Cambodia 28 March - 7 April 2010

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part 1 - Sihanoukville

Ola & I decided it would be cool to travel to Cambodia from Phu Quoc island by boat & bus as a change from flying. We booked our tickets in Phu Quoc from a Russian guy who was offering a speed boat to Ha Tien, bus ride across the boarder into Sihanoukville and Cambodian visa processing - all for US$50!!! It seemed too good to be true!! & when we arrived at the jetty the next morning, we feared that we had been badly jubed. At the jetty we were informed that the speed boat had broken down & we would take a slow boat for twice the length of time. This meant that we might miss our bus to Cambodia & we had to wait to get to the other side to see what would happen. We tried to call the office where we got our tickets & they were conveniently closed... hmmm... So Ola & I reluctantly boarded the veteran vessle which closely resembled the "refugee smuggling ships" we've become so familiar with on our TV screens in Oz! We spent 3.5hrs praying the boat wouldn't sink whilst holding up Ola's silk liner as a shield from the burning sun - a sight that seemed to truly entertain the local travelers sharing our fleet! Thank goodness, there was a Vietnamese American on our boat who translated for us & helped to ease our worries.. and more thanks to goodness we arrived at Ha Tien to find another guy holding up a board with my name on it (how many times can I achieve this goal? hehe) =) so we gladly followed him to a van which took us to another office where our passports were taken from us (for visa processing - & promised to be returned at the border...hmmm) then we took another van to another bus & were on our way to cross over from Vietland to Cambland =) weeeee!!! it really did feel cool to walk across a border...& ever better to find our passports were in fact waiting for us there =) phew!! journey full of "oh my" moments but ended quite well! our bus to Sihanoukville broke all Asian records in my mind - in contrast to the usual overload of passengers (more on this later...) & a few animals all crammed between piles of luggage, this bus was empty!!! Ola, me & two other guys crossing with us were the only passengers!!!

Sihanoukville was super cool! not as touristy as I expected! we charmed some motorbike drivers (legit taxis) to take us around looking for hotels & ATM =) My driver put his helmet on & gave me nothing to wear! refusing to allow the bike to move unless my cranium had some protection also, we finally agreed to do a head-gear swap (he took my sun hat & I took the helmet) hehe... I let him keep the hat as a token gift of thanks & I returned the helmet ofcourse =)
Ola & I spent our time in Sihanoukville visiting different beaches, fighting off the beach vendors (quite unsuccessfully!! - ended up with bracelets, massage everyday, fruits, & other beauty therapies)... we didnt mind so much.. the locals are gorgeous people & can get quite feisty if u dont buy from them...hehe... so in the interest of keeping the peace we just paid up! haha...

fave moments in Sihanoukville
- exploring the "happy menu" at a restaurant... erhm!
- having a drink 1 night with 2US Marines... very interesting conversations about their roles in Iraq/Afghanistan... they were cool guys who offered us a great insight into the "jar head" mentality =) I really had to bite my tongue not to share my true views with them... they got quite emotional about things & I decided it was far more interesting to just listen to them & accept their perspective & experiences of the war...
- waking up at 8am every day for an early morning swim/jog on the beach (attracting puzzled & amused looks from the locals) - thought of you Anu!!!
- lying on the beach all day long & getting a super cool tan!!! haha
- talking to the local kids "hey my friend" ... " you promise you buy from me my friend" ... "money for school ma'am" ... "you like banana?" (followed by girlie giggles) ...


part 2 - Siem Reap & Angkor Wat

Ola & I were sad to leave Sihanoukville & beach life, but the anticipation of seeing Angkor Wat & the cities of Cambodia kept us excited. We boarded a night bus to Siem Reap after 3.5days on the beach, arriving some time in the morning... our hotel in Sihanoukville had arranged for a tuk tuk driver to meet us at the bus station & take us to a hotel - free of charge!! I couldn't wait to see what the catch was for this "free" trip!! the driver took us to New Riverside Hotel (which is not on the river, but has a swimming pool!)... we decided that for US$15/nite with big rooms, A/C, clean bathroom, b'fast, pool & free rides to the city it was a pretty good deal so we stayed there). & there it was, the catch for our free trip... the tuk tuk driver informed me that he would be our guide for our time there to take us to the temples... tired & sleep deprived we agreed (not asking the price) & made a time for him to pick us up in the arvo to see the temples at sunset. We spent our day sleeping & relaxing by the pool, til it was time to view our infamous sunset from the temple on the hill (oops forgot the name :/ ) - this was nice expect that the clouds hid the sunset from our view & the place was swarming with hundreds of tourists!!!
Our driver informed us upon return to the city that he wanted some ridiculous amount for the next 2-3 days of temple touring... so we paid him a small amount for that day & bade him farewell...he warned us that we would struggle to find another driver & we'd be stuck without temple watching. This seemed laughable at the time & over the next few days became even funnier considering we were asked by every tuk tuk driver if we needed a tour guide to the temples. We found our man (Subhat) straight away. He looks like an 18 yr old (max) but claims he's 24... he was tiny with a huge smile on his face that we could spot from a mile away... he also had this innocent nervousness about him that indicated he would not rip us off (too much)...hehe...
we spent the 2days waking up 7am for b'fast & meeting Subhat at 8am for a day tour of the temples. What can I say about Angkor Wat...? They are truly amazing structures, with an ancient mystical vibe about them... their colour & design is quite unique & it was cool to see that each temple did have its own individual style... despite this beauty, by the end of the 2nd day we had definitely had enough of temple touring - for starters the heat was scorching & made it difficult to maintain enough energy for all the walking & viewing (though it was nice to know we could chill out in our pool afterward =) ;
2nd of all, we had run out of humour & creative ways of escaping the masses of locals trying to sell us THE SAME THING!!! at each temple!!!! somehow we got away with buying just a painting & cold drinks... My fave time was at one temple where these girls followed us for 10mins trying to sell their bracelets... eventually out of frustration I said to them "if i gave you US$1 each for nothing at all will you go away?" I've never seen anyone look so happy & nod so sternly!! haha... so I decided there's no fun in that for me & asked them to sing me a Cambodian song for the money... video footage of this will be uploaded at some point in time... but it was definitely worth the money! hehe...

On our last nite in Siem Reap we met a group of Irish guys traveling around the world - they were really nice & funny (typical Irish lads) so we hung out with them, ate dinner had some beers, etc til we had to go back to our hotel & catch our midnight bus to Phnom Penh....


part 3 - Phnom Penh

Well, if we were going to judge our time in Phnom Penh based on our bus ride there we would've been truly worried! the bus was supposed to pick us up at 11:30pm from our hotel in Siem Reap. When at midnite it hadnt arrived, we thought we better call to make sure it's coming. 5 phone calls & 30mins later, the bus finally arrived. It soon became clear that they had completely forgotten about us (or weren't even aware of our booking). The guy who guided us to the bus was nervous & stuttering. He kept asking how much we paid for the ticket (we said we paid $10, tho we'd paid $8) ... so he offered to give us $10 back coz the bus was overbooked & we had to sit on the floor... WHAT THE...?!? we argued with him for a while & finally settled for a $12 refund (meaning that we spend $2 each for this ride). When we entered the bus, it was clear that there was absolutely no where to sit, not even in the isles.... as we stood there & looked around in confusion, one of the staff signaled us towards a staircase heading - down! Within minutes we found ourselves crammed up in the luggage compartment with 6 other men whose bookings had also been overlooked! Apart from the almost complete lack of air in there, we also had the joy of being right outside the 'not so fresh' toilet... yipeeee!!!
it's moments like these that you can only laugh at your situation... we made our beds from the bags around us... & to our pleasure we found that the men were extremely nice & easy to talk with. I dont know if I slept at all that nite... & if I did it was truly with 1 eye open... hehe...
I guess anyone can imagine the state we were in when we reach Phnom Penh... but what a memorable experience! ;p
found a hotel in the heart of phnom penh... near the river, bars & main sites. We decided to visit the prison first & to get the dismal parts out of the way... I guess every tourist has to see this place to truly understand what the Cambodian people have gone thru in such recent history... It really clarified so much for me regarding their attitudes & state of being... definitely one of the most emotionally challenging places to go... but it's a must if ur visiting Cambodia! after the prison (& considering our own war history) we decided that we didnt need to see the killing fields... so we found a beauty parlour instead & we GOT PAMPERED!! ... hmmmm... the moral/ethical contrast here really got to us... but darn it I needed a facial & Ola needed other things... hehe... we spent 3hrs in the parlour - had one of the most amazing facials ever! & somehow walked out with conditioned & straightened hair... =)
We then found the local park in the city centre... the sun was setting & there were groups of people all over the place doing aerobics! haha... with smaller groups of boys playing soccer in between them... the outskirts of the park were lined with food vendors selling mostly the same thing... hehe... so we bought corn from one & noodles from the other & a cool raspberry drink from yet another... then we sat on tiny little plastic chairs (good think we're both Asian size) & ate while we watched the mass activity around us... the funniest thing was that during the aerobics noone was in sync!! hehe... after the sun set, they switched to Cambodian dancing... & like a miracle, suddenly everyone was in sync! hmmmmm....
On our 2nd nite in PP, we met 4 ozzie guys travelling to Cambodia for just 2wks... They were super relieved to meet English speakers from their country who they could converse with... I guess we enjoyed this opportunity too, but the difference is we had left Aust about 2mths earlier & they had been there just 3days! haha... cute... for most of them it was their first time in overseas & it was nice seeing their fresh perspectives on travel, etc... I must admit when we first met them we didnt think we'd be spending too long with them as the conversations seemed a little shallow.... but by the end of the first night we had covered topics including beer drinking, prostitution, drugs, travel, politics, religion, friendship, family, suicide, and more!!!
once again we found ourselves with a new group of friends. The next day Ola & I hung out the city & saw the royal palace (where I was robbed!!!) can't believe I got pick-pocketed!!! luckily she only took about US$15,but it's the principle of it all!!! hmmmm.... I was so annoyed after that so I refused to give any money to any of the street kids & told them all what happened to me & asked them to never steal from tourists... actually it was really interesting talking to the street kids in PP about the history of Cambodia, their poverty & how they perceived the tourists - which can be basically summarised as "you have money & I dont so you should just give it to me"....
We met our ozzie (from perth) crew again that night for a final dinner/drinks & bade them farewell since we were both leaving PP early next morning.
On the 7th of April, after only 3hrs of sleep, Ola & I ended our first adventure together... I left her at the hotel at 6am to catch my flight to Singapore...while she left at 7am to take a bus back to Siem Reap for a day before flying back home to Melbourne...
I must say that by this stage I was feeling a bit homesick & jealous that Ola was gona see our friends & go to Angie's 30th bday party without me...
I swallowed my nostalgia & looked on to a new adventure on my own again =)

Hala's Tan-O-Meter

I maintained my sexy 8 with minimal tan lines *wink wink*

Flight / Bus trips count

- Ha Tien to Cambodian border (bus)
- border to Sihanoukville (bus)
- Sihanoukville to Siem Reap (bus)
- Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (bus)
- 1x flight to Singapore

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