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Published: June 25th 2010
Well after the trauma of Wheelers accommodation in KL we almost kissed 'Wann' on arrival (the proprietor) at the Golden Mango, Siem Reap. Picked up in a tuk-tuk (moped attached to a small cart with a roof basically) by a bloke called 'Lion', the welcome was just what the doctor ordered. The staff, hospitality, rooms and food were fantastic - best so far. All for GBP 7 a night between us!! We loved the place that much we stayed 7 nights!
Loads to do in and around Siem Reap. The night market was a good laugh - selling everything from fake football tops to beautiful hand woven bed bedthrows and scarves. Some really fantastic stuff - and as always the locals are always up for bartering. Numerous 'Dr. Fish' stalls which are basically massive fish tanks full of tiny, tiny fish which have a preference for dry, manky skin ?? You stick your feet in and the fish bite away at your toes! Initially it was unbearable, v v tickly but then you get used to it - the free can of Angkor beer helps.
You can't go to Siem Reap without visiting the world famous temples of Angkor. A
massive Hindu temple complex built in the 12th century on the instruction of and to honour various kings - the main one being King Jayavarman VII whose face seems to be carved EVERYWHERE. The site itself - which is HUGE was neglected/taken over by the jungle from the 16th century and then 'rediscovered' by a French explorer in the 1950's We bought a 3 day pass and to be honest, given we are no 'culture vultures'..after 1.5 days we were 'Templed Out'. The first day was a disappointment - after setting the alarm at 4.15am to see the infamous sunrise over the largest/ best preserved temple 'Angkor Wat'.....we waited and waited along with 100's of others - all with cameras/tripods at the ready...only for it to be an overcast morning- thus no visible sunrise to snap! Total pain in the ar*e. That was a looong day, plus we had to often queue behind coachloads of Japanese tourists (who all had 7 day passes - they love their temples) who proceeded to photograph EVERYTHING, must have taken 1000's of snaps of the same bloody temple!! And they ALL have to appear in each and every shot - one, by one............however some
of the poses that were struck were vintage - lots of 'peace signs' and 'thumbs up'. V funny.
Reckon we visited about 15 temples in total, all climbed in about 35c-40c heat (little shade) = a fair crack of the whip. Cambodians themselves are v v v proud of Angkor however, to the extent that Angkor Wat features on their national flag.
After we told Lion - the tuk-tuk driver that we had seen enough temples on the second day, we asked to visit an ophanage we had seen on the way to one of the temples. We had seen a sign by the road saying 'Come and See our Paintings' pointing to an orphanage. To be honest the 2h we spent with the kids at the orphanage was the highlight of the two days! The place was founded by a really nice guy called Ling whose father was killed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's. (he saw his dad's throat being cut) Not sure what happened to his mum (Khmer Rouge probably involved again) but he ended up in a state orphanage (like so many kids in the 1980's) and vowed to open his own when he
was older.
He is now a qualified art teacher and the sale of his work helps fund the orphanage. He also teaches the kids art (which is also for sale and is actually really good - we bought a couple of prints), the other subjects (mainly English) are taught by an amazing woman called Shirley from Oz who went to Siem Reap to volunteer for a few weeks in 2008 and ended up staying...There were about 25 kids from about 2yrs- 17yrs. girls all slept in one room and boys in another - they were not big rooms.
Some kids had witnessed their parents killed, some were simply handed over as their parents had too many kids and couldn't cope, some were orphaned as both parents had AIDS. Inevitably these children were born with HIV (now v v cute toddlers) but we were told that they were responding really well to their daily hospital treatments. Shirley got us both singing 'Row Row Row Your Boat' with the kids which was a laugh, you realise quickly that all they want to do is learn. There was a lot of similing and laughter and the kids seemed a happy bunch considering their
horrific experiences - all wanting us to go back the next day! Like most orphanages they are living hand to mouth. We left $20 which buys enough rice for 1 month for 5 kids - crazy. Needless to say a few hours with these kids was a proper eye-opener.
Siem Reap is a nice city, welcoming and traditional, (other than 'Bar St' in the city centre) it seems to have retained its' culture/heritage. We were surprised however with the street kids just off Bar St. (where Westerners drink vats of Angkor Beer for $1 a pint and listen to Dizzee Rascal belting out the pubs).
We left the main strip and all of a sudden about 8 kids came from NOWHERE - grabbing your hands asking for food, money. "Mister you give me money I am hungry". Some even had 6mth babies wrapped in shawls round their necks?! All the guide books and advice from guest houses etc etc tell you never to hand cash across as it rarely benefits the kids long-term. The parents (who actually sit at the side of the street and send their kids across to the unsuspecting white-faced Westerners) would prefer their kids were
begging than send them to school. One 9 year old girl in particular got quite aggressive with Darren when he refused to open his wallet and starting punching him in the back (!) - We told her where to go. Harsh but it really was quite intimidating!
We laughed everyday at the sheer volume and variety of goods/family members who were literally piled HIGH onto the many, many scooters in Cambodia. (the country's main form of transport) We saw a guy with HUNDREDS of dead chickens hanging off long sticks/racks on his way to market - bloke behind was driving along with even more bananas hanging off bamboo sticks/ropes. We saw a moped being carried along on the back of a moped? And as for family members - most we've seen onboard so far is 6 people - babies/toddlers are up front and totally fearless. Of course no driving licence is required in this part of the world, there appears no road rules/etiquette -particulalrly at junctions (it's like one massive game of chicken) and few wear safety helmets.
One day we took a day trip to the 'floating islands' which are situated on Cambodia's Great Lake - the Tonle
Sap Lake. This is the most prominent feature on the map of Cambodia. In the wet season, the Tonle Sap Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, swelling to 12,000 km across and during the dry half of the year the Lake shrinks to as small as 2,500 km, draining into the Tonle Sap River. We booked the trip through the Golden Mango Hotel and given it was low season, Darren and I were the only two on the tour! However our driver 'Solid' was a great guide and spoke excellent English. We made our way to the Mekong River through loads of traditional villages with houses on stilts /kids playing in the river/women doing the weekly wash in the river. On arrival we were ushered onto a classic long fishing boat and taken up towards the floating villages
About 2000 people literally live on the Tonle Sap lake in these floating villages - we saw everything from satellite dishes to floating schools to floating basketball courts and churches! They are totally self-contained, main industries being fishing and mechanics to fix/maintain the fishing boats. Solid told us there were even a couple of karaoke bars floating about
- wish I had found those! At one point our boat was approached by two kids on another boat - they were shouting across to us. Materialises that one of the lads had a snake on board and was posing with it! We of course snapped away and got some great photos- then in true Cambodian style, the two kids start shouting for a dollar! After 45 mins sailing through some of these floating villlages were taken for lunch to a large boat owned by the tour company. A MASSIVE storm started just as we were disembarking onto boat Num 2. The wind and rain were viscious - pounding down from all directions. It was mental - sitting on this massive boat in the middle of Tonle Sap lake, gales and rain hitting us from all directions with our guide Solid and a few teenagers who worked down in the kitchens.
The two teenage girls (the cooks) came up from the kitchen SOAKING WET as if they had fallen overboard. Turns out there was a broken window which was hindering their attempt to cook as the rain kept extinguishing the gas! They were so, so apologetic - and said they
were moving the gas stove to another part of the ship and our food would not be long! Anyway, a free bar and excellent food and great chat from Solid and the staff made for a fantastic afternoon. The storm/rain subsided and there was an amazing sunset over the floating villages and the Mekong River. This day was one of highlights so far.
You can never go far in Cambodia without facing the reality of what the Khmer Rouge did in the 1970's nor the countrywide landmine threats. Having been born in the 70's our knowledge was limited - no excuse, however hearing horrific stories about torture and survival and seeing more amputees than we have ever seen in our lives our knowledge increased overnight.
Pol Pot and his army marched into Phnom Penh (the capital) in April 1975 declaring, "This is Year Zero," and that society was about to be "purified." Capitalism, Western culture, city life, religion, and all foreign influences were to be extinguished immediately in favour of an extreme form of peasant Communism. So this basically meant anyone remotely educated/informed, (and their WHOLE, EXTENDED family - aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents - all children/babies) - including office
workers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, engineers, goverment officials - even people who wore glasses(?!!) were all viewed as intellectual and a threat. They were either executed immediately (normally bludgeouned to death as bullets were viewed as a 'waste') , sent off for torture (see S-21 Camp in Phnom Penh in next Blog) or died at the Killing Fields
All foreigners were expelled, embassies closed, and any foreign economic or medical assistance was refused. The use of foreign languages was banned. Newspapers and television stations were shut down, radios and bicycles confiscated, and mail and telephone usage curtailed. Money was forbidden. All businesses were closed down, religion banned, education halted, health care eliminated, and parental care/authority removed completely. Cambodia was totally sealed off from the outside world. All of Cambodia's cities were then forcibly evacuated. At Phnom Penh (the capital), two million inhabitants were evacuated on foot into the countryside at gunpoint. 20,000 died along the way. Millions of Cambodians used to city life were forced into slave labor in the "killing fields" where they soon began dying from overwork, malnutrition and disease, on a diet of one tin of rice (180 grams) per person every two days. Millions died.
So when
Vietnam eventually invaded in 1979 and Pol Pot disappeared into hiding (he unfortunately died of 'natural causes' and was never brought to justice) Cambodia was left a total an utter wasteland - generations of familes dead, no infrastructure, no legal/health system, no hope.
On a Saturday night In Siem Reap one of the pioneer surgeons who founded 4 hospitals in Cambodia - Dr Beat Richner performs a live, free concert playing his cello (the night is called 'Beatocello') to raise money for the hospitals. We learned more about the shocking state of the country/healthcare system in that one hour than any Lonely Planet guidebook. It was fantastic - not only is he a surgeon, he speaks about 5 languages and plays the cello like a pro. The whole while the concert was accompanied by images of his hospitals and the sheer struggle it has been to raise monies/global awareness to get the doors open. It was proper tear welling/goose-pimple/lump in throat stuff watching these young mothers bringing their floppy babies with TB, malaria, dengue fever, HIV. Horrible. However he has brought the average children's mortality rate down from 60% to 0.5% - a real live saint! His commitment over
Golden Mango Guesthouse Swimming Pool.
Crocodile Farm from our bedroom window - seriously. the last 35 yrs to the people of Cambodia is incredible.
So that is where we left Siem Reap and the lovely Golden Mango, our home for a week...6h bus south to Phnomh Penh - the capital as well as home to S-21 /Tuol Sleung and the Killing Fields. Can't say we were looking forward to that at all.
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Cleef
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Fishfingersntoes
All good then!!!! Keep enjoying. All good back here. Big day sunday v Hun. Cross fingers n toes, although not toes if fish are nibbling your bunions off.take care x