Cambodia

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My first impressions when driving through Cambodia from Ho Chi Minh was 'my god this place is poor' and this view was only further supported with the more of the country that I saw and the more Cambodian people I spoke to. To me, it seemed to be the poorest country in South East Asia that I visited but nevertheless, it was still incredibly beautiful.

I had been really worried about crime and getting things stolen in Cambodia after hearing numerous horror stories about handbags and phones being literally pulled out of peoples hands on the streets by people on bikes. I suppose this is a direct result of how poor the people are there; whilst most Cambodians I met were really really nice people, it is kind of understandable why some of them become opportunistic thieves. Since I was aware of the crime I made sure I always kept valuables locked away and wore a bumbag under my clothes when out on the streets... this even lead to one man congratulating me on my pregnancy as my bumbag looked like a little bump under my dress!

Our first night was spent in the capital in Phnom Penh. I met my boyfriend there and as he had come straight from the UK, he needed to do some shopping for some essentials such as flip flops! First of all we came across a local market that had nothing useful but we decided to have a look around anyway. It was pretty cool other than the meat and fish section where there was meat lying out in the 35 degree sun covered in flies and all sorts. The stench was overwhelming and I prayed that I wouldn't be eating any of that stuff for my dinner later on! Eventually we ended up at the tourist night market which was a bit better but considering it was the capital city it wasn't that great. That night was spent drinking beer for 50 cents along the river front before meeting my friend I'd met in Thailand in his hostel (the backpacker's haven: Mad Monkey) for a few drinks. It was an early night for us in our room that resembled a prison cell (for some reason Lovely Jubbly Place had decided to paint a room with no windows all black) as we were getting picked up at 8am to make our way down to the beautiful south coast: Sihanoukville.

I had been asking people where in Sihanoukville was best to stay as I'd read about both Serendipity Beach and Otres Beach and we were told Serendipity was the place to be. We wanted to try both for ourselves however so we decided to spent a couple of nights before heading over to Koh Rong in Seredipity and then when we returned from the island we headed for Otres Beach. Ultimately, both have very different feels to them; Serendipity is the big crazy party side which makes it incredibly fun however this comes at the cost of the beaches not being as nice as they are covered in rubbish. Otres on the other hand is a lot more chilled and the beaches are clean and very white yet there are still a plethora of beach bars along the sea front. We stayed in a wooden hut on the beach in Otres and it was sooo nice to wake up on the beach to the sound of the sea!

I couldn't, and still cant, quite get over just how beautiful the south coast was. The beaches were white and sand was so fine between your toes and the sea was like something I've never experienced before. It was SO blue in colour for a start and the temperature was just perfect; the water was actually warm yet it was still enough to cool you off when you're sweltering in the 40 degree heat. During the day we relaxed and enjoyed massages on the beach for a couple of pounds each. I also got a few manicures and pedicures for just $5. In the evenings we ate fresh seafood barbecues and drank cocktails on the beaches. It was literally like paradise.

Two hours by slow boat or 45 minutes by speed boat away from the main land sits a beautiful 'desert' island. It seems as though it has only been inhabited recently but it is clear that the area by the pier you are dropped at is solely for tourists. However if you take a short walk, you come to some local huts/houses that make up small villages. All around you can see development happening literally before your eyes so it would be really interesting to go back in 10 years to see how much it has changed.

As we pulled up to the island I was confused as to how it could actually be where we were going as it seemed so empty - I guess why its called a desert island. We stayed in a wooden bungalow set just back off the sea front so that we got an amazing view of the sea as well as a jungle feel! I'd heard stories of people finding rats in their huts, and even one where a rat dropped from the ceiling onto a unsuspecting sleeper!! Needless to say, we were pretty anxious about the bugs and rats that could be joining us, especially since the hut wasn't sealed at the bottom so anything that wanted to get in could do very easily. I think I was more scared of rats whilst my boyfriend was so on edge about bugs that it made my laugh a few times! We actually ended up with a very friendly cat and a lizard in our bungalow which I think was a positive since the cat could keep out the rats and the lizard would eat the bugs. There were also loads of puppies running round the island which made me so happy!!

We spent most of our time on the island sunning ourselves on the beautiful white beaches or in the warm turquoise sea either swimming or on a boat. We had heard about Long Beach and decided we would take the trek there. We had been warned to wear 'proper shoes' so we assumed that meant it was a bit of a walk, after all it was on the other side of the island. However the further we walked in the midday sun, through literal jungles (there were monkeys swinging through the trees), the tougher the terrain got and the harder this trek became, up to the point we were scaling down a cliff face at the end to make it down to the beach!! It was pretty scary at times, especially considering how clumsy I am, and of course we were sweating buckets by the time we made it down but as soon as we made it through the clearing in the trees we were greeted with the most beautiful beach I have ever seen! As I've said so many times before words don't do places like this justice so pictures are the best way to explain but basically Long Beach is a long (obviously) pure white beach with very few people in comparison to other beaches in Sihanoukville, the sea is bluer than the other beaches and behind the beach is a green forest. It is lush!

We found out that there was an easier way to get to Long Beach - by boat, so needless to say we took a taxi boat back to the other side of the island but not before watching the beautiful pinky-orange sunset set over the bay. It was like a postcard. On day we found a completely private beach. It was only small but it was lush since we were the only ones there! Another day we decided to go on a day long boat trip which gave us the chance to snorkel and deep-sea fish as well as visit Long Beach again. The boats were quite an experience to say the least! By boat I mean a couple of planks of wood shaped into a canoe with a rusty engine attached that's crammed with people. As long as there is an equal number of people on each side, the boat was okay when the water was flat. However, once it got a little wavy (as it did after the sun went down) it was the scariest trip, to the point people were screaming and running side to side to try and keep the boat balanced and on numerous occasions water was splashing into the boat as it was going so low into the water!

Unfortunately we both got pretty sick in Koh Rong and we learned from others that this wasn't uncommon. I think it must be something to do with the fact they only get deliveries from mainland about once a week so food must go bad and i imagine they still serve some of it! Either that or the water is so bad that even brushing your teeth with it makes you sick. I also heard that apparently the sea is contaminated but I found that hard to believe considering there is hardly anything on the island to contaminate it and nothing else around.

There were a lot of cool bars on Koh Rong and a number of beach parties each week. My favourite bar was Sky Bar which sits just off the beach up a mountain of stairs! Although the stairs are a lot of effort, when you get up to the bar there is a lovely view of the beach and sea so it is worth it. There is also a really nice chilled atmosphere there. The music was so good; they play reggae earlier on and it gets a bit heavier as the evening goes on.

On our way back to Sihanoukville, we witnessed yet another scary boat ride! The boat we took stopped at the other island; Koh Rong Samleom, before making its way back to mainland. This was great because it meant that we got to see the other island however it also resulted in us getting stuck the middle of the sea during the evening when it got rough! Koh Rong Samleom was even more underdeveloped than Koh Rong but again, was very beautiful. I'm glad we stayed on Koh Rong given our limited time but I'd have loved to stay on the other island too if we had more time. On the way back to Sihanoukville the boat was swaying so much. I had been sick the night before so I was not feeling too great and at one point I tried to stand up but ended up falling sideways and smacking my ribs on an arm rest! It was so painful!! We found that outside the back of the boat was the best place to sit in order to stop yourself feeling sea sick however it did not stop the fear that the boat was about to tip up!! When we got back to mainland we took a tuk-tuk to Otres Beach, it was further than I thought but once we got there and found a hostel it was such a great place to chill after that journey.

Our next stop was Siem Reap. As a city, I really loved it. There was an amazing night market where I managed to buy all sorts of things: a watch (which I later broke by swimming in it because I'm an idiot), a silver ring, various items of clothing and even a pretty pillow case. This night market was probably the best I saw on that trip, it was SO big and people were really willing to haggle; I got my ring for $5 when she originally asked for $20! There was also a fun little street called 'Pub Street' where there were a number of restaurants and bars. The food there ranged from western to Khmer (Cambodian) to Siem Reap specialities such as crocodile burgers! My favourite bar there was one called 'Angkor What?!'. It was a bit of dingy place actually with graffiti covering every wall but they had cheap drinks and played good music so it made for a few fun evenings. One night there was a huge dance off down the whole street which was great to watch. It was actually started by a young Cambodian girl who was selling bracelets on the street but pretty soon people of all ages from all countries were joining in and it turned into a massive event!

Of course we couldn't go to Siem Reap without a visit to the world heritage site Angkor Wat. We decided to go for sunrise which meant we had a 4:30am wake up call. We got to the main temple around 5:30 just before sunrise and found that by the lake (the best place to view it) was where everybody was so I had the good idea of making our way into the temple to avoid the crowds later on and to get pictures of the sunrise from within the temple. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy morning which mean the sunrise maybe wasn't as good as it could have been although I feel this was a blessing later on as it meant it wasn't as hot when we were walking around. We had opted for the single day tour which meant after Angkor Wat, we went to see 3 other temples around Angkor. My favourite was Ta Prohm which was the temple in which Tomb Raider was filmed. It's really spectacular how the trees had grown around the temple ruins! I couldn't believe it had all happened naturally!

Whilst in Siem Reap we also took a trip to a floating village. We had heard that it was a bit of a rip off since they know it is a tourist trap. However, despite this, we had a really really good guide and a whole boat to ourselves which made it feel as though we got a good deal. Our 'guide' was actually just the boat drivers friend and he actually lived in the floating village himself which meant that he gave us a really good insight. He told us that 3000 people lived in the floating village and the average life expectancy is just 56. We were told of horror stories of the floating houses literally just sinking in the night and how people had to move their houses with their homemade wooden boats up to 8 times a year in order to survive! The most disturbing thing I saw was a 3 month old baby (we asked the age) in a boat in the scorching sun whilst the parents begged for money. Our guide told that they would be like that for 12+ hours a day and in order to pacify the baby, it would be sedated! Of course we then wanted to give them money but to make matters worse we were told we should not give them money since the father would only go and use it for alcohol! It made me so sad, to the point I would have adopted that baby there and then had I been given the chance!

On the boat trip round the village we visited a cafe which was also a crocodile farm. We learned that whilst there aren't naturally crocodiles in the Mekong River (at least in that part), they breed them since they are very good source of income as they are sold for meat and for their skin. We also visited a school and orphanage. I was sceptical about the orphanage since I know Cambodia is infamous for using them as a tourist trap. This was supported by the fact we were told people will actually sell their own children to orphanages in order to make money! The school also appeared as if they weren't actually learning much, just waiting for tourists to come in. However our guide insisted these were the lucky children who got educated as most were sent to work from a very young age. Our guide had been one of those unfortunate children. Whilst his English was so good, he told he could not get a job on the mainland since he could not read or write.

The things I learned on that trip really reinstated for me how poor the country is and how corrupt their government are. It was different to other poor places I had visited as the people there really weren't happy. I would really love to go back and volunteer at a school or do something to help the children. However I feel it is a country where helping them is harder than it seems. For instance if you go and work in a orphanage, some of the children will have been torn away from their families in order for there to be any children in the orphanage. Likewise, you cant just send money as it will be used in the wrong ways, especially if it is given to the government!

For our last few days, we made our way back to Phnom Penh. We decided to book ourselves into a lovely boutique hotel called Circa 51 which was a blessing after my month or so of staying in hostels. The journey from Siam Reap to Phnom Penh is an interesting one to say the least! The roads are not developed at all which means the whole 6 hours you are jumping up and down over the bumped, stoney dirt tracks. To make it worse, our driver thought it was a great idea to drive really fast and even on the wrong side of the road at some points. I was terrified!

Our main reason for going back to Phnom Penh was to go to the Killing Fields and The Genocide Museum - S21. Not many people are aware of the mass genocide that happened in Cambodia just 40 years ago. I knew about it but I didn't know many details until I visited these places. It was a very harrowing and emotional day but one I'm glad we did. It is something that the world needs educating on I feel since other countries need to learn from the mistakes made there.

Our first stop was S21 or the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (after we were mistakenly dropped at the National Musuem). This was an old school that was used as prison during the years when the Pol Pot regime was in force. A lot of it was kept exactly as it was found, for example there are cells with blood splattered all over the walls and floors, which really adds to the emotion of it as you can picture the horrors that went on there. There were only 12 known survivors from an estimated 20,000 people in that prison and there were various memories from them written around the place. There were also a number of photographs, including one of every single person that was checked into that prison which was horrible as you could put a face to the thousands of people that were killed there and thus it was no longer just a story. The worse thing was that this was only one of 150 prisons around the country so you can only imagine the atrocities that were also going on else where.

After this we made our way to the Killing Fields - the place where more people were killed and where mass graves had been found close to the city centre. Again this was only one of hundreds throughout the country and what we saw there was harrowing to say the least. As you enter the fields you are given a headset which is really great as it explains every thing you see as you walk around as well as offering some additional information such as extracts from court cases and from family members' memoirs.

There were a number of mass graves with various stories behind them, all of which had hundreds of bracelets around the fencing that people had left as a sign of respect. Of course I added one of mine that I'd collected along the way (I had enough of them - my left wrist was pretty much full by this point!). The worst part for me was the 'killing tree'. We were told that babies were bashed against this tree by men holding their legs and smashing their heads against it in front of their mothers before being thrown into a mass grave. Apparently when the site was first found the couldn't understand why there were bits of brain tissue stuck to the bark of the tree. That is one image that will stick with me forever. How anybody could be that evil I do not know. All around the fields if you look down there are white bits sticking out of the soil and we learned that these are pieces of bone that continue to appear year after year. At the end there is a huge case filled with skulls and other bones found at the site but you quickly learn that despite the thousands on display, there are still many more undiscovered that will emerge from the ground in years to come. And to think that this was only one of the sites!

Some of the additional information on the sound tape really interested me. One in particular was from a man who was on trial for being involved in the killings at the killing fields. Unlike many who blame those above them, you hear him sob as he admits he did do it and he should be punished accordingly. It really brought home how brainwashed and how scared of the authorities these people were. Also, you hear about Pol Pot, the evil instigator of the massacre and leader of Cambodia at the time and how even after all of this was discovered, he still remained in a position of authority and was even still recognised as the leader of Cambodia by the likes of the UK and the US. It wasn't until 1998 that an international tribunal was launched and he was put on house arrest. Conveniently however, he died not long after. He was 73, much older than the average life expectancy in Cambodia and died much more peaceful death than he deserved! It makes me so angry that he basically got away with these truly awful crimes and even more angry that stuff like this is still going on in the world!

After an intense day at S21 and the Killing Fields, our last day was spent going to the Central Market and sitting by the pool in our hotel! The Central Market was really good; it was huge and had all sorts of stuff from clothes to jewellery to nail bars and hair salons. I had another manicure and pedicure for just $5 and bought a number of things - some I didn't even want that much, I just love the haggling!!

In the evenings we tried to find some traditional Cambodian food. The first night we arrived late so were walking around for ages trying to find somewhere. In the end we came across this mechanics garage that converts to a barbecue restaurant at night. The lady serving spoke really good English and was really welcoming and nice. She told us what sauces to eat with what and helped us order. Everyone else was Cambodian and gave us a weird stare as we walked in but she made sure we were looked after. It appears that good traditional Cambodian food is usually barbecued so the next we found another place where again, we were the only foreigners. We ordered a whole fish and some squid as well as the stable rice and of course some 50 cents beers! When our fish arrived we saw lots of people looking over and few of them even pointed and ordered one too. It was really delicious!

A few weird/funny things happened in that restaurant. Firstly, the only waiter who could speak English insisted on standing at our table the whole time talking to us about literally anything he could.. I think he just wanted to practice his English bless him so we spoke to him for a while. Then a magician came in and did some really good tricks for which he used live birds and all sorts. However when he'd finished he bought round these chocolate stick things and asked people to buy them. We assumed he was going to do a trick with them but it turns out it was a just his way to make money. I suppose it's inventive but he could have made money just from his tricks! They were so good!! Lastly, we saw a little boy poo on the floor! Yep, you read that right. He and his siblings were running around when all of a sudden he stopped and pulled this face. I said jokingly 'he looks like he's pooed himself' at which point I saw water leak down this legs and all over the floor then as he walked away there was a poo there too! I didn't know where to look and was laughing so much. The mother didn't notice for quite a while either which made it so much worse. Of course when she did she was mortified and I had to try and stifle my laughter so not to embarrass her. The men she was with also looked pretty scared so it was probably best not to upset them!

I was sad to be leaving Cambodia and of course my boyfriend, especially as he had an extra night there too! It was one of the most interesting countries I've been to and one I think more people should learn about. I could quite easily have spent my whole time there lying on the beautiful beaches but then I'm so glad I visited everywhere, it made for a very well rounded trip!

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