COMING SOON HOUSE ADVERTISING ads_leader
Kratie
Told you it had beautiful sunsets over the Mekong Johm riab sua (hello in Khmer)
We hope this blog finds you in good health and looking forward to spring.
We told you Laos was captivating and it didn't let us go. We got to the boat landing stage but instead of heading for the mainland to cross into Cambodia we caught a different boat over to Don Khon island where we enjoyed a further 4 days of idyllic island life. Then our visas really were about to expire and we had only 24 hours to get out the country.
It's been a great adventure exploring Cambodia and didn't take long for us to fall under its spell. Whilst not as cosmopolitan as Vietnam and Laos we soon came to appreciate its many charms. The main one being its people who we found warm and friendly and who really went out of their way to be helpful. Quite amazing considering the country's recent past.
Where we crossed the border from Laos and for the next 100kms or so until we reached Kratie it was incredibly dry and dusty - like we were getting a preview of the red centre
Kratie - Rapids
Went to see the rapids.......so did everyone else - well it was Lunar New Year of Australia. However, the scenery soon changed and became like a cross between Little house on the Prairie and a John Constable painting - lots of green fields and wooden carts being pulled by a variety of animals. As with most of SE Asia by far the favoured mode of transport is a motorbike. We found the sight of school children riding around on them quite daunting especially given the road conditions and how fast the big lorries, trucks, buses, etc travel in both directions in the same lane! Thought we'd seen it all until we spotted 3 people on a bike with the person on the back holding a wooden pole with a drip attached to the arm of the person in the middle!
A few interesting facts: the population is nearly 15.5 million, growing fast at a rate of about 2% a year and more than 40% is under 16 years of age. Official statistics show that around 96% of the people are ethnic Khmers and 95% follow the Theravada branch of Buddhism. The country is about 75% the size of the UK.
We spent our first couple of days in KRATIE,
Kratie
This really is the best picture we got of one of the rare Irrawaddy dolphins! a lively riverside town with a rich legacy of French-era architecture and some of the best Mekong sunsets in Cambodia. We did a trip into the surrounding countryside, visited a temple, some rapids and enjoyed a boat trip on the Mekong where we spotted several rare Irrawaddy dolphins. They're very hard to caputre on camera but we've included our best effort.
From Kratie we travelled by minivan to the capital, PHNOM PENH. A journey we were told would take 5 hours and thank goodness it didn't take a minute longer. We wouldn't normally go into detail of our trips on public transport as each one tends to be an experience in itself, however this one was just so farcical we have to expand on it. We paid a fare of US$13 each, double the norm but were assured by the hotel front desk manager that as it was Lunar New Year time and the whole country was on the move visiting their respective families bus tickets were at a premium. We were the only Westerners on board and reckon we paid for everyone else. Things started well but after several further pick ups on the road out
Phnom Penh
The art deco Central Market of town our 16 seater van contained 28 people, all their luggage and a five foot teddy bear! As is customary on public transport in SE Asia the locals spend the whole journey eating - meat on sticks, fresh fruits and boiled eggs were the favoured items on this journey (the small 4 year old girl next to Trev would have given Cool Hand Luke a run for his money in the egg eating competition!). Although the van had aircon the passengers preferred to have the windows open so it was stifling hot. After a couple of comfort breaks where our fellow passengers consumed even more fodder and then struggled to keep it all down - sadly some didn't, adding to the mixture of sweat and various food smells. Boy were we glad to disembark and find our hotel, which was located in a great position overlooking the Royal Palace and National Museum of Cambodia.
We spent five full on days in the capital visiting most of the tourist attractions, including the Royal Palace (being the official residence of King Sihamoni parts of the massive compound are off limits to the public except the throne hall and
Phnom Penh - Central Market
Inside the dome of the market - fake watch anyone? a clutch of buildings surrounding it - well worth it though as the grounds are beautiful), the National Museum (home to the world's finest collection of Khmer sculpture), Wat Phnom (revered by locals who flock here to pray for good luck), Wat Ounalom (headquarters of Cambodian Buddhism), the Independence Monument (modelled on the central tower of Angkor Wat), Psar Thmei (referred to locally as Central Market - a fab art-deco building housing an array of stalls selling jewellery (some fabulous, some fake), clothing and curios) and the Tuol Sleng Museum (a high school that was turned into Security Prison 21, known as S-21, which became the largest centre of detention and torture in the country. Of the 17,000 people estimated to have been detained there were only 7 survivors). Phnom Penh has an alluring cafe culture, bustling bars, a world-class food scene and a great location on the banks of the mighty Mekong. We could easily of stayed longer but with the mercury hitting the mid to high 30s we decided to head to the coast.
We travelled by minibus down to the south coast and based ourselves in the seaside resort of KEP-SUR-MER. We stayed in
Phnom Penh
Every evening locals gather for a massive picnic outside the Royal Palace a small boutique guesthouse next to Kep National Park and within a 5 minue walk to the Crab Market. Kep is famous for its crabs and there are many great places down at the market to choose from. Verity chose a place called Kimly's just because she liked their signboard and we soon discovered this was the best and busiest restaurant on the waterfront with a good reputation and crab prepared in 27 different ways. We spent a wonderful day walking around Kep National Park - a big thank you to the owners of Led Zep cafe in the park who have spent the last 6-7 years opening new and reopening old trails. We hired a motorbike for one day and rode to the nearby town of KAMPOT - the province of Kampot is famous for producing some of the world's finest pepper and we enjoyed a tour of one of the bigger plantations by a most interesting Cambodian guy who had studied agriculture in Russia for 7 years specialising in fruit trees.
From Kep we travelled by coach via Phnom Penh to SIEM REAP, which we adored at first sight. It's home to the famous Angkor
Phnom Penh - Wat Phnom
Set on the highest point in Phnom Penh (built by a lady named Penh and Phnom means hill - this is a massive 27 metres high!) temple ruins and the infamous Pub Street! As well as that it's also a very nice city and where the King actually chooses to live. We spent our first day here visiting the wonderful state-of-the-art Angkor National Museum which gives a great introduction to the glories of the Khmer empire. We then purchased a 3 day pass to see the temples and with the assistance of our brilliant guesthouse manager, Mr Lucky, and his tuk tuk driver we managed to see 19 temples including, of course, the big 3 - Angkor Wat (the world's largest temple), Bayon and Ta Prohm. It goes without saying that Angkor Wat steals the show but each one, if on its own, would be a big draw.
We dined like kings in Cambodia but for a very small price. The traditional dishes are similar to those of Laos and Thailand but not as spicy. A firm favourite with us was the National dish, Amok - fish (or meat) baked with coconut milk and lemongrass in banana leaves. We also loved the Lok Lak's (tender slices of beef in a piquant sauce served over slices of raw onions and tomatoes). Beer is immensely
Phnom Penh - Royal Palace
The Royal throne room - sadly no pictures allowed inside popular in the cities and we did our best to increase the sales of Angkor Beer (in Siem Reap draft Angkor was only 33p.....it would be rude not to really).
We are now back in Thailand and planning our onward travel.
Lots of love to all,
Trevor & Verity xxx
COMING SOON HOUSE ADVERTISING ads_leader_blog_bottom
Tot: 0.053s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 5; qc: 43; dbt: 0.0286s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb