So the boarder..
You know how we said we were getting savvy well they gave Lucy double change (in US $$$) so we were more than happy to pay the bribe to get our visa’s processed immediately!
A slight hick up saw us whipped to the international tourist bus depot which lies in the middle of know where forcing us to pay for a taxi. $30 US for a two hour ride wasn’t all bad though especially given the state of the roads and downpours and did we mention the driving?
Firstly Cambodia being an ex French colony meant a change to driving on the right. Then the two lane road has to cope with four lanes of traffic! We saw everything from the standard cars, buses and trucks to mopeds with 5 people, ex army utes with no straight panels, two wheeled tractor things with a trailer (see photo) tuk tuks and many blaring horns. Talk about an adventure!
After a night in a very old french hotel complete with carved wooden bed head and towel swan sculpture it was off with Bernie our motor scooter guide. We ripped along on an old bamboo train ( a small train with a lawn motor engine running on the old disused french tracks) visited ancient temples, a fishing village and winery before a moving walk through some killing fields and caves complete with piles of skulls. We followed this up with a walk to a hilltop temple with great views and vicious monkeys. We then had to wait to dusk to watch an estimated 11 000 000 bats leave a cave. They moved like swallows, in a long bunching line.
Bernie diligently explained his upbringing as a monk (to receive free education) and the volatile political history of Cambodia. A couple of beers, a quick street feed and it was time to put our feet up. Keeping up his reputation as the best ping pong player in the auckland flat, prebs showed the locals who was boss with a come from behind 2-1 victory.
On the bamboo train utlising the old French railway line
Cute kids selling bracelets
Siem Reap, Angkor Wat and Wazza were still to come..
Being the dry season we hadn’t booked a bus to take us to Siem Reap. We turned up to Capitol Bus station to be told the 9.45am was fully booked and the next one left at 1pm. Not deterred by this Nick talked them around and they said we could sit one of us beside the driver and one on a plastic red chair (one like in a classroom) in the isle… So we hopped on and much to Nick’s chagrin we did end up having real seats to our selves.
We arrived in Siem Reap to find Wazza pool side with a beer at the luxurious accommodation that we had pre-booked in Auckland. The hotel had two bikes we could use for free so the boys hopped on one and I had the other and we pedalled into town to check it out. Siem Reap town has some great little markets and the road side mango shakes are off the chain! It was refreshing to walk through the markets and not be badgered by everyone.
We were keen to check out a more happening hostel so we checked out the next day and went to a hostel with a pool closer to town (after making good use of the awesome pool with an early morning birthday swim…). It being around 38 degrees the pool was a must (even if it’s slightly below spa temperature). Today was in fact my birthday too, a ripe old age of 25.
We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us out to the Tonle Sap Lake for an afternoon on the water and to watch the sunset.
The lake was very low being the dry season. We had to walk down about 10-15 metres to the boat, in the dry season the water rises by that much and the lake increases in size by 50 times.
We had a rickety old private boat to ourselves, with two Cambodian boys as driver and English translator respectively. Our driver was just 14 years old (hah!). They let Nick drive when we got out onto the lake where he got the old diesel engine humming and raced another boat.
There is a fishing village on stilts about 500m off shore (in the wet season it would be about 2-3k off shore). The village was created by Vietnamese refugees who were not allowed to own land in Cambodia during the war so instead they set up shop on the lake. There were schools, markets, everything, you name it. After watching the sunset and an epic thunderstorm come in we headed back into town for a nice feed and lemon tart for dessert (candle included).
The lake was very low being the dry season. We had to walk down about 10-15 metres to the boat, in the dry season the water rises by that much and the lake increases in size by 50 times.
We had a rickety old private boat to ourselves, with two Cambodian boys as driver and English translator respectively. Our driver was just 14 years old (hah!). They let Nick drive when we got out onto the lake where he got the old diesel engine humming and raced another boat.
There is a fishing village on stilts about 500m off shore (in the wet season it would be about 2-3k off shore). The village was created by Vietnamese refugees who were not allowed to own land in Cambodia during the war so instead they set up shop on the lake. There were schools, markets, everything, you name it. After watching the sunset and an epic thunderstorm come in we headed back into town for a nice feed and lemon tart for dessert (candle included).
The next day we had a 4.45am wake up call to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat (one of the seven man made wonders of the world). The temples were spectacular in their grandeur, however, it was hard to appreciate sometimes without having any reference to the culture. A highlight for me was base reliefs along the inner tier of Angkor Wat. They were amazing, so real and the myths and real life stories were easy to understand.
After walking around the temples for a good 8 hours we headed back for a much needed swim. It was a big day in the heat, it really takes it out of you. Poo faced Lucy even had to have a nap in the Tuk Tuk on the way home…
Saying goodbye to Siem Reap we took a bus to Stung Treng – continuing our journey East, travelling clockwise around Cambodia.
Lesson learnt – try to sit a the front of mini vans / buses where possible. The journey itself was pretty entertaining. After spending about 30 mins in the back getting air and hitting our heads on the ceiling with all the pot holes in the road we moved up the front.
We’ve found on every journey you need to + ½ of what they say. So 4 hours is 6 hours…
Stung Treng was a sleepy little town, we stayed in a nice old French guesthouse (price $7 for all three of us) right on the river front. We arranged a river tour to take us for a hoon up the Mekong. We left at about 4.30pm in this tiny little wobbly dugout. We motored along the banks of the Mekong where families were having their afternoon bath. The kids were all having a blast, had huge smiles and always waved when we went by.
After about an hour or so we stopped at a bit of a delta upstream. The Mekong here is really wide and the local families each have nets out to catch fish. We went for a quick dip in the water – Wazza accidentally dove straight into a net full of fish… Then wet but stoked, we cruised on back for a feed next door.
Being out of the big cities and in more the rural areas put a bounce in the boys steps.
We paid $7 US each to get a mini van to Ban Lung. We were told we had a minivan with air conditioning all to our selves – which we thought was too good to be true… And of course it was.
Let’s just say we’ll put the minivan trip down as an experience… All three of us were piled into the back with another Cambodian guy. The leg room was not made for Europeans and Wazza had a lovely wooden chair sticking out as a head rest. After a few stops we had about 15 people in the 12 seater mini van. At its fullest we had about 19 (5 or so being small children…) + 1 chicken.
Ban Lung, we were definitely now off the beaten track. We arranged to stay at Tree Top Ecolodge, in this sweet little thatched roof bungalow, with a hammock out front and view over the valley. Surrounded by jungle it was a sweet pad.
After a quick walk into town we hired a motorbike to whizz all three of us around the surrounding crater lakes Cambodian style. Dodging huge thunder storms we decided we were in need of a much needed bomb session. So after a quick pose beside the sign that read swim only with a life jacket we proceeded to bomb, flip and dive to our hearts content. This created quite a scene, particularly when we swam out to the middle of the lake, I don’t think many of the people visiting the lake had seen people swim properly before and we had many a photo taken of us. The tables had turned and we were now the tourist attraction.
The next morning it was down to Mondulkiri to visit an elephant sanctuary. The journey was rather sobering as we again piled into a overloaded minivan and began to negotiate the new Chinese funded road being built between the two towns. Half complete it was a bit dicey in places with lots of bright red mud. The road has brought with it a swath of deforestation with Vietnamese and Chinese palm oil and rubber plantations appearing on land declared as national parks or confiscated from the indigenous peoples. In numerous spots you just say them burning down the forests.
Another early start saw us off to the elephant valley project where they try as best as they can to rehabilitate ex-working elephants. The elephants have either been bought or leased from their owners and are able to roam free during the day with their mahouts. The project also helps provide education and employment for the local people and encourage protection of the remaining rainforest. After an afternoon of volunteer work it was off for a much needed cold shower and beer before dinner in the wonderful thatched huts overlooking the forest. After an entertaining night spent hunting or being hunted by huge insects, spiders and geckos (much to Lucy’s horror) and a huge breakfast of fried potatoes and fresh fruit it was back into the jungle for a morning of gardening then an afternoon with a couple of different elephants.
It was a great couple of days in the jungle and although expensive it seems like the money is being used for the right reasons. You can also see first hand the impact humans have on not only the wildlife but the environment. All the elephants had different degrees of scarring depending on what they had been used for. And I have to say tourist carrying was up there in being the worst.
However, with a bit of luck the forest will remain in tact not just for tourists but also for the local forest inhabitants and the native flora and fauna.
So next stop was Phnon phen the capital and largest city. We were a little apprehensive about the share number of people and hecticness of the city but it turned out to be fantastic. A hostel with a pool was in order as was some very tough bargaining with tuk tuk drivers who tried all out intimidation only to be beaten down!
We visited the S-21 school which was used as a torture centre during the Khmer Rouge regime with only seven people to ever walk out alive! Much of the school buildings remain complete with before and after torture photos of each victim. It was truly horrible to see and very hard to believe it only happened in the late 70’s while the West remained oblivious.
A short tuk tuk ride then saw us at the Choeung Ek killing fields. Here over 120 mass graves have been discovered some containing as many as 450 people including women and children. I don’t think it is appropriate to go into the methods used to kill other than to say very few bullets were used. There is a large monument that has been built to commemorate the victims and includes 8000 skulls and other bone fragments which continue to surface during the wet season.
The book First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung is worth reading for more information.
Time for a change of scene and some beach time. Sihanoukville was a very touristy place with huge Russian hotels and casinos plus a fair few backpacker crash pads. We chose to stay just out of town at Rockstar Resort at Otres beach which was slightly more laid back. Given the name of the accommodation and the welcome we received we decided a night OTP was in order. After a good feed and a few 50 cent beers at “blame Canada” then a few more, we crashed out. Stumbling out for a 4.30am wee we discovered two little scumbags riffling through Wazza’s stuff. A quick chase saw them ditch his camera only to discover later that they already had his phone, iPod and wallet.
So it was in the pouring (but warm) monsoon rains complete with a hangover that the boys set about finding the police station and reporting the crime for insurance purposes. Well what a procedure, it took a dozen men, none of whom were in uniform, a whole afternoon to write out a report and us repeating the story to each and everyone of the officers, the plus side is we got there in the end!
A long day at the beach was required, we managed to get a boat out to some small islands, but not Khan Rhong etc like we had hoped. Under clear skies we snorkelled on some very average reefs, did some bombs and flips for the Herne Bay Bomb Squad, got sunburnt and ate fresh grilled squid and drank local beer and home made spirits with some friendly locals (after our boat driver said we hadn't paid for lunch) it was a great way to end our time in Cambodia.
Have we discussed boarder crossings before? The Cambodia/Vietnam was more of an adventure than the last!
