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Leaving Vietnam on a high, we rode the bus over the border into Phnom Penh. I had high hopes for Cambodia, especially as Angkor Wat was on my bucket list, but when we arrived we were instantly hassled by every tuk tuk driver and street vendor in the city and my hopes of a cultural Cambodian adventure began to disappear. We eventually surrendered to the horde and climbed aboard a tuk tuk to make our way to our hostel and without realising it, we paid way too much. Unbeknown to us even Cambodians think their currency is worthless so they prefer to use US dollars, we only had local currency and ended up giving the driver an extra 10,000?! (In reality this only amounted to about $2.50 but the whole journey should only have been $4 - that's about a 65% tip!!!) To make matters worse when we arrived I realised the hostel was thoroughly rubbish, a trait that seemed to follow us around Cambodia. Tom, of course, didn't think it was that bad and reeled off a list of worse places we stayed......I guess he was right but all the places we stayed in Vietnam were so nice!
Even though our hostel was rubbish (I promise) my faith was partially restored when I realised there was a lovely temple at the end of the road called Wat Phnom - I'm a sucker for a temple. Tom stayed outside and read his new book; I think he might be getting a bit templed out, uncultured swine! Afterwards we decided to go to Tuol Sleng Prison and as we like to get to know the places we stay we walked. About an hour away from our hostel, and still over an hour away from the prison, my flip flops broke leaving me walking around on one foot along the dusty disease ridden pavements of Cambodia looking for anywhere that sold flip flops! Tom found this very funny, especially as his had broken only a few days before (in the exact same way, he thinks its sabotage). Eventually my ordeal ended and I found myself purchasing flip flops that wouldn't be out of place in a Vegas drag show and we finished our trek to the prison. As with most historical places in Asia we were a bit underwhelmed at the information available but managed to work out, through googling as well as our visit, that this prison was where the Khmer Rouge tortured anyone they felt was a threat before sending them to the killing fields which, hesitantly, we also visited. Maybe because of the brutal impact it had on the country, or maybe just, sceptically, because of international funding, the killing fields are one of the few places in Asia that we felt sufficiently tells its story. I've been to Auschwitz and although there are similarities between the atrocities it feels completely different to the killing fields. I'm not belittling the acts carried out by the Khmer Rouge but it seemed less morbid somehow, I did however sit on a bench and cry at one point listening to audio tour.
The next day we went to the Royal Palace, which Tom was thrilled about (not), and after spending $20 to get in we were refused entry due to Tom's shoulders and my legs showing. So we were made to buy a t-shirt and HUGE baggy linen trousers that I had to keep holding up. Tom was not pleased however, once inside he had to admit that the architecture was pretty amazing. Golden roofs, ornate carvings and Buddha statues of all shapes, sizes and materials were spread across the huge palace grounds - my camera was busy!
We moved onto Siem Reap after 3 days, home to the famous Angkor Temples! We decided to book the bus for the morning, however due to the demonstrations we could not leave Phnom Penh until 2pm (Tom was not pleased as this meant arriving in Siem Reap in the dark, scaredy cat). Now, in Vietnam we had become accustomed to buses and the high-ish quality of them, so we boarded the bus no worries. However, a few hours in to the journey it was clear that this bus would not take 6 hours as promised so faithfully by our hostel... but possibly double. Tom was the crazy, deranged bus man he had been on the bus in Laos and I began to worry for my safety as he grumbled and shot me grumpy looks. FINALLY arriving at 10.30pm, 9 hours after we left Phnom Penh, we jumped in the first tuk tuk we saw and gratefully made our way our hotel. As we handed over our passports for check-in I could tell all was not right as the receptionist looked worryingly at her computer. She said there was no rooms booked, and they were full! The worst possible news we could hear at 11pm. With no idea where any new hotels were, or even where we were, I was close to tears of utter frustration. After much bickering (with each other and the receptionist), she told us we could stay for 1 night but that the new guest arrived at 7am so we would need to be gone before then. We jumped on this offer and went up to our room to scour the internet for anywhere that had rooms free at New Years, and get a few hours kip.
The next morning, armed with bags under our arms (and eyes), we arrived at what appeared to be a lovely hotel slightly out of town but closer to the temples. We dropped our bags off, and headed to Angkor Wat for a few hours till we could check in. It really was an amazing sight, however due to the fiasco of the night before I had not charged my phone or camera and being sleep deprived we both wandered aimlessly around which was not what I had in mind for my first visit to one of the 7 wonders of the world!
We decided to blow the cobwebs away (and do some much needed excercise) and picked up some bicycles to ride to Angkor Thom, the 'Tomb Raider' temple. It was nice to have the freedom rather than wait for the tuk tuk drivers, who we usually ended up waiting for when we finished at each temple. The main temple there is called Bayon, and Tom liked this one as there were faces built into the temple walls. I took many a snap, on my phone and camera, and after biking around 25km I began to tire (and moan!) of being on 2 wheels so we rode back to the hotel, dodging traffic and monkeys on the way!
Siem reap has a street called 'pub street' with, yes you guessed it, lots of pubs! On NYE they held a street party there, and the Cambodians were out in force to help the westerners celebrate the night. It brought back memories of Christmas eve in Vietnam, however after a few hours (and beers) we went back to the hotel as Tom was feeling unwell. The next day Tom was really ill, so we stayed at the hotel and I attempted my Florence Nightingale routine and began diagnosing his illness with the help of the NHS website. We had arranged to go to see sunrise over Angkor Wat the next day, but I was unsure whether I should go - but Tom insisted that I go (probably to get a break from my fussing!?).
Leaving a poorly Tom in bed, I left the hotel at 6am to watch the infamous sunrise over Angkor Wat. I was greeted by the sight of hundreds of people all elbowing to take their photos. After deciding that the sun would not be up properly for about 30 minutes I wandered around taking the pictures I had wanted to take 2 days before! When I finally joined the rest of the crowd many had left already and I managed to squeeze myself to the front to watch the beautiful amber sun come up over the stones at Angkor Wat. It was a truly unforgettable morning.
The next day, with Tom feeling a bit better we went to get some dinner. When we returned to the room bugs, of all shapes and sizes, were jumping, flying and crawling around the room. After 1 hour of bed jumping, arm flailing, squealing, crying and choking on bug spray I had had enough when I pulled back the curtain and a HUGE lizard ran past me. Now I am not very good at complaining, but I marched downstairs and as defiantly as I could I asked to switch rooms. The man came up to look and did indeed let us move rooms. My nerves frayed, I began to relax in the new (and much nicer) room and poor Tom who was still feeling unwell gave a sigh of relief at not having to deal with my crying banshee ways anymore!
We leave Cambodia for Bangkok to meet our lovely parents! Too excited for words to see their lovely faces.
Love to all, Happy New Year! xxx
- comments
Hilary page what a time you are having but somehow my comments do not seem to be accepted so will have a last try. like Tom with a beard and am sorry he has been unwell and hope he is ok now.Presume families are now with you, I feel really envious as I am missing you both enjoy yourselves and did speak to your mum and said you must try and visit in Bangkok my friend Mechai.s restaurant called CABBAGES and CONDOMs!!!!!!!! Love to u all Grandma Hilary
Karen Hi sweethearts we are indeed with you and how wonderful you look! So pleased we can share some of your experiences with you mum xxxx