Cruising the Mekong to Cambodia

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Well its been over a week since my last entry to my blog as far as writing anything intelligent to you all. I am now in Siem Reap, the temple capital of Cambodia and one of the wonders of the world. The Buddhist temples here are many centuries old and definately the major attraction in Cambodia. Apparently the Cambodian Government sold the rights to market the temples to the tourists to a Japanese company and it costs twenty dollars a day to view them. There are several temples spread out over a large area and it takes about 3 days to see them all. A 3 day pass puts you back 40 bucks. plus the cost of a motorbike guide to drive you around and you out of pocket about 75 dollars for the 3 day package tour of the Wats (temples) . Every one I have talked to says its worth it so I am off on the journey tomorrow. I just got into town today after yet another 7 hour bus trip from Phnom Phen.

The previous week found me in the town of Sianoukville, on the south coast of cambodia for some R & R on the beaches once again. My previous post has pics of that area. Although it was relaxing and scenic, I didnt find the beaches of cambodia nearly as clean and beautiful as Phu Quoc in Vietnam. In fact, Cambodia as a whole is less friendly, more filthy and a lot more expensive than either Vietnam or Thailand. They accept 4 different currencies here , Cambodian Riel, Vietnamese Dong, American dollar and Thai Baht. The Dollar is the favourite and everything seems to cost a dollar or multiple there of, making it feel like us tourists are getting gouged at every turn. If it wasnt for the temples of Siem Reap I dont think i would recommend a long stay in Cambodia. I think they are still suffering from the after affects of the Khmer Rouge and the Killing fields mentality of 25 years ago. They seem to be a nation still trying to recover their broken spirit.

Having said that, the hotels i have been staying in are 4 dollars a night, no air con, fan only. Thats the one good thing about Cambodia. The rooms are cheap but everything else is higher. In fact, in Sianoukville there are bars on the beach that you can stay free at if you eat and drink in thier bar. If you dont mind sharing rooms with rats and cockroaches its a good deal.

To back track a little bit here, the slow boat from Vietnam to Cambodia (6 bucks) is a must. Its a very relaxing and easy way to leave Vietnam and enter Cambodia. A tour guide does all the necessary passport and visa work and all you have to do is show your passport to vietnamesse border guards and then you walk 100 metres along the bank of the river to the Cambodian border crossing. A simple procedure costing 20 bucks for the visa and 2 dollars for the services. They even exchanged money on the boat for a 2% fee if course. Travelling close to the shore of the mighy Mekong and a few tributaries was very eye opening. Life on the river is very very rustic and simple, almost poverty to Canadian standards. But the people looked happy and had many smiles and hellos as we chugged by. The kids would swim naked and try to impress us with all thier dives and sommersaults into the water which looked more like mud than water to be honest with you.

My first impression of Cambodia was that there are alot more cars here than vietnam. Considering Cambodia is suppose to be poorer than Vietnam that doesnt make sense. For every car there are say 25 motorbikes, whereas in vietnam it was a 150 bikes to 1 car. I guess the car owners are in the tourist industry. The streets are not as packed with vehicles like vietnam so i guess the really poor here dont have any transportation of any kind.

I stayed 3 nights in Phnom Phen doing the tourist rounds of the Royal Palace and Museums and then headed for the beaches of the south. Spent 4 nights on the beach watching the stars (not a satellite to be seen anywhere) then headed back to Phnom Phen for one night and caught the bus to Siem Reap. So here I am for 3 days then its onto beautiful Thailand where I hope to stay for a few months.

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Comments

[Shari]

WE HAVE SNOW
Hey Magic Bill, We had snow all day yesterday, lots of wind, and on our walk to the lake in late afternoon, there were large waves and swells...looked like a big, grey, cold ocean. The dogs flushed out pheasant and quail in abundance and there were the usual geese and mallards. No osprey this time, but I saw them last week. They have finally punched through a dirt road connecting Coopers to Hill Road....there now, don't you miss all this excitement!

[christian]

cambodia
Hi, Did the same trip last year,enjoyed the trip to cambodia fro phu quec. Did however took a taxi from Rah Gia to Chau Doc, the driver had done the trip before so we ended up being lost...but hay that the fun of it....and when with tho boat across the boader to cambodia. Reading your blog, I was a bit surprised that you thought it was expensive in Cambodia compared to thailnad and vietnam....I thought it was by far the cheapest place, and very friendly people aswell. I am will go back to vietnam again, since I found it very interesting place to go. But you are right it is more dirty, and more bumbs on the roads. anyway enjoy your trip to Thailand...