Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Cambodia,
Phnom Penh was our first stop in Cambodia. We dragged ourselves out of bed on the first day to visit the Killing Fields and S21, both of which were done very well and made a nice change from the anti-American propagandist museums of Vietnam. It was upsetting to see what had gone on but was the most interesting and thought provoking visit of my trip. By the time we got back to our hostel our friends that we had met in Laos had arrived and our last night together conveniently coincided with the Champions League Final. We decided it would be a good idea to get on it early and before we knew it we had had 8 beers before 8 o'clock, which didn't bode well considering we were determined to soldier on to watch the final which ended up finishing at around 4.30am. We decided to be loyal Chelsea fans for the night so Charlie and I dashed off to buy our shirts. We managed to survive until the bitter end and in celebration we decided it would be a good idea to go out and find a club that was still open. Before we knew it we had half an hour until our bus to Sinhoukville which made for an interesting and uncomfortable bus journey.
Sinhoukville was interesting. Charlie was ill so Dom and I decided that the best way to cure our hangover was a big night out. It was barely past 11 o'clock before I decided Dom was too drunk so insisted on taking him back to bed. In hindsight it was me who was too drunk and probably should have followed Dom to bed but I thought I could manage a few more hours of partying. To cut a long story short I ended up waking up on a bench outside a guesthouse about 20 minutes from where we were actually staying. The exact details of that night remain a mystery to me. The next day we ventured down to the beach. An innocent-looking 8 year old who was selling wristbands took exception to Dom when he refused to buy anything and launched a barrage of some of the filthiest language I have ever heard before kicking him and pulling his pants down. This exchange left Charlie petrified that we would have our second fight of the tour (this time an 8 year old wristband salesman in comparison to the Vietnamese Hells Angels) and he insisted that we hid in a bar for half an hour while assessing our escape options. Unsurprisingly we 'escaped' unharmed. The rest of Sinhoukville was fairly uneventful but we managed to meet up with some friends and had a nice time at the beach with them.
Our last stop in Cambodia was Siem Reap, my personal favourite place of the trip. Our first full day started bright and early at 3.45am to catch sunrise and Angkor Wat. Once again we thought drinking alcohol was the answer so had a few beers on the way. The result of this drinking ws that we were back in bed by 10am having seen a wonder of the world, played several games of cards at Bayon temple (we also had a game of hide and seek there but I was bitter at being 'it' so refused to look for the others so gave up immediately) and saw Ta Phrom, the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. Our other highlights of Siem Reap were the War museum, where our tour guide had been very much involved in the fight against the Khymer Rouge, and blowing up chickens with an AK47. Dom and I also tasted locust (Charlie had already tried one) which I wouldn't recommend to anybody! Our evenings in Siem Reap were spent on Pub Street, eating nice food for a fraction of the price you would pay in England and playing cards.
And that is all as far as Cambodia is concerned.
Sam (yes I finally got around to doing a blog a even though it's still entitled 'Dom and Charlie's Big Trip' (not that I'm bitter or anything))
x
- comments