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Published: October 29th 2005
Phnom Pehn - The Killing Fields
A trip to the killing fields around Phnom Pehn is all but mandatory. The number of skulls in this monument was very sobering.Phnom Penh
The trip across the border was pretty easy. Customs is not to much of an issue, as in they don't even bother to look at your bags and barely glance at your passport. It was all done on a very brief stop on the trip up the river on the slow boat. Upon disembarking the boat for the last time into Cambodia we were ushered into a bus and on our way to Phnom Pehn.
The road was amazing! Described as a "free massage" by the local operator, road bumps on this road were not very useful as they went completely unoticed amongst the bumps from all the other potholes.
As expected we were dropped off outside a hostel that must have been linked with the tour provider. The rooms were small dirty and and dark so much to the operators dimay and against his advice I jumped on the back of a moto and cruised to the backpacker district at the lake.
What a decision! The place I stayed at was great. 'Happy Guesthouse' (one of a couple with the same name, all providing "happy" product also). It was clean, spacious and nice. They played
Sihanoukville - Moto riding
Even though the rain was pretty regular we still managed to get out on the bikes to do a bit of exploring. Out to the palm lined beaches beside the national park. good music all the time (including Salmonella dub and Bic Runga)and the place was full of happy backpackers (also was the same price as the one I was previously offered in town). The only problem was that it was almost too easy to sit back, chill and enjoy the view over the lake.
At happy I met a group of travellers who had all been travelling individually but had all met on the bus trip from Thailand and were now all heading in the same direction. So after the sites of Phnom Pehn, I joined them and a couple of others on a trip to Sihanoukeville.
Before heading South, I did have a look at the sites around Phnom Pehn. The killing fields were non descript but the temple in the middle of the area is filled to the top with the skulls from exumed bodies and the stories of the area are horrific. The people here have certainly been through a lot.
I followed up this with a trip to S-21 which was the jail/interogation area that people went to prior to going to the killing fields. I also went to a couple of monuments and
Sihanoukville - Water falls
We went to visit some waterfalls on our moto ride which were pretty impressive. This one was perfectly clean (unlike all the others which were a disturbing shade of yellow), and you could climb in behind the water - very cool. the national museum but there was nothing particularly interesting there and the only issue was the moto drivers who followed me around telling me that I had agreed that they would take me to the killing fields and then asking twice the standard rate for it. Such is life.
Sihanoukville
Our trip to the beach was fast and relatively flat (I was very impressed) when we got to Sihanoukelville the moto drivers were so keen to help us get to where we wanted to go that there was a guy there with a stick to keep them back (It took a few sharp whacks to actually keep them back).
Life in S'ville was pretty relaxed. We stayed at a nice guesthouse a couple of hundred meters from the beach. It rained a bit so we had plenty of time to hang out and play cards and listen to music.
In the evenings after dinner, the rain would always have finished, so we would cruise to the bars of the beach and relax with a drink looking over the sea. Certainly not a bad way to spend your time.
On our second day a few of
Sihanoukville - The Beach
Our boat trip from s'ville was beautiful after a little snorkelling at one of the island reefs we spent some time at this idylic spot with the waves lapping at our feet while lunch was prepared. I should've worn more sunblock though because I came back fried! us hired scooters for the day and went to see some of the local sites. This was the first time i'd driven one of these things so i was a bit nervous, particularly after seeing the fatal crash in Mui Ne (Vietnam). But the roads were in good condition and there was very little traffic so it was all good. Before wew even got out of the town, of the 5 bikes we had 1 had completely stopped and another had a flat tire! We got this sorted with minimal fuss and were on our way.
We cruised out of town to see one of the national parks only to find that it was particularly expensived to get in, and you have to go on a boat cruise. We ended up driving through a little bit and spending a little bit of time at the beach at the far side.
After that we rushed to see the water falls which were great. The main falls were a bizzare yellow colour (too similar to pee for my liking) which was a bit off putting, but there were still plenty of people swimming in the water. We managed to find
Angkor Wat
Yeah, this place is pretty stunning. a smaller fall on the far side in which the water was almost perfectly clear and a pleasure to swim in. You could climb up behind this fall and watch the water fall infront of you or reach through it. A highlight of my day.
The following day a few of us went on the boat trip. After cruising across to the islands on a boat that felt like it could tip over at any second we went snorkelling. The water was clear and the there were many fish. Nothing compared to some of the more well know reefs but soooo good to be swimming in the water. We then cruised to another island where we went ashore. The water was crystal clear and the sand was white and squeaky. Lunch was simple and delicious and entertainment was provided by people giving poi a go for the first time (always entertaining).
By the time I got home after another trip to a reef for snorkelling my back and shoulders were lobster red (oops! skin is still recovering over 2 weeks later). Anyway at this point it was about time to leave the beach and start heading inland.
Angkor Wat
Hey it's me! Siem Riep
After another brief stop at Happy, it was onto Siem Riep to see Ankor Wat.
Yeah amazing temples lots of rocks. If any one care I've got more photos than I'll even be bothered to look at again. I do wonder how many pilgrims have died visiting some of these temples because the stairs are so steep you have to climb up like a ladder.
The number of people at the temple for sunrise was pretty amazing especially considering it's in the off season. After that everyone seemed to disappear and we were able to explore the temples almost on our own.
I was once again tricked into praying to buhda and then told that I needed to donate. I was again not impressed. I'm starting to think there is a good trade in pretending to be a monk.
We went out in Siem Riep to celebrate the birthday of one of the girls I was travelling with. We tried a range of Mekong and Vodka buckets + cocktails and although there was pretty much no night life to speak of no one was up early in the morning.
We managed to pack
Angkor Wat
This temple was apparently where they filmed tomb raider! I didn't see Lara Croft but the trees growing through the temple were very cool. up slowly and the next day we headed off again to make our way to Laos.
North Eastern Cambodia
We didn't really stop much on the way but the journey was definitely an experience. After a bus journey we got to the sleepy little town of Kompong Cham. We thought we'd be able to get a boat up from here but aparently they stopped running over 6 months ago. Somehow the motodrivers managed to negotiate us onto a cargo boat that just happened to be there (we could have taken a bus or share taxi but this seemed like much more fun). After a couple of hours they'd managed to load all the concrete and we were off. We were told when we left the trip would be about 3 hours.
9 hours later shortly after midnight we arrived at Kratie. Nothing was open but the crew let us sleep on the boat. I think it gave them a lot of entertainment.
The next morning we found our way to a cafe for breakfast. We had to find Joe in Kratie to pass on a message from Joe in Kopong Cham. He didn't really seem to care
Travelling the Mekong
Unfortunately it seems that all the boat services up the Mekong river have stopped due to lack in demand. With a little help from the locals we ended up on a transport vessel. Somehow what we were told would be a 3 hour journey ended up more like a 9 hour journey, but we did get a 'free' nights sleep on the boat. This was our sleeping arrangements! but did give a bit of advice on the next trip up to the border town of Stung Tren. Shortly we were in a share taxi, we shared with another traveller and a monk who kept to himself. Also in the van were three staff. It appeared to be the driver the boss and the guy who could speak english. The road was wide and dusty, we noticed at least two cyclists/scooters that ended up on the ground shortly after we shot past at speed.
We reached Stung Tren and had to ask a lot of questions and do a lot of bargining to even figure out what our options were. We settled on the mini bus option. First we were ferried across the river in a boat that barely fit two people across and had a young boy hired to continually bail water out of the boat while the driver steered the thing from the comfort of his hamock! Once we got to the far side we had to wait while the driver changed the damper on the shocks.
In the van again there were 7 of us travelling and again they had three staff. A driver the mechanic and a guy who could speak english. A little cash obviously goes a long way.
We managed to negotiate the border crossing only paying an extra $US1 at each of the crossings, probably because there were so many of us. I even managed to get through the Laos border without paying anything extra (I think they just forgot about me).
Once on the other side we were passed onto another bus in which they charged us $4 each to travel for less than half an hour (This is an extortionist price in this area) which we were a little pissed off about but there were no other options and at least we made it to our final destination.
After 2 days without bathing we were all ready for a shower and a rest.
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Wendy
non-member comment
I so enjoyed this blog, it just sounds wonderful - a also alot of free entertainment, probably on both sides!! Love Mum