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A Holiday in Cambodia
Phnom Penh / Siem Reap, Cambodia
December, 2004
Day One - Thursday, December 16
It was an easy day. It was a 1 1/2 hour flight from Bangkok on a small prop plane. I arrived in Phnom Penh at 1:30 in the afternoon wearing my Bert's Books shirt that my friend Christopher Gilmore purchased there in 1996. My original intention was to make my pilgrimage to Bert's to see if the owner remembered Chris, but I found out on line that it closed in 1997, just one year after Chris was here.
I got my visa at the airport for 20 USD. Oddly enough, the main currency in use in Cambodia is the US dollar. You only get Thai Rials for change because they have no US Coin. 1000 Rials = 25 cents so it is quite easy. You purchase something for $1.50, you give them $5, and you get $3 and 2000 rials change.
After getting my Visa and passing through customs, I hired a scooter for $2 to take to take me to my Hotel. On the Bus to Chang Mai I met a German Girl, Inga, who told me about a nice hotel on the lake that is cheap and has a great view. It is called the Grandview Guest House.
The scooter driver was determined to take me to a different hotel. Luckily I had the address and insisted he take me there. As we drove towards town he first said, "You not like that hotel, it very noisy."
I said, "I like noise, take me there."
Then he said, "It not in good part of town, don't you want to stay by river."
"No, Take me to Grandview."
"Where are you from?"
"America."
"Oh, America, why not nice hotel by River."
"No, Take me to Grandview."
This banter lasted our whole trip. The traffic in Phnom Penh is quite crazy (but they do drive on the right) so I was hoping the guy would spend more time looking at the road and less time talking to me. When we finally arrived on my street he tried one last attempt and pulled in front of a hotel he knew.
The driver said, "Here nice hotel right on the lake." The reception guy came out smiling and I said to him, "Where is the Grandview Guest House, I have a reservation."
He pointed to my hotel that was about 20 yards away, so I paid my driver and walked the rest of the way.
The Grand View is everything Inga made it out to be. I got a room with fan, bathroom and Cable TV for $5 a night. I also, then and there, booked my ferry ride on Saturday to Siem Reap for $21. Siem Reap is the city next to Angkor Wat. Since Bert's is gone, my primary reason for coming to Cambodia is to visit Angkor Wat.
My room was nice and clean and even had a view of the lake and sunset. After washing up I decided to take a walk around town. On my way down the street at least 20 guys asked me if I needed a Scooter Taxi. I just smiled and said no. When I first get to a new city I like to spend the first day on foot to get a feel for the people and the surroundings.
You may think this is kind of crazy, arriving in "Cambodia", supposedly a dangerous country, and after being there for an hour, grabbing my Camera and Video and wandering aimlessly. I'm always a bit nervous at first, but I have been in SE Asia for a month and I know from experience that the people are very friendly and there is very little petty theft.
I had a really nice walk. Cambodia is a very poor county and as I walked along there were lots of one-story shacks and most of the street weren't paved. Like Americans and cars, most shacks had at least on scooter out front. Most of them were old and rusty, not like in Bangkok were everything seems new. Everywhere I walked the people greeted me with smiles. Many children ran from inside their houses to greet me with a friendly hello, and then quickly ran back. They were barefoot wearing second hand clothes, but they were happy all the same. Within 10 minutes I forgot that I was in what was once known as "The most dangerous city in the world" and felt quite comfortable wandering around by myself.
First cool thing I found was really nice park with lots of Monkeys and a Temple on top of a hill. There were some beggars, but they were not too aggressive. The ladies selling fruit and snacks were very sweet and most of them let me take their pictures. Here I did run into my first amputee beggars that Cambodia is famous for. One guy was missing both legs below the knees and the other was missing both right limbs. They also weren't very aggressive. I would have given them something, but I didn't have any small bills. Regardless, they smiled and kept their composure when I had nothing to donate.
After the park I found a temple and wandered around. There was a really nice monk inside the main temple and after paying my respects the Buddha, he motioned me over. He spoke to me in Cambodian and I had no idea what he was saying but he kept on smiling and blessing me with his stick. He let me take his picture and I showed it to him after, much to his delight.
After the temple, I wandered down to the river. Unfortunately, it was brown and smelled like a sewer. Even with the stench, I noticed a little market down a ways so I followed the river and checked it out. There were no tourists and everyone greeted me with a smile. I bought a bunch of Banana's for 25 cents and went back up on the road. On my way out many children ran up and flirted with me. I took some of their pictures and showed them, and they were also delighted. At least one of the kids always made a face, so they would all laugh and point at the culprit. Itis nice to know that children are the same everywhere.
I am very impressed with the Cambodian People. They seem much warmer than the Thais. I have only been here for a day, but I really like it. I could imagine coming to stay here for quite some time. Besides the smog, everything seems quite idea.
That evening I had dinner at the small cafe next to my hotel. They were playing "School of Rock" and since I hadn't seen it, I decided to eat there. While I was eating and watching, I was very surprised that everyone in the place was lighting up joints. Pot smoke was billowing out of the place.
I have a full schedule in front of me. Tomorrow I go on a day tour and visit The Killing Fields, The National Museum, The Royal Palace, The Shooting Range and The Russian Market.
Saturday I take the ferry to Siem Reap and Sunday I will be at Angkor Wat!
Day 2 - Tour of Phnom Penh and the Killing Fields
Today was and interesting day. At 9:30AM I left the Hotel (which is really great) with two American guys and two English girls to take in the sights of Phnom Penh.
The first place we visited was the Killing Fields. Itis only about a half an hour drive from the city and it is quite intense. There is a grand monument in the middle that looks like the average Buddhist Temple, except it is filled with bones and skulls. Besides the monument, you generally walk around the fields that are marked by wooden markers displaying, "2500 Bodies Found Here" and the like. There is a deck where they have the story of what happened in the area in four languages (Thai, Khmer, French and English). There was a Cambodian on the deck who told some graphic stories and basically stated his general disgust of the Khmer Rouge Regime. It was quite sad to hear first hand what the people of Cambodia went through during those dark years.
I will not go into the details of this regime or the history of what happened in Cambodia from the early seventies to the eighties. If you are interested, look up Pol Pot or Khmer Rouge on Yahoo.
Among all the gloom, there were lots of little children running around the sight trying to get the tourists to take their picture, and then after demand money. They were dressed in rags, but were cute and had nice teeth. When they approached you, usually about four to six little girls, they would all sing, "One, two, three, smile!!" They would bob their heads back and forth, right and left to the words. It was really quite entertaining, especially when they sang their little song while sticking their heads though the Barbwire fence that was left there for affect.
Besides the little girls, it was quite a gloomy place. It was the same as visiting an unknown graveyard. You generally wandered around and left with your hands crossed in front of you and in devout silence.
Next we were off the gun range (interesting choice of order). The range was on a military base surrounded by the training camp. When we arrived, they sat us all down and brought us Menus. All the guns available and the prices were on the menu. AK47 - 30 shots - $30; Russian Version - 30 Shots - $30; etc. It was really kind of amusing. But, it was so expensive that we all declined and were on to the next place, which was The Tuol Seng Prison / Genocide Museum.
Wow, this place was really intense. The prison was a school that was converted to a prison by the Khmer Rouge. It had everything you would expect, tiny cells, instruments of torture and the prison photos of hundreds of the people who lived and perished there. The photos were the most interesting part of the museum. Men, women and children posing for what would probably be their last photo. You could tell the person's disposition by the look on their face. Some were scared, others defiant, some were disoriented, some were even smiling. It was a very eerie place and I'm glad I got to see it.
Next up was the Royal Palace. It was quite impressive, but not as amazing as the Grand Palace in Bangkok. There were lost of impressive buildings, all tall with pointed gold roofs lined by red dragons. I had seen so many temples by this time in the trip that they all tend to look the same.
After the Royal Palace we were supposed to go to the National Museum, but it was already 4:30 and it was about to close, so instead we went to the CCC Bar on the waterfront and had a beer to end the day.
That evening we all met up and had dinner at a local pub. It was owned by a 22 year old English guy who was really cool. The prices there were higher than the neighboring spots, but after talking to the owner, you didn't mind paying a little extra. I asked him if he made enough to cover his expenses. He replied, "We will, for sure, next month. As long as we pay the usual amount to the police, we have to pay them because we don't pay taxes. Yes, we should at least break even." Wow, a real entrepreneur!
One thing you notice in Phnom Penh is that every bar and restaurant is filled with pot smoke. No matter where you go everyone is lighting up joints. It is against the law, but obviously the police don't enforce that law.
Day 3
I left my hotel at 6:30AM to catch the fast ferry to Siem Reap. I decided to take the ferry because I love boat rides and I have never been on the Mighty Mekong River. The ferry costs $21 and the bus only costs $4 and takes they both take the same amount of time. But, I though about what Christoph would have done if he were here. I heard him whisper in my ear, "Boat Ride!"
It really was an incredible trip. The journey took 5 hours and the scenery was superb. The Mekong is quite polluted and stenchy in Phnom Penh, but as soon as youire about an hour out everything changes. The banks have lush tropical green vegetation and there are little fishing villages all along the way. Some of the villages are actually just boats tied together. Others are shack on stilts. No matter what the village looks like, there is always some style of long tail boat parked in front of every home. They range from homemade engine-less junkers, to brand new cruisers with inboard engines. All along the river I took photos of the people in their boats.
The crew of the boats usually consisted of one adult and two or three children. Sometimes the children were as young a four. The were all working and it was always fantastic to see a little four year old girl steering the boat as her father brought in the nets. As we would pass, the children would wave at us like enthusiastically they had never seen a big boat filled with tourists before. But, of course, the boat came by every day so they were just plain friendly.
As we got near Siem Reap, some small hills appeared on the horizon and that made the scenery that much more remarkable. At this point, you may not know why I was going to this town, "Seim Reap". It is because it is the town that borders Angkor, and my primary reason for visiting Cambodia was to see the temples.
In Siem Reap, I was going to stay at the sister hotel of my hotel in Phonm Penh and they set everything up for me. When we arrived at the dock there were 50 touts with signs all trying to get business and among them I saw a guy with a sign that read, "Welcome Ron Bauer." I was really stoked. Thatis the first time in my life I ever had a sign.
Even cooler, was that when I got off the boat and met him, he was a scooter taxi guy. You would expect a limo after the sign, but no, I hopped on the back of the scooter and off we went.
The hotel was cheap and clean and even rented bikes. I quickly made my plan for the rest of the day. I would have the taxi guy meet me back at 4:45PM to go to Angkor Wat for the sunset, and in the mean time I would hire a bike and go into town for some lunch.
Siem Reap is a little town and within a half hour I had found the cheapest water and located a few places where I could get a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. They might seem like odd things to you, but to me, they are the most important. First off, you need to drink a lot of water in the tropics and I'll tell you, the same bottle of water will cost $1 in some places and 50 cents in others. So the first thing I do is go to about 5 places and ask how much it is for the water I like. Next, I don't like Thai food for lunch so I need to find a place that serves western food. Then I'm set!
At 4:45 my Scooter guy arrived at the hotel and we were off the Angkor Wat. I would have left earlier, but the admission to the temples is $20. If you purchase your ticket after 4:45PM, it is also good for the next day and in that way you get to see two sunsets for the price of one!
It was amazing to see Angkor Wat for my first time at sunset. It is truly an amazing experience. I wandered all around the front and back temples and could feel the spirituality of the people that built then. The amazing three towers of the center temple take your breath away. The designs are awe-inspiring. Very surreal. The deep gray stone, the dark shadows all blending with the deep blue sky (see photos in Photo Section).
When you travel through SE Asia there are so many Temples that you really become desensitized to them. You see another temple and say to yourself, "Ah, you've seen one, you've seen them all." But Angkor Wat is different from all the rest. I could sit and look at the three towers all day.
After touring and taking in the wonderful scene, I took out my guitar, sat back in front of the temple and played a few songs until the sun was down. I gathered a small group of Cambodians who all found some sort of percussion to play along. Some hit their hands on the stone wall, some clapped and some found some sticks and hit them together. "What cool uninhibited people," I thought to myself.
When it was dark, I walked back to the highway and found my scooter guy. He drove me back to my hotel, I had some dinner and went to bed early for the big day ahead of me.
Day 4 - Day at the Temples of Angkor
One of the things you must do while in Siem Reap is go to Angkor Wat for the sunrise. I chose to tour the temples by bicycle, so I left my Hotel at 5:00 AM to be sure to get there on time.
It was quite a ride. It only takes about a half hour,
but after you leave the city and pass through the
ticket checkpoint, there are no street lights and it
is completely black. When cars and scooters passed by it was fine, but when there no one around, you had to go really slow and often when the next car came you would find yourself on the wrong side of the road. Soon enough, there was enough light to see and I made it to the main Temple of Angkor Wat.
The sunrise was great. The reds and the purples were
great and I got some good photos of the dark temple in the foreground and the beauty of the sunrise in the back. Most people sit in front of the lake at the
center of the complex and take photo's from there to get the water reflection. I found the best photo ops from up in the main temple looking towards the entrance and the temple walls, that way the sun is behind you.
The problem with Angkor Wat is that it is a huge
tourist destination. Even for sunrise there must have
been 700 people wandering around the temple. The place
is so majestic, it really doesn't matter, but I would
give anything to see sunrise or sunset all alone in
the temple. Now that would be really wild and eerie. You would probably hear the voices of the people who built the temple over a thousand years ago. I
imagine that's how it was when my friend Christoph
visited Angkor back in 1996 when Cambodia was still one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
Sunrise is great, but it is nothing compared to sunset, when the sun is in front of the main temples. But still, since you are all the way there, it is worth getting up early because then you have plenty of time to explore the rest of the temples of Angkor.
There are many ways to explore the Temples, but I
think by bicycle is the best way. The grand circuit of
all the main Temples is about 35KM, well within the
riding distance of most people. It's quite hot, so be
sure to bring at least a liter of water. If you need
more, there are plenty on convenience stands along
the way.
After sunrise at Angkor Wat, I made my way on the grand circuit to Angkor Thom. The entrance of Angkor Thom is quite a sight. A hundred carved stone figures line the road and the bridge (most the temples are surrounded buy a moat) and the gate is a hundred foot high stone face. Once you pass this gate it's about 1 KM to the second most spectacular temple in Angkor, Bayon.
Bayon is not a large as Angkor Wat, but it is almost as impressive. The entire structure is build from hundreds of giant stone heads. Many of the towers are heads with faces on four sides. Really cool. Also in Angkor Thom are The Terrace of Elephants, The temple of the Leper King and many more temples that are worth exploring.
After you leave Angkor Thom, there are about 10 other temples along the grand circuit, all that are quite incredible. I won't describe anymore, you will have to go see for yourself!
That evening I went into town for dinner. Siem Reap is a small town, two main streets about 1KM long. Lots of Hotels and Restaurants for the tourists visiting Angkor and thatis about it.
After Dinner I went back to my hotel. I was taking the bus back to Phomn Penh in the morning and the bus leaves at 6:30 AM. The ferry was great, but it costs $21, the bus only costs $2.50, so it is a nice alternative for the way back.
Day 5 - Bus back to Phnom Penh and Night on the Town
I was up early and on the bus by 7:00AM. It was only a six-hour ride and most of the people on the bus were tourists. We stopped a few places on the way for toilet and food. One place, there were about 5 ladies out front selling deep fried spiders. Yum Yum.
Back in Phnom Penh, I went back to the Grandview for lodging. It really is a great hotel and the people who run it are super sweet. I rested for the afternoon and decided to go out on the town for my last night in Cambodia.
I had dinner next door, had a couple happy hour pitchers ($1.50 each!), watched "The Killing Fields" being shown at the cafe, and then took a scooter taxi downtown.
I decided to go to a place called DV8 because the Phnom Penh Guide said it was happening and had a pool table. It was Monday night, and there wasn't anybody there. I decided to go in anyway to have a beer. There were two guys at the bar and we started to chat. They were both English. One of the guys was staying at a hotel near by and was on his way out. The other guy, Luke, turned out to be the owner of the bar and was living there with his Cambodian wife. When I told him it was my last night in Cambodia and that I hadn't really been out, he said with a sly smile, "Well it looks like I will have to show you a proper night out in our fair city."
On our way out he smiled and explained to his wife that he had no choice, he had to go out and show me a good time, a fellow westerner! She just shook her head with a little smile. This obviously wasn't the first time he had used this excuse to get out of the house. We both jumped on to his scooter and were on our way.
The first place we went was called Zanzibar. It was gigantic. There was a big outdoor foyer, a room that had three pool tables and an indoor disco. The place was pretty crowded. There were lots of people drinking at the picnic tables in the foyer and the pool tables were full. We decided to go upstairs and see what was happening at the disco.
The place was hopping. They were cranking the tunes, mostly techno, and there were about 5 girls for every guy. The place was packed with young Cambodian girls. Let's just say it was not hard to get a dance partner. Got a beer for me and Luke, and ended up dancing with a group of about 5 cute girls. It was quite a good time.
It was hard to leave the Zanzibar, but he had to show me the great late night place, the famous Heart of Darkness.
This place was also very cool. It is more like what you would call a New York nightclub. It had one main dance floor in the center with many levels of nooks and little rooms sprouting off from there. Lots of red, blue and green lights provided the dark atmosphere and the disco ball topped off the wild interior of stuffed wild animals and large tropical plants. The crowd was older and well dressed. Most of the men had nice trousers and collard shirts and the ladies wore silk dresses. It was not as happening as the Zanzibar. Luke and I didn't fit in so well with our shorts and T's, but he knew a few of the girls so we hung out with them and had a good time. Soon enough it was 3:00AM and we decide to split. My scooter taxi was picking me up at 8:00AM for the airport so I was glad to go. Luke was nice enough to drive me to my hotel and I bid him a fond farewell and promised to visit him the next time I was in Phnom Penh.
Day 5 - Back to Bangkok
What a great time in Cambodia. I was definitely my favorite country so far on my trip. The people are nice, it's easy to get around and there are lots of fun things to do. I will definitely be back next year.
It was an easy flight back to Bangkok, but upon arriving, I already missed that little country to the east.
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