in motorcycle - pulled tuk tuks and in the evening took Dan out to celebrate his 51st birthday. Griff and Mandy took us out to a great dinner at a Khmer restaurant where Dan chose and we shared a half dozen delicious Khmer dishes chased with what else… Angkor beer. The following morning we saw Mandy and Griff off to their bus for their tour of Battambang at the north end Cambodia’s Tonle’ Sap lake.
The Killing Fields, just outside the town, was a part of the city's history we needed to see. The road out to the fields was a wildly rutted, holey rock and dirt track, choked with red dust that coats everything. I've never been on a bumpier ride. Thankfully our driver, Freedom, had

The Ultimate "Re-education"

Skulls of those killed under the brutal regime of Pol Pot.

the foresight to stop at a roadside stand along the way and picked us up some needed dust masks. The ghostly, tragic feeling that floats above the killing fields cannot be described. Prior to visiting we had read about the history of Cambodia from both foreign journalist and local perspectives, and this inside knowledge only served to make the experience all the more harrowing. The genocide was truly horrific, and until you see it all laid out before your eyes you cannot believe that something so monstrous could have happened only 25 years ago. I am not too embarrassed to say that looking at the thousands of smashed skulls, I was overwhelmed and ran to the bushes to throw up. I puked again when we were walking in the fields and saw the clothing, bones and teeth still coming up from the ground. So much anguish, so much pain and terror there, so much unholy suffering. Needless to say, on my account we had to skip the S21 museum, which used to be a high school but was turned into a prison by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge after they took control of Cambodia in 1975. The classrooms were

Slow Day at a Phnom Penh Fruit Stall

It's hot, the grandkid kept me up all night and nobody is buying bananas anyway...

used as holding cells and/or torturing rooms. It's called a prison but virtually all prisoners were killed (17,000 killed, 7 survivors). The prisoners included Cambodians and some foreigners who represented a contradictory view to Pol Pot's regime. Not only were the opponents killed but also those who served in the Khmer Rouge; if you were disliked, another could accuse you of "wrongful" actions and thoughts, and you would be picked up by the police for "re-education". There was no safety from the Khmer Rouge regime.

I must say, despite its bloody, hideous history, Cambodia is now a very pleasant place and becoming a destination for tourists. The town of Phnom Penh is pretty, with old French colonial architecture, a charming riverfront promenade, a lively lakeside drinkin' hole scene, clean (mostly) wide streets and a good tourism infrastructure. Internet access was no problem, food and drink were cheap, transportation was inexpensive and easy, and the people were very friendly.

Our next destination was Angkor Wat, about a six hour bus ride from Phnom Penh . We took the Mekong Express bus service to Siem Reap, the town closest to Angkor Wat and thank goodness for new roads! The ride

Cambodia's Royal Palace

Strikingly similar to the architecture of Thailand's royal palace

was smooth, the bus fantastic, the scenery was great.
But! When! We! Arrived!!!
PANDEMONIUM!!!
We've seen busy bus terminals before but we felt overwhelmed before by the number of people trying to get our attention. We've NEVER seen anything like the Siem Reap bus station. It was shocking! Before our bus even opened its door, throngs of moto drivers were beating on the windows, shouting, holding signs advertising free rides to various guest houses, or $1 rides to anywhere in town. When we actually got out, we were immediately separated and swept away in the crowds of people, all shouting for us to hire them, tugging on our clothing, putting their arms around us, trying to take our luggage. The police were firing tasers into the crowd to get them to back off. Dan and I kept saying, "leave us alone for a minute", because we needed to catch our breath, collect ourselves and form a plan. No way. No matter what we said or did, they pressed on and only grew louder. "Choose one, we leave you alone!" Finally, Dan pointed at a shy kid who was furthest from us, peeping out from around a pillar, and said, "You!"

Mandy and her Big Yellow Boat

Mandy dangles her feet in the Mekong on the trip from Vietnam into Cambodia.

Presto…the crowd dispersed and we were off to find a room.

The first few Siem Reap guest houses we checked we just "weren't feeling it" then we found a really, really nice place with killer cheap rooms and we were home! Went for a wander thru the neighborhood and found the Dead Fish Inn and Bar, which we had read about and M&G had recommended. What a fun, crazy place! It's a big space, with several different levels, and you get to the main bar by hopping across an expanse of water with stepping stones scattered throughout. There are a number of thatch lofts accessed by ladders or stairs, and the waiters up there place their orders with the bar by dropping a note tied to a string down to the bar. "Order Down!" It was funky, quirky, and imaginative. We already liked the character of the place, but how surprised were we? Upon heading to the restroom we discovered that there are also about 15-20 CROCS in "habitat area" type things on the way to the restroom! And those stepping stones we hopped across? The water surrounding them had stingrays, crab, fish and what-all, I don't know. This

Oh, No! Here they come!

Vendor girls set their sights on Dan and Rebecca as they sit at a sidewalk cafe in Siem Reap.

place is crazy fun! I came back from the bathroom asking, "Did you slip something in my drink" because I just saw crocodiles! We bought baskets of fish to feed them…. I guess everybody falls for that, because some of these fat crocs were too full and sleepy to even bother to get up and get the fish. One, though, just opened his jaws wide and stayed that way, staring at us the whole time.

Next day, we hired our new favorite moto driver, Mr. Date. He is honest, smart, cheerful and charged us less than we thought he deserved. We purchased seven day passes to the Angkor Archeological Park and began our exploration. Angkor Wat was just as amazing as we had heard…the scope of it, the incredible stone carvings, the immense moat, all created by the hands of man… yes, it is breathtaking. We crawled, climbed and wandered numerous different areas over the next week, admiring the many smiling faces in stone at Bayon, the immense trees with roots draping over and through the walls and temples at Tha Prohm, the long, steep climb up to Phnom Bakheng for sunset…like lemmings…there must have been 3 thousand others

Restaurant Stepping Stones

If you can't stay on the stepping stones at the "Dead Fish" restaurant...they cut you off!

climbing that hill, treacherous, with sheer drops, roots perfect for tripping over, giant palm spiders and as always other tourists barreling over you because in other cultures, shoving your way in, cutting in line etc. are not objectionable, just normal behavior.

At each major site, there are roadside stands selling t-shirts, sarongs, beer, water…the usual. At one site, we were taking a heat break, with five or so vendors vying for our attention. As per our protocol, when we want to discuss something and don't want the locals to follow our conversation, we switched to Spanish. I didn't want a shirt but the heat made a hat practical, so I asked Dan if perhaps we should purchase a sombrero? Imagine our surprise when a school-age girl selling t-shirts replied in Spanish, then went on to offer us purses, t-shirts, and beer…in Spanish! We burst out laughing, then challenged her. She conversed with us in Spanish, French, German and English, then switched to Thai!! This girl was bright, bright, bright. We both hoped that she has the opportunity do more with herself then vend to Angkor Wat tourists.

On day six we rented electric bicycles and had a blast

Jaws!

And here's the guy that cuts you off!

exploring off the beaten track. We took a long red road through rice fields, and were caught in a brief downpour. The incredibly beautiful, intricate sandstone carvings of Bantaey Srei, the "women's temple" - (my favorite!) glow pink in the morning sun…this hindu temple is believed to have been built "for women, by women" ala Oprah, because men would not have crafted it so lovingly or decorated it so scrumptiously.
After eight days we bid a fond farewell to the Golden Temple Villa and set out on our next adventure: the bus to Poipet at the Thailand border. This rattletrap pulls up and we got on, thinking it's going to take us to the bus station where we will switch to our "real" bus…HAH! It WAS our real bus! And by the time we left town, it was stuffed to capacity, with people even sitting in the busted-down jump seats in the aisles. The "road" to Poipet is the worst I've ever seen. Not paved, incredibly rutted, and red dust so fierce that when we stopped for lunch and I splashed water on myself to cool off, I later realized I had bloody-looking streaks where the water had turned to

Tuk Tuk to the Temples

Dan and Rebecca kick it in the back of a motorcycle pulled "Tuk Tuk" as they head out for one of many days of temple exploration.

mud rivulets. We had to keep the windows open because there was no A/C, but there was an attendant who would watch ahead and if there was a vehicle coming towards, he would slam the window shut to avoid the dust, then reopen it. Despite this, the ride was a wonderful visual feast, villages, villagers and endless rice fields stretching across the plains of Cambodia.

The corrupt Cambodian immigration officer who stamped us out of Cambodia ripped us off for the $50 we handed him thinking there was an exit tax from Cambodia. He just slipped the money into a book he was reading and waved us through. We later learned there was no such tax unless you are flying out. Lesson learned about the third most (reportedly) corrupt country in the world

The instant we crossed the border to Thailand the smooth roads, air conditioned bus and well signed everything announced that we were back in a country that had not seen the ravages of recent wars and radical despot rulers. Cambodia was wonderous and it won't be long until we're back.

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