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Finally, we get to Cambodia. This was the trip that we were supposed to do at Christmas but fkn immigration didn't release Jodi's passport for 3 months. It's ok, it was worth the wait and doing it with Rochelle and Jasmine as a nice bonus.
Day 1:
Travel to Ho Chi Minh via Hong Kong. The original plan was to stay in HK a night when we were going at xmas time but we didn't have the time this time. It took the whole day to get there. When we finally landed in HCM, Brenden and the immigration officer nearly came to blows, the IO was so rude. One of his colleagues actually apologised for him. We couldn't believe how expensive it is to get into the country. We had to pay $50 each to get a mulit-entry Visa before we left and then we had to pay another $50 each for the processing of the Visa when we landed. What a rip off!!!! Anyway, we caught a taxi, which ripped us off, to District 1 where we checked into our accomm before heading out for some Pho - delicious!!!!
Day 2:
Travel to Siem Reap via Phnom Penh. Far out, 14 hours on a bus, why do we do this to ourselves. We left HCM at 7am but not before having breakfast in the park watching people doing Tai Chi, playing badmington, dancing, just about everything you could think of. What an awesome place, it really is quite cool and we both enjoyed the brief stay. This is definately somewhere we're going to come back to.
It was about 2 hours to the border of Cambodia and then another 4 up to Phnom Penh. Nothing exciting really happened but the scenery was spectacular. Lots of rice fields and green, so green compared to AU or PH. 2 hour stop in PP, we just sat in a cafe eating and drinking and then 8 hours up to Siem Reap. It was murder - the road was rough, it was slow going, dusty, they played some crap on the tele we couldn't understand. But it was worth it. Arrived in SR at 11.30pm and Rochelle and Jas were waiting for us with a cute little welcoming sign that had a row of 'ducks' on it. :) 2 years and 3 months since we'd seen them in the flesh, it was definitely surreal!!!!
Day 3 & 4:
We hired a Tuk-Tuk (the driver was amazing) for 2 days and he drove us all around Angkor Watt and the temples. This place is absolutely amazing! How they built these structures without the use of cranes or machinery is quite unbelievable. And the detail of the structures is mind blowing. It's one thing to pile a heap of rocks on top of one another but then when you get up close and see the intricate and detailed sculptures upon those rocks, it's another thing completely. The shear size of this place is crazy also. You definitely need a driver to get a round this place, it's too big to walk and riding a push bike would take you forever.
By then end of the second day we were definitely templed out. One negative about being here is the constant pressure of buying something from the locals. There is at least 1 person haggling you to buy something at every temple. We started playing tricks on 1 another and saying to the locals that only 1 of us had the money so you should go see him/her and then walk around quickly and laugh from a distance. There was 1 kid, (red shirt in the photos) that hassled Brenden for like 10 minutes. At the end, the kid was like "You make me cry sir", and then the water works started. Are you serious? Brenden felt pretty bad for him until he saw the kid say exactly the same thing to another group of tourists close by about 15 minutes later........
If you ever go to Siem Reap make sure you stock up on $1 American bills. Everythingi is $1. 30 minute massage - $1. Can of coke - $1. Can of Beer - $1. The food is awesome as well. The first night we were in SR we had this Kmyer BBQ, which is like Shabu-Shabu except instead of being in a soup, it's a BBQ. It's quite nice but Rochelle and Jas struggled with it, the whole idea that you had to cook your own food took a bit to get used it. And to be fair, it's not a relaxing style of dinner cause you're constantly concentrating on what you've got cooking. The second night, Rochelle and Jas took us to this Mexican place where we had these awesome burritos - they were delicious! The last night we all went and had a massage, which included dipping your feet into a fish tank full of fish and let them nibble on your feet. We've done this before but it's something you never get used to - it is quite ticklish at the start. Then we all headed into the massage room, Jodi and Jasmine thought they would be funny and took the 2 single beds leaving Brenden and Rochelle to share a bed, half naked. Not cool when you're brother and sister. What made it worse is the massuer's asked if Rochelle and Brenden were a couple and then all Jasmine and Jodi could do was start laughing from the other side of curtain. Yeah, real funny!!!!
Day 5 & 6:
Travel from Siem Reap back to Phnom Penh. Well this was an experience. We booked a small 'express' bus instead of the traditional coach as we thought it would be quicker - we were right. Firstly, Rochelle and Jasmine nearly missed the bus cause they went to the wrong bus company/stop. Secondly, the bus was full, no spare seats and there was no room to put anyone's bags. We had booked the 4 back seats, which was fine but as there was no room between the back seats and the back door, everyone had pushed their bags through under the seat far enough that we couldn't put our feet on the floor. Brenden ended up getting out and re-arranging everyone's bag, much to the disgust of the bus drivers. Oh well, they weren't the ones who had to ride with their knees up around their chest for 4 hours. Then, once we finally got away, the drag race began. The bus driver was a fkn lunatic. He literally drove in the middle of the road, the white lines between each of the wheels. There was this bus that would overtake us and then immediately he would speed up and then re-overtake them for no reason other then being in front of them. It was crazy. We almost asked him to slow down and we're sure some of the other passengers felt the same. But at least it was quick.
So we arrived in PP at about lunch, booked into our accomm, then went and found a pub to calm our nerves after our 50 near-death experiences on the road. We even found a massage place and had another relaxing afternoon and then a reasonably quiet night.
If you ever come to PP, one of the things you must do is the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum. I think the experience had a deeper impact on us as we didn't know much about the history before we went but we quickly learnt how cruel the human race can be to our own species. The Killing Fields is situated about a 40 minute tuk-tuk ride from the centre of PP. It's one of about 300 killing fields across Cambodia but this was one of the biggest. They've created a walking tour of the site where you receive a headseat that has a pre-recorded message on it. As you walk up to a certain spot on the tour, it's marked with a certain number. You simply press the button on your headset that corresponds with the number at the spot. This style of tour forces you to stop and really reflect on what you're hearing. We don't think it would have the same effect if you were walking through with a group of people, listening to some guy with a microphone. It is a very somber place, lots of people just walking around, not a lot of talking between people, which is a vast contrast to what had happened some 30 years earlier.
The Genocide Museum is very similar except there is not pre-recorded tour. It used to be a school but then was tranformed into a prison and torture centre. You're free to roam around the buildings at your own leisure. They've set up rooms that house the photos of prisoners, victims and survivors that were placed in the prison. Some have stories beside them, some don't. There are also descriptions of the perpretrators and their stories. Again it's a very somber place that makes your hair stand on end.
We purposely didn't take any photos and didn't want to describe any of the events that happened at either the Kiling Fields or Genocide Museum on this blog out of respect for the people who suffered. All we can say is that this is something you must experience for yourself.
Day 7 & 8:
Off to the beach, Sihanoukville. 4 hour bus ride, which was much more pleasant than the bus ride from SR to PP. Got in around lunch, booked into a hostel then headed to the beach for a feed, beers and some laying around on the beach. We thought it would be more relaxing then it was, we seemed to get hassled a fair bit. The same things happen here in the Philippines but once you've told the person you're not interested, they seem to leave you alone. This isn't the case in Sihanoukville. The town survives on tourists so they haggle pretty seriously to try and get as much out of you as possible almost to the point where you have to be fairly rude for them to leave you alone. We decided that we couldn't do this for another whole day so we booked a boat out to one of the islands the next day from this German dude that looked like he was a serious drug user. He was nice enough but a little bit weird at the same time. The day entailed some snorkelling, which wasn't brilliant (we're blessed living here in Philippines), lunch on the beach, which was delicious and then lots of nothing - perfect. All this without getting hassled constantly from people trying to sell you something. It was only $15 for the day and we probably would have been happy to double that just for the relaxation factor. The boat trip home could have been a bit quieter, one of the bearings on the motor started squeeling about 1/2 way home. The only way they could get it to stop is was to continually tip water over it to keep it cool. Not a big issue but it would have been a long way to paddle back.
The dinner on the last night was absolutely delicious. We had this seafood BBQ on the beach, which cost about $4. It was so good we actually had 2 servings. A few more beers and cocktails, 1 more massage for Brenden and Jasmine (best of the trip) and our holiday had come to an end. All that was left was 1 bus trip to PP, another bus to HCM then flights back home. We left Rochelle and Jasmine in Sihanoukville, who had a couple more days left before making their way back to our place in the Philippines for even more shinanagans.
Cambodia was an amazing holiday, the only downside was we spent about the same amount of time on a bus or on a plane as we did actually relaxing or sight seeing. It was still worth catching up with Rochelle and Jasmine though, although they haven't changed in the 2 years they were away.
- comments
Jenny Pepper Cambodia....what an amazing story! You really take us on your travels with you......thanks for that :-)