Phu Quoc, Ha Tien, Kampot, Kompack Trach, and Phnom Penh

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Disclaimer this might be a little rough as I didn't have time to fully edit since we closed out the internet cafe.

Hi All!

So it took me a little longer than a week to get back to the blog as we have had very little internet access lately. Since I left off, we had a lovely four days in Phu Quoc, and then we went to Ha tien, a nice border town, before making our way to Cambodia. In Cambodia we spent 2 nights in Kampot a river town in the south, and then we stopped at Kompack Trach on the way to Phnom Penh.

So, now for more detail. Phu Quoc is a very undeveloped beach island where we had a bungalow with a sea side view for the hefty price tag of $25/night. Everything about the island right now is aimed at backpackers. Every restaurant had basically the same menu - a split between western and Khmer (Cambodian) food, separated into types of meat and seafood. All the food was good, not spectacular, but I had plenty of very good seafood (in particular I loved the fresh squid). The first day on the beach was exactly what we needed after a long week of traveling. The next day we decided to take a motorbike tour of the island, very fun to see how the drivers avoided most of the pot holes on the dirt roads. Unfortunately, it rained for most of the tour, but that did provide Dan and I a chance to eat ice cream on a beautiful beach (very similar to a cancun beach -- flat, blue, and clear, but this beach also had mountains and fishing boats in the background) which was amazing. However the ice cream costs us $1.50 each, which in our Vietnam mindset was RIDOUNCULOUS. Dan actually yelled at the guy, but we gave in as eating the ice cream in the rain (at 11:30 am) was just too enticing.

On our third day we decided it was time to end our vacation and get back to our trip ... however the travel gods were not all for this decision. We found out at 11 am that day, that the 2 pm ferry we were planning to take actually doesn''t run. So we had to stay in Phu Quac a 3rd day (soooo sad), luckily it was the best weather we had the whole time there. It was perfect sitting by the beach, and reading weather. Dan even got an hour long massage for $3 (I calculated this as a 95% discount on NYC price). So on our 4th day we were all set to go on the 8:30 ferry, we got to the dock in plenty of time only to find out the ferry wasnt running that day. Yup no warning, nothing. We had to wait 4 hours in a way station of a town to take the afternoon ferry to another town (Rach Gia), and then a 3 hour bus ride to our destination Ha Tien. The only thing remarkable about the "town" was watching the kids play around us. During the four hours, we twice saw little girls squat and pull there pants down for a couple of mins, I am still very confused as to what they were doing (I understand probably peeing but really seemed not to be the case). In the whole, the delay was not a huge deal, we only lost a day, but still annoying. Warning, and responsibility to ticket holders is apparently not part of the Vietnamese culture... Lesson Learned.

When we finally reached Ha Tien, we were quite surprised by how nice a town it was. We got our best guest house to date with an elevator, a/c, hot water, tv, and even nice add ons like tea in our room and shampoo for only $12. It also had the most lively night life for a town, with all the carts still operating on the riverfront street at 10 pm. Dan had a bbqed little sparrow like bird that was surprisingly tasty. Also, they were frying duck heads right there on the street. We went to one cart, where we were considering eating dinner, only to discover the biggest snail i've ever seen, literally it was 6 inches long and beautifully spotted.

The next day after exploring the pagodas and caves the town had to offer we made our way via taxi to Kampot in Cambodia. The border crossing was amazing. On the Vietnamese side everything is nice with huge ceremonial arch ways. Then once we exit Vietnam we travel through a little no-mans-land to get to the Cambodia border, which was nicely outfitted with shacks. It was quite a stark difference. Once we got through the Cambodian border, we got on the worst road I have yet to see in my life. We literally moto-ed through a foot of mud for a good mile ... It was rough.

Once we got through the mud and the taxi drivers washed off their legs in the rice paddys, I could concentrate on the beauty of Cambodian country side with rice paddys as far as the eye could see and very few people in sight. With the sun shinning the rice paddys have this floursent green color that just sparkles. Also, in Vietnam, I had only encountered chickens and cows along the road but here I also saw pigs and water buffalo!

Our first destination in Cambodia was Kampot, which was a nice quaint river town with a beautiful mountain backdrop. We decided to take a tour to Bokor Mountains while we were there - Bokor has a resort and casino on top of the mountain that was originally built by the French and then the Khmer Rouge established it as a prision. It was last the staging grounds for a 5 month stand out between the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Army. Since then it has stood vacant. Currently a private Chinese Company is building a large new resort on top of the mountain.

Anyways, the tour included a quite rigorous trek up the mountain (OK so it was rigorous for me, everyone else seemed to have no problem going straight up for an hour). The hike was in the jungle, and we sadly saw no wild life, but lucky for me I did have two leeches that found my ankles quite appetizing. And yes, on the way up at least, I was the only one to actually be leeched, FUN times. Once we finally got to the top of the hill, it of course started pouring. Between the thick fog and pouring rain, it was both spooky and miserable. Hopefully at least the pictures turned out OK. I think our guide who spent ten years in the jungles at first hiding from the Khmer Rouge and then in the Army must have been really unimpressed with our complaining. On the way down the mountain we got to enjoy having our faces slapped with rain from the back of a pick up truck. However the worst part for me was that we still had to hike down. For some reason to do with a private road being built up the mountain no one was allowed to be driven down the mountain. (Side note, this rule did have some lay way. You could pay $5 to be driven down the mountain if you could hide during this drive. With a ton of tack (meaning none) our tour guide forced the one bigger girl to go in the truck, as he put it "she is fat, so she has to pay more as I don't know if she can't make it on the path and once you start it's hard to go back." In the end, the hike down was a lot better then I expected, as the rain let up, and I only slipped twice. Also, the leeches did not seem to like my wet self (but one did sadly get Dan).

After drying up, Dan and I treated ourselves to dinner at a nice unassuming backpacker joint, which had Jug's of beer for $2 (roughly 5 beers/jug).

The next day we decided to take a Tuk Tuk to Kompack Trach in order to get some sites done on the way. We figured being in a Tuk Tuk (a motocycle with a wagon like addition, similar to a carriage with the motorcycle replacing the horse) would be better than a motorcycle ride on the dirt roads, but umm, it turns out that going over constant pot holes with no suspension is not actually all its cracked up to be.

Along the way to Kompack Trach, we stopped at two pagodos situated within caves. More exciting then the pagodas were the tours of the caves lead by the local guides (all around 15 years old). These tours would never exist in the states. On the first one we scampered around caves with the light provided by the tour guide's cell phone. At one point we literally had to do a rock climbing move over a 30 foot drop. But we made it unharmed, and got to see the caves, views, monkeys, and bats.

At the second cave pagoda, the caves were actually less interesting then the surronding area. The area had a valley with jutting cliffs that looked as the guide book put it "like jurassic park". To make the metaphor all the more apt, there was cows and goats grazing while we were there. We had very nice guides one of which offered to show us the sweets in town that night. In the end he didn't end up showing up, which I blame on the hornets nest that attacked him during the tour (he got four stings, luckily he was leading us and we missed them!).

Kompach Trach itself was not the nicest town, but it did show us what a small town in Cambodia is like. For example, at 7:30, it seemed basically everyone is asleep. Also, we learned to make sure not to dirty the towels (we used them to clean our muddy shoes), as the housekeeper will yell at you in Khmer and demand $5 (we negotiated down to $2).

Now we are in Phnom Phen. It is nice to be in a big city again, but it's really pretty ugly in terms of architecture. Also, it's not as crazy roads as Saigon but as there really are NO sidewalks it makes walking just as difficult. But, interestingly, there is a LOT more cars here than Vietnam. There is also a lot of Tuk Tuk, who make walking all the more exasperating as whenever you pass one (which is always), they badger you. The most interesting badgering is "Where are you going? Want to go to the killing fields?" Which is a totally legitimate question as you need a Tuk Tuk to get there, but hearing that constantly is just bizarre.

Overall Cambodia has been a nice change of pace. Its a lot calmer than Vietnam, and everything is just really chill. Also, as mentioned before, it is absolutely gorgeous. But some parts are also harder, the food has overall not been as good, we seem to be nickle and dimed more as everything is in dollars, and everyone seems to think we should give them a dollar. (We had to go to a bank to get more singles as they are a hottt commodity). Also, last night we decided to go to a bar on one of the popular strips which quickly showed itself to be quite sketchy with bar names like "pussy cat", and "69". We choose the most banal named bar, but still witnessed some shady business go down with old men praying on the young women. Lastly, of course, the very painful history is always there, as every religious site has had to be restored post-Khmer Rouge, and every tourist site seems to include a spot where people were massacred.

Two last funny things about Cambodia so far. We have seen pigs be transported on motorbikes by straw net. So far, they have passed too fast to get a picture, but I'm hoping we get one at some point. Also, restaurants in Phnom Penh seem to all have whole pigs roasting which is quite a site.

Tomorrow, we are getting through all the remaining sites in Phnom Penh, maybe catching some Cambodian wresting), and then we are heading to the south east to go treking in some hopefully gorgeous mountains! Then on the Ankor Wat, and the bamboo train in Battambang which I am way too excited for.

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