Cambodia

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And so the final stage of our first trek began....
From our original group only 9 members remained and we were joined on this final leg by six people from New Zealand and a girl from Cambridge.
Far too early in the morning for us we boarded a public bus in Saigon and made our way to the boarder of Cambodia. Looking back on Vietnam it has been fantastic, probably better than we hoped... the rural areas are just as we imagined (and how they look in the films) and the cities are a wonderful blend of crazy locals on mopeds, friendly people, amazing history and just the cheapest drinks, t-shirts & DVDs you can imagine!!
Cambodia on the other hand will be something completely new, neither one of us has any idea about the place whatsoever... however the closer we get to the boarder you start to hear a bit more about the history of Cambodia, the mass genocide that took place not 40 years ago, the suffering of the people even today and the same persons’ name keeps coming up... Pol Pot.
Once we crossed the border, (frankly they will let anyone in) we carried on to the capital, Phnom Penh where we stayed for one night. We were advised by our new tour leader, Komphak, that Cambodia is a poor country and to prepared ourselves for beggars everywhere. What we didn’t anticipate was that the beggars would be children, some no more than 2/3 years old. We were told that no matter how much we wanted to give them money we can’t as it doesn’t help them in the long run. What we could do though is buy something from them, so the children would come up to us with all sorts of stuff, books, bracelets, toys... it is so hard to turn them down so within one hour of being in Cambodia we treated ourselves to six pairs of sunglasses!!
Note... The people of Cambodia are used to eat fruits ect for dinner which just disintegrates into the ground so when they finish they just throw it on the floor. However since the Western influence they now use plastic bottles cans ect but when they have finished they still just throw it on the floor because that’s what they are used to doing. The result is that Cambodia has rubbish everywhere!!
As we weren’t due to leave Phnom Penh until the following morning we took the chance to visit Toul Sleng, which was a former prison used by the Khmer Rouge government during the genocide of the late 1970’s. This building was originally a high school taken over by the Khmer Rouge government where under the rule of Pol Pot it was transformed into a prison/ detention centre more commonly known as S-21.
To give you a small bit of history Pol Pot was a man who believed that all Cambodians should be equal. All should work the land and provide for themselves and their families. It sounds a wonderful concept in principle but the only problem was that Pol Pot was a total nutter! Hitler, Stalin this guy was right up there with the crazies. During his governments term in power he hunted down and executed anyone who was deemed ‘educated’ and therefore above others. Teachers, craftsmen, policemen, people with glasses, anyone... Out of 20 million Cambodians he was responsible for killing 3 million of them. If they weren’t executed they were left to starve to death from famine... To give you some idea today 50% of Cambodia’s population is under 18 years old. There are hardly any older people here.
We were to learn that S-21 alone held over 1700 prisoners... only 7 made it out alive.
Our guide had himself had lost 5 members of his family to the Khmer Rouge regime and the people here are scared even now to talk about the genocide that took place. When you walk into S-21 it is split into 4 buildings. Building ‘A’ was used for political prisoners and it was within these cells that they tortured them in the most horrific ways. Each cell still contained the original beds and chains used to restrain them. Even more unbelievable, each cell has a picture hanging on the wall next to the beds which shows the actual picture of how the prisoners were found when the Vietnamese army came to free them. All killed, all in the most brutal way imaginable.
The other buildings contained pictures of some of the many prisoners who passed through the doors of the prison. Countless faces of nameless civilians who were accused of crimes they didn’t commit and yet were still sentenced to death.
Finally in the last building was a massive room split in small cells using crude brick walls. It was here we met one of the 7 survivors who now works at the prison and we spend an incredible few minutes listening to him retelling his stories of life inside S-21. It was awful. Maybe 100 years ago you could see this happening but 40 years ago?? It doesn’t seem possible...
The second part of our tour was to visit the ‘killing fields’ just outside the city. People who were deemed to be educated or a traitor were taken to these fields by the truck load in the middle of the night where they would be told to kneel down at the edge of a ditch (blind folded) at which point, a guard would then hit them in the back of the head with an iron bar (or various weapons) in order to kill them. If they hadn’t died, it did not matter and they would still be tossed in and buried alive.
Upon entering the site, we walked up to a large white tower which contained inside, the skulls of 9000 men, women and children who were killed during the regime. We were able to walk around inside it and it was really bought home just how many people suffered. These skulls were real people at one time.
As we walked around, our guide told us that because of the sheer number of people taken to this sight many bones/mass grave still remain even today. Indeed as we walked around our guide showed us a white patch in the ground. He then proceeded to dust it off and reveal a human jaw bone protruding from the ground. One of the final graves was found full of women and children. The women would often be raped before being killed and next to the grave was the “killing tree.” This tree was used to kill babies. Our guide told us the reason for killing them was because Pol Pot feared they would grow up knowing what happened to their family and seek revenge. The soldiers would take the babies by the legs and swing them into the tree. Or else, they would throw them up into the air and use a sharp object to stab them before throwing them to the grave. It was at this point we just had to leave as it was a bit too much for us. Hearing stories about guards who used to use speakers hanging on the tree to drown out the screaming was enough.
After leaving this site, everyone was just in shock really at what the Cambodian people have been through. I am sorry to write so much but I think it was very important that we saw it and I don’t want to forget it. The Cambodians keep these places to reinforce the fact that this should never happen again-anywhere in the world.
After our tour, we took a bus to the country side to being an over-night home stay. We were taken to a traditional Cambodian house where we would spend the night. Two houses, two groups and we quickly made sure we were with the ones who don’t snore!! These houses stand on 8 foot poles which protect them in the floods but the place was so dry and hot it is hard to imagine even some rain let alone a flood. The people of the village were so happy to see us and we became something of a side show I suppose. Kids would come running up to us, adults stood at their fences trying to get a good look but all had massive smiles and I don’t think we have ever felt so welcome. That night we went down the local town hall for dinner and dancing. The boys and I tried our hand at keepie ups and Lynds and the girls just chilled out.
It was lovely until around 4am when all the wildlife decided to wake up and then wake us up... cows, roosters, crickets you name it they all had a go... at one point it sounded like a cow was actually trying to get up the stairs so we gave up and went for a shower using... washing machine powder. Apparently that’s all the locals had... personally I think they just wanted to laugh at the dickhead using Persil to scrum his back!!
The following morning, we made our way to Sihanoukville- another beach resort much to our delight! However the delight was short lived as we were warned that tourist have been kidnapped and used for human trafficking in this area (where do they find these places??!!) so we stuck close together.
The public beach, although full of bars was quite crowded so being the hardened backpackers that we are we checked into a 5 star resort down the road and paid $10 to use their beach and pool. It was worth it not to be hassled all day as I was getting fed up with the locals telling me that for $20 they could remove all my body hair using just thread.
3 days just chilling out was very much needed and the beach was absolutely stunning. Also the 26th was Australia day!! So as we have our Australian friends with us we became adopted Aussies for the day and got drunk because apparently that’s what they do.
After the relaxation, we headed back to Phnom Penh for one more afternoon where surprisingly we all relaxed and spent the afternoon in an Irish bar watching the Australian open.
The following morning, we took a bus to Kompong Cham which is a really quiet town that boats a whole 3 restaurants. On the way, we made a stop for snacks at the delightfully named ‘Spider Town’ and no surprises the special of the day was deep fried spider. A box sat underneath the nearest stall full of large spiders (these things were huge!). So big in fact that they kept escaping!! On the stall itself you could buy deep fried spider, deep fried bugs and many other tasty delights. I decided to give the deep fried spider a go and it was nasty... It tasted like the fat it was cooked in-ugh. Lynds smartly stuck to the bananas.
After the tasty lunch we arrived in Kompong Cham where we took a bike ride around the area and visited a temple. It was so fun as all the children kept running out and high fiveing us as we went past. The people in Cambodia are so lovely. Despite their troubled past, they are positive, happy and helpful. On the way to one of the islands we had to cross a 1k bridge made entirely of bamboo. Apparently each year it washes away with the rain and they just re-build it. It was a bit like trying to cycle on a trampoline and more than once I nearly fell in.
However on the way home we stopped at a little area of houses to watch the sunset over Cambodia. The boys and I got challenged to a game of volley ball against the locals (which we lost!) before back over the bouncing bamboo bridge we went.
That night however the whole place changed... the plan was to eat at one of the bars and then pick one of the remaining two for a game of pool and a beer but as soon as the sun went down a plague of moths descended on us. I meant literally millions... it was like a scene from a horror film, everywhere you went they were moths flying into you every second of every minute. The pool table was covered in them and we pretty quickly gave up and went home.
The following day we rushed to get a public bus to Siam Reap. Despite a bumpy journey where the driver almost killed someone on a scooter, we made it to our hotel safe and sound. We explored the town for the afternoon and found a street called, ‘pub street’ which was of course, ‘right up our street.’
We had arranged to see the temples of Angkor the next day which meant getting up at 4am so we went to bed pretty early. After what seemed like 20mins 4am came round and we headed out to see the sunrise over Angkor Watt. Angkor is probably the most famous place in Cambodia; it is an area so big that it holds over 200 temples. The largest of these and by far most spectacular is Angkor Watt... we took up positions on a monument a little further away from the temple and waited.
Somehow while we sat there I managed to meet an old American lady, who in the space of 1hour tried to convert me to Christianity and sell me a suit but much to my relief around 5.30am, the sun began to rise and saved me.
The sun rises behind the temple and just before it begins to lighten the sky, two large sun beams suddenly appeared piercing up into the sky. It was such a beautiful sight and something we couldn’t quite catch on camera. Then almost as if someone was using those beams as string the sun came up. The pictures don’t quite do it justice but it was amazing! After this, we went to a number of temples throughout the day and our last temple was the base for the first Tomb Raider film.
11 hours of sightseeing temples was enough to send me straight to the bar when we got back, once you’ve seen one they are all fairly similar if I’m honest.
Last night in Cambodia and I think now after travelling for over a month we are ready for Thailand. There is no doubt we have loved every second of this trip and have met just the most amazing people. We also now have accommodation in Melbourne and both the north & south islands of NZ and cannot wait to meet up with them all again.
Thoughts on Cambodia... well it’s dirty no doubt and they eat spiders which is just weird but as a people they are amongst the friendliest I have ever met. Cambodia will just get better and better but I am so grateful we have seen it before it becomes too much like Thailand. It has a raw beauty which I love and despite a tragic past the people smile and couldn’t do enough for you.
Onwards to Thailand...

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Comments

[Aimee]

Excellent Blog!
Hi Guys! This is your best blog yet - I feel like I've been to Cambodia with you! I love getting an email saying you've updated the site!!! Glad you're still having a brilliant time, but must admit I'm a bit disappointed Lynds didn't try a deep-fried spider! Hope you have a super time in Thailand! Miss you lots, Aimee, Alastair, Georgia and Max! xx

[Christine]

Glad you are having fun
It sounds fantastic.. Its fun seeing what you have been up to.. The aussies are great people, you will have a great time in melbourne. We miss you at lunchtimes! Will keep watching your adventures and we havent seen Sully yet! Did you sell him! Cant believe its been a year since the wedding. News from home (Iwona is having a baby