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Greetings from Siem Reap!
Well where to start...Saturday 10th July we got up early, said farewell to Phnom Penh & got on a bus to Battambong, which is kinda North-East Cambodia. When we got on the bus someone had taken our allocated seats, we didn't think much of it as there were spare seats at the back until about 20mins into the journey when we realised that on Cambodian buses the engines are at the back so we were sat directly above the engine that was simply radiating heat! That, along with the unreliable air-con that kept swtiching itself off, meant i was not a happy bunny for the journey!! I also discovered that playsuits, although pretty, are not the most practical travel attire when having to unbutton everything before going to the toilet. Lesson learnt. On a plus point we meant to girls on the bus who were heading to Battambong called Jade & Lucy. We headed to a hostel that was pretty cheap & dumped our bags (the only downside was lugging our bags up 5 flights of stairs). We went out for lunch & booked a trip to see the local sites for the next day. Jade, Lucy & I went for a walk along the riverbanks - the Lonely Planet had described Battambong as quite elegant like the French Riviera - so you can imagine our disappointment when it was nothing like that! Again there was big groups of people exercising in the park area but i think i may die of heat exhaustion if i attempted to join in.
Sunday 11th July - today was a really fun day.
First we tried to go on the local bamboo train but were going to be charged $20 for the 4 of us for 20mins so we declined & headed to our next destination.
Wat Banan was fabulous - after climbing the 359 steps to the top (note to self do not wear denim on such a hot day/doing anything that involves moving as it makes you sweat a ridiculous amount) we were rewarded with an impressive view of the area & an old temple. It kind of reminded me of Aztec-type ruins which makes me want to visit South America even more! Some local children had made the ascent with us (with no difficulty or excessive sweating i might add) & fanned us which was soo good. They also gave us flowers to put in our hair & drew a picture of Jo in the sand. They loved putting our sunglasses on & getting there picture taken, unfortunately my camera battery had died at the bottom of the steps :(
From Wat Banan we went to Phnom Sampeau where we visited some caves where Khymer Rouge victims were thrown to their deaths & cases of skulls were there as a reminder. The area was so peaceful & the sunlight casting rays of light into the caves was beautiful but one look at teh skulls brought you back don to earth with a bump! From the caves we proceeded up to the summit where there were really colorful remples & statues. The view was stunning & i noticed how flat & lush green the landscape is. It really reminded me of Ghana with the lush green vegetation & tall palm trees lining dusty dirty red bumpy roads with locals seilling their wares on tiny stalls at the side. It is s community & family orientated here - they all work together & if some wells a watermelon the money is shared out. It is so different to England where the focus is on individual achievements & success. Sometimes i think we can learn a lot from places like this in their attitudes towards life. They all seem so happy despite having so little.
After a lovely fruit smoothie in a local cafe Jo & I were preparing for our traditional Khymer cooking lesson when the heavens opened. So far, despite it being the rainy season, it hasnt rained very much but then it absolutely lashed it down with a cracking thunderstorm over head!
Luckily the rain had eased off a bit by the time Jo & I had to go to the market with Toot to get the ingredients for the cooking lesson. It was interesting to see how much a local would pay for things compared to how much we would fork out. Toot took us to his restaurant which was also his home & introduced us to his wife Nary. We started preparing the food from scratch - we made 3 things - Fish Amok (kind of like a creamy fish curry with coconut milk), Pork Spring Rolls & Beef Lok Lak (which is beef marinaded in spices served with cips, salad & randomly a fried egg on top). It was a lot of fun preparing the food, although Jo & I were pretty slow, Toot & Nary were good patient teachers. It shows how much effort is put in to every meal people eat here, there are no shortcuts or pre-made pastes/herb mixes unlike England where you can get things pre-prepared. By the time we sat down to eat our feat we were starving & very proud of ourselves! The food was absolutely delicious if i do say so myself. Toot's english was phenomenal considering he had taught himself to speak it & had developed by speaking to travels & working as a tour guide. It was so impressive, he even had words written on his walls to remember but they were complicated words that i wouldnt even use! He even did an impression of a cockney "up the apples n pears" with the accent n everything. Brilliant. I highly recommend anyone to do that.
Monday 12th July - SIEM REAP
Got the bus to Siem Reap this morning & arrived at a guesthouse called Garden Village - it's one of the cheaper places we found as everywhere he is a bit more expensive as this is the only town to stay in to get to Angkor Wat. Jo & I went to the local market where i bought a pretty purple bag & some comfy 3/4 length trousers to wear into temples etc. They're not the coolest items of clothing but they will do, we are going to look awesome where we wear them at the same time haha.
At 4:30 we got a tuk tuk to Angkor Wat ticket booth & bought our pass for the next day then went to watch the sunset from the top of Phnom Bakkhen. The climb up to the top was fun & the view was awesome unfortunately it was so busy & full of tourists which slightly detracted from it. Everyone was trying to get the "perfect sunset" picture.
Tuesday 13th July - Angkor Wat
Getting up at 4am was not fun but it was totally worth it when Angkor Wat loomed out of the darkness in front of us. We walked to the lake & watched the sunrise. Despite the circus of tourists around & getting in the way of my photos it was truly beautiful, it's hard to describe it & photos don't do it justice in the slightest. It was breath-taking & Angkor Wat is an impressive architechtural feat that commands your attention. As the sun rose changing the colour of the sky from burnt orange to yellow i felt quite peaceful until the same woman got in my picture for the 3rd time in a row! Talk about road rage i was getting photograph rage! Hehe. We explored Angkor Wat, the ceilings, columns, floors & walls are all covered in carvings, engravings, pictures etc. It is so detailed & intricate.
From Angkor Wat we went to a lake called Sras Srang which was serene & apparently there's the remains of a temple somewhere in the middle of it but i didn't see that. We went to a temple called Banteay Kdei which had lots of pillars & archways. Some of the pillars were stacked like Jenga blocks & did NOT look at all stable hehe. Out of all the temples i visited i think this would be the best one to play an awesome game of hide & seek or blocky!
From there went went to Ta Prohm which is an awesome jungle temple falling to ruin with huge tree roots growing out of it - very Indiana Jones. In fact i think the guidebook said it had been used as the set for part of the Tomb Raider film. I thought this temple defintely had an adventure atmosphere! Part of the temple was being restored so there was a bit of building works going on but it was still really impressive :) Its actually really weird seeing parts of temples being restored as the stone is completely different colours n it makes you wonder what they must of looked like when they were first completed. What is also striking is that in some temples monks were there & they dress in bright orange which contrasts sharply with the grey surroundings.
After Ta Prohm we visited 2 more temples that i can't remember the names of. One was really high up & you had to climb 3 flights of really steep steps to the top. I love that you can clambered all of the temples n through the windows etc, theres no way you'd be allowed to do that in England due to Health & Safety. By the time we got back to the bottom (and my boob had been cheekily squeezed by on old chinese lady as i had stumbled passed)we were pretty exhausted. The 4am start was beginning to catch up with us & the relentless "you wanna buy these postcards for one dolllar?" from the sellers was beginning to wear thin. However we pushed on.
The final temple was called Bayon which had hundreds of Buddha faces carved into it. It was huge & the more you looked at it & explored it the more faces you found. By this point it was nearly 12pm n we had been up nearly 8 hours so we walked across to Bauphon which had a huge reclining buddha behind it & walked across the elevated causeway then strolled across the Terrace of Elephants & Terrace of the Leper King, which had intricate carvings of elephants, demons & mytholocigal beings on it. All in all a really impressive complex of temples, unfortunately we were getting temple fatigue which is not fun, i have also developed a stupid rash that won't go a way n i've managed to get a cold. I ask you, seriously, a cold...in Cambodia, in 35C heat.
We headed back to the hostel for a rest n to freshen up then we feasted in a local restaurant. Jo & I changed our bus to Laos from Wednesday to Friday so could spend a few more days in Siem Reap with Jade & Lucy. The hostel we are staying at seems to be rave central with pounding music blasting throughout the day through to the early morning, my trusty earplugs did nothing to muffle the noise.
Wednesday 15th July
We had a lie-in today n just chilled out reading books, listening to music etc. After a leisurely breakfast we went to the landmine museum which was fantastic. This man called Aki Ra used to be a child soldier for the Khymer Rouge before defecting to the Vietnamese Army for awhile. Now he spends his days defusing landmines & making areas safe for people to live in again. Due to the sheer number of landmines laid, bombs dropped, rockets launched etc there is no way of knowing where they are & how many of them there are. Mines are continually being found or stood on, which is horrific as mines were designed to maim rather than kill as an injured soldier was more costly to an army than a dead one. Aki Ra also looks after several childerm that have been affected by mines, either losing an arm, leg, eye etc. He seems like such a brilliant guy, he's lived through some horrible experiences but is know using his knowledge for good n to try n make Cambodia a safer place. I've got a lot of respect for him.
We went to the Siem Reap night market which was pretty cool n i found a perfect maxi dress woop woop. There were also these fish massages that you see everywher - basically you put your feet in a tank of water with fish in it & they eat all the dead skin cells, pretty gross! Had dinner & then went to a bar & bumped into Jamie Oliver (not the chef an old school friend from Durham!) & his friend Tim. what are the chances of that?! I walk into a bar in Cambodia n i suddenly hear a voice calling my name, very surreal. It is such a small world.
Thursday 15th July
Today we got up and wandered to a butterfly restaurant which was basically a restuarant that housed loadsa butterflies, it was really nice n relaxing n a pleasant way to start the day. After a stroll round the market we agreed to meet back up to go to the silk museum at 1:30, however it absolutely lashed it down so that was a no go as the museum is mainly outside...Tonight we are going to a restaurant that has traditional Kyhmer dancing on which sounds good. Then off to Laos tomorrow....
- comments
Kath Tansey Sounds like an amazing few days! Am definitely impressed with the cooking skills. Can't believe you met someone you know out there - that's incredible. Eileen has found your blog now too. XXXXXXXXX
Eileen Tansey Jill it all sounds wonderful and I am so glad you are having such a great time. Looking forward to seeing the pictures and reading more. Love Eileen
Brían Tansey Hey Jill, great stuff - when are you going to post some photos? It sounds amazing so I want to see for myself!
Simon Davis Loving the blog Tansey! Hope you are having alot of time to plaaaaay! Wish I could see it all with you... Muchos love Si xx