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Published: August 8th 2007
Our next adventure was to be our first organised tour of the trip, an Intrepid Basix tour through Cambodia. We met up with our multinational group the evening before a 6:30am start, which comprised: 4 Brits, 2 Kiwis, 3 Aussies, 2 Irish girls and 1 American - a good bunch of people. Our search for a bar late at night near our hotel (given the torrential rain) took us to a Snooker Hall...well, all such establishments have bars, don't they?! This was to be one of the more bizarre events to close our second 4 day stay in Bangkok (Blog:
Melting in Bangkok), but was so typical of the place. We walked into a huge snooker hall, full of tables and locals playing on them. It was one of those moments where you could swear the music stopped, the place went silent and all turned around to stare - this clearly wasn't a place westerners usually come. We continued on in anyway, although if there was a bar, it was not obvious where it was.
The owner appeared to invite us into what I can only describe as his family's front room, where they were all gathered around a table watching a
A monkey
The South entrance to Angkor Thom walled capital.TV - which quite randomly had a Union Jack draped from it (for watching Premiership football perhaps?). He soon cleared his family out and saw that chairs were brought through to welcome us. They disappeared out back and returned with beers-a-plenty in hand. This was so typical of the Thais to be this welcoming, you can call it friendly or you can call it never passing up a chance for a quick buck, but the drink was cheap. He even brought some peanuts through for us to snack on!
A rude awakening We had to set our alarm for 5:30am, which after over 3 months of travelling and pretty much going at our own pace, hurt a heck of a lot. Our pimped-up transport (it had more lights than a disco, plus brass mirrored panels) took the 12 of us swiftly to the Thai/Cambodia border. After doing the necessaries to obtain our Cambodia Visa at the border and then completing the usual formalities of exiting one country and entering the next, we swiftly noted the contrast in riches from one side to the next. A number of beggars and incredibly cute looking children awaited our embaressment of riches -
in comparison to them.
The tarmac road from Thailand soon gave way to the bumpiest mud track you've ever seen. We were swiftly plumeted into Cambodia's depths of poverty and paddling around at the bus stop in filthy flood waters. Our group leader, a bonafide Cambodian (or Khmer) himself (Bun Yong), reminded us that things in Cambodia would not be what we're used to and that patience would be needed. We waited at the flooded bus stop, jumping on the seats each time a tidal wave causing vehicle passed, for an hour. I watched on in wonderment at the awful situation these people find themselves in, with houses flooded up to the top of chair legs, yet still making the most of it - kids taking the opportunity to play and have water fights in the flood waters.
The drive was a slow and painful one (a number of people had bruises, particularly Doug). It took us about 7 hours to travel 150kms, that's how bad the road was! Rumour has it that the Cambodia authorities have been financially encouraged not to tarmac this road; it wouldn't be good for certain Thai airlines now would it?! We witnessed
many wierd and wonderful sights along the way, including pigs tied up and transported on motorbikes, and also transport that was indistinguishable for all the people sat in/on/over it. We wondered if we'd see civilisation ever again, but like water in a desert, very suddenly the wooden huts gave way to a civilised town (Siem Reap). This place is the jump off point for Angkor Wat so heavily visited by tourists (2m a year). In fact many fly in here just to see the temples, then fly back out, missing out on the rest of Cambodia. This brings much needed money in, meaning there has been much money spent here on hotels, restaurants etc. This is a country that only got ATMs in the past couple of years - and there is a handful in Siem Reap that dispense US dollars rather than the less stable local currency (Riel). It's actually a very nice town and our Guest house did the job nicely.
The people here are the most genuinely nice people we've ever met in any country (well, perhaps on a par with the Aussies in Hepburn Springs - see blog: Hepburn Springs / Daylesford), greeting you with
The notoriously bad Highway No. 6
The 'road' from Poi Pet to Siem Reap a big smile and a hello. Amazing, considering the horrors this country has been through under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, the ravages of war and French rule for 90 years before that, which seemed to do little but dismantle Cambodian territory, giving it away to its Thai and Vietnamese neightbours. This is an extremely poor country, where just US$1 is a big deal to people and where (at worst estimations) there are still enough landmines scattered around its countryside for each and everyone of its 10m+ population. It is a country still on its knees to an extent, but beginning to pick itself up since Pol Pot 'died'(?!) in 1998, ending a bloody Khmer Rouge era lasting, in one way and another, from the seventies. The history of this now diminutive and very corrupt country is a heart wrenching and complex one which we'll try to cover piece by piece through the next couple of week's blogs, as we stay with the people and see the Killing Fields.
Angkor Most people have heard of Angkor Wat, one of the 7 wonders of the world, an impressively well preserved temple of the Khmer Empire. I had not fully appreciated
The bus gets a wash
A 'Happy house' break along Highway No. 6 that this is but one of hundreds of temple buildings in the vast area that is Angkor and was once the capital of Cambodia. Indeed, it was the capital of the Khmer Empire, the most powerful in South East Asia in the 11th Century. At its peak in this era, this Empire's landmass took in what we know today as Thailand and parts of Vietnam and Laos.
Getting a tantilising glimpse of the famous Angkor Wat on way past, our first stop was at Angkor Thom. After a passing through the south entrance and brief stop for some monkey action, with a number of our group feeding the monkies Lotus flower head seeds, we got our first taste of corruption as the Police pulled us over and money passed from bus driver's hand to Policeman's pocket. Apparently, we're told, if you're brave enough to insist on a receipt the money does actually end up in the national budget.
We arrived at Bayon Temple, which is also known as the Temple of faces - for obvious reasons when you see the photos. The history of Angkor Thom emphasises how powerful the Khmer empire was in its heyday, when there
Cambodian boy
Stopping on the way back from Banteay Srei to how see sugar cane is harvested were 1m people living in Angkor Thom. At this same point in history, the population of London was only 50,000 and Paris 30,000. The temple buildings that make up Angkor Thom are truly impressive, with exquisite details carved into the sandstone which record life and beliefs as they were then. Many of the temples were built for Hindu Gods, although over time the religion of Cambodia became a Hindu/Buddhist mix which led to Buddhism becoming it's most dominant religion today - 95% of the population are Buddhist.
The temples within Angkor Thom are in various states of ruin, but considering their age are remarkably intact. After exploring the multi-leveled, intricate carvings of Bayon we moved onto The temple of Elephants and then another temple which the French were in the midsts of a painstaking task of putting back together, piece-by-piece when Pol Pot's genocidal regime took power. Today the temple is still being renovated, with blocks strewn all around with numbers on them - this is surely the biggest and most difficult jigsaw puzzle in the world! We then moved onto the Elephant Terrace - this was surely the equivalent of a Nou Camp it's day, where the 1m
A water-pump for a community
So many homes do not have running water. The lucky ones have wells with pumps. This sign can have your name on it for US$200. inhabitants could come to be entertained in a vast arena by 'Thai' kick boxing (originated from Cambodia, not Thailand apparently) and tight rope walkers. You could only begin to imagine what this place looked like in its era.
We then had a lunch stop opposite Angkor Wat, where I sampled the Cambodian dish of Fish Amok, served in a coconut - tastes a bit like a Thai Green curry without the spiciness...thank god, the Cambodian's don't do spice, we'd get some relief from the volcanic Thai curries! Here though, we were under siege by a group of kids highly trained in persuasive, heart-tugging sad looks. This was our introduction to a phrase we'd hear a lot "One Dollar?". It was hard to say no to these charismatic and resourceful kids, even though it tended to be the usual array of bracelets that you really weren't interested in buying. Resist we did though, and whilst you could argue it's only $1 which is a big deal to them, so doesn't really matter that you're buying something you don't need, I'd prefer to get my money to them in more useful ways. We'll return to this subject.
At last, we
A demon churning the milk
The South entrance to Angkor Thom walled capital. headed into Angkor Wat itself - one of the 7 wonders of the world. This is the best preserved and most renowned Angkor temple. It's preservation owes a lot to monks that looked after the place, preventing the jungle taking over. As a result, even the arched roofs are still intact. Although the iconic sight of the central towers is truly impressive, perhaps more remarkable is the extent of the carvings in the stone which dominant the interior wall around the central compound. These are incredibly intact and detailed, telling various stories from the era, capturing daily life and beliefs. The climb to the top was an incredibly steep one. Okay, the steps are eroded making them smaller than they would have been, but it still amazes me that they designed steps so steep we needed our hands to help us on the climb.
'The Jungle Temple in Tomb Raider' On day two of our temple-fest, first stop of the day was a temple only recently 'rediscovered' in the jungle. This temple, Ta Prohm, gained fame in the Tomb Raider film. The setting is beautiful, making this the most romantic and perhaps our favourite of all the temples -
Churning the Milk
The South entrance to Angkor Thom walled capital.
yes, we preferred it to Angkor Wat. The trees almost seem to swallow up parts of the temple, with huge root networks snaking their way around the walls.
'The Pink Temple' - Banteay Srei We then headed further up the road, along a route which, until recently was too dangerous to travel up, with the Khmer Rouge still active, using the jungle to hide. There was the usual seige at the bus door as it stopped, locals after our money. Many of the inner buildings of this temple are still very well intact, although again, as there was at the other temples, there were signs of some of the important artefacts stolen.
On the return journey we stopped at a small community to see how they harvest sugar cane. The most interesting thing learnt here though was about the water pump they were fortunate to have - most rural dwellings do not have this luxury. A scheme is in place whereby people can contribute to see that families get a well and pump for US$200.
The floating village - lake Tonle Sap Not so far out of Siem Reap, we headed out to lake Tonle Sap to
take a boat trip to see a floating village. It was quite an eye opener to see how some people are forced to live and the scale of this, as there were not only many wooden houses floating on the lake, but also school buildings for the children. The main thing that sustains these families are the fish - they all live here because they are fishermen. There were many signs of poverty all around. In fact, when we stopped our boats engine, we were practically boarded within seconds as locals surrounded us wanting to sell us anything from fruit and water, to beer. Again, there were incredibly cute children which were very hard to resist buying something off for a dollar. We stopped briefly at a shop come bar/restaurant come fish farm come zoo! : there were many crocodiles held here caught from the lake (not really sure why, other than for the tourists) and fish!
A traditional Khmer Meal Much to everyones' excitement, for our last evening in Siem Reap we headed to eat with a local Cambodian family, helping the sibblings practice their English. Eating beetles aside, this continued the trend of superb food. Khmer
food
is relatively simple, but wholesome and very tasty. In some ways, it is a toned down, back to basics version of Thai - without the spice. It was fantastic and we felt honoured to be invited around and to get a feel for how the Cambodian's live. It was to be one of many experiences that affirmed to us we'd made the right decision to travel Cambodia by organised tour, rather than doing it ourselves.
As for the beetles, once you get over the crunchiness, they actually taste like smokey bacon. Quite tasty in fact. Yes, a number of us ate them. I made the fatal mistake of actually looking at it before placing it in my mouth - not a good move. When in hiding from the Khmer Rouge and enduring the famine that followed the Khmer Rouge's ousting from power by the Vietnamese, the Cambodians had to eat whatever they could. This included bugs, which are still available at the markets today.
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Melissa
non-member comment
cambodia basix
this is that exact tour that we have booked, i feel now as if my money is well spent and i'm looking forward to seeing these places!!