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Frey Kat Danielle's SEA Travels
Our trip to Cambodia started with a 3 day wirl wind tour of siem Reap and the Angkor temples and ruins. Our highlights/ memorable moments included:
1. Falling over the tourists at Phnon Bakheng for a 'sunset view of Angkor Wat' (little did we know that we needed binoculars/zoom lens!). There were more tourists with camera's than stone blocks in the temple! See photo.
2. Dawn at Ta Prohm. Thanks for the suggestion Pete (our guest house owner and tuk tuk driver thought we were insane though...)! We had the place to ourselves for a few hours. This temple was the most magical and beautiful experience, exploring corridors and climbing over entwined tree roots and tumbling walls.
3. Our epic second day...Angkor Wat sunrise (with the masses)... 40 minute tuk tuk ride on a 'spinally readjusting' road before a beautiful 30 minute forest walk to reach the river of 1000 linga's (the most amazing carvings on and around the river bed - complete with a much needed waterfall!)...after another spinal readjustment we found ourselves at Beng Mealea. This temple allowed us to get in touch with our 'inner indianna jones' as we scrambled over moss covered rubble that were once the walls of this great complex. There were a few hairy moments and we didn't think that it would pass Australian safety standards for a tourist attraction.
4. Saving the most famous for last we made the mission up to the top of Angkor Wat (the guide book describes it as an Everest hike). The views were spectacular and the bass relief carvings were even better. But to add to the peace and tranquility we were privy to a riot by the local tuk tuk drivers who were protesting against the monopolising of transport around the angkor temples by a korean company. Never fear though Logn (our trusty tuk tuk driver) took good care of us and filled us in on the goss.
5. Last but not least a new country has to be christened with the appropriate amount of cocktails (they were only $1.50 after all!). Maybe it was just the crazy amount of sun we had had, but the night degenerated into a mass of giggles, stumbles and silly dares! The dares resulted in Danielle kissing a tuk tuk driver on the cheek and showing up Freya's lame attempt at a street pole dance.
Moving onto Sihanoukville was very super exciting because we finally saw some sand, sun and ocean!!!!!! Most of our time here was spent frollicking in the sea, lounging on sun beds, eating and sleeping. We accumulated an impressive collection of bracelets hand-made by the local kids - thanks Tha, Thi, Di and Kes! We had a heap of fun playing with them in water, drawing beautiful butterflys and helping them do our bracelets. We also spent a bit of time educating the other kids that hasseled us in manners (it's a pity that the lesson probably won't last long). The rest of our time here was spent in the bars lining the beach sampling the local cocktails and various buckets! In our beach crawl we learned a valuable lesson about buckets containing local whisky... subsequently we have vowed never to consume anything with the word Mekong in it again (because nothing good ever comes from that river). Danielles dares quickly progressed from beach dancing and sandcastles into a full moon swim (there was no $100 bet here Mum, so kept my clothes on!). We also made a day mission out to Ream national park. The boat took us through an amazing river mangrove setting and then it was a short walk to some pristine deserted beaches. It was just a pity we were so hung over... damn mekong buckets...
Next comes Phnom Penh...
Our time here was spent in extremes (drunken and educationally depressed)... Depressed first... We tackled the pot holed road to the Choeung Ek killing fields. In the killing fields there were huge holes from the excavated mass graves. Over 8000 bodies were removed from this site (with more still buried there). The experience felt a bit surreal - a beautiful old tree labelled the 'killing tree' (where the young children were bashed against), the shelves and shelves of skulls (most cracked from being beaten to death by bamboo sticks), the signs politely asking poeople to be respectful (it surprised us that they should have to ask), and the beggar children asking for sweets.
We also went to the Tuol Sleng genocide museam at a place called S21 (security 21) which was a former school turned prison and torture centre during the khemer rouge regim. S21 was an intense, informative and very interesting experience. There were four buildings that had prison cells, torture rooms (showing photographs of victims and the set up of the equipment) and rooms of photographs. The photograph rooms showed photos of each person that was imprisoned at s21(and later died at the killing feilds). There eyes were haunting. Some looked back at you with complete fear, others with an incredible sadness, but amongst these were the people whose eyes dared you to try and take from them what makes them human. After going to s21 the reality of the mass graves was easier to imagine and the skulls had faces.
I feel a little numb after being there. I just feel like I have had such a sheltered and priveledged life. I am not sure quite how the experience sits with me. The purpose I guess is for memorial, but it seems that the world has endless memorials, and it still hasn't changed the frequency of war... (frey)
Now for our other extreme...
Our first night back in Phnom Penh was spent at our guest house enjoying the (mostly) free beer (we think it may have been someones birthday...), frey's limbo (thanks for all that practice at baby sitting Rachel!), cambodian kickboxing lessons for danielle (pity it was on a boat that almost tipped everytime someone made a move...) and lots of bad pool (it wasn't all our ability the table definitely had some ruts). Other highlights included the Curry Pot, friends café, elsewhere bar for a swim, frey's random trip into the 'heart of darkness' club (english boys are hot) and ten pin bowling. Kat was the queen of knocking 9 pins, frey despite her lack of coordination managed to get a strike - pure fluke! And danielle on yet another dare... ended up belly flopping onto the bowling lane in a failed attempt to slide to the end like they do in the movies....
Well that's about it for now... expect an update of our vietnam travels in a week or two.
Lots of love and hugs from us!
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