Indochina loop continued - Cambodia

Cambodian Vocabulary:

Angkor beer (local brew)

On goon (thank you)

Tuesday - Phnom Penh

Our hotel was good but I was in a bad way, coughing and sneezing my head off.  3 of us went off in search of some food and as we were sitting in a cafe, I thought I was hallucinating because an elephant walked past, down the high street!  It transpires that this is Samba who does the riverside walk every day at 4.30pm so it wasn't our imagination.  I didn't join the group for dinner as I was feeling really cr@p so went to bed with the tv news to send me to sleep.

Wednesday- Phnom Penh

Feeling a bit healthier, I rejoined the group for the morning visit to the genocide museum which was originally a school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a torture prison.  The guide told us horrific stories which included how his own family were tortured and killed but we lost some concentration when his mobile phone kept ringing in the middle of what he was trying to say - I found that quite rude and disrespectful.  Next stop was the 'Killing Fields' which is  also very strange and eerie.  They have uncovered mass graves and have skulls on display but the ground still has human bones and clothing poking out through the earth.  It was very disturbing to know we were walking directly on graves.  There are still a lot of unearthed graves in the vicinity.  I didn't feel it appropriate to take photos.

We needed cheering up after the sad morning so 5 of us went to the Russian Market where we spent our hard earned dollars on more tourist tat.  We found a nice cafe and realised that our holiday is being judged by the state of the toilets (which we call 'happiness room' after the first person coined that phrase back in Chang Mai) - so easily pleased! The 5 of us then negotiated with a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Royal Palace.  Glad we didn't walk in the heat/humidity.  After paying our $6.25  entrance fee (FACT: the US dollar and Cambodian Rial are totally interchangeable) which was a rip off because we couldn't actually go into the palace, just a load of Wats (temples) in the courtyard.  We then went in search of the Silver Pagoda.  After about an hour we gave up.  One of us then read our guide book which said that the silver pagoda housed the emerald buddah and was silver because of the floor tiles - doh!! we had been looking for a silver coloured pagoda but fortunately we had seen the emerald buddah so hadn't missed anything. Then it was time for a well deserved drink.  We sat in a bar high up overlooking the river and watching the world go by sipping our cocktails.  Samba the elephant passed by again.

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Our group dinner was at another teaching restaurant and the food was excellent.  On the way back we were inundated with young children trying to sell us books or flowers.  There were beggars and disabled beggars everywhere and the evidence of poverty is really striking in this city of contrasts.  There are brand new luxury cars everywhere and flash villas  next to old shanty huts.  A good wage here is 30 USD per month.  People were sleeping on the streets with young babies in their arms.  It is very disturbing and we were pleased to be leaving this city.

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Thursday - Siem Reap After a sleepless night and early morning flight, we arrived at our penultimate destination on this trip.  Our first task was to have photos taken for our temple passes.  This city is famous mainly for Angkor Wat, a mass complex of ancient temples. My little gang of 3 took a tuk tuk into town to see the old market and have a bite to eat.  We were shattered so came back to freshen up and join the rest of the group for a group dinner.

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Was hoping to speak to Talia and Tom on the phone but the hotel dude refused to put them through but cut them off instead.  I found this out to my cost after a few frantic text messages and me calling them at $5 per minute!  At about 2.30am there was a knock on the door and a hotel bod was standing there saying '' you want me??''  When I spoke to the hotel manager in the morning, he explained that his usual night porter was having the night off and the dude was infact just a local tuk tuk driver who didn't speak much English and was just covering and that he thought the incoming call was infact me calling reception!

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 Friday - Siem Reap  Woke up at 4am so that we could leave early to see the sunset over Angkor Wat. It really was an amazing site.  We then spent 5 hours walking around various temples/stopping for food/mini bus between the sites.  Its very hard to describe in words but it is awesome seeing sandstone temples that were built in the 12th Century still in such excellent condition.  The quality of the carvings were amazing.  We were stopped at every point possible by street urchin children trying to sell us postcards etc.

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Came back to the hotel and our little gang of 3 decided to have ' in room massage'.  It was certainly an experience.  Fully clothed and no oils involved, our Cambodian  masseurs showed us how it was done here - oh boy was it a shock to the system.  Yes I can confirm that being walked on is not a pleasant experience or being prodded and poked in places that don't usually see daylight is not something to describe in great detail!! Did we feel better for it?  Not really.  I especially felt pain when my girl didn't have any change so I was forced into a tip double that which I would have given her!

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After a well earned drink at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents' club) our gang of 5 decided to stay on and eat in the rather posh surroundings - nice pizza/pasta.

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Saturday - Siem Reap  Not such an early morning start, but early enough!  Sun was up early today and walking around more temples in the heat and humidy was a killer.  We gave up by 11am and came back to the hotel for lunch and a rest before heading out again in the afternoon.

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Our afternoon excursion was to see the gigantic manmade lake called Tonle Sap which has its own ecosystem.  Many people live on or around the lake and make their living and their homes from the natural resources there.  We were told by our guide that this is the dry season but when it is the rainy season, the water level rises to the height of the treetops and people have to move their house as many as 14 times in one year.  The houses are very mobile and can be moved either by road or pulled by a boat to a new location.  The 'street children' became  'water childrem' as they clambered onto our boat off their boats and tried to sell us drinks and bananas. We stopped at a fish farm and a crocodile farm.  We saw floating schools, churches and even a tennis court!

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This vening was our 'farewell dinner and drink' because although the tour officially finishes on Monday, I will not be having the last night with the group as my lovely boyfriend Tom has now arrived safely in Bangkok.  (He had only been in town for a couple hours when he braved a walk outside the hotel, only to be accosted by a couple of local massage girls.  He will be safe when I join him tomorrow!)  We had a great meal in a restaurant called the Soup Dragon and the menu consisted of Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, Western, and Mexican food.  We drank in a cool bar called 'Angkor What?'

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Final thoughts on Cambodia:  Very hot and humid! Amazing temples, interesting markets (especially the night market), pushy people never missing an opportunity to sell the tourists something, street kids learning to speak English by selling tat/postcards/drinks, street kids appearing anytime tourist buses stopped or western faces appeared.  More expensive than other countries we have visited. Lots of poverty. Lots of sad history but the people have moved on and really trying to make this country into a tourist destination. Well worth a visit!