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Published: February 27th 2007
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Angkor Wat at sunrise
...a true sight to behold. It was with little enthusiasm that I left Bangkok bound for Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Margaret-Ann and Jo had left for Ireland, the others were still partying hard down on the Islands; I was flying solo and the prospect of spending time on my own in Cambodia didn't appeal to me much. I soldiered on....and I am delighted that I did. Cambodia was amazing - the jewel in South East Asia's crown ... in my humble opinion.
First stop was Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital city. In many ways it was like any other Asian city I've visited - noisy, dirty, open sewers, markets, pot-holed pavements, rubbish strewn everywhere but there was something strangely cosmopolitan about the place as well and I liked it. After recovering from my 3am start in Bangkok, I spent my first day touring the city by foot. I took in Wat Phnom, the central market - Psar Thmei, and stopped for lunch at the ultra modern Sorya Shopping Centre. What grabbed my attention here were the numerous "escalator trainers" on hand to help locals with the use of 'moving staircases' - something of an alien concept to them. I had my kill watching some of them master
The Killing Fields
"The bones cannot find peace, until the truth found in themselves, has been revealed." the art of stepping onto an escalator. Just shows you the things we take for granted.
The evening brought me down to the riverfront, decked out in flags from all corners of the globe but also over-run with street children hanging off you desperate for your small change. I ended the day with a quiet drink in the Foreign Correspondent's Club overlooking the river below - perfect!
My second day in the city was somewhat of a sombre occasion. I hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day who took me to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, a lasting reminder of the atrocities committed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. It was then on to the Tol Sleng Museum - Security Prison 21 (S-21), the largest centre of detention and torture in the country. Words fail me.
It was then on to the Royal Palace - a display of grandeur and oppulence. A far cry from what I had witnessed only a few hours earlier. By this time, I thought I deserved a drink so headed back to the FCC for another quiet beer to reflect on what I'd seen that day.
It was time to leave
The Killing Fields
The Memorial House housing the skulls of those who were brutally killed under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. Phnom Penh behind and head north to Siem Reap. The journey up was pretty uneventful - the Cambodian dude sat next to me, insisted I tried out the food he was eating...the sugar coated dried bananas were lovely but I drew the line at deep fried spider...or however else it was cooked!
Siem Reap is the gateway to the temples of Angkor - a must see on any visit to Cambodia. With little interest in ancient civilisation and the like, it was with some reluctance that I arose at 5am to set off for the temples to catch the sunrise.
My moto driver, Bunna, (a true legend) picked me up at 5.30am and we took off. We arrived in the pitch black and at about 6am, the light began to shine on a truly remarkable sight....the entire population of Japan and South Korea lined up in a perfect row with their cameras poised to capture that once in a lifetime Kodak moment...the sun rising over Angkor Wat, the mother of temples! In all seriousness, it was a pretty awesome sight and I was very glad I made the effort. Hopefully the photos capture the moment. I then spent
a couple of hours walking around Angkor Wat and climbing up to the top, before stopping for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent taking in Angkor Tom, the Terrace of Elephants, Banteay Srei, and the Tomb Raider temple, Ta Phrom. My backside was numb by 3pm having spent the best part of the day tearing up the dirt tracks on the back of a moto. Couldn't quite believe I'd spent 9 hours touring ancient ruins but I really enjoyed it. They say it's sacriligious to spend only one day doing it, but I had my fill and wasn't too fussed about returning for more.
The following day my driver insisted on picking me up again and taking me out into rural Cambodia, the real Cambodia. It was great to get away from the crowds and to see first hand how the majority of Cambodians live. Sadly, there was a lot of desperate poverty but what they lacked in material wealth, they made up for in their smiles and warmth.
The rest of my time in Siem Reap was spent relaxing in town and being followed around by several children - "Mr Scotland - you buy postcard,
you buy book, you play game with me." The trick is, if you play a game and you lose, you have to buy whatever they say. So after one game of knots and crosses, I became the proud owner of several postcards to add to the pile of beads, wooden flutes and books I acquired from the kids at the temples.
Little Kid: Where you from?
Me: Scotland
Little Kid: Capital Edinburgh
Me: Yes, well done
Little Kid: You know population of Scotland?
Me: No
Little Kid: 6 million minus one
Me: Why's that?
Little Kid: Because you here!!!
I was quite taken by this until I heard him use the same patter with a Canadian sat at a table only yards away. God loves a trier!
So that was yesterday, and today I took a taxi with two english girls to the Cambodian/Thai border at Poipet - a 3 hour journey on what could possibly be the bumpiest road ever! We arrived at the border and crossed over into Thailand to catch a bus back to Bangkok.
So that was my time in Cambodia in a nutshell - not sure if I have done the
place justice, but I loved the place and would encourage anyone over in this part of the world to make the effort to go see the place. You won't be dissapointed!
My South East Asian adventure has sadly come to an end and it's off to South Africa for me on Thursday night! I cannot wait! I will be based in Cape Town for a few months where I will be working with an NGO involved in human rights, mainly AIDS advocacy work. I will be in touch again once I'm settled.
I didn't quite make use of my TEFL Certificate whilst in Asia, deciding instead to head to Cape Town and work there. I did, however, help a young moto driver in Phnom Penh the other day with his use of the english language. When trying to tell me that he would take me to "four places," he said he would take me "for foreplay." I soon picked him up on it, and I think business is now booming for him!
Till next time....
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NJWS
Neil Sargent
Mum is lost for words
I actually have tears in my eyes and a large lump in my throat - bewildered by its beauty and horrified by the cruelty. What an experience.