The beauties and horrors of Phnom Penh

We saw the aftermath of a bus crash on the way from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, which was a bit of a shock and a reminder of our mortality, but thankfully we made it to the capital in one piece. Arriving in the city, we headed straight to the lakeside area, as we’d been told it had heaps more atmosphere than the riverside. The little backpacker district on the shore of Boeng Kaki is based on a narrow dusty alleyway. The choice guesthouses have decks built out over the lake and ours was tops, well the deck was, our room had NO ventilation and so turned into a smelly sauna. The deck was a huge area with hammocks, a pool table, a television that played endless DVDs (this got a bit annoying), good meals and great views, especially at sunset (see picture). Phnom Penh has a pretty seedy reputation, and got off to a good start for us when one of the guest house staff offered us pot almost before we put our bags down, but apart from that, what we saw of the city was relatively tame. We checked out the National Museum and Royal Palace, the highlight of which was the Silver Pagoda, which is inside the palace grounds and gets its name from its floor, which is tiled with silver tiles. Probably the most memorable part of our stay in Phnom Penh was our visit to the Tuol Sleng (S21) Museum and the Killing Fields. Neither of these were places that we really wanted to visit, but we felt they were important to see. The museum is a former school, which was used as a prison and interrogation centre during the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge regime of 1975 to 1978. During this regime a huge percentage (estimated 2 million) of Cambodians were executed or died of starvation or illness related to the Khmer Rouge reign. Tuol Sleng, which was code named S21, was one of the Khmer Rouge’s principal prisons. Of the more than 4000 people interred there, less than a dozen survived. The museum portrays the location’s history in a simple yet gut-wrenching way. There were mug shots of the men, women, children and babies who were imprisoned there (if a man or woman was imprisoned often their whole family would be taken). Other exhibits included photos of the last prisoners, who were found dead when the Vietnamese invaded in 1978, cells left in their original state and torture devices. The killing fields are a short drive out of Phnom Penh. It is the area where the S21 prisoners were taken to be executed. Between 1975 and 1978 about 17,000 men, women and children, including a couple of Australians, were executed there. Like the museum is a very grim reminder of the horrors humans can be capable of. On our way back to our guest house our motorbike driver (with the two of us and the driver on one bike we felt very much like locals), wanting to make an extra dollar, asked if we wanted to go to a shooting range, where you can shoot almost any gun (and, rumour has it, rocket launcher) you'd like. The ranges are one of Phnom Penh's main tourist attractions, but even if we had wanted to go to one before, after a day of learning about the regime that bludgeoned people to death because bullets were too expensive, you can imagine that shooting a gun was the last thing we wanted to do.

"Special price for you"

One of the joys and frustrations of traveling in South East Asia is the constant haggling. Never knowing what the fair price is can be really frustrating, but the haggling can be fun and good-natured.

One thing you often haggle for is transport prices, and this was what we did the morning after our run-in with the friendly hotel manager. We wanted to go from Kompong Thom to Siem Reap. The aforementioned manager had told us the night before that there were no busses or pick-ups (the dreaded utes) to Siem Reap as he obviously wanted commission from a private car driver. Luckily we called his bluff and headed to the town’s bus stop, where the four of us (Emi and Andrea were with us) were swamped by a mass of people offering us busses, minibuses, pick-ups and private cars. At first, a man selling bus tickets at $5 each appeared to be cheapest, then we swung towards a private car for the same price, then the bus guy offered us $3 each, then the car $15 for the four of us. At this point Niels (who was negotiating with the car driver) said no, the bus is still cheaper. But the car driver was adamant, “Car, six people, bus FOUUUR-TEEEN PEOPLE”. Now although six people in a car is spacious by Cambodian standards, for us Westerners it sounded a little cramped, whereas the bus looked like it could comfortably sit more than 20, so FOUUUR-TEEEN sounded like a good deal, so, much to the disgust and disbelief of the car driver we went with the bus (which ended up only having 10 people, three large wooden doors and a bunch on planks).

On arrival in Siem Reap the first thing we noticed were beggars, people trying to sell us things and the fact that accommodation was WAY more expensive than anywhere else in Cambodia. Still, we managed to find ourselves a lovely little guest house with important features such as free pool.

The next morning we set off to explore the Angkor temples, which are the reason people come to Siem Reap, in fact probably the reason Siem Reap exists. The most famous of these is Angkor Wat, but that is only scraping the edge of wonders in the area, which include dozens of ancient temples and cities, some immaculate and some being consumed by giant trees. The temples and cities we visited were built between the 10th and 16th centuries by a series on Angkor kings, some were built as Hindu places of worship and some as Buddhist (depending on the king). Most have been converted from one religion to the other at least once. It’s quite entertaining seeing a statue of Vishnu with his many arms being worshiped as Buddah.

All around the temples there are people, mainly children, selling all sorts of things. They can get frustrating, but many are really cute, quick and entertaining. Some examples:

Girl to Niels: “Sir, you want postcards, 10 for $1.”
Niels: “No thankyou, I already have some.”
Girl: “One more, these are different.”
Niels: “No thankyou.”
Girl: “Sir you want bracelet?”

Niels: “No thankyou.”
Girl: “You want to buy a book?”
Niels: “No thankyou.”
Girl: “What do you want?”
Niels: “Nothing.”
Girl: “Okay, you give me $2, and I give you nothing!”

Another exchange we liked was told to us by an English girl, Samantha:

Girl: “You want postcards, 10 for $1?”
Samantha: “No thankyou.”
Girl: “You can send one to your boyfriend.”
Samantha: “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Girl: “That’s because you don’t send him a postcard!!”

We got a three day temple pass and for the first day decided to hire a tuk tuk. In this case the tuk tuk armadillo was in the shape of a carriage towed behind a motorbike. The tuk tuk didn’t take us any further from Siem Reap than we could easily do by bicycle, and the driver didn’t provide any amazing insights to the temples, but, tell you what, there are definitely worse things than being ferried around the Angkor temples in an shiny open air carriage with embroidered silk seat covers.

Highlights of that first day included:

Angkor Wat – The largest religious building on earth. Beautifully preserved with soaring symmetrical towers, a very grand entrance way, very big moat and delicately carved bass reliefs depicting all sorts of religious and historical scenes. The first picture is the view towards Angkor Wat from the back entrance. The second picture is of the middle tower (see if you can find Niels). The third picture is of me humouring Niels with a Tomb Raider pose.

Angkor Thom – An ancient walled city with amazing gateways and other ruins.

The Bayon – Our favorite temple. The Bayon has dozens of towers with giant faces carved on them and really cool passageways down below (could have an awesome game of hide-and-seek down there). The third picture shows a couple of the Bayon’s many faces.

Ta Prohm – A temple that has been mostly left the was it was found by Western archeologists – slowly being eaten up by the jungle, with giant trees growing on top of it. (Famous for its appearance in one of the Tomb Raider films).

On the second and third days we hired bicycles to explore the temples. This was a great way to do it as it gave us time to clear our heads in between sites. We did get a bit of a scare when Niels got a flat literally at the furthest point from our guest house (about 19km away) and I managed to loose a peddle, but overall we’d recommend bikes to anyone.

Highlights of the second and third day included seeing some of the earlier temples, which included ones that were built in the middle of huge man-made lakes (lakes are no longer there). Preah Khan, a city that was once a royal residence and a Buddhist university and is now partially consumed by trees. Ta Som, a smaller temple, also partially consumed by trees (see fifth picture).

After seeing the temples we spent two more days in Siem Reap. The first day was spent recovering from the temples and the second recovering from buckets. Buckets are something of a South East Asia institution, which we had somehow managed to avoid through Thailand and Laos. They change a bit from place to place but in general consist of a large quantity of local whisky (in this case about 400ml), coke, red bull and ice all poured into, you guessed it, a bucket, and served with straws. They set you back about $5. We had two.

Observations #2

* Transport #1

While in Laos we leant that to avoid disappointment when travelling, double the estimated time of travel stated in the guide book. After our first internal trip in Cambodia, we learnt that here you should triple it.

* Transport #2

In Cambodia, horse and cart, cow and cart and buffalo and cart are still common methods of transport. The horses in particular are funny to see as they are usually well groomed, pretty little ponys, often addorned with tassles and bells. They look like animals you'd see carting children around at a fair at home, but here their cargo is more likely to be a couple of large pigs on a one-way journey to someone's dinner plate.

*Transport #3

In every country we've been to, you always see multiple people on motorbikes. In Thailand and Laos three people were common and we'd occassionally see four. In Cambodia, it's more likely to be five. We figure that while in Australia, when a family has a fourth child, they consider buying a bigger car, in Cambodia, they consider buying a second motorbike.

* Concern about Niels #2

Niels now thinks he is a Khmer warrior. He bought a traditional headscarf which he wears all the time. He has hired a bicycle which he calls his "war machine". He rings the bell and says it is war drums. He thinks he is going to ride it into battle. He eats noodle soup for every meal, he says it is the food of warriors.

Happy New Year

We ran into a couple of Aussies during our brief stop in Stung Treng on the day we crossed into Cambodia. They had just finished a month in Cambodia and told us that a highlight had been the Mondulkiri province in the east. So, because of the recommendation, and the fact that we were keen to see some of the Cambodia that exists off the most well-worn trail, we decided to go there.

The people we met estimated the trip would take about three hours. Naturally it didn’t (try nine). The first part was three hours in a tuk tuk with two vomiting children at our feet (they shared a bag), then we waited at a town called Snoul for about two hours, then we, 18 other people and LOTS of luggage piled into a ute for another five hours. At this point I’d like to point out that while in Laos the standard budget transport is the tuk tuk, in Cambodia it’s just a plain ute. They don’t worry about the roof or benches, everyone just piles in. We thought the Laos people had mastered the act of fitting as many people as possible in a vehicle, but they have nothing on Cambodians. We stood there in a kind of amused and incredulous disbelief as we watched them fill the ute with luggage (see first picture) wondering how the hell the 20 passengers were going to fit. But we did. (Five in front, three on roof and 12 on the back (see second pic). Niels and two Italians we met, Emi and Andrea, were the lucky ones on the roof.
The scenery on the trip was beautiful – lush rainforest-covered mountains that made way to rolling grassy hills, spinkled with trees, which looked amazingly like home. There were neat pastures and even fences, yet no cows or buffalo. Everywhere else we’ve been, there’ve been cows and buffalo roaming freely, yet here, where there was perfect pastures, none.

We arrived in Sen Monorom, the capital of Mondulkiri in a cold drizzle (What the hell? We’re in Cambodia, in the hot season, it’s supposed to be unbearable heat and we’re freezing?) and wandered through the gate of a guest house that had been recommended to us. We were met by The Madame, who, with a huge hug for each of us, ushered us into our rooms, all the while talking about a big cow: “Tomorrow we have big cow, you eat with me all day, 10 o’clock, we have beer, wine, all free, you eat big cow with me.” ………Okay.

The next morning we got up and had breakfast (as you do). Just as we were finishing The Madame came up to us and pointed to our empty plates. “Why you eat? we have big cow!!” We only had three days in Mondulkiri and an elephant trek planned for the next two, so we wanted to spend the morning exploring the town. We told The Madame that we would go for a walk for a couple of hours then come back. "No (points at clock) 10 o'clock, we have big cow NOW.".......Okay. We wandered over to where the people were gathering and there it was, the big cow on a spit. We got ushered to seats, handed beer and shots of Johnny Walker, which tasted like gold after lao lao (see third pic of Niels with The Madame, Andrea and Emi - note Niels with two drinks in his hands, it was 10am) and helped eat the big cow. We found out that they don't spend every day eating cow and drinking, they were celebrating the Khmer New Year a week early as they were booked out for the actual holiday. We never saw the town.

Andrea and Emi were keen to do a two day elephant trek and as they were fun, and it sounded like fun, we decided to join them. The elephants are such beautiful animals - so much character - it's so funny how they constantly stop to pick up some fruit to eat, or a tree, or pick up a stick and use it to scratch themselves. They also occasionally curl up their trunk sideways and put it in their mouth - I think you may have had to be there, but trust us, it's really cute. The trek took us deep into the jungle, which apparently still contains wild elephants and tigers, we didn't see any, but the fact that they are there gives an idea of how pristine the area is. Our guides were amazing, one was a young boy, whose skill and rapport with his elephant was wonderful to see. The other was a young man with a very deformed leg, but his agility and strength were such that you soon forgot about his disability - you should have seen him climb up a lychee tree to get some fruit. Speaking of the fruit, our guides picked about four different types for us from the forrest. The best was these tiny green mangoes that were really sour but SO nice... the lychees dipped in sugar weren't bad either. So there we were, riding through the jungle on elephants, eating wild fruit from the forrest - nice - apart from the fact that the seats on the elephants were really uncomfortable, but hey, can't really complain. We slept in a wooden shack that didn't leak too much in the massive thunder storm that night.

From Mondulkiri we headed east. The ute ride from Mondulkiri to Kompong Cham made every other journey we've made seem like limosine rides - we were dreaming of the Laos tuk tuks. We don't know how many people were packed onto that vehicle, but it was well over 20. From Kompong Cham, us and the Italians treated ourselves to an airconditioned taxi for the last 150km to Kompong Thom, where we spent the night.

In Kompong Thom we checked into a plush hotel for the grand price of $US4 a night - there was sky TV and an ensuite - sweet. We handed the receptionist a $20 bill which he looked at, said "can't accept" and turned away to serve some other people, ignoring us completely. When we finally got his attention again, he pointed to a tiny tear in the note. As we were tired, Niels made a bit of a scene, melodramatically examining a new note to make sure it was pristine. We went up to our room and, the first time we flushed the toilet, it overflooded. Niels went down to ask the receptionist to come and look at it. Half an hour later he did, said "Okay, I get my friend" and left. We assumed this meant he was getting a maintenance guy. Another half an hour later Niels went back down and, after being ignored again, asked the man if we could just swap rooms. "No, we're all full". So he asked how long it was going to be. "How long until what?" "Until someone comes to fix our toilet?" "Sorry, can't fix." "Well can we have our money back?" "You can have half because you broke my toilet." Needless to say, we weren't impressed (by this late hour of the day, tired and hungry, Niels was pretty close to violence), but at the end of the day, we were only out of pocket $2 and he got a shitty toilet!

The karaoke bus and more

You may remember we mentioned that sometimes when you catch a “bus” in Laos, it turns out to be a vehicle that looks like a ute but with benches to sit on and a roof over the top. Well, on our trip from Vientiane to Pakse in southern Laos, we experienced the polar opposite. We bought tickets for a VIP bus because it wasn’t much more expensive than a public bus and, since it was a 10 hour overnight trip, we wanted to make sure we had a seat we could actually sleep in. Now this bus was crazy. There was full in-flight service, with dinner, water and mints provided in the evening and a damp towel to help us wake up in the morning. The seats reclined way, way back – practically a bed, and there were tasseled curtains. As for the in flight entertainment... Thai karaoke of course! We had cheesy Thai pop songs belted out at us until about 10pm, then they were switched on again for some reason when we stopped somewhere at about 3am, then again at about 6am to wake us up as we approached Pakse – mad!

From Pakse we made our way down to Si Phan Don (The 4000 Islands). This is a place in the very south of Laos where the Mekong River fans out to 14km wide, creating lots (not so sure about the 4000 thing) of islands. There are only a handful that are inhabited and we stayed on one called Don Det. Our bungalow on Don Det was about as ideallic as you can get. For $US2.5 we were perched right out over the river and had a private balcony with hammocks. When you have a balcony like that, you don’t want to leave it much, so we didn’t. We spent all but one of our four days there lazing around drinking fruit shakes and beer – hard life, we know. On our one energetic day we hired bicycles (see first pic) and went exploring our island and another, which was connected by an old railway bridge which is a relic of the days when France had plans to build a railway as a trade route from the Gulf of Thailand or the South China Sea (can't remember which one, maybe both) to China. The bikes were really cute, little old things with baskets on the front that made us feel like we had rode back into the ‘60s.... apart from the rice paddies with buffalo and houses on stilts with pigs wallowing underneath, which made us feel like we were riding in, well, Asia. The ride was beautiful though, there is so little infrastructure on the islands, electricity for only a couple of hours a day and just so quiet and rural. (The third photo is of a petrol station on Don Khon, it is actually typical of most rural petrol stations we've seen, though some aren't as fancy and just have plastic bottles with petrol in them). We also visited some nice waterfalls, where Niels lost his sandal to the mighty Mekong. After a short time of barefoot biking he bought a new pair off an old lady on a bicycle, and no, he didn’t buy the ones she was wearing, she happened to be selling some (and other random stuff) – these island are great!

But, sadly, as our Lao visas came to an end, so to did our island paradise. The day we left Laos, we were headed for Kratie in Cambodia. To get there, we took a tuk tuk (which we had to push start) to the Laos exit place, which had us quite worried for a bit as to get to it we veered off the main road onto a rough dirt track “Where is this guy taking us”. You think after a month in Laos we would have learnt... why put your boarder crossing on a main road when you can put it in the middle of nowhere? After getting our exit stamp we walked a couple of km down a dirt road, then got in a minibus that took us back down the same dirt road (?), back past the Laos border crossing (?), back down the dirt road that has us worried before, then back onto the main road where we turned south towards Cambodia (we hoped). The main road quickly turned to dirt, and after a short time we arrived at the Cambodian border crossing. After all the border crossing business we got back into the minibus and headed south on a lovely sealed road. One of our companions said: “How much better are the roads in Cambodia than in Laos?” He shouldn’t have spoken so quickly cause sure enough, we hit dirt, bad dirt. When we got to Stung Treng, we got out of our bus and into a boat that took us across a river. Then, after lunch, into another minibus that took us to Kratie (yay!!!). So the trip, in summary, went boat, tuk tuk, walk, bus, boat, bus.

Our original plan was to only spend a night in Kratie as its only real attraction was some rare fresh water dolphins, which we decided we could do without seeing. But as soon as we saw our guesthouse room, we decided we’d better see the dolphins. Cost wise, food, transport, and, importantly, beer, are way more expensive in Cambodia than Laos, but when it comes to value for money for accommodation, Cambodia wins hands down! Our trip our to see the dolphins was fun, originally we were going to hire a motorbike, but, unlike Thailand, helmets and insurance are unheard of, so we each jumped on the back of a motorbike taxi instead. This didn’t solve the helmet problem, but at least if there was a crash, our travel insurance would cover us. The dolphins were great too. They looked like dolphins, and swam in the river. We saw lots.

Some observations

* Thailand vs Laos observation 1 "Who owns the country":

In Thailand, everywhere you go there are pictures of the king and queen on the wall. In Laos everywhere you go there are Beer Laos calendar girls on the wall.

* Thailand vs Laos observation 2 "Transport":

In Thailand you buy a ticket, get on the bus/train/boat, and it takes you to your destination. During out time in Laos we found things were a bit more hands on, literally. Example one: On the way to and from the Gibbon experience, the passengers had to get out of the truck three times to push when it stalled going up a particularly steep hill. Example two: On our ride to and from the waterfalls near Luang Prabang we had to get out and lift the truck up three times while the driver changed the tire because he didn't have a jack. Example three: On our boat ride to Nong Khiaw we had to get out and push the boat over a sand bar. Example four: We had to push start the vehicle which drove us to the Laos border yesterday.

* Concern about Niels

After recently seeing quite a few goats and horses, Niels has said twice in the last two days that he would like to have hoofs because they are "dainty". After seeing dolphins today he said he would like to have a spout.