Cambodia - Mekong, Penom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap

Mekong Delta

We caught a boat downriver to the Mekong on our way in to Cambodia, as we figured a boat cruise would be more interesting than a bus ride. During the boat cruise we got off and went to see a Coconut Candy Factory, where you can see them making candy out of condensed coconut milk and sugar molasses (it makes for some very tasty candy). While we were there we saw some weird amphibious tadpole like creatures on the muddy banks of the river, we never did find out what they were as when I asked the guide just said fiss, meaning fish. We went to see a Floating Market, which was different to what I had imagined. I was expecting one massive floating area that we could get off and walk around on. It actually turned out to be a load of different boats that were all floating in one area selling their wares which seemed to be primarily fruit and veg. You could tell what they were selling by looking at the pole strung up at the front of the boat, which would for example have a pineapple tied to the top of it, if they were selling pineapples. It was incredible to think that families actually lived on these boats full time (it was their home), and you could see their clothes hung up outside / inside the boat.

While we were travelling along the river it was great to see all the woman sitting on the front of their boats wearing the traditional conical hats, and we got to see people that lived along the river going about there daily business. It is pretty unbelievable to see people that are still living in a small grass covered hut up on stilts over the river, with their toilet a small cubicle that hangs over the river, washing their clothes in the water as you go by. I had that Phil Collins number running through my head for most of the time ‘Oh think twice, its just anther day for you and me in paradise’. It had never seemed more true.

That night we stayed in a cheap hotel in Ban Tre that the tour company had arranged, and went for a walk to the nearby night markets. I bought a pair of jeans shorts for $3, and got the biggest size they had on the racks (29) although when I got it home I still couldn’t get it up my legs lol. I have since been to three other stores, and a size 29 is the biggest size they do in Cambodia. So I ask you, where do all the fat Cambodians shop? And the answer is, there are no fat Cambodians of course.

The following day we went to see a rice noodle factory which was pretty cool, where we saw them turning rice in to rice noodles. Afterwards we went to see a rice factory even though it was closed as they had no rice crop to process lol. Afterwards we got a bus on to Can Tho (we spent a lot of time on buses despite it being a Mekong tour) and spent the night in a floating hotel, which was pretty cool. We got chatting to a friendly English couple that had taken a year off to go travelling. As the floating hotel was moored, it was much like staying in a regular hotel (no waves) except that when we woke up in the morning we got a view out over the water.

The next morning we went to see a fish farm, which lasted about 10 minutes (we saw a man feed some fish) and then got on another boat bound for the Cambodian border. The border crossing was interesting as we basically pulled up to a small building along the side of the river in Vietnam, then got back in another boat and went upriver for 5 minutes, only to stop at another building to get the Cambodian visa. Then after another couple of hours on the fast boat we finally arrived in Penom Penh. It was a long journey as we were on boats for 8 hours that day and by the time we arrived we were pretty knackered. So we got a tuk tuk to the hostel we had booked, only to be greeted by some very loud construction noise right outside our window. It was around 16h45 PM and we just wanted to get some sleep, but couldn’t do that with the jackhammers and buzz saws outside which was very annoying. We asked the hostel if they could change our room to be on the other side of the building, and they just replied that everyone asks for the same thing, and it would depend on who checked out the following day (charming).

Cambodia - Penom Penh

So the following morning we walked up the road and found another hostel with a room available that we could move to (much farther away from the construction noise). We had to fight to get most of our money back from the first one though. The guy on reception said that only his manager could give refunds, and he didn’t know when he would be back in, nor did he have his own managers phone number so that we could call him - I mean really!? We walked off with their set of room keys and oddly enough when Steve went back after breakfast the reception guy had completely changed his tune, and was suddenly allowed to provide the refund himself.

The new hostel was very helpful and had various tours on offer, so after breakfast there we got a tuk tuk driver for the day (at $12) and went to see the Killing Fields and the S21 Prison Museum. To be honest it was pretty depressing stuff, although I suppose that is the point really - to remind people of the atrocities in the hope of preventing it from ever happening again. I was expecting the Killing Fields site to have been sanitised as it has been turned in to a tourist site, and there is a kind of tall temple that is filled with the recovered skulls and bones of the victims. However there were actually still human teeth and bones lying on the ground on a path that anyone could walk over and bits of clothes sticking out of the dirt. Grim. I am told that it would be impossible to clear the whole area, without removing all the soil and sifting through it, as there were so many killed that their bones etc are just scattered all over the place, and every time it rains some new stuff comes to the surface. It is hard to believe that people could plot to do this to one another. Although saying that I couldn’t help but think of the similarities with the Holocaust when I saw the mass graves of the victims. In one cell at the prison you could actually see a bloody handprint on the wall, which really made it hit home that people were brutally tortured there. The scariest part is that the murders didn’t happen all that long ago, and that the people that committed the crimes are still alive today, and bar a handful they were never prosecuted, they just melted back in to society! Afterwards the tuk tuk driver had been waiting for us and took us on to a market where we got some lunch, and went for a walk around (anything to lighten the mood after walking around S21). Again the driver just waited for us, and then took us back to the hostel afterwards. It amazed me to see that you that you can get a driver’s services for a whole day for just 12 USD and competition is pretty fierce between the drivers, that will tout for your business when you walk out of the hostel.

The next day we booked our bus tickets to Battanbang, handed in some much needed laundry and then walked to the Royal Palace which was nearby. The gardens there were immaculate and the buildings were very ornate with the typical Cambodian dragon shapes on the rooves. There was also a building filled with silver and gold ornaments. One of which was a life size gold Buddha that weighed 90 kgs and was covered in around 7000 diamonds. It had big diamonds for eyes and in the palms of its hands, and it was only kept in a regular old glass box, which I thought was a bit of a security risk, but maybe that’s the saffer in me talking lol. It was interesting to see that the buddhas here are quite different to the buddhas we’d seen in China. In China they were fat with a big round belly and usually laughing. In Cambodia they tend to be skinny and have more serious expressions on their faces. When we came out of the palace one tuk tuk driver asked if we had a driver and when we said No we would walk, he looked incredulous. It was like ‘ what do you mean you’re walking, it’s the law for all tourists to take tuk tuks here’.

That night we took a tuk tuk to the Happy Herb Pizza restaurant (yes it’s exactly what you think it is) and ordered two pizzas. After a couple of slices of happy pizza we were laughing at the geckos on the walls. All in all a good night out with no hangover the following morning.

The next day wasn’t terribly touristy as we got some admin done. We went to the post office and booked our onward hostel in Battambang, then went shopping for some bus snacks.

Battambang

The following morning we were up early to meet our transfer at 07h15. They took us to the bus station, where they pointed at a bus and said ‘its that one’. They also put our bags next to the bus loading door. As it turned out I was actually up the stairs and inside the bus before someone fetched me out again and told me that that bus was not going to Battambang (close call). So we dragged our bags over to the other bus (unfortunately slightly less good looking), watched our bags go in to the hold and then boarded the bus again.

It was the oldest bus we had been on to date. The walls were pretty dirty and the seats and curtains had definitely seen better days. However we were relieved to have seats, and they were even next to one another so we shouldn’t complain. We have heard about other travellers that had paid for seats, only to end up sitting on the floor for the entire journey. Along those lines I will mention that there were a number of locals that got on the fully loaded bus along the way, and sat on little plastic chairs in the middle of the aisle (who needs a fire exit unless there’s a fire anyway?!).

But I’m getting ahead of myself a bit, the bus was due to leave at 07h45, so with the bus fully loaded, the driver finally sashayed onboard around 08h10 and at last got us on our way (Cambodian time yeah baby). The journey was meant to last 5 hours and although there was no toilet on board we had been assured that the bus would make toilet stops along the way. So after about an hour the bus does indeed stop, except it has stopped along the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Half the bus gets off and walks off in to the grass / bushes (there weren’t many bushes) to relieve themselves in the open air! It was at this point that I decided against drinking the can of Pepsi I had brought along in my supplies. However as it turned out there was actually a genuine lunch / toilet stop around 11h00.

After a rather uneventful journey, we arrived in Battambang only a half an hour behind schedule (result!) and a man from the new hostel was there to meet us with a sign (another result). We loaded our backpacks in to his tuk tuk and were transferred to the hostel, which was okay. No Wifi in the room, an internal window and a slight plumbing problem, however the reception guy was very helpful and booked us a tuk tuk for the following morning to take us to the bamboo train. We also booked our boat tickets to Siem Reap on the Sunday, before the boat got booked up. There wasn’t really much we wanted to see in Battambang other than the bamboo train, and as it looked like a one horse town, we weren’t keen to linger. The one thing we had noticed in moving from China (where it was low season) to South East Asia (where it is high season) is that there are a lot more tourists about and it has become necessary to try and book accommodation a little further than 1 day in advance.

We spent the rest of the day walking around Battambang, and went to the markets (which seemed to contain a lot of gold jewellery, clothing, food and hairdressers), and then took a walk along the river to try and see the French architecture the guidebook mentioned. Now not being any sort of expert on what French architecture is meant to look like it is hard to say whether we actually saw the intended buildings. However we did see a couple of houses with shuttered windows which didn’t look very Cambodian, but at the same time they weren’t really anything to write home about. We finished our walk at a temple, that had loads of monks streaming out of it in their orange robes. That is one thing that has surprised me about Cambodia, I wasn’t really expecting to see so many monks around. We also saw 4 young local boys, buck naked, playing in the river below. They had clearly come off a house boat that was docked nearby and were having an awesome time splashing about in the water and mud below us.

The next day we took a tuk tuk to the train station to catch the bamboo train. On arrival what looked like a policeman called us over and told us a bit about the train and got us to pay a woman $5 each for the journey. He then arranged for a driver and we clambered on to the train carriage. Now I use the words ‘train carriage’ very loosely. It was basically more like a wooden raft on train wheels, without a roof or sides, powered by a diesel engine. A man got on the back to work the engine and away we went up the single track. It was fantastic fun, a bit like a rollercoaster but without any seats or seatbelts. You just sit on a woven mat. A little ways up the track we came upon another carriage going in the opposite direction. This meant that one of us would have to give way. It turned out to be them. The tourists climbed off the carriage, and their driver and our driver picked up the whole ‘carriage’ and placed it on the ground next to the tracks. Then we pulled forward a bit and they reassembled their‘carriage’ on their other side of us lol. The rails themselves were not exactly straight, so the ride was a little bumpy, which only added to the fun. We only went as far as the next stop, which took about 20 minutes with the wind rushing in our faces, and it was nice to see a bit of the passing countryside. We got off and sat at a roadside ‘café’ to have a drink for a bit and chatted to some other irish tourists. After a bit our driver waived us over and it was time to head back down the other way again.

We arranged with the same tuk tuk driver to take us on an excursion to see a couple of temples the following day. We would later find out that the bamboo train should have cost us $5 for the carriage ie both of us, and the officer had pocketed the other $5 for his trouble.

The next morning we met our tuk tuk driver at 10h00, and he drove us about 18km out of town to the first temple (phnom sampouv). We went along a dirt road for a bit and when other motorbikes or cars passed us I was glad of the traditional scarf that I’d bought from the market for $1.50, as it definitely helped to keep the dust out of my lungs. We arrived at a little rural town of sorts, paid an entrance fee of $2 each, and then went on a bit of a walk up a road, and some steps to find the Killing Cave. Similar to the Killing Fields of Penom Penh, the KR threw people (some dead / some alive) down in to this cave, to the tune of 10,000 people, and some of their skeletons can still be seen there (again pretty grim, although not as grim as the Killing Fields as there was not as much information in the cave about what went on). Then we took another short walk uphill to find a beautiful temple covered in gold paint, which was very ornate. The temple was on the highest hill / mountain in Battambang (which is pretty flat otherwise) and we had some great views from the top. Just before we were about to walk down again, I put my camera, water and a muffin I’d been carrying in a bag, down on a seat to take a photo and before you could say ‘what the?’ a rather large monkey came walking along and snatched my muffin away. He promptly took it out of the bag and climbed up a tree to eat my own muffin in front of me, the cheeky bugger. However I was just glad that he hadn’t decided to make off with my camera, which he could easily have done.

Afterwards the tuk tuk driver drove us across another dirt road to get to a second temple (wat banon). He said that one was from the 11th century and pre dated Angkor Wat. We arrived to see a very steep set of 300 plus steps going straight up, but could not see the temple as it was set back a bit from the stairs. So up we went, a few steps at a time, until we got a view of the temples which were awesome, and a lot like what I expected Angkor Wat to look like. We wandered around taking a couple of photos, and then sat looking out at the views over Battambang which was fab. There weren’t many other tourists about which was nice. Then we wandered down all the steps again and saw a couple of French tourists climbing up with 2 locals that were fanning them as they walked lol. Our driver was waiting for us at the bottom and drove us back to the hostel again. By the time we got back it was 16h00, so it only cost us $15 for a day of his time. Cambodia is cheap. Well I suppose Vietnam was cheap as well, but I am noticing it more here. $10 a night for a double room in a hostel with TV, AC and a private bathroom. $2 for a meal. 50 cents for a coke. It came as a pleasant change after the expense of Japan and the US.

The following day we left at 06h30 to get the Angkor Express boat to Siem Reap, which was due to arrive at 15h30. It turned out the express boat was actually a rather slow service, as the water level in the river was very low, so the driver had to negotiate the way carefully. The boat was also quite small, and full of tourists which meant that it wasn’t the most comfortable of journeys. As there was no real space for our luggage the guys had packed our backpacks underneath the chairs in front of us, which also meant reduced legroom. However it was quite a scenic journey along the river as we got to see a lot of people bringing in their fishing nets first thing in the morning, and we also saw a floating village on our way in to Siem Reap. I made some good progress on my book ‘The Girl in the Picture’ that I started in Nha Trang, and Steve managed to finish The Killing Fields that he bought there as well. Anyway back to our arrival in Siem Reap.

Siem Reap

The hostel we had booked in Siem Reap had promised to send a tuk tuk, as the port is a good 16km from the town, and much to our surprise the boat actually arrived on time, and there was a man holding up a sign with our names on it (result). However the tuk tuk driver immediately asked us whether we planned to go and see the temples the following day, and wanted us to promise to use him if we did. Apparently the tuk tuk to the hostel comes free, but with the understanding that you will use him again during your stay. As we didn’t know his day rate, we didn’t make any promises and he dropped us at the hostel without an issue. The hostel was an upgrade on the Battambang one, which was nice. That first evening we just had dinner in the hostel restaurant as we were pretty tired after the epic boat journey.

The following day we woke up late and went for a walk around Siem Reap to get the lay of the land. Our hotel was about a 10 min walk from the main street, where all the bars and restaurants where, and we found a recommended restaurant and went for lunch. I had the fish amok, with a side order of morning glory (yes they actually do have a dish with this name and it is slightly garlicky, somewhat oily green vegetables) and Steve had a chicken cashew nut, both with steamed rice and they were both very good. Again we ate with chopsticks, and I must say that after about 6 weeks of eating with chopsticks non stop we have become quite adept at it, and it now feels strange to eat with a knife and fork. A bit like I am stabbing my food unnecessarily, the knife and fork are far more brutal implements than chopsticks! We also found the local market and went for a walk around to see what they were selling. Again we were surprised to find how cheap everything is in Cambodia - $3 for a pair of silk cushion covers, or £3.50 for a pair of fake Ray Bans. Of course you have to barter for everything, but we seem to be getting better at that. The best tactic seems to be to walk away from their stall and see whether they shout their best price after you.

That night we arranged with the hostel for our tuk tuk driver (yes the same one that did the pier transfer, his day rate was $12 per day) to meet us at 05h10 AM to take us to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. I do feel sorry for the tuk tuk drivers here as they must get up before 05h00 most days to ferry tourists in to see the sunrise. Then again I suppose there are a lot of people here that are worse off and make even less money than a tuk tuk driver.

So the next morning we woke up at 04h45 and shuffled downstairs to meet our driver. It was still pitch dark (good as we didn’t want to miss the sunrise) when we got in his tuk tuk and off we went down the potholed dirt road outside the hostel, bouncing about in the back with the wind cutting through our clothes. We hadn’t factored in that it would be pretty cold in the back of the tuk tuk in the middle of the night, and were dressed in shorts and t shirts (it would be 33 degrees later in the day).

After a quick stop for a litre of gas from a lady with a filled plastic bottle and a funnel (I was left wondering if the street vendors just sleep at their stalls?) we were on our way and about 20 minutes later we arrived at the Angkor Wat ticket booth. We were surprised to find the tickets cost $40 per person, which was double the price in the guide book and we had our pictures taken for the tickets at 05h30. Then he drove us on to the entrance, although we couldn’t see much of anything yet as it was still pitch dark. However as always, there was one industrious man trying to sell us a cup of hot coffee (no thanks my eyes havent actually opened yet). So our tuk tuk driver pointed over to the right handside, and said to follow the other tourists, and he would be waiting for us over on the left by the restaurant when we were done. So off we went in to the pitch darkness, following the dim light of a torch that a guide in front was carrying. It was clear that we were passing over some sort of bridge, with water on either side (no rails), which would turn out to be the moat. Then we found the spot by the lake where the other tourists were gathered in the dark, and found our posse to wait for sunrise. When the sun finally started to rise we could at last see the familiar outline of the massive temple of Angkor Wat which was fantastic, and by the time the sun got up above the temple it was really beautiful with the full reflection of the temple in the still lake. There was also another benefit to being there super early, which was that we got to walk around Angkor Wat when there were less tourists there, so we had less of a queue to climb the ladder and get up to the inner temple. We took our time walking around the temple and were amazed with the intricate carvings over pretty much every surface in there. Afterwards our tuk tuk driver took us to Angkor Tom which includes Bayon that has all the statues with the multiple faces, which was fantastic. Again you could climb up a ladder to get to a top level and walk around there, although by that time of day it was heaving with other tourists, so it was difficult to get any photos. Lastly that day we went to the Elephant Terrace, is like a long walkway with loads of sculptures of elephants carved in to the sides, and a load of Apsala (mythical dancing nymphs) carved in to it. It was absolutely boiling in the afternoon, so we just got a bit of lunch and then were to knackered to do anymore so we just went home for an afternoon kip (getting up at 4h45 will really take it out of you). That evening we went to the night market for a walk around and saw a load of outdoor massage places and fish foot massage parlours.

The following morning we got up early again and met the tuk tuk driver at 07h00 to go and see Ta Prohm which is the temple where the Tomb Raider movie was filmed. I was glad that we decided to leave it until the next day and get an early start, as there were only a handful of other people around and we practically got to walk around the temple on our own. It was a really magical place and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves walking around each new corner to find another part of the temple overgrown by some enormous tree roots. For me it was actually better than Angkor Wat and has to be one of the most awesome places I have ever been to. No wonder they used it as a film set.

Afterwards the driver took us for some breakfast and then on to a couple of nearby lesser temples, however by that point it was nearing mid day and the sun was absolutely scorching, so we were melting a bit with our Cambodian scarves pulled up over our heads for a bit of relief. Well at least we looked the part. After an afternoon of looking around the lesser temples and climbing up lots of Angkorian stairways, we had had enough and asked the tuk tuk to drop us back near Bar Street where we could get some lunch. We ended up back at the market looking for an Angkor Wat souvenir at another bargain price.

The next day we still had a temple pass (it was three days), but we were pretty much templed out after 2 days, so we decided to run a couple of errands before our bus out. We managed to find a Fujifilm and had a couple of passport photos taken for our Laos visa, and then went to the post office again. This is the first parcel that we’ve actually sent to ourselves at our own address in London, as we have sadly realised that by the time it arrives we should be back there. Then we went to the Angkor National Musuem, which wasn’t cheap at $12 entrance each. However we saw some great examples of the carvings that had all but warn away at Angkor Wat, and understood a bit more about what we had seen there. Apparently a lot of the stories / people and animals engraved at the temples have come from Hinduism / Buddhism. There was one Hindu lady there from India that was walking around smiling and saying, yes I recognise this story, it is the same as the one we tell back home.

We also found this awesome shop where you can have music transferred on to your ipod at a cheap rate, so we spent a bit of time there perusing their catalogue. Then we went to the shops and bought some supplies for the bus to Laos the following day. We were due to leave at 05h00 and arrive at 15h30, so it was going to be a long ride.

One more note about Cambodia, is that much like Vietnam, the local people seem to like sitting on or near the floor. We saw a couple of people at our hostel that had clearly finished work and were lying on a tiled floor by the stairs with only a small cushion under their heads and they looked quite at home there. A lot of people seem to sleep at their place of work (we saw hammocks strung up in some local restaurants, and people doing their make up at the side of the tables).

Apart from that I have to say that I was starting to get quite irritated in Siem Reap with the number of people approaching us to sell us something ‘Laddeeeee, you buy from me?’ or just ‘You buy!’, so I was ready to head for somewhere a bit less touristy…Laos here we come.

After speaking to the lady at the hostel re what buses they had on offer going to Laos, it turned out that the bus to Vientiane was going to take more than 24 hours, so we opted for the next best thing, she suggested a bus to the 4000 Islands, which we had never even heard of, but it would get us over the border and was only a 12 hour bus ride away which sounded a lot more doable, and so the decision was made - the next stop would be Don Dhet, a small island in the Mekong River.

And that was pretty much it for Cambodia.
Love to all at home,
Kirst x