Category: Cambodia

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

We get up early early to take the tuk tuk to Angkor Wat for sunrise.  Julien and Sharon show up a few minutes later, and then I run into Louisa and Beth again.  One of the guys from the Plain of Jars tour is also in attendance.  Small world, this Southeast Asia.  It’s too cloudy for a spectacular sunrise, so we get some breakfast before Jess and I check out Angkor Wat. 

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It’s huge and amazing, and thankfully not too crowded.  We wander around for a while there, then get in the tuk tuk to Angkor Thom.  Angkor Thom has a bunch of smaller temples, and we check out Bayon first, which is probably my favourite.  Lots of towers, with heads atop them.  Next we investigate the Elephant terraces.  A young kid leads us to a temple, and Jess is certain we’re going to be killed, but instead he wants some money for taking us the long way to the temple.  When we ignore his request, he doesn’t seem too surprised.  Last up is   Ta Prohm, where they filmed one of the Tomb Raider movies. 

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In the afternoon, Sarat, the owner of the guesthouse, takes me to book a flight to Hanoi for the next day.  My initial plan was to start in the south and head north, but plans were meant to be changed.

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Catherine, Jess, and I meet Pen and Wiki for dinner and some drinks.  We say goodbye to Pennie and Wiki for the forseeable future, and check out the Beatocello film near the children’s hospital.  It focuses on Dr. Beat, a Swiss doctor, who pushes for better aid for the children of Cambodia. 

Next we head to the night market so Catherine and Jess, who both go home tomorrow, can get some souvenirs.  After that, it’s my last sleep in Cambodia.

Angkor

The original plan is to visit the wats with Julien and Sharon, but Jessica and I are up early, and decide to leave a note and head out ourselves.

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We figure we’ll start with the typical day 2 itinerary, so we can bump into Catherine and not have to worry about seeing the sunrise, which is usually done on day 1.  Our first sop is Preah Khan, which is quite nice.  We bump into Catherine on the way out.  We check out Neak Pean and Ta Som as well.  We stumble across a snake at one point, which was cool.  Checked out a few smaller temples too, then headed back to the guesthouse.

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We like our driver enough to arrange for him to pick us up early the next morning for sunrise.  After lunch and a rest, Jess and I ehad downtown.  She wants a massage, done by the blind, and I plan on checking the internet situation out.  Hoping for a fast connection.  Instead I get a haircut and trim my beard. Despite the lack of a common language, it doesn’t look too bad.

Jess and I meet Catherine at the Deadfish restaurant.  I’ve left a note with Pennie and Wiki, but I check my email later and have a note from them to meet elsewhere.  I head over to the spot they suggested, running into Louisa and Beth again, but Pennie and Wiki aren’t around.  I assume they’ve headed to the Deadfish, and when I get back there, they’re already sitting with Catherine and Jessica.  Julien and Sharon join us eventually and we have a decent meal.  The restaurant has some crocodiles in it, and some Cambodian dancing, which is interesting.  There’s some confusion over the bill, but it more or less gets sorted in the end.  We have to get up early, so we get to bed pretty quickly.

Siem Reap

After breakfast we catch the bus to Siem Reap, minus Catherine who left the day before.  Pennie and Wiki are also a day ahead of us in Siem Reap, and emailed to say the 6 hour bus ride took more like 9.  We prepare for the worst.  I have my own two seats on the bus, until Sharon gets booted from her seat.  She asks if she can sit next to me, and I say no, but she must think I am joking.  She chats my ear off for the next 6 hours.

We stop more often than necessary, and at one stop we’re offered some fried tarantulas, but we all pass.  I only like my spiders warm, and these have been sitting out too long.

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At Siem Reap, where we arrive in under 6 hours, thankfully, there’s a sign with our names on it.  The driver whisks us off to our guesthouse and we check in.  Jess and I share a room.  I email Pennie and Wiki, to say I’m going to take it easy tonight, but that we’ll meet up the following day.  Julien and Sharon are heading to the night market to see if they can find Catherine, and I, hoping that I can find some clothes, tag along. 

I’m still a little beat, and the market is all souvenirs, so my hopes of finding clothes are dashes.  We walk back to the guesthouse after a little while, and get some sleep.

Russian Market

Happy 35th Anniversary to my parents!

Catherine, Jessica, Sharon and I get up early.  Sharon’s not feeling well, and Jessica is not interested, so it’s just Catherine and I that head to the Russian Market for some shopping.  Catherine’s trip is winding down, so she is after some souvenirs, and a broom.  I was hoping to find a bag, a camera battery charger, and some clothes.   I wandered around with Catherine for a while then said goodbye, as she had to head back to the guesthouse to catch her bus to Siem Reap.  She’s heading there a day ahead of us.

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When she leaves, I search for my own purchases, managing to find a fake North Face that, for $25, should hopefully last me the rest of my trip.

Still in need of a battery charger, I head to Soya market.  It’s more of a mall than a market, and I wander around for a bit, managing to find a charger that isn’t made by Canon, but will hopefully do the trick.  Sadly, the clothes selection is pretty weak.  I meet a local guy, named Larry, whose English is pretty good.  Chat with him for a bit, and he suggests I try Central Market, which is walking distance from the mall.

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I grab some shorts at the market, and an ipod cable, then go back to the guesthouse.

Rest of the day is spent pretty uneventfully, other than the point mid afternoon when a group of 20 or 30 uniformed students scream past the guesthouse on their scooters.  They knock a non-uniformed teenager off his motorbike, then pick up a bottle and throw it at him.  I ask the reception what the deal is, but she says that’s just the way the kids are.  Welcome to Cambodia.  A little later, I go to check my email, removing my flipflops as requested.  When I return, someone has taken them – probably mistaking them for their own.

Jessica and I grow tired of waiting for Sharon and Julien for dinner, so we head to the river to find something.  Sharon and Julien show up eventually, with a French/Cambodian couple in tow. We spend the night at the restaurant, harrassed once again by kids.  We recruit one to join us for cards.  She picks up the game quite fast.

S-21

Wake up feeling pretty rubbish.  Lena and the Latinos are to meet us for breakfast, but they don’t show up.  We get breakfast on our own, and the five of us, Julien, Catherine, Sharon, Jessica and myself, hire a tuk-tuk to take us around for the day. 

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First stop is the Killing Fields, and en route we spot Lena and the boys in their own tuk-tuk.  We meet up with them at the fields, and take a walk through.  Smaller than I thought they’d be, and not as depressing as I thought they might be.

We head to S-21 next, a former school they’d converted to a prison.  We walk through old cells and through rooms containing nothing but photos of the prison’s inmates.  Whatever bug I have has me pretty exhausted, so I take lots of breaks.

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Last stop of the day is the Royal Palace, which is so expensive that Julien and Jessica don’t bother entering.  In the end it’s not too impressive.  Actually, it’s impressive, but seems redundant after seeing so many nice wats and palaces in Thailand.

We stop by the river for lunch.  As we’re paying the tuk-tuk driver, I hear Wiki call my name and turn to see her and Pennie enjoying their own lunch. I thought they were a day or two ahead of me, in Cambodia, so I am surprised to see them.  They’re staying in the same guesthouse, so we chat for a few minutes and agree to meet later. 

I join the others for lunch, and were constantly hounded by young kids selling books, postcards and other items.  Louisa and Beth, from Luang Prabang, who seem to have gotten through Vietnam pretty quickly, walk into a nearby bank, and I flag them over when they leave.

In the evening, we try to meet Lena and the boys for a drink, but fail at finding them.  We go for a drink, check the internet, and then Jess, Catherine, and I head home for the night.

Holiday In Cambodia

Lena and I caught an early boat to the mainland, then waited about an hour for the rest of the group to arrive.  When we had enough to fill a minibus, we piled in and headed to the Cambodian border.  Met two Canadians, Catherine and Sharon (who is yet another Guelph alum I’ve met on this trip, but we think we may actually have been in a class or two together, as we were there at the same time – plus she looks really familiar), and a Kiwi, Jessica.  The three of them were travelling together.  Also met Julien from Marseilles, France.

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The minibus drove us to the border.  We filed out at the Laos exit, and had our exit stamps applied to our passports.  We each had to pay $2 U.S as a “holiday fee”, which is pretty typical at southeast asian borders.  From there we walked about 100 metres down the road to the Cambodian border.  Paid a $1 holiday fee there as well.  There was a Liberian on board who had a business visa, and was forced to pay an extra $200 U.S, so the $3 I paid didn’t seem so bad.

We switched buses, and drove for about half an hour when the bus broke down.  The driver flagged down a motorbike, and left us at the side of the road.  10 minutes later he came back with a can of petrol, and fueled up.   On our way once again, we stopped in Strung Threp for an hour to eat.  I had deer roti which is nothing like the roti we get in Canada.

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Switched to yet another bus, and picked up some more travellers before heading on our way.  An Argentinian and a Mexican that were travelling together broke out their guitars and regaled us with some music (including Celine Dion at one point).  The road was very bumpy, and at one point two people in the backseat, Julien and Jessica, hit their heads on the ceiling at the same time that we got a flat tire at the front.  The tire must have been redundant, as the driver  yanked it aboard and soldiered on.

Stopped for dinner briefly, and a good 14 hours after we’d departed, finally arrived in Pnohm Penh.   We all tried to go to the same guesthouse that Lena had recommended, but of the three tuktuks we had, only one made it.  We eventually made it to the right place, but they were booked solid.  Only Lena and the Latin boys were able to stay.  We headed back to the guesthouse our driver had taken us to originally, and checked in there.

I was exhausted from travelling, and felt like I was coming down with another lovely stomach bug, so I headed to sleep pretty early.