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Published: August 7th 2007
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Since being back in England for almost a year it was nigh time to go on holiday again i thought. Sadly just a short trip of two weeks this time! It is however an undoubtedly superior feeling to be back in Asia in contrast to get excited about pensions in Guildford. I arrived in Bangkok and spent three nights there visited a few markets, temples and did a bit of shopping. There food is always consistently good in Thailand so whether i ate on the street or in a nice restaurant, it was always impressive. From Bangkok I then journeyed by land to Siam Reap in Cambodia which is where things started to get a bit more interesting! The bus journey on the Thai side was fine, we covered about 300 km in 3.5 hours, entirely reasonable by western standards. On the Cambodian side of the border the road was unsealed so was exceptionally bumpy and dirty. After negotiating the various scams at the border semi successfully, we were loaded on to the bus for a journey that lasted close to 7 hours, covering only 140 km! Not so great compared to Thailand! The lack of a decent road, although annoying
for me and others traveling does not do any favours for the people that actually live on it. Of all the places I subsequently visited in Cambodia, no where else had seemed to be as poor and desolate, a real reflection in my opinion of the lack of infrastructure in the entire area. I met up with a very lovely French girl called Julie on this bus journey and we continued to travel through Cambodia together thereafter. As you may imagine it was a relief to finally arrive in Siam Reap. Siam Reap is the main town next to Angkor Wat, the ancient temples that the Kymer's built between 1250 and 500 years ago (I think). It is a huge complex and whilst being home to over 1 million people once, it is now Cambodia's largest tourist attraction. Despite being the hottest part of the year there were still plenty of visitors there. Places like Angkor are always worth the uncomfortable journeys in my view. Yet again i was very impressed. Firstly the complex is vast, there are so many temples, all different in their layout, style and how much the jungle has or has not taken over. There were
many photo opportunities as you can see, which i hope provide some indication of the charm and interest of the place. After completing a tour of Angkor Wat, we then moved onto see the Floating village on the very large lake south of Siam Reap called Ton Sap. It was apparent to me that the people living there are very poor and the standard of education very low. This was reflected again by a severe lack of infrastructure with rubbish and sewage being almost everywhere. It was on the other hand interesting to see how the people (mostly Vietnamese) live, their main source of income is fishing. There were a few floating shops and some sort of boat / floating collection of restaurants and a crocodile enclosure. I wondered what would happen to the ecosystem if a big storm resulted in the release of upwards of 100 crocodiles into an area I was told is not their natural habitat? From Siam Reap the next destination was Phnom Penh, the capital. The road between the two was very good and the journey therefore much more pleasant. Phnom Penh initially felt a lot like Vientiane (the capital of Laos) but I quickly
The Killing Fields
Memorial containg the bones of those executed at the Killing Fields learnt it was about ten times as busy and much more vibrant. Set on the mighty Mekong, it is a bustling city that is certainly going places. The lack of good, cheap accommodation was a particular problem however we found somewhere suitable after a few stops. There are many things to do and see in and around Phnom Penh but given we had only planned for a day it was not a problem as we managed to take in most of the important attractions. For those of you who do not know the recent history of Cambodia, it is some what dark. In 1970 (I think), Pol Pot and his brutal Kymer Rouge communist regime took control of the country. As a result, during the 5 years of his rule, upwards of two million people were either executed or died unnecessarily. Outside Phnom Penh there is a place referred to as The Killing Fields. This is where political prisoners and anyone else who was to be killed was brought. There are over thirty mass graves here, all the bodies of those sent to die have been exhumed now. A fitting monument has been built here that contains the bones and
skulls of all those unearthed. The crimes of the Kymer Rouge against humanity were obscene. One example is that executions here where not quick or painless, the suffering was long. To save money the Kymer Rouge permitted executioners working there only had a selection of axes, spades and other primitive farming tools to complete their disgraceful work. The Killing Fields where ensured a healthy supply of prisoners from Tuol Sleng or S21. Tuol Sleng is the name of the High School in Phomn Penh the Kymer Rouge converted to a prison and interrogation centre. Anyone bought there was imprisoned for between 1 and 6 months after which execution at the Killing Fields was a certainty. The interrogation rooms and prisons have been preserved and is yet again a very grim and poingnent reminder of the evil acts humans commit against one another. As the Nazi's did the Kymer Rouge kept detailed records of their crimes and when the Vietnamese liberated Phnom Penh some they did not have time to destroy everything. Some of the rooms are filled with photos of those killed, some were of toddlers... The culture of fear that the Kymer Rouge ruled with became exceptionally prevalent in
Tuol Sleng. After these morbid but I feel necessary visits, we also went to the Russian Market and Royal Palace, both noteworthy places. Next stop was Sikhanoukville on the south coast. A bit of beach and beer town. This will be a serious alternative to Thailand in a few years if their ambitious plans take off I think. The beach we visited was good although did not face the right way for the sunset. We also visited a waterfall outside the city in the middle of the jungle, nothing special really and again loads of rubbish everywhere. An early start the following morning for Thailand turned out to be a fascinating journey through the rural and mountainous regions of south eastern Cambodia. There were four river crossings involved, not by bridge but by boat. A car ferry springs to mind as the most appropriate method to get cross a stretch of water. They did try, the boats ended up being a crude selection of engines and wood. It worked, each boat took between 4 and 6 cars. They are building a road and bridges but it is no where near complete so sometimes it was good and other times not
so good. It was also intriguing to view the construction techniques employed in the building of a new road in a very remote jungle area. I got there in the end. Given the sadness of it's past Cambodia is a lot different now. I am convinced that they are people that want to move on from their past, they are very friendly and embracing. Top marks for Cambodia.
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Lynsey
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Awesome Photos!
Such great photos Rob! I'm planning to take a year off (although not in the very near future unfortunately) and things like this just make me want to even more!