Phnom Penh, Cambodia

15th – 18th October 2011 Arriving in Phnom Penh late in the evening we entrusted our stay to one of the tuk-tuk drivers salivating around the bus when we got off. He took us to a good place, no bugs or damp and with clean sheets and we negotiated the room charge down a little because we were staying for more than a night. It was fairly late so we wandered round looking for some food, an enormous spit roast beckoned but the price repelled so we hunkered down on child sized stools at a child sized table and had some beef noodles.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The following day we didn’t do much in the morning, venturing out in the afternoon for a little tour around the city. We visited the central market, which was fairly unimpressive inside and after that the highest point of the city.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A whopping 28 metre high mound with a temple on top. There was a tuk-tuk full of orange robed monks organizing themselves for a visit to the top, they were easily the highlight of the day. We continued to follow the walking tour as suggested by LP, it was so low on sights that the mightily boring train station was included as a stop on the circuit. I didn’t even bother thinking about a photo let alone take one.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Next up was a side track to the non-existent lake near the station, instead we found a billboard with development plans for the now dry area. Moving swiftly on we headed towards the Tonle Sap, a river flowing through the city. It was lovely, we reached it early evening just as families and groups of friends were meeting up to take an evening stroll along the river banks.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The boulevard was wide and at one point it included a jungle gym and exercise bikes for adults. People lined the wall containing the water and sat and watched clumps of water hyacinth drift past, cyclo drivers sat and waited for a fare, small children lugged baskets of books around and Djalma bought a bright orange snake as a pre dinner snack.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We sat and watched the sunset light the sky enjoying a beer or two in one of the bars lining the waterfront.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The next day we were up bright and early, walking across town to find a place to rent bicycles and then making our way through the traffic to the Vietnamese Embassy to apply for our visas. The application process was sorted in less than an hour and we headed towards Choeung Ek, or more popularly known as the killing fields. The road was so dusty. So Dusty. The whole way there. Horrid. I also managed to leave my sunglasses at the hotel that morning so my, by now, rather sensitive eyes were exposed to the strong Cambodian sun and all the dust that the million and one lorries kicked up as they passed by. We stopped after an hour and cooled off with sugar cane juice and a fresh coconut while we sat and talked to a guy who was getting customers for a bank in the city. Reassured that we had only a couple more kilometers to go we got back on our bikes and arrived within minutes.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Choeung Ek is an old Chinese burial site which was used by the Khmer Rouge to execute prisoners of the regime. It’s awful bloody history is belied by the serene, peacefulness of the site. On arrival we washed off the dust and were given an audio guide. We proceeded round the small plot of land listening to tales of what happened here around 30 years ago.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Lots of what was detailed in the guide was not actually there, all of the buildings had been destroyed leaving only mass graves and sugar palm trees behind. A memorial temple was built after and houses a large selection of clothes, bones and skulls, the latter grouped by ethnicity, age and gender. We left feeling rather depressed.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Cycling back along the same dusty road we decided against Quad biking, it sounded far t tame and something easily doable on a bicycle for a fraction of the cost. We arrived back at our hotel and while I worked on the computer Djalma got his fill of TV.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The next day promptly after breakfast my tummy started playing up, so I went back to the hotel while Djalma got in a cyclo and was pedaled to the Vietnamese Embassy to collect our visas. In the afternoon, after a fat noodle lunch we walked to the Palace and the Silver Pagoda.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was hot, perfect weathers for taking pictures and sweating profusely, I did both.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The current king still resides in the palace so lots of the grounds were off limits, there were several temples we could visit but not much in them, they were much prettier on the outside and a throne room set in manicured grounds.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Continuing through we came to a huge paved garden area filled with pots of different plants, in the middle was the Silver Pagoda, so named because of the silver tiles used to cover the floor. When you enter the pagoda it’s possible to see some of the tiles but most of them are under a protective rug, clinking metallic as you walk over them. It wasn’t as impressive as it sounds, the tiles are thin, although they weight 1kg each and they look a lot like stainless steel. We wandered round the gardens taking photos and poking our noses into other temples before heading out to enjoy the sunset from the river.

From Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The next day I was up early and did some yoga, we left our hotel and got a tuk-tuk to the train station where we arrived 40 minutes early for our bus, we sat and ate Khmer sandwiches made with freshest baguettes we’d tasted in a very long time. A very hot four hour bus ride later we arrived in Kampot, home of the MOST EXCEPTIONAL BLACK PEPPER. We wandered through the heat of the afternoon sun coming to our hotel for the next couple of nights; Blissful. An apt name.

Battambang, Cambodia

13th – 15th October 2011 Arriving in pretty little Battambang we promptly checked into the Royal Hotel, the place to stay in this town. Unlike most hotels with Royal in the name, it actually lived up to its reputation – we had a 7 dollar room for 5 dollars a night because we were staying longer than just one day and it was lovely. Big, clean, en suite bathroom (we usually do get a room with an attached bathroom but occasionally we get a shared bathroom, so it always makes me appreciate it when we do have attached amenities) a decent fan, a full length mirror! (this is very rare) and a writing desk and a couple of chairs. We had a quick rest and then dragged our weary bodies outside for a walk round the town.

From Battambang, Cambodia

Battambang was covered with rubbish. Wonderful. As we walked along one side of the river we saw several Ferris wheels (of the old, rusty and horrifyingly rickety variety) being dismantled and further on a team of street cleaners working their way through the festivals mess. We followed the river, crossing over it to see a temple with some impressive churning of the Sea of Milk going on outside.

From Battambang, Cambodia

Inside the walls it was peaceful and so we sat and tried to regain some energy for seeing the rest of the town. Impossible, we dragged our feet round a bit further ad then decided to call it a day. After a mammoth day of cycling around Angkor Wat we were absolutely shattered. Back in our room we watched a good but at times horrifying film, Blindness. It needed a little humour to follow it so we watched an episode of QI and then went to sleep.

From Battambang, Cambodia

The next day we did nothing. We slept late and lazed about like a couple of lazies, it was great. Towards the evening we headed up to the rooftop restaurant and I started writing my blog and Djalma finished writing his postcards. While we sat the weather closed in and a couple who were sitting near the balcony moved further in and we got talking. An English girl and an anglicized Canadian had just started their travels. We ended up having a couple of beers and dinner together across the road, it was a nice way to spend a lazy day.

From Battambang, Cambodia

Resolved to actual do something before we left Battambang we got in a remorque moto and headed off to Phnom Sampeau, the killing caves. The half hour ride out of town was slow and beautiful, we made our way to the limestone cliffs where the caves where based. We left the moto behind and walked the easy way, up the road and not the steps, to the top. The views over the countryside were beautiful, Battambang is famous for the best rice in Cambodia, we were told that the region actually produces enough rice to feed the whole country, and also for exceptionally sweet coconuts.

From Battambang, Cambodia

By now, hooked on noodles, I didn’t taste any of the famous rice instead we ate fried grey, white and pink mystery meat dipped in a mixture of sauces and helped down the snipped up baguette and soapy salad leaves. Reaching the path to the caves we wandered down along with a local family and descended into an open faced cave which was home to a large reclining Buddha and a memorial chamber filled with the skulls and bones of a tiny portion of people who were murdered here. It was surreal and a little upsetting. We left a small donation with the man who turned the lights on and off and got out of the cave and back into proper sunlight.

From Battambang, Cambodia

We continued up the hill and came to a small Wat which was in the process of being decorated.

From Battambang, Cambodia

The road was lined with signs on the way up, listing the benefactors who had donated money to help build the temple. I almost forgot to mention, on the way up we stopped at a certain level and then walked into some overgrown brush to find these two old soviet machine guns, left over from the war.

From Battambang, Cambodia

Surreal when monks were wandering by on their way up to the temple. The views from the top were the best, green rice fields dotted with trees stretched out as far as the eye could see, small hills started and ended abruptly amidst the flatness. I circled the different buildings and took pictures until it was time to leave.

From Battambang, Cambodia

We walked back down the hard way, steps and plenty of them. The view was hidden from all the trees so I didn’t feel all that bad about coming up the easy way. Back in our reined little tuk-tuk we headed back to town just as slowly as we came, our very sweet guide dropping us off outside our hotel. We packed and left, getting the bus to Cambodia’s Capital, Phnom Penh.

From Battambang, Cambodia

Angkor Wat and Siem Reap, Cambodia

10th – 13th October 2011 Needing a relaxed day after arriving so late the previous night we decided to rent a couple of bikes to navigate the waterways that the roads had become. Most of the town was fine but the river, appropriately named Stung Siem Reap (River Siem Reap) had burst its banks and flooded the lowest areas around the central market area where most of the hotels and eateries were based.

From Siem Reap, Cambodia

In lots of places the water was at least ankle deep and in some places covered the knees. Nevertheless life went on as usual and the roads were navigated by people on foot (very, very slowly), people on bicycles and those on motorbikes and in cars, the wash created by the latter pushed me off course and almost of my bike when I wasn’t prepared for the mini current.

From Siem Reap, Cambodia

We pedaled to the undercover market, which was also flooded in places and got ourselves some much needed breakfast. By this point I had relaxed a little bit, not having fallen victim to imagined potholes in the road that couldn’t be seen under the water. After a couple of baguettes and a lemon shake we looked through the market which sold mainly fresh produce, big bowls of fresh rice noodles where swirled enticingly next to stalls piled high with fresh fruit and vegetables. Stalls with fresh chickens their legs poking into the air sided with stalls butchering still squirming fish. Having had our fills of the sights and smells of the market we got back on our bikes and cycled over to Artisans d’Angkor, a school set up to train rural village kids in old Khmer Arts.

From Siem Reap, Cambodia

After some egg noodles and amok (a traditional Khmer dish; a thin coconut flavoured curry) at a small restaurant on the road, we picked up some bananas and mangoes from the market and then headed back to the hotel to rest.

From Siem Reap, Cambodia

The next morning we got up very early to try and catch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. Just before 5.30 we were out the door, bleary eyed but fully dressed pushing through the water on our bikes fuelled by a couple of bananas and some crackers. We cycled like fury to reach the ticket office before the sun came up, my wheels were slightly smaller than Djalma’s and my little legs struggled to keep up. We eventually made it to Angkor Wat, a few kilometers later. Already sweating like mad we parked up and joined the throng of tourists waiting at the legendary site.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

You should probably know a little about Cambodia’s main tourist attraction and its national emblem and why it’s considered to be so important. The Angkor Wat we went to see, is what’s left of a once great city, the centre of an ancient Khmer empire spanning 600 years (around 800-1400AD). Interestingly (or not) Cambodia once included whole or large parts of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, in fact a large part of the North East of Cambodia was, until fairly recently, part of Thailand (a treaty between the French and Thais returned it to Cambodian territory) meaning that Angkor Wat and its satellite city, Siem Reap were in Thailand. The dude who started it by spreading the word that he was Shiva’s representative on Earth, and therefore a God King, was called Jayavarman II, he was followed by a numerous succession of kings who added to and bettered the complex, each trying to outdo the former ruler. The resulting architecture is a mix of styles, I couldn’t tell you how they were different, but they were really cool, especially the 216 big heads at the Bayon and the tree of life (from The Tomb Raider) in Ta Phrom.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

The temple complex covers a rather large area but the roads are flat and in good condition, we were also lucky that recent flooding had receded to leave the roads dry and easily navigable, we didn’t see any residences or building other than temples and post-visit research reveals this is because stone, and therefore permanent dwelling, was fit for only the Gods, everyone else had to make do with wood, long since gone.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

History lesson over and back to the tour. After pulling up at Angkor Wat (the complete site takes the name of this one -possibly a funerary- temple) we joined the tourists gathered along one edge of water waiting for the rising sun to provide a silhouette of the structure. I left Djalma and his time lapse business to go and explore the temple while it was still quiet. He joined me and we ate crackers and wandered round, admiring the carvings and the light on the East facing wall. We walked round, exploring the temple of a 1000 Buddhas, there were only a few left on display when we got there, and more carvings and ate more crackers.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Back outside we found our bikes and set off, at a rather more sedate pace, to see some of the rest.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

We came across one small temple, rather small, which like most of the others was covered in ferns and plenty of moss, racing across the ground where countless beetles making their way from the woods and into the temple it was a mesmerising spectacle.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Back on our bikes we decided to stop at the next temple we saw – there were some tiny people at the top, suggesting a fun little hike and wonderful views.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Up we climbed, the steps were tall but really shallow and in some places, alarmingly wobbly. Apparently the steps were made this way to show that ascending to be nearer to God (or something to that effect) was not an easy task and the physical effort was to be symbolic of the spiritual and mental effort. Whatever, I don’t think a fat king or an obese priest (or his later day equivalent) would have made it to the top without having a coronary on arrival. The views were lovely, green as far as the eye could see. Djalma having left his T-short at the base wasn’t allowed in to the little shrine at the top, but I being sensibly clothed, was. There wasn’t much there, just a lady trying to sell incense like in every other well frequented temple in Angkor. We clambered back own and pedaled onto Angkor Thom.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Angkor Thom is a large walled city with entrances at the North, South, East and West walls, the most popular and busiest is the Southern gate which has been restored and of the 54 gods and the 54 demons lining the road, most of them have their heads. We cycled through the city, past Bayon (of the famed heads) where tourists where paying through the nose for a quickie tour round the temple.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

We headed over to Ta Phrom, which is famous for the tree of life and a scene in The Tomb Raider where a foxy Angelina Jolie stops to pick a jasmine flower before falling through the floor. We are now downloading Tomb Raider I & II, for our imminent viewing pleasure.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

The Buddhist Temple, built around 1190, was amazing. The place was surprisingly large, although deceptively so when compared to the resident trees which grew in, around and through the walls, windows and doors.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

There were narrow dark corridors snaking through the buildings which often ended abruptly with an enormous and ancient tree trunk blocking the way. Tumbled blocks of carved stones, covered in shocking green moss lay jumbled about.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

The inner corridors were lined with the same brilliant green, the whole place was covered in this wet emerald velvet, and it was utterly beautiful. We wandered round for a long time, we’d had breakfast at around 9am (some heavily discounted yellow noodles with beef) and weren’t in a hurry. People used to be allowed to climb over fallen stones and up trees but health and safety concerns have since put a stop to that (I know! H&S in Cambodia!) It didn’t stop Djalma swinging off the tree roots though.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

We continued walking to the end of the walled city where a plague of small hopeful children descended on everyone making their way along the path, I stopped to look at some postcards. BIG MISTAKE. I never stop to look at something unless I really and truly intend to buy it, as was the case that day. The postcards in Cambodia are so expensive – I hadn’t seen one postcard for less than a dollar. I can get cheaper postcards in the UK, it’s shocking. So when this little urchin, who couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7, produced a packet of ten for a dollar (and of reasonable quality on initial inspection) I thought, why not? Why not indeed, 2 of the proffered 10 looked to be any good and I felt awful as I looked at them, looking for a redeeming feature but finding none.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

I gave them back and said sorry and started to move on. Desperate pleading followed me and as I continued saying no and sorry and good luck, I got tears. I made a small boy cry. I felt awful. I kept feeling awful for quite some time until Djalma asked me if I had looked back as we walked away, he had and he saw the young boy laughing and playing with his friends just seconds after showing me his pitiful and heart wrenching waterworks. Feeling much better we carried on back to our bikes.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Lots of our time was spent cycling between places, even though the roads were flat, some of them were flooded and in one place we had to take the long way round, the day passed slowly and quickly at the same time. We finished the crackers, glugged down coca cola and ate another plate of yellow noodles with beef and vegetables. I was ready to leave at around 3pm but Djalma had rather picked up by this point and, unusually for him, was enjoying our day of tourism. Both of us were sweating non-stop, our clothes sticking to our bodies, my face red (as always with any physical exertion) and I felt that I’d seen plenty of temples. We clambered round a few more, the strain on the knees (I felt) not really worth the same view of unchanging green from the top of temples, not anymore. We climbed up one last temple and after being told that we weren’t allowed to use the (very wide) steps of another to enter the site (and therefore had to go around to get in) we decided to head to Bayon and then call it a day.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Heading straight to the centre of Angkor Thom we came face to faces with the image of Jayarvarman VII, the dude who created this temple of awesomeness. People don’t really know why the temple was built, who it was dedicated to and for a long time they didn’t know who had it built.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

It doesn’t really matter because it is, aside from Tomb Raider Ta Phrom, easily the coolest temple around. It is also one enormous jigsaw puzzle, apparently it was dismantled to be restored, pre-Khmer Rouge and then the Red Khmer’s came along and all the paperwork was lost.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

If you look at the photos you’ll see that each face constitutes a rather large number of huge blocks and that they don’t line up where you would expect them to (because they aren’t symmetrical not because they were just thrown back together willy nilly). The temple has 54 gothic towers and I believe each of them are decorated with 4 faces of the God King himself.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

I was enchanted, Djalma was knackered. He had to drag me away. I snapped and snapped and snapped so many pictures it was ridiculous, they all looked the same: COOL! I didn’t care that I was essentially taking the same photos over and over again. Eventually Djalma dragged me out of my shutterbug fog and we left.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Well, we tried to. The place was an absolute warren, we got so lost, on each side things looked the same so we headed down to try and find the way out and back to our bicycles. It took us so long and was so frustrating that Djalma did a little dance when we eventually found the exit.

From Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

I got off my bike to take two more pictures, after that I solemnly promised to my sweaty husband that my bottom would not leave the seat until we were back in Siem Reap and dropping off the bikes. I kept my promise except to click my legs and remove ever present wedgies (fortunately I could do the latter while still on the bike). We arrived back in Siem Reap early evening. We’d had a whole day of sightseeing and we were ready for a shower and beers and a pizza. We got everything we wanted, my skin felt reborn from all the dust and grit and sweat, I even washed my hair. The luxury. We got in a cute remorque-moto and asked him to take to the restaurant with the happy pizzas where our queries were answered and our food was served by a girl of no more than 12, it felt so wrong. But the beer, oh the beer. It was our first since arriving in Cambodia and despite having promised ourselves Angkor beer, we ended up with the crisp refreshing goodness of Anchor beer. Well it sounded the same and it was gooooood. Unsurprisingly we were in bed and asleep by 9pm.

From Siem Reap, Cambodia

The next morning we were up and out and on our way to Battambang, unfortunately not by a leisurely boat ride but by bus. It only took four hours and while my legs and knees where thankful for the lack of motion my bottom was not quite so pleased to be bearing all my weight yet again.