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Published: August 6th 2007
Cambodia and Southern Thailand The alarm goes off at 4am, disorientated we wash and stumble downstairs where Juan, our remorque-taxi (motorbike with attached trailer seats) driver is waiting. He whisks us through the dark streets where even at 4.30am people are tucking into their first steaming bowl of rice at the already open street stalls. Children cycling past bleary-eyed on their way to who knows where, perhaps the early shift at school at 5am? We reach the gate and pose for our photos for our pass whilst willing the sky to stay dark a little longer. The first light has already caught the sky by the time we reach Angkor Wat so we can make out a vague silhouette of the huge structure in the distance. Excitedly we skip across the moat and into the grounds as the sky turns from inky black to deep blue. We're close enough to appreciate the enormity of the place, a breathtaking sight.
We nearly have it to ourselves but the tour groups are approaching so we duck inside and begin exploring in the half light. We climb up the sheer steps to the central highest point and watch the sun rise through
the ornate Khmer windows. The sun bounces through the holes and between pillars throwing light on to the intricate carvings housed within the buildings. We explore in relative peace while the masses watch the sun rise behind the wat. This is our first glimpse of a tiny part of the Angkor archaeological park. We spend the next three days bouncing around in the back of our private tuk tuk trying to find the balance between seeing a lot and not getting watted out!
Our favourite moments were climbing into Bayon, a small site but the most bizarre. Once inside everywhere we looked about us huge faces began to appear from each pillar, each made of hundreds of small bricks. As if appearing from a magic eye print, they peered at us from each angle we would look, a nose here, an eye there, it was surreal, we loved it! We also managed to catch it in the heat of the day so it was almost deserted. Also memorable was the most ornate Banteay Srey, a tiny fairytale place which housed the most intricate and best preserved carvings of the whole site. There were scenes of debauchery, animals fighting, dancing
apsaras, you name it, all protruding from the ruins as if carved yesterday.
The whole place was magical, nestled in the jungle, it allowed a small glimpse into what the empire might have looked like all those years ago. It has been one of the highlights of Asia (and the whole trip) for us. It was also an amazing showpiece of a country that has had to experience such atrocities. It became a country of extreme highs and lows for us.
Starting in Phnom Penh, we visited Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre, also known as the Killing Fields. We went with trepidation, as the Cambodians of today seem incredibly happy, and for the horrors of the Khmer Rouge to have happened in my short lifetime many must have lived through it, and we didn't want to alter our happy view of Cambodia. The area is unbelievably harrowing, almost desolate, except for the 86 small pits which are the graves of some of the 9000 victims of the regime (women, children, peasants, intellectuals, party members, you name it); and the huge stupa erected in the centre containing layer upon layer of the skulls of the victims found so far. There
are still some 43 graves not yet excavated, and clothing and small bone parts lay exposed where they were discarded during this heinous crime. To add to the eeriness of the site, all that could be heard were the children's voices singing from the school next door. The vast majority of victims here were 'executed' using blunt instruments to save bullets, after already having experienced hideous tortures inflicted by the paranoid regime at S-21 prison. To add to the huge suffering of the families affected, for the soul to be at rest, in Khmer culture, the body must be given a proper funeral. The victims here were not given that, and still have not been. Neither have the millions who suffered similar fates in the thousands of other sites like this all over Cambodia. In silence we left, and after our tuk tuk driver filled up the bike with fuel from a two litre pepsi bottle bought at the side of the road, we continued to S-21.
This was the prison that held and brutally tortured the victims before being taken to Choeung Ek, an even more horrific sight, if possible. The prison is a converted school specifically designed
Banteay Srey
Beautiful detailed carvings everywherefor interrogation and torture. Rooms were either mass cells where up to 30 prisoners were shackled to a single iron bar through the middle, or split into single cells by crude brickwork making a box less than two metres square with a shackle inside. Doors were merely holes knocked through walls and the whole place was surrounded and covered in electrified barbed wire. Most of the guards were children, brainwashed by the regime into being inhumanely cruel. The museum here still holds much evidence against the regime if they are ever brought to account - torture devices, records, photos of the blank, empty faces of the tens of thousands of men, women and children brought here (only seven inmates ever survived), hideously damaged skulls and the conditions themselves. It beggars belief that the perpetrators of this evil have never been brought to justice, there is constant talk of it, but no action, and the utter insult to Cambodians that Pol Pot and three of his highest ranking party officials lived to ripe old ages to die of natural causes well into this century,
20 years after the regime's demise, without facing any trial, is unforgivable. Not to mention the fact
that the UN conferred legitimacy on the Khmer Rouge after its overthrow in 1979, and granting it the Cambodian seat on the UN General Assembly until 1991!! Both places were sobering memorials to such horrific events and I hope they survive as a reminder lest nothing like this happen again. Yet, sadly it does, and I remember thinking exactly the same about Auswich.
In Siam Reap we visited the Aki Ra land mine museum. Another dreadful reminder at how evil humanity can be. Reassured at first that 144 countries have already signed a treaty to stop making land mines and destroy all reserves it was disheartening to learn that in countries like Cambodia where there's an estimated five million along the Cambodia-Thai border and it costs $1000 to dismantle one, it's unlikely to happen any time soon. We were then shocked to read that certain key countries are still yet to sign such as China, Russia and USA, who among other reasons feel they must keep their one million plus mines along the North / South Korea border to keep the peace (or keep the economic benefits of this valuable export, depending on your view...) It will take a
long time before the world is rid of them.
Every day we felt our emotions heightened in different ways. Whilst wandering the streets in both towns one thing struck us, the large number of amputees begging in the streets. Practically all were land mine victims, with no other choice, a very desperate sight. In the temples we had a gathering of small children selling us post cards and bamboo flutes, they amazed us with their knowledge of English. Although after a while when every child was telling us 'England capital London; 64 million people; tip top; lovely jubbley' it became a little less amusing!
We also experienced the craziest welcoming party ever at Siam Reap. The mayhem started as I asked the bus driver to point out on the map where exactly we had arrived (as it was different to where we expected) and Katie jumped off to retrieve our bags. Very shortly I heard Katie shout 'Matt, help', followed by a hundred voices shouting 'Matt' from all around! The bus (and Katie) was surrounded by the most determined tuk tuk drivers ever, and we were the only potential fare. As I descended the bus, took my bag
and tried to walk away to get it on my back, the hoard simply engulfed me. No matter where I tried to walk, what I said, how much I waved my arms I was submerged in shouting, pulling and pushing tuk tuk drivers. They must have broke me, because not having a clue what to do I just sat on my bag and started laughing. Initially they all laughed too, but then quickly continued the onslaught - I could not even see the sky through the shouting faces above me! It must have broke Katie too, because (completely unexpectedly, she tells me) she began to cry. At this point I (unfortunately) broke further and shouted and swore at the crowd. This obviously surprised them a bit as they momentarily shut up which gave us a few inches to jump aboard a waiting tuk tuk, piloted by a guy who had said nothing so far (good on him!) It wasn't until the rage started to settle and the embarrassment sink in that we realised why they had all been so desperate. Generally the only way to see the temples of Angkor is to hire a tuk tuk driver for the few days you are there, which obviously brings them in their bread and butter. As ours had left us alone at the bus station we were happy to employ his services for the next three days!
One thing we didn't really anticipate though was the quality of Khmer cuisine. We got hooked on Amok, a spicy fish dish, and Khmer curries, certainly some of the best food we'd had in Asia.
After working up all our emotions it was time to leave Cambodia. We took a long dusty bus journey to Poipet at the Thai border, typically we picked the bus with no air-con, so crossed the border complete with a thick layer of grime. From here we carried on through to Bangkok and on an overnight bus down to Koh Tao, arriving the next lunch time where the cool waters beckoned our dirty bodies!
The next week or so was spent lapping up the sun, floating in beautiful waters replete with vast coral reefs, reading many books, enjoying Thai food and hopping around the beaches of the Gulf Coast islands. Our favourite beach was Ao Leuk on Koh Tao where our bungalow sat perched on a cliff overlooking the tiny bay. Our days consisted of at least three snorkelling hours right from the beach, where we'd spot crazy fish, admire the multi-coloured coral or just hang around while the cleaner fish went to work on Matt's hairy (and apparently dirty) legs!
Our final destination in Thailand was Phuket where we'd hoped to meet a couple of friends. As luck would have it one was back in England but we did get full use of his beautiful house and most importantly his massive pool and jacuzzi! This made it easy to while away the days, whereas the nights were spent mingling with the huge amount of ex-pats this area attracts. Our only way round the island was on a rickety old moped complete with dodgy brakes, no back lights and a front light that usefully projected the shadow of a huge basket onto the floor.
From here we took Asia's low cost airline Air Asia (oddly Manchester United's airline of choice!), which dropped us in Kuala Lumpur so we could explore Malaysia, the land of the Orang-utan!
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