Kampot: pink scooter, crab and coffee

The riverside town of Kampot is a charming place. It’s relatively quiet streets are easy to walk around and the people are warm and welcoming. There were a few things on our itinerary for Kampot, but weren’t sure how to tackle it. The sea side fishing town of Kep was just 15km away and then there was the locally grown coffee plantations that sounded like fun. As our final stop in Cambodia, we wanted to make sure we could see as much as possible, but didn’t want to be tied up in an organised tour. It left us one option: scooter hire! This would be my first time on a scooter, but more importantly, my first time on one in Asia! As a keen cyclist, I felt that my road sense was good and we both decided to go for it.

I’ve got to admit, hiring the scooter was the best thing we have done in Cambodia, possibly the best thing on this entire trip. Being free to see what you want and at the speed that you’re comfortable with makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable. The roads were not over crowded and we felt safe on our hot little pink scooter! A couple of occasions, the road got pretty bumpy, but it was fun traversing the holes. We had incredible weather, and with the constant breeze cooling us down, we didn’t think too much about the raging sun. Of course my arms were covered in a generous coating of sun cream, but it was the back of my hands that really suffered. A few days later, I had blisters full of water, not pleasant!

Hot in pink.

We found a coffee plantation and walked around the strange towers of green bushes. These bushes are dotted with little green and black coffee pods and really interesting to see. For those coffee lovers out there, traditional Vietnamese coffee is quite different. I wouldn’t say it’s an acquired taste, but its consistency is a lot thicker than normal and it has quite a chocolate taste to it. It is usually served in glasses with their own drip feed system (excuse the poor terminology) and condensed milk. It is…delicious. It’s so think and creamy and filling, it also has a good amount of caffeine in it to kick start your day!

Amazing Coffee maze.

From the farm, we followed the map on my phone and zoomed along towards Kep. This town is famous for its sea food, more specifically, it’s crab dishes. On arrival, we walked around the fish market and watched the ladies as they dragged in their wooden wicker baskets hopefully full of crabs. They would then delve their hands in and pick specimens out. How they haven’t lost a couple of fingers is beyond me.

The locals…who all had 10 fingers.

We walked down the main sea front street, and browsed through menus. Crab is expensive! 5-6 dollars is the going price at the moment – a lot when you consider we were paying 50 cents for a meal on the street. Still, it was something we really wanted to do and in the end, we found a place that did a sea food platter and rice for 2 people and for 10 dollars. We sat on their balcony over looking the sea and watched as the fishermen worked hard out in the waters. Our platter included a red snapper fish, octopus, squid, prawns, crab and a few other delights. It was so fresh and tasty and we felt like royalty dining in a 5 star restaurant. The meal was served with a black Kampot pepper sauce, mixed with lemon that was so delicious and of course local.

The best sea food platter ever…and the view was pretty good too.

A few kilos heavier, we hopped back onto our scooter, did a loop of Kep and then headed home. We stopped on the way back to walk around a little floating village and saw salt fields which was certainly interesting. Back in Kampot, we gave our trusty steed in and then noticed just how dusty we were. I had perfect sunglasses marks and looked like I had spent a week on a sun bed. Time for a shower and bed.

Looking like a cross between a Mexican and a miner.

The following morning we arranged a bus to pick us up and take us to our new distinction and our final country: the highly anticipated Vietnam. Needless to say, we were both very excited!

On a final note, Cambodia…WOW! This entire country is full of mystery, love, history and happiness. We had the pleasure to meet some amazing locals and feel so lucky to have had the chance to visit this beautiful part of the world. I might go as far as saying that this is my favorite place so far. We could have easily spent longer visiting different places and hopefully one day, we can return and do just that. Thank you Cambodia, we will certainly miss you.

April 27, 2013 4

Phnom Penh: A Dark History

There were 3 bus options available to us for traveling to Cambodia’s capital from sleepy Kratie: 7$, 8$ and 9$. We went for the 7$ option. This meant that in the mini bus, the rows of seats that usually took 3 people, would actually be taken by 4. It was a bit of a squeeze, but our new friends: Jo and Tom shared the row with us. The journey was relatively painless, with only a few legs falling asleep as the were propped up on the seats in front. As we crawled into Phnom Penh, it became instantly apparent just how quiet Kratie was in comparison. Traffic was already pilling up, skyscrapers lined the river edge and it wasn’t difficult to spot tourists walking down the streets. We felt like very little fish in a daunting and noisy new world.

As we jumped off the bus, the heat quickly inveloped us. We dodged what felt like a hundred taxi/rickshaw drivers and headed south in search of cheap accommodation. Tom and I took the lead (I was secretly just following him!) and the girls had a good chin wag a few meters behind. We had an idea of our destination, but didn’t really know if there would be any suitable hotels/guesthouses there. We walked for quite a long time. At one point, I’m sure someone attached a couple of rocks to my bag and my back was quickly giving way; time for a break. Finding a little cafe, our bags literally fell off our backs and we slumped into the fine plastic chairs provided. A cold jug of beer was quickly ordered and all of a sudden, our problems seemed to dissipate as we gulped down Phnom Penh’s finest nectar. Soon enough, Tom and I were called up by the girls to go find a place to stay. Relieved from our bags, searching the nearby streets was almost effortless in comparison with our earlier walk. It took no more than 10 minutes to find a nice guesthouse. Although it was a little out of our budget at 8$ a night, we felt that it was close enough to Phnom Penh’s main attractions (saving travel costs) and we excepted it with open arms.

Phnom Penh’s most famous tourist attractions include the killing fields, just south of the city and S21 – the school turned security prison ran by the Khmer Rouge and the site of over 20,000 killings between 1975 – 1979.

The 4 of us walked to S21, locally known as Tuol Sleng genocide museum. It was clear to see how this place was once a school. Simple buildings, full of classrooms, playgrounds with climbing frames; it was once a place of learning, happiness, you could almost still hear the children playing. But the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot soon changed this innocent place. The buildings were enclosed with electrified barbed wire, classrooms turned to interrogation and torture rooms and the windows were fitted with bars to prevent escape. The whole place was kept, exactly as it was found back in the late 70’s. The steel framed beds remained with the chains and torture equipment. Blood stains still visible on the cold concrete floors. Rudimentary prison cells still intact for new generations to view and learn from the horrors of the past.

Classroom turned torture room.

Chalk-boards still in place.

Walking through a nightmare.

As the prisoners were captured and brought to S21, each individual was photographed. These mug shots are now on show and line the ground floor rooms. So many innocent faces, including women and young children. As you move through the rooms, the photographs of the captured turn even darker. As proof death, the Khmer Rouge soldiers would use photos of the dead prisoners as proof that they performed their duties for their superiors to see. Brutal photographs showing twisted, burnt and abused bodies line the walls. It was truly gut-wrenching to look at. Innocent babies were killed and photographed, simple farm workers, men and women alike were tortured using rudimentary tools and shown no mercy. So many images, so many faces and so many fearing and tearful eyes. A place, submerged in blood soaked history and a visit we shall never forget, nor forgive.

Barbed-wire holding the innocent in.

Once a school…

From here, we flagged down a tuk tuk and headed straight for the infamous killing fields. An area where both dead and alive Cambodian bodies were brought. Here, the mass graves of thousands are still visible. Walking around the eerie site, it’s not hard to imagine the brutality and suffering that once happened here. It is said that 14000 Cambodians are buried at this site, but no one really knows the exact amount. One poignant place here is the tree in which young children and babies were killed through bashing their bodies against its trunk. It is now used for remembrance of the lost lives and covered in red wrist bands. Although an important insight into the gruesome history that once encaptured this land, it was an incredibly hard and a very emotional day for us.

Mass graves.

Remembering those that had no chance.

The following day, Malene and I had our work cut out. We started off at the Vietnamese Embassy and arranged our visas. This was all very exciting. We were taking the first steps towards visiting what was probably my most highly anticipated country. After all the horror stories of fake visas issued by hotels, it was nice to be reassured that we wouldn’t be turned away at the border. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Vietnam was still a couple of weeks away, and we were loving Cambodia!

Second item on our shopping list for the day was our return flight ticket. We hunted down the Qatar Airways office (hidden pretty well) and began the long and laborious task of changing not only our outbound dates, but the outbound airport as well. It took hours. At one point, it looked like we were hitting an unbeatable brick wall. But our persistence paid off and finally we had our new ticket in our hands. The date was set. The airport now changed to Hanoi, Vietnam. All that remained was for it to sink in. Time to grab Jo and Tom and order a tower of beer. I mean, literally a tower. 3 liters of chilled Angkor beer for 17000 Riels or about £2.80…it was a great night with two amazing friends. Thanks for all the good times guys and even more so, all the fantastic information on Vietnam. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.

And for you Phnom Penh, what an emotional ride you gave us. We will remember your history and feel for all the families that have lost during your horrific ordeal. A country that lost 4 million people out of a population of just 7 million is a number hard to comprehend. A history never to be forgotten.

April 23, 2013 0

First steps in Cambodia

Crammed like sardines, Malene, our two new friends Ellen and Anton and myself began our journey from Surin (Thailand) to the Cambodian border. With horror stories of lost passports and border officials over charging for visas, we made our way through the dense heat in our mini bus, fully equipped with the worse A/C system imaginable. Although uncomfortable, with our bags sat on our laps, the journey itself wasn’t too long and before we knew it, we had arrived at the desolate border. The taxi drivers, touts and guides rushed around outside the bus as we clambered out. Fresh tourist blood was here, and they wanted us! A million polite refusals later, we edged our way towards the visa office. One ‘guide’ who appeared to dismiss our refusal for help, walked in front of us and despite all the clear sign posts, he wanted to help us, and we let him. This, in all fairness, wasn’t a terrible idea.

We filled out forms, handed over our passports, payed in Cambodian Reils (not dollars like the guidebooks said) and waited as our guide ran between offices and got all our paperwork sorted out. Then came the taxi. It took us 45 minutes to haggle for this taxi. Our ‘guide’ was clearly getting commission and wanted to squeeze as many dollars out of us as possible. We argued. We haggled. We refused silly offers and nearly decided to walk away and find our own transportation. This final ploy always works a charm. The price was almost instantly dropped and there we were, shaking hands on the grand sum of 800 Baht per couple (£18).

The guidebooks claimed the journey would take around 6 hours, on roads barely fit for mountain goats. We prepared ourselves for the worse and hopped into the car, cranked up the A/C and set off. As we made our way down the high-way, the tarmac was smooth and void of any major holes, great start. As we continued along, we were still flying, enjoying the smooth ride and watching the countryside pass us by. One section of road, no more than a couple of hundred meters long, had been neglect of maintenance and we carefully plotted the best route through; this was the worse part of the ride and within 1 and a half hours (!), we were in Siam Reap. Void of broken backs and shattered teeth, the journey was smooth and extremely pleasant…thanks Lonely Planet for yet another bang on report.

Ah, Siam Reap! Even the name for me is cool in itself. Like an eagerly unread book, we were all excited to start exploring. And that’s exactly what we did, fully laden with backpacks, front packs, side packs: all the packs you can think of! We ploughed through the thick, unforgiving heat as we searched for a place to stay. Hotels, guesthouses, lodges; all seemed expensive and we were loosing hope as well as severe amounts of bodily fluids. Finally, as our exhaustion reached a new high, we stumbled on a little guesthouse that offered double rooms for 7$ a night, free pool (pool table, not a swimming pool as I first thought), hammocks and a bucket full of charm. They gave us free water and we felt like we had found a lost oasis in the middle of a sparse desert.

There are 2 main attractions that pull tourists into Siam Reap: the old market and Angkor Wat – sometimes claimed as one of the 7 wonders of the world (Angkor Wat, not the market) and we were excited to explore both. The market area is crammed full of little shops selling all the usual riff-raff, banana and chocolate pancake vendors (delicious), bars, restaurants and tuk tuks. Ah, the tuk tuks. Never have we been so bombarded by tuk tuk offers before. I personally think its a little game they play with tourists. See how many tourists they can make angry by constantly offering a ride. These guys pop up everywhere; on the street, in shops, at the bars, out of random windows – it became the standard greeting – “tuk tuk?”

Market done, we arranged to hire bicycles at our guesthouse (1$ per day) and decided to get to the Angkor Wat temple area for sunrise. Waking up the following morning at a ridiculous time, Malene and I hopped onto our rusting bikes and headed off into the morning darkness. With sleep still in our eyes, we flew out of the city and away from the street lights: darker still. As we edged closer to the temple ticket counters, the buzz was already alive. Tourists in tuk tuks arrived and we all lined up for our day passes to be printed off. The whole process was far more professional than the border crossing: set prices left no ambiguity and we even had our mug shots taken which were then printed onto the tickets. There was certainly a few things the border crossing offices could learn from a place like this.

Still under the light of the moon, we got back into the saddle and continued for a further 20 minutes. At the main steps of the temples there was a feeling of excitement as people loaded themselves up with caffeine, happily supplied by vendors, or sugarcane juice that has a similar effect. We locked our trusty steeds up and walked towards what was now an eerie shadow of the incredible Angkor Wat. Perched on the edge of a lily lake we waited along with 200 other people for the sun to rise behind the majestic temple. It was magical. A monument stooped in history and grandeur to match, we watched in silence and overcome by its beauty. As the sun rose, it became clearer and clearer. It’s colours and symbolic shape reflected perfectly in the lake, a symbol of power and grace, it was sublime.

That day, we followed meandering tree lined roads around the huge temple site. Visiting some incredible awe inspiring buildings and truly feeling like part of the Tomb Raider film. Temples surrounded by lush green forests which gave the whole place a sense of history and mystery. The magnificent Ta Prohm with the huge tree engulfing it was definitely another hi-light to what was an amazing day of exploring.

The ride back to town was hot, but well worth it as I raced a tuk tuk (and won!) and exchanged some strange glances with its occupants. Our final evening was spent watching a local circus, and as they performed tight rope tricks and insane 3 man high stunts we felt such a warm feeling (inside and out) and thought Cambodia is already incredible, how can it get any better? ‘Better’ would be in the shape of Kratie; our next stop, a grueling 12 hour bus ride away.

Crazy market, the smells were…interesting.