Summary of Cambodia

Just realized we forgot to summarize Cambodia, so here you go.  China posts are coming this week!

Time shift: 10pm Friday in Cambodia = 10am Friday on East Coast USA

Exchange rate: 1000 riel = $0.25, but mostly used as change, the US dollar is the main currency

Price of a 1.5L water bottle: $0.50

Average daily cost of lodging: $7

Silliest transportation: bamboo railway

Best people to meet while traveling: Fiona and Brenda (miss you guys!)

Biggest party town: Sihanoukville

Katie's favorite experience: All of it.  I really had so much fun traveling around Cambodia with Andy, Fiona and Brenda that I can't pick just one day.

Andy's favorite experience: Battambang. I really loved talking with all the various Cambodians - guy that worked at the Smoking Pot restaurant, our tuk-tuk driver and the guesthouse employees.

Nationalities of people we met in Cambodia:  Irish, Dutch, British

Phnom Penh without Dutchy and Fifi

I discovered the night before that I forgot to get my room key back from Brenda before she left for Thailand.  This meant that all my stuff was locked in a locker with no key.  In the morning the front desk called a locksmith for us.  While we ate breakfast, the locksmith went up to work his magic on my locker and came down with the entire locker door.  He strapped the door to the back of his motorbike, and we assume he took it back to the fort to make a new key for the locker. He charged us $3 for his services.

Greg, the guy we met a couple nights ago came back from work and hung out with us for a bit.  We all went out to eat, wandering the city with Greg as our guide.  Ate at a little noodle place then went to the mall to check it out.  The mall was interesting because instead of individual stores in their own rooms, more like an outdoor market stuffed onto 7 floors.  At the top was a view of the city plus a roller rink and arcade (that was packed).  Headed to the FCC (foreign correspondents club) for a drink then back to the hostel for a bit more food and bed.

Friday we walked to the riverfront to have breakfast at The Blue Pumpkin, a great little cafe with free internet and a view of the river.  Took a tuk tuk to the Russian market.  Supposedly a great place to buy souvenirs but really just full of usual touristy junk.  Went back to central market to wander the streets while heading back home.  Stopped at a couple of charity stores and bought some real souvenirs made by actual Cambodians.  Met up with Greg at the hostel and headed to the night market (which only occurs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays).  Ate noodles with vegetables and chicken for $1.25 and a bottle of coke for $0.50.  Andy got a scoop of Durian ice cream and chocolate ice cream.  The durian turned out to be better than the chocolate.

In the morning we had breakfast at the hostel then caught a tuk tuk to the airport to head to Hong Kong.

S21 and The Killing Fields

On Wednesday most of us slept in to recover from the karaoke shenanigans that took place the night before. Unfortunately the air-con in our room wasn't on so it got pretty hot in our room. Brenda and Fiona were growing tired of the on and off rain all day, so they took the morning to plan a holiday-within-a-holiday to the islands of Thailand. Around noon we left the hostel to see the must-do S21 Genocide museum and Killing Fields.

I want to preface the next paragraph or two by saying that I'm not nearly a good enough writer to convey what it's like to see these sites. If you've ever been to the utterly depressing Holocaust museum in DC then you will have a general idea.

S21 is a relatively small group of buildings that were once a school but were transformed into a prison, interrogation and torture facility by the Khmer Rouge in the 70's. As you would expect the cells were tiny, prisoners were given an old ammo box to do their business in and there was barbed wire on the upper floors to prevent prisoners from jumping. Some of the rooms also contained pictures of the faces of many of the people killed by the Khmer Rouge. Most of the prisoners were given numbers and were photographed when they were detained. There's plenty more to say about S21, but there's really not much point in doing so here. If you're ever in a particularly depressing frame of mind just google Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge, S21 etc.

After S21 we went to the Killing Fields which is a good ways outside of the center of Phnom Penh. Similar to S21, this was depressing. This is basically a bunch of fields the Khmer Rouge used to torture and kill people. A lot of bone fragments, tattered clothing and the like can be seen around. There are also numerous signs explaining what various parts of the fields were used for.

The courtyard at S21 is actually quite beautiful these days

A view into one of the wooden cells

Who's hungry? After a few depressing hours learning about the heinous acts of the Khmer Rouge we headed back into town and had a late lunch at the Pink Elephant on the river front. Katie and I shared a vegetarian pizza that was surprisingly good (especially compared to the pizza in New Zealand). Before we went back to the hostel we asked our tuk-tuk driver to bring us some place shopping and we ended up at the Central Market (also known as the French Market). We all perused the wares but didn't buy anything.

The French Market

Back at the hostel Brenda and Fiona got ready for their 16 hour overnight bus to Bangkok while Katie surfed the internet and I helped Hin with his computer (naturally). Around 7 we had a sad farewell with Brenda and Fiona and off they went to Bangkok. Katie and I both had chicken burgers at the hostel for dinner. (yum!)

Karaoke in Phnom Penh

On Tuesday we caught the bus from Kampot to Phnom Penh. There was a crazy rain storm when we stopped for a break halfway through (around 2pm) - ask us to show you the video when we get home. We got to Phnom Penh around 5 or 6.  We got a shitty tuk-tuk driver who just wanted us to stay at his guesthouse/hotel and wouldn't take us to Top Banana (a hostel that had been recommended) so we stayed at 88 backpackers. It was nice.  We met Hin (a cambodian who had lived in the US), Mike (who is teaching english in Korea) and Greg (from the US, grew up in Europe, trying to get a job in Cambodia). We all went out to Karaoke (except for Greg who had work in the morning).

We rode in the back of Hin's truck across town. Johnny Walker was buy one liter get one free, we had a  crazy private karaoke room, and the whole outfit seemed to double as a brothel. We sang Bohemian Rhapsody twice. Three hours at karaoke, 1.5 bottles of Whiskey, a couple of cans of coca cola, $15 a person. On the way back we stopped for food, Brenda went looking for a hamburger and came back with a baguette stuffed with god knows what - some sort of processed meat. Back into the truck and back to 88 backpackers.

The music videos were very interesting

Motorcycle day

We had breakfast at Olly's (tomato and onion omlette with baguette and muesli with fruit and yogurt) and left on our motorbikes around 9:30 - Brenda and Fiona on one, Andy and I on the other.  We planned to drive to Kep but stop along the way at Phnom Chhnork, a cave with a temple.  The cave was down a long dirt road which was more like mud because of the rain.  Some kids on bikes tried to get us to stop at a cave but it was not what we were looking for.  Right before we arrived at Phnom Chhnork Andy and I ended up slipping on a big patch of mud and the bike slid out from under us.  I scraped my knee and foot, Andy scraped his hand and both of us were covered in mud.  Luckily we crashed right in front of someone's home and they helped us clean up with some water and balm to keep infection out.

We ended up walking across some rice fields to the caves with four kids who wanted to be our guides.  There were 203 steps to walk up to the cave.  At the top of the stairs was Phnom Chnnork cave with a stalactite "elephant" at the entrance.  In the cave was an old wat from the 7th century with a giant stalactite growing through the roof.  Andy and Fiona went to the rice fields through the cave (spelunking!) while Brenda and I went back the way of the stairs.

Andy and I went back to the hostel to clean and bandage our wounds while Brenda and Fiona went on to Kep.  Lunch at Olly's; banana chocolate pancake for Katie (comfort food), fried khmer noodles with vegetables for Andy.  Andy went back out to meet them.

Andy: Passed Fiona and Brenda on the road to Kep about halfway there, stopped and chatted and turned around and came back to Kampot (I was really more interested in cruising around on the motorbike than seeing Kep). Brenda and Fiona said Kep was pretty but small - they had crab at a seafood restaurant by the sea. On the way back to Kampot the three of us stopped at the market and I picked up a gift for some family members (but don't tell them!). We headed back to Olly's and just lazied around the rest of the afternoon (Brenda and Fiona napped).

For dinner we all took the scooters out into town but didn't know how to work the headlights so we wore headlamps on the way there. We ate at Little Garden Restaurant and a guy that worked there showed us the switch underneath the handlebars that turned the lights on. I had a toasted tomato and cheese (they had one curry dish and Brenda ordered it), Andy had a chicken burger with potato salad. Contemplated dessert but ended up going back to Olly's for the night.

Kampot

Caught the 1130 bus from S-ville with Fiona and Brenda, a tiny minibus stuffed with 16 people and arrived in Kampot a couple hours later.  We were dropped off along the river and walked to Olly's which was full for the night but available the next night so we paid a deposit for a room the next night. Ate lunch up the road at Bodhi (split a fish sandwich and a hummus plate with Brenda, both of which were excellent). In town we checked out a couple of backpacker places but none were good value for the money.  Found Long Villa, where the bus first tried to drop us off and $5 for a night we took it.  Not terribly clean (had a water fight with a cockroach later in the night and a worm in the drain) but it was only for one night (no pictures).

Went to dinner at the Rusty Keyhole which was suggested by a friend of Fiona's.  I had delicious khmer curry and Andy had pork bbq tacos. We all sat around and chatted and just had a lovely evening.  In the morning we ate breakfast at the villa (banana pancakes which were more like crepes, and muesli).  Once checked into Olly's, we hung out by the river and relaxed, planning on renting motorbikes the next day.

Andy and Fiona ordered dinner from Olly's around 5 (Andy had chicken lemongrass) and around 730 we went over to Bodhi for Brenda and I to eat.  We all ordered more food.  I had pasta (just okay), Andy had spring rolls, Brenda had a huge burger, and Fiona had "bruschetta" which was actually a baguette with sliced tomato, cheese and spices on top.  We all split chocolate rum balls which I thought were fantastic.

Brenda and her burger (breaking six months of vegetarianism)

Biking in a Monsoon

Our third day in Sihanoukville was similar to our first two in that we were relatively lazy and woke up pretty late. We had breakfast for lunch and hung around the hostel for a few hours. At 3 o'clock the four of us all rented bikes even though it was raining on and off. We cycled our way to Ochete's Beach, about 4km away and continued biking down the road along the beach. A steady rain started so we stopped at a group of bungalows that may have been closed for the season, but the folks that ran it let us sit and served us some tea while it rained and they played pool.  We sat and chatted.

After about an hour we realized the rain had let up and we got back on our bikes and started heading back into town. It was around 5:15 when we started heading back.  Not far in the distance we could see some menacing/ominous/foreboding looking clouds but decided to press on because we didn't want to cycle back in the dark. Towards the beginning of Orchete's beach it started "pissing down rain" as our irish companion would say. The further we went the harder it rained, and we finally took refuge in a small room/shop on the other side of a bridge we crossed. The Cambodians very graciously invited us in, and even offered us some of what they were drinking (probably rice liquor), but we politely refused... however one does without speaking the same language.

We waited in this shelter for about 20 or 30 minutes before deciding to venture out into the rain again. It was still raining hard and very windy, so much so that it sometimes felt like hail. The streets were mostly flooded (as they tend to be when it rains a lot in Cambodia), but we made it home safely around 6:15. It was sometimes scary but mostly fun and unforgettable.

Fotodump Friday

Somehow it's already Friday again. It's hard to believe in less than two weeks we'll be back in the USA!

Andy's picks:

Our Bangkok Airways turboprop plane from Bangkok to Siem Reap.

This was in the "Tomb Raider" temple at Angkor.

It took me quite a few tries at different exposure times to get this right. I think this picture gives a pretty good idea of how dark it was this day.

One of the many huge spiders we encountered on the walk into one of the temples.

The view from near the top of the walk at the killing caves near Battambang.

Katie's picks:

In the temples of Angkor, there was usually a person who wanted you to pray at a Buddha, light some incense, get a red string tied around your wrist and donate a dollar.

Outside of Angkor Wat was a lone white horse walking along the grounds.  I could almost believe it to be a unicorn.

Some of the incredible carvings at Banteay Srei.  Click the image to enlarge to see better.

Brenda and one of the little girls when we stopped at the end of the bamboo train in Battambang, playing a rock counting game.

And Brenda being posh at the wine tasting.

Sihanoukville

We caught the overnight bus from Battambang to Phnom Penh, got to Phnom Penh around 4 AM and had to wait until 8 AM for a bus to Sihanoukville. Fiona and Brenda slept at the bus station. Tons of Cambodians around starting at about 7am. People selling snacks and bread and what not.  Not as crazy getting off the bus as it was in Battambang, only a few people trying to get our business in Sihanoukville. We took a $6 cab to Monkey Republic and both us and Brenda and Fiona got rooms with a double and single bed. Ate lunch at Monkey Republic, showered and got ready to go to the beach but just as we were walking out of our room it started pouring rain. We hung out at the guesthouse instead.

The Navy guys and a tower of beer

When we checked in we each got a token for a free beer so we started to drink there. Some guys from the US navy showed up and hung out with us. We all chatted and shared their tower of beer, played kings, they kept buying towers of beer, and we didn't pay for any drinks except for a couple of rounds. The navy guys had to leave at 11:30 to get back to their ship, so we went out to the bars on the beach.  It was craziness. Free shots, neon paint that Brenda got everywhere, dancing.

Brenda

The next day we spent recovering.  Met Jamie, a guy Brenda had met while in Laos.  We all went to the beach to chill out but were immediately surrounded by tons of kids all trying to sell us bracelets or give pedicures or tweeze our leg hair.  The beach had wooden sun beds set up and was lined with restaurants so if you ordered food or drinks from a restaurant, they let you use the wooden sun beds for free.  We walked all the way to the end of the beach, sat down in a circle and all the kids we were trying to avoid came and sat around us and wouldn't leave us alone.  Finally everyone except Katie went in the water so they left.  Stayed at the beach for a while but kind of drizzly.

Ate lunch at just a little restaurant back from the beach.  Walked into town to see if there was anything to see but we were too early for the night market and there weren't any real shopping places other than that.

Had dinner around 10 and then headed to Utopia, a terrible backpacker bar that was filled with Cambodian prostitutes and obnoxious backpackers, but good people watching.  Saw a couple ladyboys - weren't sure if that was a Thailand only thing.  Went to the beach bars again and sat at a different one.  Talked with the two bartenders, both Isreali and working just for the night for free drinks. Went to the next bar when the first one stopped playing music, around 2.  Chatted more and met some Irish/British guys.  When they shut the lights off at 3, Fiona and Brenda went to Utopia with the Irish guys and Andy and I went to bed.  There really isn't too much to do in S-ville except party.

Battambang

We caught the 8:30 bus from Siem Reap to Battambang and one of our roommates at Siem Reap hostel, Fiona, decided at the last minute to come along as well. We then met Brenda at the end of the bus ride and we all decided to stick together.  It was a crazy mob scene outside the bus even before we got our bags.  People with signs for hotels and tuk tuks.  Finally all four of us got a tuk tuk and just started driving to look at hotels and guesthouses.  We ended up choosing Lux guesthouse, with rooms on the fourth floor, no elevator.  We all went out to eat lunch and walked around until we found a place that looked good, The Smokin Pot, where we met an awesome Cambodian who was an ex-tuk-tuk driver.
Chatted with him about Cambodian life (will probably post a separate post about it).

For dinner Andy and I walked to a vegetarian restaurant only to find out it closed early in the day.  Walked around and found a great coffee shop with western and khmer food.  Had Khmer noodles with vegetables, springs rolls, 2 beers, and a brownie all for $3.75. Told Fiona and Brenda about it when we got back and they ended up going there for dinner as well.  We all bought overnight bus tickets to Phnom Penh for the following evening and planned to get another bus to Sihanoukville when we arrived in Phnom Penh.

In the morning we all got ready by nine, checked out of hotel but stored our bags there. The owner gave us each a scarf to keep and a straw hat to borrow.  Went out to breakfast around the corner, "toast" (baguette) with nutella for me and fruit with yogurt and muesli for Andy. Everyone else fruit and yogurt and museli.  Found tuk tuk driver from day before, told him what we wanted to see and he took us on a tour of the countryside.

1st: bamboo railway.  On the way we stopped at a peace memorial made of machine guns and a huge statue of this guy holding a stick which had to do with the origin of Battambang city.

Bamboo railway was crazy, really fast, like a rollercoaster.  If we met someone going the other way one of the trains would disassmble, let the other one pass, then reassemble.

Stopped at the other end at a village where we stayed in one shop and bought drinks from the owner.  3 little girls, probably 4-7 years old made us palm bracelets, played a counting game with rocks with us and took us to see the brick factory.  We played in a big circular room, spun the girls around and generally had fun playing.  But then at the end the woman told the girls to ask for money (we didn't see this part because our little girl kept wanting to play around the bricks but Fiona and Brenda saw it).  Oh well.

Next up: the winery.  Cambodia's only winery.  Bought 2 "tastes" of red wine and 2 of brandy and we all shared. The brandy was really strong and hard to drink.  The wine was very unusual, didn't really taste like wine at all but none of us could place what it tasted like.  Sat around and chatted with our tuk tuk driver.

On the way to some mountain (our final destination) we stopped at a peanut farm and saw how peanuts grow then went across the street to where they were sorting the peanuts from the husks and we each got a handful of raw fresh peanuts each.  Tasted like peas a little bit.  Went to mountain and walked up to see the killing caves and various buddhist temples.  The memorial in the killing cave was an ornate glass box full of skulls and human bones from victims of the Khmer Rouge who had been bludgeoned to death and thrown down the cave.

The tuk tuk driver set us up with a boy to be our guide but he didn't speak any english, just showed us where to walk.  We didn't make it to top where another pagoda stands because we didn't want to miss the bats coming out of a cave (the main reason for coming to this mountain). So we walked down tons of steps to bottom where cave with the bats was located (also known as the bat cave).  Several other small groups of tourists showed up as well.  Millions of bats flew out of the cave for a long time.  We stayed for only 10 or 20 minutes but they were still leaving when we left.

Went back to the hotel to hang out until our overnight bus left for Sihanoukville.