Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Well firstly I should apologise for the complete lack of blogging that has been going on these last few weeks. In fact I think it has been nearly a month since I wrote a bean! I can only explain this in terms of the fun times and miles I have put in, coupled to the intense travel schedule that Intrepid tours places you under. I will try and catch up over the next week or so once again - although I forever seem to be saying that.
And so on to Cambodia. I did the whole country in rather a rush as I was due to head to Vietnam on a deadline and spent a little longer that anticipated in Southern Laos (courtesy of the dastardly milkshake) so I found myself on a mini-minibus headed towards the border as part of a package deal promising to deliver me to Siem Reap in leass than 24 hours. Now with the benefit of hindsight, that promise wasnt worth the signpost and expensive literature that it was written on and also, Im not sure how strict Laos is with it's trades descriptions act but I certainly took a little longer to be delivered to my destination.
Anyways, we arrived at the border crossing after 40 bone shaking minutes off-roading and presented our passports to the little man who duly charged us $2 for the privelege of him stamping our passport. Apparently this can be $4 if we hit the office outside the normal working hours of 7am to 7:01am. Ahh corruption rules!
Once we had our wallets lightened by the governement employees (!!!) we walked the 500m across 'no mans land' to the Cambodian entry point who also, for some reason, felt the need to charge us $2 for a stamp. A feisty Scots girl stepped in at this point and refused to pay the lofty sum stating that it should only be $1 and no more. Amazingly, instead of being calmly led away and harrassed with a tub of vaseline and some rubber gloves, the grumpy border officials seemed to realise that their number was up and that $1 was all they were going to be able to con out of the 'Farangs' on this occasion. So amid grumpy looks and lots of drawer slamming (in what i can only imagine is the Cambodian equivalent of a sit-down protest) we entered Cambodia and headed for the next stop on our trip.
As mentioned I was heading for Siem Reap and the mighty temples of Angkor Wat but those of you who know about Camobida will agree, the infrastructure there is, well; nonexistent so to get to NW Cambodia, it involved a drive from the NE corner at Stung Treng to the SE corner and then across to Kampong Cham in the middle of the country for an overnight stop (not mentioned in the brochure) before another 6am start to finally arrive in Siem Reap smelly, exhausted and poor! The hostels in Kampong Cham are not cheap when you arrive at 11pm! Oh and the other thing I forgot to mention was the stop at Krati where we got out of our mini-minibus and got into one 10 years older where the leaf suspension was now ineffective and the driver fancied himself as Tommi Makinnen whilst negotiating the worst stretch road in Cambodia (self proclaimed worst road i might add). We were rally driving down a dirt track for 6 hours with no air conditioning and about 40kg of wood strapped to the roof along with our bags. One of the journies I would rather forget. THe only saving grace is the beef luc lac which I managed to find in a colonial bar which was simply delicious and shall enter the Burroughs family cookbook as a specialty. Essentially, thinly chopped pieces of beef stir fried with garlic, coriander and a tomato curry paste on the side and served with either chips or rice. Quick and delicious.
I arrived (as mentioned ) in Siem Reap pretty jaded but determined that in the 36hrs I had allowed myself I was going to make the best of it and see everything there was to see. I had set t his schedule because I wanted to make it to the beaches of Sihanoukville in time for new years so had to get a shift on. I spent the first day wondering around the town and learning about Khmer history in the fascinating (albeit expensive) museum and taking pics of the hotels and surrounding urban landscape. Siem Reap is somewhat of a contradiction to the rest of Cambodia being funded almost exclusively by fat, pasty white American dollars and therefore has a plethora of expeisve 5* hotels and comes complete with every rip off artist in the entire country. It is a beautiful colonial town filled with expensive restaurants, tuk tuk drivers and people selling sunglasses. Honestly, I detest what tourists do to places.
Having had my fill in one of the more local restaurants and negotiated a price with a local motorbike man for the following day, I retired to bed knowing that when I woke up, I was off to see one of the 'wonders of the world'. And a wonder it certainly was.
For those that dont know, Angkor Wat is only one of the many temples that make up Angkor Thom. It is the biggest (by far) and probably the best preserved, thanks mainly due to to continuing extensive restoration but none of this fact detracts from the first view you have of the looking towers and the sheer majesty of the architecture. And then to spend the rest of the day looking around other temples, all of which have their own history and story to tell; I was left humbled by the thought that when the Khmer people where building these temples and cities, we were rushing around with our faces painted blue! Thankfully with no Mel Gibson in sight!
My personal favourite was the temple where they filmed Tomb Raider which was designated a conservation site by the Cambodian Govt and keft in the same condition as it was found by the Frech when they came to visit a couple of hundred years ago. It now has trees and roots growing through all the masonry and is a truly spectacular site/sight! I spent a disproportionately long time wondering around imagining myself in a post apocolyptic world trying to conjure up what the modern world would look like if reclaimed by nature. I always get the same feeling when visiting the Peak District and the collapsed road near to Castleton. It was fascinating. Sadly no Angelina Jolie in a tight wetsuit to be seen though. Oh well!
I spent a long day at the temples and then retired to the hotel to wash and change before heading out to see the night market in the older part of the town. Once again, sadly this turned out to be a tourist trap and not in fact selling locally made artifcats and craftwares but instead the generic Asian tat of croaking wooden frogs and fake designer watches. Needless to say, I left empty handed and looked forward to the highpoint of my trip up until then, Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh.
See you next time!!
- comments