Phnom Penh Take 2

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Tim & Sarah

We left Otres Beach with the rain still falling. We got about an hour up the road and the sun came out. Our trip back was rather painless and we stayed in the same guest house we did the first time around. The only thing we hadn’t really covered in Phnom Penh was the markets so headed south to what is called the Russian market, so named because of all the Russian ex pats that used to shop there in the 80’s.

We were dropped off in more of the local section where everything practically to do with hardware was being sold. We walked further in and found all the souvenirs and clothes for the tourists. Although we didn’t buy anything the products were really rather well done with some beautifully carved woodwork on display. What we had really gone there for was the food market and after getting lost for a good 10 minutes inside we finally came to some stalls selling traditional Cambodian food. Our first course wasn’t much chop as what we thought was going to be hot rice puddings and spring rolls were actually cold. But we really lucked out for our second course of chicken noodle soup. So tasty and fresh!

Our next stop was an area called Bassac Lane where a series of funky little bars have popped up on either side of the tiny lane giving the whole block a really hipster vibe. Although we were very early we enjoyed a few drinks sitting back and watching the action on the street. Although the bars didn’t have a very Cambodian flavour and would have not been out of place in any capital city, along with the hipster bar owners and their slicked back hair, beards, 3/4 chinos with shoes and no socks. The local kids who lived in tiny neighbouring houses kept it a little ethnic.

From here we were going to get a tuk tuk back home but decided to take a little stroll and enjoy the early evening breeze. We stumbled across a massive boulevard with hundreds of locals doing their daily walking exercise up and down the street. There were groups of people doing crazy aerobics routines to loud music and groups of people playing football. Lining the streets were food vendors selling all kinds of tasty treats. It was such a pleasant walk that we made it all the way home and back down the river before we even knew how far we had walked.

Our experience of Phnom Pen was a much more pleasurable one than that of last time. We didn’t not enjoy it the first time around its just we didn’t really find it that much to write home about. But I can honestly say that our second visit changed our views of the city and although not one of our favourite Asian cities it’s certainly not a bad one. S

The big thing for tourists to do here is fire guns…not our cup of tea but I am sure plenty would be excited. Rumour has it that you can pay extra to blow up a cow!

The Russian Market…one of the more authentic rows.

These caught our eyes as we passed them and looked delicious!

Noodle soup in the market was one of the best dishes we have had in Cambodia.

Foetus eggs, in case you were wondering.

One of the local parks where the ladies were working out and the young guys were playing football.

Sihanoukville…Rain, Rain Go Away

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Tim & Sarah

We had been told of some beautiful beaches near a town called Sihanoukville so booked ourselves a minibus down that way. The journey was only 200km but we had 4 rest stops and due to traffic and the state of the roads the trip ended up taking us 6 hours!!

Luckily when we got here we had booked a nice place which ended up being brand new and we were very excited about using the pool and enjoying some time down on the beach. Unfortunately its monsoon time here now at the moment and the heavens opened during the first night we were here and the rain didn’t relent for the whole of the next day.

The hotel had a lovely area for us to sit in though so we caught up on plenty of writing, listening to music and as there was nothing much else to do we sat back and relaxed.

It was a real shame as the place would probably be quite fun to be in if the weather was good but as with a lot of these places when the weather isn’t good it all looks a little dirty and downbeat. T

We did get out to enjoy a walk around the beach eventually. Nice and fairly clean too.

One area was lined with run down hotels and I imagine in the peak season they would be packed.

This is the Main Street at Otres beach and apparently didn’t even exist 3 years ago. Such is the speed of development going on here I don’t think it would look recognisable one year to the next.

Phnom Penh

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Tim & Sarah

We caught a bus to Phnom Penh which was pretty uneventful but long. The roads here are pretty horrific and have a lot of traffic so the pace is slow going.

We had heard Phnom Pen was the emerging jewel in Asia’s crown so were pretty excited. We arrived early evening and were staying pretty central to the nightlife and river. As soon as you walked out of our accommodation you were asked constantly by the tuk tuk drivers if we wanted a lift and then if that didn’t work if we wanted to buy drugs. Although being repeatedly asked does get a bit annoying as you walk down the road they were not pushy and after a polite ‘no thanks’ left you alone.

The next morning we headed out to the Royal Palace. We should have been able to walk through a nice park on the way but that and a lot of the river promenade was under construction. After navigating through all the tuk tuk drivers looking to sell us their services we entered the palace. The buildings were decorated in traditional Cambodian style. The Khmer were known for their beautiful architecture and talented artisans and the style heavily influenced the Thais and Vietnamese.

The area was very spread out and rather than one giant palace the complex was made up of smaller buildings with beautifully manicured gardens in between. We were allowed a glimpse into the building that housed the throne and several other buildings used as temples. Another building of note was the Silver Pagoda that has a silver tiled floor, which is mostly covered by carpet to protect it but you can see a little of it around the edges.

Just around the corner was the National History Museum that was housed in a beautiful terra cotta building which surrounded a central courtyard. The artifacts were mostly statues of deities from either Hinduism or Buddhism showing Cambodia’s past duel religious beliefs. We didn’t linger here as although lovely there was very little explanation and very little substance to the museum.

We realised our day’s plans had been completed before lunch and were feeling pretty energised so after a brief break enlisted the services of one of the tuk tuk drivers loitering outside our hotel and went to the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes to learn more about the Khmer Rouge and its leader Pol Pot.

The Vietnam war affected the Cambodians greatly with the Viet Cong using Cambodian territory to fight the South Vietnamese and Americans which promoted the US to heavily carpet bomb the area. Causing the people to flee and head to Phnom Pen which caused massive housing and food shortages. In 1975 Cambodia had a revolution where the Khmer Rouge took over from the government.

The people at first thought it was going to be a positive change but within days Pol Pot’s forces started to evacuate Phnom Penh and sent everyone including the elderly, sick and infirm into the countryside to work the land. They destroyed all modern technology and reverted back to traditional farming techniques. Anyone who was educated which meant anyone who not only had a degree but could speak a second language, had glasses or soft hands were killed, along with their families. They destroyed most of the religious temples and reset the clock to year zero.

From 1975 to 1979 up to 3 million people were suspected to have been murdered. In the S-21 prison which was where the museum was and at least 12,000 people were systematically tortured until they confessed to colluding with the enemy and were then shipped off to the killing fields where they were executed.

The museum had hundreds of black and white photos showing the prisoners who went through the prison and some of the rooms which were used for torture after all these years still had dark stains covering the floors and walls. You heard some of the prisoners’ stories and what they endured. Unbelievably the ones who escaped death to tell their story were spared due to their skill with machines which was why they were there in the first place.

I knew it was going to be harrowing but what I wasn’t expecting was the sheer anger I felt. Such senseless killing for a so called Utopia that just didn’t make sense. At least with common Communism the idea is a sound one even if it doesn’t work in real life. This idea was just idiotic.

What made me even more angry was finding out that after the Vietnamese liberated Phnom Pen and Pol Pot fled to Thailand, the US and their allies recognised the Khmer Rouge as the legitimate government because they didn’t want the Vietnamese and their Communism spreading. They even had a seat at the UN.

To finish the tour we headed out to the Killing fields where a memorial stupa has been erected and more than 8000 skulls of those that have been exhumed from the mass graves have been stacked and are visible behind glass. Walking around the area you see the depressions where the mass graves have been dug up. It’s a horrible sight to see. Especially when you find out that these people were not killed quickly but rather bludgeoned to death or had their throats slit as bullets were too expensive. There was a mass grave for mothers and their babies as well. We were given more details but I shall leave it at that.

The final message from the two museums were that they have been preserved so the story of this genocide shall never be lost and humanity will not forget and history will not repeat itself. Regrettably we have heard this before at Auschwitz with the extermination of The Jewish People in WW2. This happened in 1979. S

The palace at Phnom Penh

The Silver Pagoda, would have been nice to walk on the silver floor but alas not possible due to the carpets covering it.

The street outside the hotel and a typical street scene in the area.

The motorbike is definitely king here.

The museum was beautiful if not containing much substance.

The genocide museum which was once a school. Not a place where we took too many other photos but unfortunately we saw images we will never forget.

The memorial at the Killing Fields.

Boat from Siem Reap to Battambang

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Tim & Sarah

Wanting to see as much of Cambodia as we could we decided to take a boat to our next destination of Battambang. It was all just a bit too easy organizing it all in a way as there were plenty of travel agencies around Siem Reap all offering help to organize trips and we were even told that we would be picked up from our hostel!! Luxury!

We arrived at the port in our minibus and joined the other 50 tourists on the long boat and sat waiting patiently for us to leave. The boat was fairly narrow, just four seats wide and about 15m long with a huge engine on the back which, we had read, broke down regularly!!

Eventually they started up and the deafening noise stopped all conversation and we set off up the river. Boeung Tonle Sap was our first point of interest and is Cambodia’s largest lake. We were luckily only skirting the top section as I don’t think our boat would have coped very well with any rough waters at all. At least there were enough life jackets for just under half of the people on the boat!

As we exited the lake we entered a floating village which was an unbelievable sight. The houses all lined the river side and had been built on loads of 40 gallon barrels. They were anchored to trees, small patches of land and each other and all opened out towards the river. It was quite unlike anything we had ever seen and really looked like an idyllic life, apart from our boat roaring up the water the tranquility would have been amazing.

As we cruised further up the river there were at least a dozen more of these floating villages all complete with shops and schools. We are here during the wet season so the water was high and we noticed seeing the tops of some roofs of houses which had been built on the ground.

It was an incredibly relaxing and wonderful way to travel, just cruising along watching the world go by. We were lucky that the water was so high as it meant that we were able to take a couple of shortcuts which were almost wide enough for our boat. At one point the crew had to lower shade cloths on the side to prevent us being battered by the branches of the trees we were cruising through.

It was a little bit of an anti climax when we arrived at Battambang although it was nice to get away from the deafening hum of the motor. I might be being a bit unfair on the town as we arrived just after it had rained and the sky was still dark so the whole place just looked a little dirty.

It wasn’t difficult for us to find a great place for dinner where we enjoyed two Cambodian staples of Fish lamok and Tam Yam soup. Not as spicy as other counties but full of flavour and afterwards we had a little walk around town. It is always nice walking around somewhere new seeing all the new sights but Battambang really was just a stop off for us on our way to Phnom Penh. T

Not the quietest of engines to be sat next to.

The channel we headed through on our way to the lake.

This guy was living n the outskirts of town. He is actually taking a photo of us with his smartphone!

A few photos of the floating villages we passed through. So much to see and such a unique place.

Our boat served as a lifeline for trade up and down the river. We picked up and dropped off loads of parcels and this guy was posting his mail.

This whole street is floating on barrels or built on stilts.

The channel got a little narrower as we took the shortcuts.

One more box and she might have been considered over laden.

It all looks so idillic.

We passed no bridges just these “ferry” crossings for getting the motorbikes on their way.

As we got closer to Battambang the amount of rubbish lining the banks increased.

A typical shot of Battambang town centre.

Cooked bananas and coconut…delicious.

She was lovely and smiley but I still don’t know what was in that leaf…tasty though.

The Temples of Angkor

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Tim & Sarah

The area around Siem Reap is called Angkor and is made up of several temples scattered throughout the forest. The temples are a mix of Hindu or Buddhist depending on what religion the King was at the time. The first temple, and the most famous we visited, was Angkor Wat. Built in the 12 Century and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. The whole area is surrounded by a massive moat and crossing a bridge you get the first impressive view of the temple spires. Unfortunately it wasn’t that impressive for us as the sun was shining behind so you couldn’t see any of the detail from afar. But the silhouette was beautiful.

Once inside the temple was very impressive with long corridors covered in intricate carvings and internal temples with steep external stairways leading up into the buildings. It was a beautiful temple yet it didn’t really have the catch your breath moment for us. I think we would have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t a zillion degrees and so humid I was sweating as much as Tim…. Well not quite.

We headed back out and enjoyed the cooling tuk tuk ride to the next temple complex Angkor Thom. We entered via an ancient gate and headed towards the Bayon Temple. Now this one really had the wow factor for us. It was a craggily hodgepodge of stone temples with beautifully carved faces protruding out at random. It was quite magical with the faces seeming so lifelike you wouldn’t be surprised if they suddenly spoke. You could walk inside which was a maze of narrow corridors which eventually lead to a kind of second level where you could get close up to some of the sculptured faces. But the outside view was definitely the best. This temple was built by the Buddhist King Jayavarman VII.

We then walked the few hundred meters to the next temple called Baphuon. By this stage we were well and truly hot. Which may have affected our views on this one and the fact we couldn’t be bothered to climb the steep steps up to the second and third floors. The interesting fact of this temple was that archeologists took the whole temple apart to clean it and meticulously numbered all the rocks with a corresponding map to put it all back together. Unfortunately this was destroyed in the time of The Kumar Rouge so they had to guess when they finally got to put it back together. One part is finished but otherwise there are a few hundred stone blocks lying around the outside yet to be put back in place.

We stopped off for a cooling fruit shake before tackling another temple. Again not much to write home about and this one was being restored, well more rebuilt, with grey concrete blocks. This looks a little ludicrous to my eyes when you have these concrete blocks in between hundreds of year old stone that has weathered and cracked over time. I am all for restoration yet this just seems a little more like recreation.

The last temple we visited was Ta Prom. Picture Indiana Jones running through a crumbling temple covered in tree roots in the middle of a jungle. It really was pretty cool seeing parts of the temple being slowly overtaken by trees and we got some fantastic shots but the sheer number of people filtering through just made it a little less impressive.

We headed home after that for a well deserved swim and relax.

As our original view of Angkor Wat had the sun in the wrong position this morning, we decided to head back to get a better view. We are really glad we did because it was very impressive when you could see the detail on the temples along with the beautiful colour of the stone. Well worth the second trip out.

Feeling like we deserved a beer by this stage we headed back to Siem Reap for another fantastic night of great food, cheap beer and night markets. S

The first morning view.

As you got closer the detail of the carvings and the intricacies of the building work started to show.

Some of the nymphs that were sculpted throughout the temple.

An internal view of the temple. Theses would have been bathing pools back in the day.

One of the external staircases leading into the upper part of the temple. Unfortunately the day we went the upper area was closed to the public.

The temple was ringed with a covered corridor which housed some amazing bas-reliefs. Certain parts had been destroyed but most were in beautiful condition.

View from the backside of the temple.

Some of the bas-reliefs.

Walking back from the covered corridor into the main central part of the temple.

Tim enjoying the sights.

One of the first views of Bayon.

I love the way the faces just seem to emerge from the rock.

Up on the second level you got to view them a little closer.

The giant jigsaw puzzle that was Baphuon.

Ta Prohm with its trees devouring the temple.

View from inside.

I love this shot but keep expecting some scary monster to jump out from the tomb and attack me.

The afternoon view of Angkor Wat. Pity about the scaffolding.

Bangkok to Siem Reap

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Tim & Sarah

We can blame jet lag or the late night enjoying the sights of Bangkok but either way it was a late start again this morning and we were feeling a little delicate so thought we would head out towards Chatuchak markets. On the way we stopped off to buy our travel guide (late planning) and an adapter.

I only mention this as it displays the dichotomy present here in Bangkok. For the whole area around where we are staying seems to be have been developed into super modern shopping malls which are full of shops almost identical to others around the world. It has to be said that it does seem to be catered more for an Asian market but the prices seem about the same as you would find elsewhere. It was in one of these air conditioned malls that we were easily able to find an English guidebook to South east Asia.

While others might enjoy the air conditioned modernism we were more excited by the more authentic markets of Chatuchak. The humidity was close to a hundred and the temperature was souring by the time we got there but the first stall we passed was serving delicious Thai spring rolls so our discomfort was abated.

We were a little fearful that the market was going to be full of the usual tat but the variety of stuff for sale was actually quite impressive. Combine this with the fact that there are apparently over 4000 stalls and it probably ranked as one of the best markets we have seen. We didn’t go crazy with our shopping but there were a few things we needed/couldn’t resist. I have to admit though that India has spoilt us for prices and everything seemed a little more expensive and more often than not we found the vendors wouldn’t budge on price!!

The best buy was probably lunch which was a delicious Pad Thai and steamed veggies in a road side stall.

I dragged Sarah to a bar to watch the football in the evening and the place was packed with not only foreigners but plenty of football crazy Thais too!

We struggled with sleep again during the night and were rudely awoken at 6:30am by our alarm as we had a bus to catch to Siem Reap. Never sure what to expect before we catch our first bus in a country we were a little nervous when we saw our bus. This soon changed to excitement though as the bus was clean, had air conditioning and plenty of space! We felt it was positively luxurious and settled down for our 10 hour trip.

The border crossing was painless if a little hot but the helpfulness of all the police and immigration officers made it all very easy.

One of our conversations whilst traveling has centered around how many countries there are which share land borders with another country which drives on the opposite side of the road and the Thailand-Cambodia border is one!! We were expecting to see plenty of mayhem as busses and cars struggled with the change but alas no, it was all quite uneventful.

The first thing we noticed on crossing the border into Cambodia was how much poorer the country was. The main road was in pretty good condition but whereas in Thailand we had been driving on a marked dual carriage way in Cambodia it was just a wide road with no road markings, at least it was tarmac!

For the first time we can remember our bus arrived at our destination 2 hours ahead of schedule!! So we took advantage of our extra time by sorting out our visit to Angkor Wat the next day and then set off into Siem Reap town center.

The town was definitely set up for tourists and the streets were lined with bars and restaurants all seeming to offer draught beer for 50c!!! There were neon and coloured lights everywhere and music playing out of all the bars. It felt like we had arrived at a holiday destination but the best thing was it was all so cheap!!

We soaked up the atmosphere whilst sipping on our 50c beers. The pace of the town was very slow, probably due to the fact that the humidity was so high and even after the sun went down it was still stifling hot! It was a bit of a shock for us to see so many other tourists but we settled back into it and watched all the goings on both very excited about our upcoming trip to Angkor Wat tomorrow. T