Take four - Cambodia

Page 2.

The biggest attraction for me in Kampong Cham, and the main reason why I wanted to visit, was the Bamboo Bridge. A bridge that's rebuilt by hand every year in the dry season to connect an island, home to Cham villages, and the mainland for the few months when the river is too low to row a boat across. Check out the photos but it’s a pretty cool bridge and impressively built. When we hired bikes and cycled across it Rachel was almost pushed off in to the water by a guy with a horse and cart coming the other way...which she wasn't too happy about and you can't blame her really because there would have been a pretty good chance of her falling to her death. That’s probably why, if you speak to her, the bridge isn’t one of her fondest memories of Kampong Cham.

On our first afternoon there we headed up two hills called ‘man’ and ‘woman’. On top of Man Hill there was a Wat, which the Khmer Rouge used as a prison and to kill people. There is a statue that the Rouge used to sharpen their knives on before they hacked people to death. We also fed bananas to some wild, but very passive monkeys, which was pretty cool (see the photo's) and climbed up a few hundred steps to another Wat on Woman Hill to have a look at the nice view and then climbed back down again. We then headed over to see some orphan kids (or former orphans) do some traditional dancing. Their teacher was a nice guy who also performed with them. He mostly played a woman's role, but as our amused driver Mr. Buth pointed out, "it's okay for him to do it, because he's gay!" Maybe he thought we would have been offended if he wasn’t gay and doing a woman’s dance, I don’t know, but we nodded in an approving way. We also visited a small pre-Angkorian temple. Mr. Buth snuck us in the back because there was a policeman at the entrance asking for payment to visit. Don’t think for one moment that we were being skin flints by not paying, it's actually free to visit the temple, the policeman just drives past on his bike and demands 'entrance' money from tourists. If there's one thing you can say about the Cambodian Police it's that they're pretty good at being bent.

On the second day we drove passed the Chili and Peanut farms and the Lotus flower fields. You can actually eat the peas which are in the pod of the lotus flower; they have a runner bean-like taste to them. We bought some scarves from a family in Prey Chung Kran weaving village. We saw them weave the scarves we bought, which was nice. Plus they were cheaper than in the market, another bonus! To cap our tour off we drove out all the way to Mha Leap pagoda complex (with a short detour to see a Rubber Plantation), which is one of the last remaining wooden pagodas in the country (the Rouge didn’t burn it because luckily they used it as a hospital). The Pagoda floor was covered in pigeon poop, which was nice to walk in, especially as you have to leave your shoes outside. We got there just as the local school had a lunch break so all the kids ran over to hang around us while we looked around. They posed for photo’s and enjoyed looking at themselves on the camera screen. They only left us alone when a guy with a horse and cart caught their attention and they all ran off trying to jump on the back of it. Then the school bell rung and they all went back in to class. Only one kid stayed outside and when we asked why he wasn’t going in with the rest of them we were told us that the kids are given a small amount of money each day by their parents to pay the teacher. Some days the kids use the money to buy some food so can’t give the teacher any money and therefore are not allowed in to the class rooms. Of course they can’t go home because there parents would find out, so they hang around outside the classrooms instead. Before we left we popped in to the village doctor’s surgery, where we had a lovely chat with the doctors and nurses, even though they only spoke French.

Mr. Buth, our Tuk Tuk guide, was heading over to Ireland soon to visit his friend, so while he drove us around he was asking us all sorts of questions about home, the schools, the money, the government, the monarchy and the history of the UK and Ireland. Obviously we were no real use to him and most of his questions were met with 'errr dunno' and we would then stare blankly at the sky and pick our noses. I hope he didn’t think we were idiots.
As soon as he found out we were heading up to Siem Reap the next day, he gave his friend (a fellow tuk tuker) a call to arrange for him to pick us up from the bus station.

On the way to Siem Reap the bus driver noticed one of the wheels wasn’t right and would need to be replaced. We pulled over and all the Cambodian men and me got off the bus to inspect it. After 5 minutes of looking, pointing, raising eyebrows and shaking our heads, we were all in agreement that the wheel did indeed need changing. We then stood around supervising the mechanic and nodded our approval as he changed it. I won’t lie there was a bond between us for those magical 10 minutes.

When we got to Siem Reap, in the 38 degree heat, noise and pure madness of Tuk Tuk drivers and moto taxi guys crazily hawking for business, at the back of them all, stood Chan, with a big grin across his face, holding up a sign saying ‘welcome to Siem Reap Rachel and Joseph’. Which was rather refreshing don’t you think?

"There are 7,000 tuk tuks in Siem Reap, that's a fact..." Kate Melua probably wouldn't have sung if she had been to Cambodia. Our Tuk Tuk driver was number 6064. I wonder if it's like that TV series 'The Prisoner' from the 1960's. Who is number 1? Can you work your way up? I kept looking over my shoulder, paranoid that a giant white balloon was following me. You will also be glad to know that by the time I got to Siem Reap my Laughing Cow consumption has dramatically decline to almost zero. Which is good because at one point I thought all the cows in the field were laughing at me, and when that happens you know you have problems. I was almost tempted to head back to Phnom Penh and shoot one at the shooting range, just to even the score a little. But I thought that might be a little dangerous as I could break out of the range and start mowing down innocent cows in the fields while madly cackling to myself and then running down the street doing a little jig...if you’re ever going to be famous for something the 'homicidal Cambodian cow killer' is never a good look.

We spent the first afternoon checking out the town. In the supermarket we stood behind the most stupidest French person, who would easily win 'most stupidest person of the year' award if they gave one out. She tried to buy her beer and snacks with Euros. This is Cambodia, they accept Riel, Dollars or even Thai Baht at a push, but Euros? The checkout girl just stood their not knowing what to do. In the end they were way too polite and accommodating and found out the exchange rate from a shop outside and accepted the Euros. I think it's because it was a new shop and they wanted to make a good impression, but I would have taken the note, shoved it up her arse and told her to come back when she's crapped out a few dollars. Maybe that's just ‘westerner’ talk, although I’m sure that’s what they would have done in Paris.
We were also told before we arrived here that there would be loads of beggars. But looking around we couldn't see any so joked that maybe they had rounded them all up in a truck and taken them away....we found out from Chan that that's just what they did, a few months before we got there.

Chan was going to be our driver and guide for the next three days, and he turned out to be one of the nicest people we have met so far. He was pretty new to Siem Reap. His mother-in-law had told him to move there when he got married. His new born kid and wife are now back in Kampong Cham while he’s here making some moolah. His mother-in-law used her house as collateral with the bank to get a loan to buy his tuk tuk so I guess she gets to call the shots.

There’s not a lot I can say about the temples other than they’re pretty spectacular and there are loads of them. Look at the photo’s if you want to know what they are like and buy a history book if you want to know about how, when and why they were built. I can’t explain it all here because there are oodles of facts and figures about them and quite frankly this blog is long and boring enough thank you very much. Therefore I’m afraid you’ll just have to believe me when I say they were all rather lovely. We got up early one morning (5am) to see sunrise at Angkor Wat, but it was too cloudy so didn’t see much. We then stayed out two days running to see a sunset, one evening climbing up to the top of a hill, but it was too cloudy so there was no sunset. But even though we didn’t get to see a sunrise or sunset over Angkor Wat (which is supposed to be the highlight of the trip) it was still worth the admission price of the three day ticket we bought. Our favourites were the Bayon (the one with the faces), Ta Prohm (where all the overgrown trees are literally strangling the temple to rubble) and Banteay Srei (which is quite a way out, but has loads of amazing intricate carvings). After two full days we were seriously templed out so spent the last day visiting a crocodile farm (not the most safety conscious place I’ve ever been too) and a cultural show.

We were a bit skeptical about going to this show, we had already sat through a few traditional dances and although interesting they could get pretty boring after 5 minutes, plus the tickets were pretty expensive for non-Cambodians. But Chan was very eager that we go and the look of excitement on his face (which was only matched when we asked him to take us to the crocodile farm earlier in the day) persuaded us to give it a go. And we were glad we did, because it was spiffing entertainment. Basically it’s spread out like a Disney style theme park but minus the rides. There were different minority village reconstructions each with a little stage where young actors and actresses would act out scenes from different aspects of Cambodian culture and minority village life. It was surprisingly funny and the audience really got in to the spirit of it all. It was mainly Cambodians there, young and old, families and groups of friends and very few tourists. As there were very few white faces whenever it came to audience participation (which happened a lot) you sort of stood out from the crowd and made yourself a target. We had a right ruddy good larf at some poor sods expense when he was dragged out, made to dress in a loin cloth and dance around on stage. I was still looking back at the photos, chuckling to myself when I looked up and got dragged out to appear in the next scene. Dammit! Luckily I didn’t have to dress in a loin cloth. When the guy took me backstage he said “have you ever ridden a water buffalo?” I said’ “no” thinking I’m going to have to act like I was riding one. He then took me around the corner and I was suddenly stood eye to eye with a real buffalo, which took me by surprise a little. I had to ride it out on stage and then dance and act in a few scenes for the amusement of a few hundred Cambodians watching. Now I’m not saying I was good, but I’m up for an Olivier award in the summer.
I can now cross ‘water buffalo’ off my ‘animals to ride on before I die’ list. Only that elusive Pigmy Goat to go.

On our last day we headed off to do some horse riding around the countryside. It was a 2hr circuit which took us through a few villages to an old temple and then back to the stable again. Rachel was in her element here, being actually able to ride a horse, where as I on the other hand took the ‘let the horse wander off and do what he pleased’ approach to horse riding. This was my first time riding a horse and I learnt two things. One, all horse riders must be eunuchs. And two, they must have arse cheeks of steel. In fact after all the abuse my own buttocks had been given over the last month, the bumpy bus rides, the cycling, the walking around the temples and then the horse riding, they decided they had had enough, detached themselves from my body and booked a ticket on the next flight home. If someone wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for them. They haven't called to say they got back safe so I’m afraid that they've been picked up by a scrupulous Russian Taxi Driver and they are now working in Staines as a Sex Slave. I've seen the news, I know what can happen.

Anyway, Siem Reap itself was a lovely laidback city, which is surprising considering the amount of tourists that come through its doors. You can officially say this place has the Joe and Rachel stamp of approval.

Before we headed out of Cambodia we decided we would pop over to Battambang for a couple of days just because we could. It's nice old city which has lost its 'Mojo' a bit. It reminds me of the furniture you get in old B&B's, it’s tatty, dusty and a bit wobbly but you can tell it had some class back in its heyday. Here we headed out of town to see a Killing cave (again see the familiar words here to describe the Khmer Rouge years) where kids as young as 10 or 11 were forced to kill their own parents. A pre-Angkor temple, which influenced the architecture of Angkor Wat and some mahoosive fruit bats. These things were huge and there were hundreds of them all hanging in the trees near a pagoda. We were told they are a bit of a delicacy apparently and cheaper than chicken. We didn't eat one.

We had Moto drivers as our guides here. They were lovely guys, but unfortunately not the brightest. At one point Rachel was asked by her driver, "why is it dark in Cambodia when it's light on the other side of the world?" He just couldn't understand it. She had to try and answer using basic pigeon English while sat on the back of a speeding moped with no props at hand. Even Steven Hawking might have a bit of trouble explaining that one.
At one point my guides moped ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. So Rachel's driver had to go off and find some petrol. But unfortunately he didn’t take the money. So he used his fare (Rachel) as leverage and left her with the lady while he rode off to give us the petrol. I'm not too sure what she would have done with Rachel if the guy never came back, but she had a look that told me she probably would have cooked and ate her.

After that slight delay we then headed off to take a ride on a Bamboo train. Cambodia has a few train lines, but there are no passenger trains and only one cargo train running once a week. This means the tracks are pretty redundant. The enterprising people in the surrounding villages of Battembang though saw the lines as a quick and easy way of getting around, so they built small self assembly Bamboo trains to transport themselves from one village to the next. Take a look at the photo's to see what it's like, but they are small bamboo platforms with attached train wheels and a moped engine (although I think they used to be hand driven a few years ago). They are easily disassembled and reassembled, which is convenient because if a proper train is on the track they have to quickly get off and get out of the way. If two bamboo trains come head to head it's whoever has the lightest load that has to get off and take their train apart, which is very civilized don't you think?

After a couple of nights here (there wasn't a lot to do and the beer shortage was beginning to hit hard) we decided the way to get to Bangkok with the least amount of hassle would be to head back to Siem Reap and get a private bus all the way from there. So back on the bus we went....

We were only in Siem Reap one night to organize the bus and to eat the garliciest chicken kiev you can imagine at Molly Malones Irish pub. We then took a lovely 13hour bus journey across the border to Thailand. When filling in a visa application form at the border, why do they make you put the hotel you are staying while in Thailand? Even if you don’t know where you are staying and have nothing booked they get really annoyed and send you to the back of the line until you’ve filled in all the boxes. So you write 'The Mickey Mouse Hotel, Willy Wonka Drive, Bangkok' and they don't even bat an eyelid, it's bureaucracy gone mad I tells ya! Other than that we had no problems and we got to Bangkok bang on time and with it brought the curtain down on our Cambodian travels.

Like Vietnam, we wished we had longer than a month but I’m sure we will be back. Things are developing so fast here that we will have a whole new Cambodia to explore.

How different is Cambodia to Vietnam I here you shout? Well Cambodia is still a third world country for a start (80% of the population are farmers) and the roads and infrastructure in Vietnam is much better. Vietnam is also far better geared to deal with tourism (and the money making scams they can pull on tourists), although I’m sure Cambodia is catching up fast (I don't know if that's a good thing or not). Cambodia has many more cars and trucks on the road and the land is more parched (it was the middle of the dry season) where as Vietnam was pretty lush all the way down the length of the country with water being more abundant and better irrigation in the fields.
There are three things I've noticed that apply to both countries though. Firstly: There are dogs everywhere. Not just a few, a full-on Moses style plague of them. They're not homeless, the majority actually have owners, it's just that they let them out to wonder off and prowl around town on their own. Most are completely comatose and harmless because of the heat. They just lie there, whether that be on the path, beach or in the middle of the road. Others play and chase each other and some, well they do stuff that would even make the Dutch blush. We actually saw two dogs have sexual relations while they were crossing the street. Crossing the street! Cars had to actually stop to let them pass. How mad is that?! And all this in a country that doesn't like public displays of affection. No wonder they get eaten. It's not because they like the taste of dog, it's a punishment!
The second thing is the rubbish. They are prolific litter bugs (for want of a less childlike phrase). If there was an Olympic event of fly tipping they would be a shoe-in for gold and silver. With a serious shortage of landfill sites most of the household waste just gets left by the side of the road and sporadically burnt. Everywhere you go you see huge piles of carrier bags scattered all over the floor. They recycle glass and plastic bottles better than most (definately better than us) and they don't generate anywhere near as much waste as most western countries, but I’m sure it's not the most hygienic or eye pleasing way of getting rid of your rubbish. But that's not for me to sort out.
And lastly, in both countries we've seen some massive cockroaches, so big and numerous you feel you're in a 'Men in Black' film and huge scary Hornets and ants that want to bite your face off. Thus we have found we are both officially rubbish when it comes to dealing with large insects and quick moving reptiles. This doesn't bode well for when we get to Australia. A place where insects hang around in gangs at bus stops mugging old ladies. I'll be stocking up on the Deet insect repellent at Singapore duty free me thinks!

So this is it then. After a month in Cambodia we find ourselves in Thailand. Many more photos have been uploaded on to photobucket (Thank you Tracy and Duncan) if you wanna have a looksy:

http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii40/rachelandjoseph/?albumview=link

Bye for now,
Joe and Rachel.x