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Asia » Cambodia
November 2nd 2007
Published: November 3rd 2007
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Another country completed. We spent nine days in Cambodia, enough time to see the main attractions and see what the country was all about. Time is of the essence now, with Lucy and Couch only out for a few more weeks. Turns out that if you don't hold onto your stuff here someone will steal it, and kids are the con artists to look out for. If you are a tourist, everything is twice as expensive, and everyone assumes that you are rich. Our money is certainly what they want and they have every intention of getting it.

First stop was Siem Reap, named so after Cambodia beat the Thais (previously called Siam) in some sort of war or battle. Friendly then!
I was expecting the country to be much poorer than it actually looked, but the clouds of dust splashed up from the roads was exactly as I imagined. I have never seen so many motorbikes, despite being in Asia for several months already. The roads were hectic and the streets were full, a complete contrast to the chilled out nature of Laos. If I didn't know better, I would not have thought it would be unsafe to
Angkor WatAngkor WatAngkor Wat

Siem Reap
stray off the beaten path, still so many landmines remaining from the previous wars. I looked safe to me, until I saw the victims or amputees begging for money.
We checked out a few of the more interesting bars, Dead Fish had a pit of crocodiles that you could feed (and Couch did), and one with a net full of butterflies. There was a road called Bar Street, useful for navigation, or if you really didn't know where to find booze. The streets were quirky and colourful, and the market stalls were interesting to look at. I really liked this little city, even though some of the paths were smashed up and building sites were everywhere.

From Siem Reap we took a day trip to see the Temples of Angkor, the oldest and most famous series of temples in the world.
Angkor Wat was the first temple of our list, Hindu and built between 1112 and 1152. It is the largest religious building in the world. King Suryavarman II constructed it in the form of a gigantic temple-mountain, dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu, but also thought to have been built as his funeral temple. Since the
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Bas-relief from Angkor Wat.
14th century, when Buddhism became the predominant Cambodian religion, it has served as a Buddhist temple. The building is surrounded by a moat and a massive exterior wall. The temple itself is 1 km square and consists of three levels and a central tower. The walls are covered with bas-reliefs and sculptures depicting stories form Hindu mythology and the historical wars of King Suryavarman II. Walking around the building was tantalising, an incredibly stunning building despite the amount of tourists walking and standing in front of photographs.
The next temple we visited was Angkor Thom, an enclosure with five monumental gates, high walls and numerous places of interest were inside. One of which was the Terrace of Elephants, a 300 meter long terrace with bas-reliefs of elephants (surprisingly) and mahouts in hunting scenes. Another was Bayon, a Buddhist stone temple constructed in the late 12th century under reign of King Jayavarman VII. Most of the 37 standing towers are adorned with four faces orientated toward the cardinal points. Although there is some debate, the faces are thought to represent a mixture between the faces of Buddha and the King. Walking around it was like getting lost in a maze
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Bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat.
of stone. Some of the steps were incredible steep and ridiculously shaped, they must have had the smallest of feet to fit on them, or uneven rulers. An amazing display of Khmer (Cambodian) architecture and art.
The third temple that we visited was Ta Prohm, you may have seen this in the film Tomb Raider (another film for me to watch when I get home). Also a Buddhist temple constructed mid 12th century to early 13th century, under the reign of King Jayavarman VII. He dedicated this one to his mother. Ta Prohm was originally constructed for use as a Buddhist monastery, and proved to be enormously successful. It had control of over 300 villages at it's peak, thousands of support staff and vast stores of gold and jewels (wasn't aware that gold was important to Buddhists). The jungle growth surrounding it has purposely been left to over grow, and the ruins have been mostly left unrestored. The roots of the trees have extended and rooted themselves through the building, entwining, wrapping around the stone. The roots surrounding the building is like a snake squeezing the life out of it's prey. Absolutely stunning interaction. It is thought to be
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Of Angkor Wat.
one of the most intriguing and respected buildings of it's time, no wonder why.
Especially considering the era that these temples were constructed, not only the architectural design, but the quality of the construction is certainly to be commended. The hard graft that must have went into constructing these buildings. It actually surprised me at how close you were allowed to get to them, and how easy it was to touch the art on the walls. In England you would never be able to climb up on the construction. It is a wonder that there isn't more damage to it, wondering hands, rubbing the surfaces, could ruin it for the generations to follow. Unfortunately the structures have already fallen whim to the hands of destruction from the rebel group, The Khmer Rouge. The damage to Angkor Wat was most famously attributed to the groups reign of madness.
Outside the temples we were hassled by many groups of children, I don not know why they weren't at school. They all spoke with good English, they're homework must have been to learn the phrases most useful to getting money from a tourist. They certainly start at an early age. They seemed to all reel off the same script, stating the capital, population and Prime Minister of which ever country the tourist comes from, and replying with "sorry doesn't buy us anything" when we said "sorry, I don't want to buy anything." They were really cute though, that is probably their main angle.

I arrived into Phnom Penh, the county's capital, with a bag of sick in my hands after a hectic bus journey on a major hang over. The driver spent most of the journey on the wrong side of the road and constantly touted his horn when ever we over took anything, including stationary objects like a tree. I'm not joking (only slightly exaggerating). We stepped off the bus and were instantly bombarded with as many tuk tuk drivers as there were people on the bus, hard work and annoying. They were battling against each other, trying to steal the others custom by literally snatching luggage and moving it across to their vehicle. The cheek!
We stayed in a rickety wooden guesthouse (complete with a hole in the roof) over the lake Boeng Kak. The area reminded me of Bali, interesting restaurants along alley way type roads
Faces of BayonFaces of BayonFaces of Bayon

Angkor Thom.
with tuk tuk drivers trying to sell you whatever drug you wanted, you'd think it was legal! Despite the consistent hassling, I really liked the area, the restaurants served the most amazing food and always provided an evening full of entertainment. If we weren't watching films or playing Trivial Pursuit (1986 kids version), we were partaking in the pub quiz. Although we didn't get that many answers correct (been travelling for a while now, not up to date with all the current gossip and state of affairs) we won the first ever round of drinks for best team name, 'If A Quiz Is Quizzical, What Are Tests?' Thank you Jimmy Carr!
We hired a friendly tuk tuk driver for the day to take us to all the main attractions in the area. He warned us to keep a tight hold on our bags as other tuk tuk drivers and motorcyclists have a habit of snatching bags as they hurtle past. There were also signs up in most of the cafes and restaurants, advising to keep a close eye on your personal belongings. I didn't want to chance it and kept my bag close at all times, even when eating.
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Bayon, Angkor Thom.
To be specifically told this, there must be an extremely bad problem with it here. Good job we had a friendly driver, some drivers work in a team with others in order to steal. No respect for other peoples property, just because you have a camera, wallet full of money or phone doesn't make you rich.
First stop for the day was the shooting range where Couch shot an AK47. Although we had ear protectors on it was still a lot louder than I was expecting. He had a really good aim, hitting the bulls eye on the target, and the paper man in the temple. He absolutely loved it. You could fire a rocket launcher for US$200 (about 100 pounds), where you can shoot it up into the mountains. I am sure it must be illegal, as soon as we entered through the gates they were tightly secured once again, as we were ushered into a private room. There was a wall of guns, although the rocket launcher was not out on display. It sent shivers through my spin watching the guy load the hand pistol that Couch was originally going to fire, before he changed his mind.
Ta PhromTa PhromTa Phrom

Gateway to the temple.
I soon hardened up. Looked like loads of fun, if only I had more money.

Now I must give you a quick history lesson for you to understand the rest of our day. I wasn't taught this stuff at school, and I think it should have been. Cambodia gained it's Independence in 1953 from the French. For 15 years King Sihanouk dominated Cambodian politics as the country's economy prospered. However, some thought his ideals to be repressive and erratic, so the army overthrew him in 1970 and he fled to China. Meanwhile, the rebel group, The Khmer Rouge (French for 'Red Khmer') had increasing support and began to take over.
As a result of the neighbouring war in Vietnam, the borders were crossed by fleeing communist Vietnamese, and were subsequently chased by the Americans and Southern Vietnamese. The country was carpet bombed and the Vietnamese and Cambodian communists were pushed deeper into the interior of the country. The Americans failed at their attempt to prevent this and made the situation worse. The whole country became engulfed in war, only ending when Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975, two weeks before the fall of Saigon.
Under Pol Pot's leadership, the Khmer Rouge executed one of the most heinous and devastating revolutions that the world has ever seen. Over the next four years two million Cambodians (from a population of 6 million) were killed. Hundreds of thousands of people were tortured to death or executed, especially intelligent, well educated individuals, those who could speak a foreign language and those with glasses (as thought to be geeks). Others died of malnutrition and disease. The middle class was eliminated, so all that was left was a population of peasants that were forced to work in agriculture. In 1978 the Vietnamese invaded, over throwing the Khmer Rouge, who fled towards the Thai border. The Cambodians set off across the country on foot in search of surviving family members. The crops then wilted and further died from famine and starvation.
The KR maintained a guerrilla war against the Vietnamese controlled government in Phnom Penh until 1991, when a peace accord was signed in Paris. UN administered elections were enabled for 1993 and Sihanouk was made King again. The KR died out in 1998, and many surviving members are awaiting trial. Unfortunately Pol Pot escaped punishment when he died in 1998, much to the country's dismay.

We visited the Killing Field's of Choeung Ek. 129 mass graves, 43 of which remain undisturbed, and a white stupor memorial for the 17,000 men, women and children executed by the Khmer Rouge. Bones from the excavated graves lay on shelves in the monument, some showing evidence of being bludgeoned to death in order to save precious bullets. The case remains open to allow the spirits to come and go as freely as they wish, Buddhists do not believe in burials as the spirit is trapped in a box and cannot be set free. Fragments of white bones protruded the soil, as did remnants of clothing. We were told of how the Khmer Rouge advised the prisoners that they were being taken to a new home, or another farm to work on, when in fact they were being brought to the slaughter. Music was played so they were not aware that they were about to die, and to cover up the noise. This is how it managed to go on for so long, the outside world was unaware of what was actually going on. The remains of 9 European journalists were found
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At the shooting range.
among the dead, another precaution to stop the world from finding out the truth. Executioners were also frequently killed to prevent them from talking. They kept up the facade of there being a party.
Children were killed in front of their mothers, before they themselves were killed. They had to watch as their babies were swung against a tree so that their skulls would crack. We were shown this particular tree. Writing this is making my stomach churn. So savage and brutal.
The Khmer Rouge managed to get away with a lot of the murders because they documented a series of inaccurate, fairytale reasons why the prisoners had been terminated, legalising it. However, it was just fun for them, the executioners experimented with their methods, often finding the most inhumane way to kill. The site was discovered in 1980 because of the stench of 17,000 rotting corpses. Unbelievably sad, and really shocking.

Afterwards we visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Once the Tuol Svay Prey High School, in 1975 Pol Pot's security forces transformed the school into Security Prison 21 (S-21), the country's largest center of detention and torture. This was where the prisoners were held and
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The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.
tortured before being taken to the Killing Fields and 'officially terminated.' Detainees who died during the torture were buried in mass graves by the side of the building. The classrooms used to hold the prisoners had makeshift brick walls built to divide them up into soldiery confinement, where they were shackled and not permitted to talk to any others. They had to sleep on the floor and were given two meals of rice soup everyday. The torture rooms still resemble the former classrooms. Inside the chalk board remains on the wall, a rusty bed without a mattress, shackles and a piss pot, completed with a black and white photograph of someone being tortured on the wall.
Many reels of negatives were found of the prisoners, taken to legalise the detention, which have recently been printed off and displayed in one of the blocks. Photographs of the staff were also taken. One of the few surviving prisoners is an artist who has painted scenes of torture that he himself endured, and of what others had told him had happened to them. There was also an exhibition of accounts from surviving prisoners and perpetrators. Many were forced to join the Khmer
S-21, Genocide MuseumS-21, Genocide MuseumS-21, Genocide Museum

The school of terror.
Rouge in threat of death to themselves or to their family, whilst others have no regret for what they did or witnessed.
We were given the tour by a woman who had lost her father and brother to the Khmer Rouge, and had walked from Battambang to Phnom Penh with her mother, watching many die of starvation. If I had experienced that horror, I would not want to relieve it everyday by giving tours of the museum, although I am sure she must just want the world to know what happened, that I can understand.
It still gets me at how recently this all happened and how quickly the country has restored itself. There are many still alive that experienced the horrors, in one way or another.
Outside the museum we were surrounded by amputees, victims of the landmines, begging for money. Very sad. Wish there was something that I could do, but the little money that I have would not help at all.

Also in the capital we visited the Psar Thmel, central market, more like a maze of stalls that were selling the identical items, and the stench of fish sauce was horrific.
Inside a CellInside a CellInside a Cell

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
A visit to the Wat Phnom temple seemed a necessary requirement of the trip too. It occupies the city's highest point, although only on a 27 meter high hill. The temple was erected in 1373 to house four Buddha statues that were deposited nearby from the Mekong river. They were found by a lady called Penh. Hence why the city is called Phnom Penh, which means Hill of Penh. The stairs were unfortunately lined with amputees, the town of heartbreak. At the top me and Lucy were asked to pose for a photo with two random Asian lads, the boys found it amusing!

We caught a 4 hour bus down to see the lighter side of Cambodia at Sihanoukville. Although it was slightly raining when we arrived, we headed straight down to the beach, it had been too long away from the sea, very happy to see it once again. Serendipity beach was very narrow and full of Cambodian holiday makers having fun and splashing about in the sea. It was a national holiday weekend, hence why it was so busy.
The next day the sun came out to play so we headed back down there. It was
Serendipity BeachSerendipity BeachSerendipity Beach

Sihanoukville.
still really hectic, and as soon as we sat down on the beach loungers that were laid out in front of a bar, we were surrounded by children trying to sell us stuff, but mostly they just wanted to chat. A few minutes later, Adam discovered that his camera was missing from the front pocket of his bag. We searched the beach and the immediate area, and even asked some of the kids if they knew of it's whereabouts, but it was definitely gone. After talking to some of the kids it became clear that it was one of the smaller boys who was notorious for stealing on the beach. One of the little girls said that whenever he gets caught the police never seem to do anything to him. The guy at our hotel said that this is because kids steal from tourists then sell it on to the police. When the tourist goes to the police station to report it, he has to bribe the police officer to give it back, or if not, bribe them for a police report for the insurance. When Adam went there the police guard felt empathy for all the pictures gone, and
Sailing The Seas.Sailing The Seas.Sailing The Seas.

Dive boat over choppy waters.
didn't ask for a bribe, although said he was willing to accept commission of US$5. Really corrupt police service. You hear about stuff like that in books, but never actually expect to experience it straight up. When the girls were talking to us, that's when we think the boy opened the front pocket of his bag and slipped it out. Probably thought it was a wallet, shaped like one. It really sucks though, what a shitter. Adam was not very happy, as you can imagine, and I also felt really gutted, like it was my own missing.
Other than that, we hired electric bikes one day and went on a mission. You can peddle them as normal bikes, but also turn on the power and use them like a lesser powered moped. So much fun. It rained suddenly when we were riding down a long empty road with no shelter, we got absolutely soaked. As soon as we got to the beach it had stopped again. Thought we might as well go for a swim!
A few doors down from where we stayed there was a restaurant/bar that we had all our meals in. It was so good we couldn't help ourselves. The first place in Asia that gives huge portions of food. It was English run, we do know how to eat! Across the road was also a cinema. Not one like at home, but a massive screen with the most comfortable wicker chairs and sofas inside. It played four random films every evening, and during the day and after the films, you could play computer games. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time in there.
We got to go diving again too, oh how I've missed it. It was not the most well organised day ever (involved swapping dive boats many times), and the sites were not the most colourful and interesting, but it was great to be under the water again. We saw the same sort of fish that I have bored you with in past journal entries, moon wrasse are everywhere! After the first dive, when we were still in the water, a school of flying fish jumped past, thought they were going to fly into us! Never seen that many before, wicked! There wasn't much to look at on the second dive, but we did some underwater dancing that was fun, Lucy almost swam off in the wrong direction, and Couch managed to break one of his flippers in half, very funny. When I smiled my goggles filled up with water! On the way back to land, just as we approached the jetty, the boat engine stalled and the captain couldn't get it started quick enough in the few necessary minutes. We crashed into the side of the wooden jetty. He got the engine started again, but not quick enough, it happened again. I thought it was hilarious. It wasn't going fast, so there was little chance of serious damage, but there was a woman sitting in a hammock on the jetty. It wasn't too close to her, but her frightened reaction was really humorous. It could have been a lot worse, but since it wasn't, I just laughed!!

Despite Adam's camera incident, and people constantly trying to blag our money out of us, I thought that Cambodia was a really nice country. Also despite the history and being covered with loads of undetonated landmines. I still think that it is strange that a country who must hate America for their contribution to the devastation that they still experience and endure, use US dollars as their main currency over their own Riel. To forgive and forget is a lesson we must all learn, I guess.

Thank you for reading. The next stage of our journey is through Vietnam, please come again.

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3rd November 2007

the temples look realy interesting ... amazing that they're so old yet in places still in reasonable condition ... how horrendous to see all those skulls and bones from all those battered people. you look so much a rebel with the rifle in your hands..... keep traveling and writing it's great to read .. love you .. xxxx

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