My great Arventure: Cambodia

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Cambodia

So the biggest, bestest and boldest trip was saved for the end. After my exams, and a couple of days of goodbyes :( , Camilla and I embarked on a backpacking trip across Cambodia. Our plan... well we had none. We booked a return ticket to Bangkok (because it is easiest and cheapest to get to Cambodia from there) and literally on the plane decided where to go first while reading through a Lonely Planet Guide.

As was the case with Vietnam this trip began with free alcohol at the duty free shop. First a sample of the new Absolut Raspberry

And then a sip of some cognac.

So the first place we decided to go to was a beach town called Sihanoukville. To get there though was a bit of a task. We grabbed a bus in Bangkok @ about 10:30pm. From there we went to a town called Trat. We arrived in Trat at about 3:30 in the morning and waited for a minibus till 6 in the morning which would take us to the Thai-Camboida border. Along the way we met a guy named Stefano who has been living in Taiwan for 15yrs. He is originally from Italy though. He bought us some tea in the morning :)

(You tend to meet a lot of nice ppl while backpacking)

Anyways, so this is a picture of the Cambodia side of the border just before it is about to open.

Crazy 'eh. Lucky for us it wasn't that hectic on the Thai side so we glided on through in no time. At the border we got swindled. It costs either 1000THB (Thai Baht) or $20USD to cross. Now considering that the 1USD ~= 38THB it's obviously better to pay $20USD. Unfort. the officers wouldn't let us get away with this and charged us an extra 200THB. Plus they charged us an extra 100THB for some BS free of SARS/quarantine form. But hey can't really argue w/ border patrol now can you.

Anyways, from the border we had to catch a 4hr ferry to Shianoukville.

Gave us a chance to snap a few more photos

Once we arrived at the port we randomly chose a hotel from the LP Guide grabbed a couple of motorbikes...

And headed to the hotel. We only payed $6USD for the room :D Not bad.

So here's a couple of quick shots of the town.

It was pretty quiet actually. Didn't see many other touristst there (which isn't necc. a bad thing). Now Sihanoukville is good for two things: 50cent draught beer and renting motorbikes!!! For only $4USD Camilla and I rented a motorbike!!! Huzzaa finally my dream come true. The entire time I was driving I kept singing 'Born to be wild' :P Although she was the real bad ass... she actually went over 30 km/h :P

But hey, I was still proud of myself.

The next morning we got up early to catch a bus to Phnom Penh. Along the way we got some good pics of rural Cambodia.

Once we arrived the book said to go to an area beside a big lake because that is where all the cheap guesthouses are. So away we went. It was a pretty dodgy looking area, but it hadits charm I guess.

On a side note, traffic in Pnomh Penh (and pretty much most of SE Asia) looks something like this.

Now for the lowlight of the trip.... remnants of the Khmer Rouge regime. The first place we went were the Killing Fields. This place is quite sad and a gruesome reminder of the terrible attrocities that humans are capable of. It is a mass grave where the Khmer Rouge executed and buried alot of their victims. As you walk along the trails you see bones and skulls sticking out along with rags. As you enter there is a stupa that is probably at least 10m high filled with skulls that were dug up. Def. a sobering experience.

Our next location was again a artifact of the Khmer Rouge's regime: Prison Camp S-21. Another gruesome sight. There are still blood stains on the wall. As you enter you can see, what seems like, the photo of every prisoner that was kept at S-21. Mathematical formulas are scratched into the wall everywhere because the people were trying to perserve the knowledge the Khmer Rouge were trying to wipe out. And what is terrible to think is that this all happened barely 30yrs ago. And yet we learn so little about it out west. I think all my travels in SE Asia (esp. while in Cambodia) helped me to realize that in the west we are quite ignorant of alot of the culture and histor in SE Asia. However I think it is imporant that we learn about those things to understand some of the reasons why history has taken the course it has in that part of the world.

Now there are some nice parts to Phnom Penh as well, namely the Grand Palace. However we were told by a few ppl we met that going inside wasn't very exciting and it's much better to just take a few photos from the outside. So we did :)

After that we just went out for dinner and then went to bed so we could get up early for our bus to Siem Reap.

Now pretty much ANYBODY that goes to Cambodia goes for one main reason: The Temples of Angkor. With some of the temples having been built over 1000 years ago these amazing monuments are a source of immense national pride for the people of Cambodia and are a great testament to some of the great architecture and engineering skills of the Khmer empire during its rule.

Because the temples are all seperated and spread out you can't walk to them without taking up ALOT of your time. So instead it is better to hire a tuk-tuk for a couple of days. We hired one for 2 days for $20USD. Trust me, considering how much driving the guy did and how much he waited around for us that was a steal. This was our driver

Now rather than try and explain all the photos and temples and try and describe how utterly impressive these structures are I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

(Props to Camilla for taking most of the photos though)

(Below is the main Temple, Angor Wat)

So can anybody tell me what is funny about this picture?

(Recognize her?)

Ppl, if you ever get the chance to go to the Temples of Angkor... GO!!! They are even more impressive in real life. It's quite amazing and awe-inspiring what impressive structures we were able to create way back when. We spent a good 2 days in Angkor Wat.

Now for the fun story. Our flight from Bangkok back to Singapore was on Sunday which meant Saturday was spent getting back to Bangkok. Boy, what an experience that was. The cheapest way to get to the Thai border from Siem Reap is in the back of a pick-up truck. So being cheap Indians.... err, daring and avid arventurers we decided to take that route. So went to the gas staion early in the morning where the pick-up trucks usually hang out to take people. We negotiated a fair price ($9USD for the BOTH of us) and hoped in the truck. We sat down in the cab but then the driver told us to sit on the edge. Hmmm... ok that was a bit weird considering there was lots of room. Well, only for 2 more seconds. Next thing you know Camilla and I are in the back of a small pick up (we are talking like Mazda not Ford) with 30 (yes that is THIRTY) other people and their luggage... and 1 chicken... for 5hours.... 2hrs of which is along unpaved red dirt road.

Two people to Bangkok in the back of a pick up --> $9
Hanging on for dear life in the back of a pick up truck for almost 5hrs --> Priceless!!!

We didn't get our cameras out cuz we were afraid they might fall out while driving, but this is what we looked like afterwards...

In other words... CRAP!!!

Some of us were upset...

But others didn't mind getting a little dirty...

I swear when i took a shower (for almost half an hour) the water was constantly red for almost 15mins. My hair looked like I had dyed is :S But trust me it was fun.

All in all Cambodia was GREAT!!! It was so nice and so refreshing to have a completely unscripted on the fly trip. Seemed like more of an Arventure. Plus Cambodia is quite a nice country just beginning to find it's footing after going through (literally) hell. The people are friendly; ALWAYS so smiles on their faces which was a pleasant surprised. I guess it's a testament to the resilliancy of the Cambodian people.

Personally the trip was good for me because I learned to just go with the flow. One doesn't have to plan every single detail of a trip to make it fun. Plus I ran away from a group of Monks... but that's another story ;)