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Published: January 29th 2012
Wednesday 12th August - Wednesday 19th August 2011
Having followed through with our new approach to long distance travel, we stepped off the flight feeling nice and refreshed (the alternative was a 24+ hour ropey bus trip from Vientiane in Laos). We were ready to take on Cambodia, first stop Phnom Penh.
Our period of ‘luxury travel’ ended at the airport car park where we bargained with a tuk-tuk driver for the journey into the centre of the city. Instantly, it felt worlds away from our beloved Laos’ peaceful, sleepy towns and streets. Instead, Cambodia's capital city was heaving with hustle and bustle. To put it bluntly, it was chaos…..but somehow it felt like organised chaos at the same time.
We were in the riverside city long enough to see below the surface and we soon started to understand how recently the troubles took place, and the impact the brutal Pol Pot regime has had on the people and prosperity of Cambodia.
Approximately 35 years ago, the Khmer Rouge revolution forced the entire population of the city to march into the countryside and work as slaves, transforming the so called ‘Pearl of Asia’ into a ghost town
practically overnight.
To learn more about the near four year rule of the Khmer Rouge, during which it's believed that at least 1.7 million people were killed, we decided to visit the Tuol Sleng Museum. This museum was once the city's high school, transformed by Pol Pot’s security forces into a torture and concentration camp (or S-21 as it is known). Now it stands as a museum, in memory of the people who suffered here. The walls of victims’ photos staring back at us brought a chill to our spines as we stood in utter disbelief that fellow humans were capable of committing such atrocities.
However, for many, the journey actually ended at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, approximately 40 minutes out of town, where nearly 20,000 prisoners from S-21 were executed. Here we visited an exhibition outlining the philosophy, practices and management of the regime, as well as a short film. Afterwards we wandered the surrounding fields where memorials and further detail of the killings were displayed. We didn't know how we'd feel walking through the fields here, however we chose to approach it like a cemetery and found peace in the knowledge that the innocent
souls are now at rest.
Whilst it made for a pretty sombre morning, tuk-tuking back into the city with fresh eyes, we began to smile at the thriving businesses lining the streets. This truly is a young population determined to move on and not dwell in the horrors of the past.
We also took in a bit of pyjama spotting! For some reason unknown to us, the people of Phnom Penh feel that a good old pair of colourful PJs is an acceptable form of everyday attire – trips to the shops, working at market stalls and catching up with friends are all carried out in PJs. It therefore came as a surprise when I rocked up in my dressing gown and slippers for a tour of the Royal Palace, only to be turned away!
The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda are well worth a look, and whilst they had all the grandeur and striking architecture of Bangkok’s Grand Palace, they seemed to lack the atmosphere that embraces you in the Thai temples – more a tourist attraction than a sacred place for Buddhists.
However, what the Royal Palace lacked, the hill temple of Wat Phnom
provided. Hearing that this temple was revered by locals who flock to pray here for good luck and that it was also home to lots of cheeky monkeys, we had one and a half reasons to visit; the hope of primate action taking priority.
Unfortunately for us, it seems as though Tuesday is monkey day off and so we left disappointed….we could have done with some of that good luck!
After a good couple of days in the capital, we boarded a West-bound bus to Siam Reap, home to the temples of Angkor. The owners of our excellent hostel were straight on to organising our next few days and within half an hour of arriving, we had extended our stay an extra night and contracted the services of a friendly tuk-tuk driver, Mr P, who would be our personal Siam Reap chauffeur for the duration of our stay.
With the light of the day starting to fade, we headed to Pre Rup where we joined flocks of other eager tourists to watch the sun go down over the paddy fields, the orange glow of the fading sun lighting up the ancient structures that surrounded us.
After
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Starting to appear on the horizon.....making the very bad decision to stay up and watch Arsenal’s opening match of the new Premier League Season, we woke up after two hours of sleep to the sound of the eager Mr P knocking on our door. We were off to see Angkor Wat at sunrise!
Out of total darkness (we didn’t think to take a torch!), the outline of Angkor Wat’s towering columns slowly appeared as the sun started to wake for another scorching day. As the back drop changed colour with the various phases of sunrise, the incredible detail of this monument, the largest religious structure in the World, came in to focus.
The sunrise crowds then dispersed, returning to their hotels for breakfast, and we were left to wander around inside in virtual silence and nearly totally unaccompanied. A great start to a fascinating day.
Next up was a 16km journey to Banteay Srei, which presented a great chance for a power nap. The one thing about travelling is that you learn to sleep pretty much anywhere, and tuk-tuks are no exception to that rule for me. Not for Keri though, she spent the journey holding onto my collar to make sure
I didn’t fall out!
We explored pink-stoned Banteay Srei before winding our way back via Ta Prohm, Preah Kahn, the fortified city of Angkor Thom (10sqkm in size and formerly home to one million people) and Bayon – each of them different and stunning in their own right.
Some of the temples are now overtaken by large trees, whose roots wind their way through archways and around ancient staircases, and Bayon, my favourite, is a maze of Gothic towers decorated with carved smiling faces whose eyes followed our path whichever way we walked. A fascinating place and unsurprisingly a contender for the 8th wonder of the world. If you ever come to Cambodia, don’t even think about not coming to see the temples of Angkor!
After an evening of excellent Cambodian street food and a healthy dose of much needed sleep, we were back in Mr P’s chariot bound for the floating village of Kompong Phhluk. Situated right next to the Tonle Sap lake, Kompong Phhluk showed us there was another way of living we hadn’t imagined possible.
The Tonle Sap river connects the lake to Phnom Penh, draining the lake and flowing towards the capital
Kompong Phhluk, Cambodia
A different way of living! in the dry season. However, when the rains arrive, the level of the Mekong in Phnom Penh rises, backing up the Tonle Sap river and reversing the flow of water towards the lake. The lake swells from 2,500sqkm to 13,000sqkm or more, flooding the surrounding areas.
We hired a long boat with a small engine on the back to lead us up the narrow river canal towards the villagers' homes. We were instantly intrigued by their various methods of dealing with the rising waters. Some build their small bamboo and timber houses high on stilts, and others float just above water level, courtesy of barrel foundations. Regardless of what style they choose, the villagers also tend to floating gardens and vegetable plots, and some have even built floating pens for livestock (pigs, chickens, etc) – a simple but genius way of making seemingly inhabitable land, liveable.
We moored up the boat at the edge of a house that had a few tables and plastic chairs on the bamboo decking with a sign offering restaurant food, for some lunch. Our communication was a combination of sign language and 'coca cola', but whilst it took them a little while to
fetch the food from their nearby floating plot, the result was a delicious local soup (no idea what the meat was!), which we enjoyed while watching the local people around us busy themselves with the day's activities.
For our final stop in Cambodia, we hunted out a true piece of paradise, the tropical island of Koh Rong Samloem, a two hour boat trip off the south coast of Sihanoukville.
Inhabited only by a tiny naval base and the 14 beach huts of Lazy Beach, we were in total isolation. It was pure relaxation for the three days we spent lazing in hammocks, snorkelling the resident coral reefs, trekking through the jungle to a rocky vantage point, swatting at monster size mosquitoes, swimming in the warm aqua waters and wandering along the deserted palm fringed beach. Absolute bliss!
The only downside to our stay was dealing with the after effects of downing the hottest dish on the restaurant’s menu (thanks for that challenge Mark 😊. There were so many chillies that my dome was glistening before even taking a mouthful.
All in all it was a great way to round off our time in Cambodia.
Only
Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia
Battling with a plate of Cambodian fire! a six hour bus ride back to Phnom Penh and a one night stopover remained - we were off to the final country of our 6 month trip before landing in Oz.... the beautiful and long awaited Vietnam...
C and K xx
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