What Causes Amoebic Dysentery Anyway?

Asia » Cambodia
June 26th 2008

Published: June 29th 2008

Edit Blog Post

Couchies

Buddha shrine

At The Bayon at Angkor Thom

Warning

This is a story of total happiness and abject horror...

Of gruesome violence and great views.

In this blog you'll swim with rare dolphins and drown horrifically in electrocuted waters.

Ancient Buildings will take your breath away...

Human bloodlust will sicken you to the stomach.

We're not joking.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

With Bangkok firmly in the rear mirror, a rather nice bus whizzed us eastwards along the motorways of Thailand. All was going well with this journey. David was engrossed in three new Time magazines - a birthday present from Tracey, who was busy next to him wallowing in luxurious air-conditioning. We had good drinks, we had good snacks and we were making good time.

And then the road ended

Well, to be fair, it didn't exactly end, it just suddenly turned into a stinky, muddy, water and pothole filled, mad, congested mess.

Welcome to Cambodia.

During our travels we have come to equally love and hate borders. If countries are a circus, borders are their freak show. It's the one place

Always watching

Even the experts can't agree how many faces there are on the towers at The Bayon

in every developing country where everyone is on-the-make. This includes police officers and border officials. How many tourists they encounter is directly proportional to how many beers they drink that night and whether their children get new shoes. And let's not forget the usual cast of "there is no bus, you need to take my taxi" men (usually uttered as the bus appears around the corner) or the 'loudly crowd around and shout at you' shysters who are after your money, your pity or anything that is in your pockets.

This border had them all. The tale of this border is a story in itself but let's just say that after bargaining down immigration's mysterious 'extra charge' to a more realistic level of corruption we then navigated through two hours of tricky lies, deceptions and rip-offs and finally made it onto an (almost) acceptably overpriced bus. If this had been our first 3rd-world border it probably would have eaten us. But, with all the diplomacy we could muster, we actually ended up with the only seats on the bus with leg room and our bags safely stowed. We then sat and watched others suffer through various states of hopelessness,

4am does exist

The early alarm was worth it

frustration and rage. The few who lost their temper disappeared off with local police. Not good.

Eventually the madness was over and the bus set off at a snail's pace, swerving around asteroid sized mud holes and into oncoming traffic. "Well, it can only get better" we joked amongst our bus buddies (with just a hint of desperation in our voices) and boy were we correct. From that moment on Cambodia was the most wonderful country to travel in. Back came the warm welcoming smiles and the crazy waving children. Use their language here and if you get it right you are greeted with a smile of surprised respect... get it wrong and you get a friendly laugh for giving it a go. People here even bargain nicely (but fairly) and to the thousands of moto and tuk-tuk drivers (motorbikes that tow a passenger carriage) who ask you, non-stop, all day, if you need a ride, a polite no actually means no. WE LOVE CAMBODIA.

Our first stop was Siem Reap and the majestic temples of Angkor. These are Cambodia's number one tourist attraction and for good reason. Built from 802 onwards, when Cambodia's Khmer Empire was a

Mine Horror

At The Cambodian Landmine Museum set up by former Khmer Rouge fighter Aki Ra.

powerhouse in Southeast Asia, these ruins are the remains of inspirational temples and magnificent walled cities. There are over 100 monuments spread over 3000 square kilometres, but like most people on limited time we headed for the hot ticket items. The very famous Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom and the various temples and palaces that surround them. We also picked out a few less visited sites in the surrounding countryside. Tracey even got David up at 4am to make it to Angkor Wat for sunrise. We were not disappointed.

While visiting some of the further afield temples we made sure we had time to visit the Cambodian Landmine Museum, a pretty grim reminder of the problem this country still faces. Every year a scary number of children and farmers still die or at the very least get arms and legs blown of from the thousands (millions? Nobody knows) of landmines that are buried across the county. The museum was set up by a former child soldier of the Khmer Rouge. He has now trained to remove the very mines he helped to lay and it is estimated that he alone has removed 50,000 mines. The museum is very special

Blink and you'll miss it

The very shy and endangered Irrawaddy dolphin

because it is also a charitable home and rehabilitation centre for injured children. All around us teenagers with missing, or prosthetic limbs were busy planting trees, building a fountain and tending to the grounds. It was a sobering reminder of the innocent victims of war.

Going Against The Tide

After the mass tourism of Angkor we decided to head to the rough and remote north east. There, in the Ratanakiri district, an interesting mix of Cambodia's poorest indigenous 'peoples' ('tribes' if you will) scrape out a living by subsistence farming, as they have done for centuries. We had heard that the road there was atrocious and that it might be flooded so we broke up the journey with a stop in Kratie.

Kratie (pron Krach-aye) is a tiny town on the banks of the mighty Mekong and it still has a lovely, albeit run down French colonial look. More importantly, it is also home to a small group of extremely endangered fresh water Irrawaddy dolphins. To visit them we chartered some motorcycles and a boat and on a lovely morning, in the silence of a VAST river, we spent two hours watching and then

One Great Leap

It may be brown, but it was lovely

swimming near the dolphins. The swimming bit doesn't improve the dolphin viewing as the water is so brown but it was fun and refreshing to be splashing about in such expansive, fast moving water. Our boatman had tied us to the top of a mangrove tree in an area with less current, otherwise we would probably still be floating towards Vietnam.

The positive news for Flipper is that this area is now a national park and tourist money is helping to educate the fishermen and locals about the risk of extinction. Oh, and with the Beijing Olympics so near, it is worth noting that the judges awarded Tracey 8 out of 10 for her magnificent and fearless jump out of the boat.

Another highlight of Kratie was the discovery of a cafe that served giant pots of Twinings Earl Grey Tea - hooray! And on a trip to a monastery we watched in terrified awe as a spider the size of a tennis ball devoured a butterfly. After seeing a spider that big we're both still checking the insides of our shoes and bags a little too over-zealously!

Down With The Ship

The

A Sexy Convertible

The dusty roads of Banlung

predictions about the roads to Banlung were true and after a head bashing, bone jarring 7 hours we rolled into town like boxers who had gone 12 rounds. At breakfast the next morning Tracey's body still thought it was moving.

Of all the places we have been in South East Asia, Banlung reminded us the most of Africa. Other than two tarmac roads all the dirt streets are red and dusty and the town revolved around a wonderful central market that brought the various indigenous villagers to town to buy and sell. For Tracey, local markets are her Graceland and we spent time marveling at the piles of raw pig snouts and sliced up lizards that made this place so interesting.

During this market trip we met a friendly moto driver who spoke decent English so we arranged to charter him and another motorbike driver to take us even further into the jungle the following day. We wanted to explore some villages that don't get any tourism and to visit a famous Chunchiet (one of the local tribes) burial ground. That organised, we continued to explore the area on foot before heading back to our lake front hotel.

The Amoebic Diet

Dropping kilograms like they're going out of business

The lake was a lovely spot and it was full of giant lotus lilies so we gave a local boy $1 to take Tracey out in his rickety old canoe. Although it was taking on water and rocking like a drunk, Tracey enjoyed a private 'cruise' amongst these giant plants... but was happy to be back, safe on dry land too!

Floating a few

Excited about the next day's adventure we headed off to bed after a fun night with some like-minded backpackers. So like-minded that we invited them along with us. In a cruel and soon to be ironic twist of fate we had spent a good part of the evening talking about food poisoning. Well, that night David got really sick, so sick that we had to cancel our plans. So as he spent the next day within a bum's reach of the toilet our new friends went off on our perfectly designed, original tour. Tracey played nurse for a bit then joined some other guests for a trip to a beautiful local lake.

On the way home, after surviving a minor bike crash, she enjoyed a most amazing sunset.

We Don't Get Many Like You Round 'ere

A local villager inspects the strange new arrivals

The next day with David on the mend (or so we thought) we set off with our same drivers on a reduced half day trip. Although initially we were disappointed at having to cut back our plans, this trip turned out to be superb. Our guide (Mr Chai - find him or he'll find you- at the edge of the market.) was highly knowledgeable and it was quite engaging to hear him talk about local life as well appreciating the personal importance he puts upon 'my Buddha'. As well as exploring two villages and engaging with some rather surprised locals he took us to watch rubber being extracted from trees, cashew nuts being harvested, a local lucky waterfall and a silk weaving village. Having seen what cashew nuts go through to get from harvest to supermarket we are never going to complain about the price again.

We finished our trip by getting dropped off at the Yeak Lom - the same lake Tracey had enjoyed the day before. As it was Sunday it was full of locals swimming and drinking, so we rented a rubber inner-tube and larked about in the turquoise waters. This lake was formed by a

Will This Hold My Weight?

Tracey in the world's lowest canoe

volcanic eruption and is so perfectly round that it is hard to believe that there wasn't a human hand in it. Although men swim in shorts, girls swim fully clothed which is even more funny when they choose to not only wear a long sleeve t-shirt, but also a hooded top or a jacket as well. This is probably why they have rubber inner-tubes other wise there would be a whole lot of corpses weighted down by fake Levis and Abercrombie hoodies.

Those Pesky Little Amoebas

The following day we headed south to the capital Phnom Penh. This was a grueling 14 hour trip made all the worse by a major deterioration in Dave's condition. Upon arrival we headed straight to a 24 hour medical centre for an eventual diagnosis of Amoebic Dysentery. Ergh. That explained a few things! But at least he was now armed with some kickarse medicine (if you'll excuse the pun).

A Royal Let Down

Maybe we were tired or perhaps we've been spoiled by too many beautiful places, but the next day's visit to the Royal Palace and The Silver Pagoda was a bit of

Monkies

An enlightened visit to the National Museum

a let down. Although the King and Queen still live here, the palace was in serious need of a touch-up and many of the areas were closed off. Also the famed Silver Pagoda that had invoked so much imagery in our minds turned out to be an ornate building with a tatty old sterling silver floor. To make things worse, many of the tiles were held together with sellotape. It is in serious need of some cash for decent, careful renovation and restoration.

We left disappointed, but were quickly compensated by the discovery of the most unhealthy but incredibly delicious iced coffees, made with about half a tin of condensed milk. As you drink these you can actually feel your arteries harden, but boy do your taste buds love you for it.

A Small Aside

Things Cambodians do well:

1. Drive without rules, in any direction, on any side of the road or footpath.

2 Talk non-stop with their mouth as full of food as possible.

3. Pick their noses while they talk to you.

4. Sleep, anywhere, anytime.

5. Laugh a lot. Great big, wonderful laughs.

School of tourture

This barbed wire stops soon-to-be murdered prisoners from committing suicide

The Killing Fields

Our final stop in Cambodia was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. From 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge under the command of Pol Pot murdered millions of Cambodians. Pol Pot is easily one of the sickest and most evil people of all time. Literature at the museum compares Pol Pot to Hitler. We're not sure that is quite right, however, though the Jewish holocaust resulted in the death of more people, the murders here were deliberately carried out in the most prolonged, humiliating and agonising ways.

The museum is on the site of the most notorious prison and interrogation centre of the whole mad regime. It has been left almost exactly as it was found by liberating forces. That includes the display of appalling instruments of torture, such as a device that hung a man/woman/child from his/her feet with their head in an electrified bucket of water.

Most distressing of all were photos of the 14 prisoners who were tortured to death and left in their cells by the fleeing criminals. You can't help but look at the pictures, while at the same time, finding it almost impossible to recognise them as

The Killing Fields

Thousands of broken skulls make up part of the memorial site

human beings at all. You then realise that you are standing on the stains of the very same blood you can see in each picture. If there is a deity of some sort overseeing our planet then it's times like this you have to question their intentions.

Incredibly, many of the architects of this atrocity have never been prosecuted.

We've included in this blog one of the many mug shots of prisoners, taken as they arrived at Tuol Sleng. We think his eyes say it all.

We finished our gruesome history lesson with a visit to the 'Killing Fields' one of the many mass grave sites that we used to bury millions or prisoners. They were taken from prisons, blind folded in trucks and told they were going to work in the fields. In reality they were forced to kneel down at the edge of mass graves, hands shackled behind their backs. They were bludgeoned to the back of their heads, then had their throats slit. This site included the Killing Tree that was reserved for chaining up and beating children to death.

On The History Trail

Today we're off to Vietnam,

The Eyes Know It

This prisoner awaits his fate

a country not short on a story or two of its own atrocities. We're hoping that this border will a little better than the first. Unless there are a few of those torture devices in use it'll be hard not to.

(Please note that pictures are spread over two pages)

Additional photos below

Photos: 35, Displayed: 32