11. – Phnom Penh

We opted to travel from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh by bus.  We did consider travelling by boat down the Tonle Sap but we heard that the boat was often overbooked and those without seats had to sit on the roof of the boat. Due to the size of the Tonle Sap you would only see water, so the bus seemed the better option.  We purchased seats on the Mekong Express.  They claim to be a limousine bus services.  The buses must be about 15 years old.  The door on our one had to be manually closed and tied before we left.  At least the seats were okay.

The journey took about six hours with a 30 minute break about half way at Kampong Thom, where we got off the bus and had a look about the street stalls. 

There was one food stall that was selling all sorts of bugs, tarantulas, grass hoppers etc  – yuck.  Back on the bus we passed through many small villages and over lots of bumpy roads before arriving in Phnom Pehn.

A tuk-tuk was the transport to our hotel which was at the edge of the riverside area where many tourist hotels are situated.  The hotel was really nice and within walking distance of a few attractions.

We walked to the National Museum which was just round the corner.  Most of the artifacts they have on display come from the ruins at Angkor.  It was interesting to read about which temples the items had come from. 

They have a lovely inner courtyard where you can sit and have a cold drink.

The Killing Fields was our next stop.  It is about 15km out of the city so we hired a tuk-tuk and made the journey through the traffic. Don’t think I’ll every get my head round the rule of the road ( or lack of). 

Choeung Ek is the most famous of over 300 Killing Fields in Cambodia. You walk through the grounds and it tells you the story of what happened at each part. The people were brought there to be killed after having been interrogated. You are shown where the babies and infants were battered to death against a tree, often with there mothers watching.

There are many pits where the bodies were thrown after death although sometimes they were still alive.  The bodies were then covered in chemicals to ensure that no one survived. As we walked through the area where the pits are there were many butterflies flying about.  It was almost like they were the spirits of all the people who had been killed there. All throughout the area pieces of clothing are still being washed up to the surface after heavy rains.  

The last part it where you view The Stupa which holds all the skulls which were found when the pits were dug up.  It’s a very moving experience. 

We laid some flowers there in memory of those who had perished.

We decided to go to the Royal Palace. It was good to think of something else after the harrowing experience earlier.  The Palace is a royal residence so only some of the buildings and gardens are open to the public.  The palace is made up of many small buildings all located close to one another.

 One of the buildings is the Silver Pagoda.  It houses the Jade Buddha along with many other religious artefacts. 

In the grounds they have a model of what Angkor Wat looked like when in was complete.

We went to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum today.  It is located within Phnom Penh and is where the prisoners during Pol Pot's regime were taken for interrogation. 

It was two schools before it was taken over by the Khmer Rouge.  Each of the buildings is on three floors.  Some rooms were kitted out for interrogation purposes. 

 The room held a metal bed that the prisoner was strapped to before being tortured and electocuted in the hope that they would confess to the crimes they were accused of.  Some of the rooms were sectioned off either with blocks or wood into very small cells about 5 feet by 3 feet in size. 

The prisoners would be shackled to the floor or walls. There is a yard in front of the buildings where the prisoners would be hung by their feet and beaten then dunked in filthy water before being beaten again. 

 Various torture impliments are on display along with many photographs of the victims.  It’s difficult to believe that this was all happening only 35 years ago.

After that we needed a drink. 

Only problem was finding a glass big enough to hold the ice.

And something to eat.

Phnom Pehn in not really a tourist mecca.  It was nice to walk through their street markets and see the people at work – it’s odd to see what some shops on the street sell

 or walk along the riverside in the evening and watch the locals enjoying a game or taking part in an exercise class.  We tried to workout too.

 There is an awful lot of poverty particularly in this part of Cambodia, but the people are all very happy and lovely to talk to.

10. – Siem Reap, Cambodia

We had to take two flights to reach Siem Reap.  We flew to Bangkok from Chiang Mai.  As we flew into Bangkok you could see the flooding for miles around.  We spotted one airport where the planes where actually in the water.  Thankfully that wasn’t the airport we were arriving at.  The city centre looked clear enough but we didn’t get that good a look.  We had a couple of hours wait in Bangkok before we caught our onward flight to Siem Reap.  That flight only took about 45 minutes.  Siem Reap airport is tiny – a bit like Aberdeen – and it took no time at all to get our visas and get through immigration.  After picking up our bags we were met by our driver Rahn.  Our transport to the hotel was via tuk-tuk. 

It was a nice way to see Siem Reap.  Took about 20 minutes to reach the hotel which was in the centre of town.  We checked in and were told that Rahn could be our driver for the length of our stay.  He asked if we wanted to see the sun set over Angkor which we agreed to, so we had an hour to unpack and meet him.  He took us to the ticket booth where you have to queue to buy your tickets for the sights at Angkor.  They sell three different tickets. One day, three days or one week.  We opted for the three day ticket.  The ticket was valid from the next morning but you could go in and see the sunset for free.  We got back on the tuk-tuk and set off.  It was a bit like wacky races.  All these tuk-tuks racing to Angkor so that we could all get there before the sunset.  Once you get to the site you have to hike up the hillside to the temple, queue for ages to get in, then climb ancient stairs which are each about 18 inches high by 3 inches deep if your lucky.  There was probably about sixty of them. No handrail and very uneven. 

 We made it to the top and saw a beautiful sunset. 

 Only problem then was about 300 people trying to get down those horrendous stairs.  We made it in one piece.  It was then a trek down the hillside in the dark.  We made it back to the hotel where Rahn said he’d pick us up tomorrow at 8am.

Our first whole day in Siem Reap started with a tuk-tuk trip to Angkor Wat which is the most famous of the temples in the Angkor complex. 

The Temple dates back to the 12^th century.  All the temples here are in various states of decay and destruction.  Angkor Wat is probably the most complete one.  It is under renovation.  Many of the stairways in the buildings are impossible to climb due to the decay and the steepness of the steps. 

Wooden stairs have been constructed over the original steps but these still tend to be very steep. They certainly give your leg muscles a workout. 

We then went to Angkor Thom which is a bigger complex.  We viewed Bayon which dates back to the 9^th century.  The carvings are amazing.  There are large faces carved on each side of each tower in the temple. Quite stunning.

We also visited Ta Prohm which is very overgrown.  The trees have taken over the buildings.  This temple was used in the filming of “Tomb Raider”.

We had lunch in a Khmer restaurant which Rahn took us to.  I think that the tuk-tuk drivers get their lunch for free if they take their visitors to the restaurant.

After lunch we visited another temple before we told Rahn that we’d had enough for the day.

Our second day started with a half hour drive out of Siem Reap along dirt track roads, through small Cambodian villages to a harbour where we boarded a little wooden boat which was taking us on a tour out into the Tonle Sap lake and through a floating village. 

Tonle Sap is an enormous lake, almost like a sea.  It is so large you cannot see the banks when you are way out on the lake. 

The lake is fed by the Mekong river which flows down from Laos into Cambodia.  During the dry season the lake reduces in size by about 50%. In the wet season the lake reaches right into Siem Reap, but in the dry season the lake is about six miles away.  What had been a waterway in the wet season then becomes a road in the dry season. 

 The floating village which we visited moves along with the lake.  We stopped off at a floating shop and purchased some food, sweets and school supplies which we donated  to the floating school which teaches orphans and poor children from the village.  The school is funded by donation and aims to give children from the age of six until ten a basic education.  While we were there it was breaktime.  The children were playing games like marbles and jacks. Some were catching up on some schoolwork while others were eating and playing with the school pet – a monkey that had an injured tail. 

We went to the fishing museum in the village which explained about the fish they catch and the types of nets and traps they use to catch the fish.

 It was then time to head back to the harbour when Rahn was waiting to take us back to Angkor to view some more temples.

The temples are all very similar.  Most are just ruins but you can see the amount of carvings that had been on the buildings when they were created.  We both prefer the buildings which have been taken over by the trees. 

We went for a Cambodian dinner show.  We were served a buffet meal with food from all over the world.  The entertainment was Cambodian music and dancing. 

 The music has a very slow tempo and the dancing is very similar to the dancing you see in Thailand.  Lots of slow hand and foot movements with fingers bent in all different directions.

Our last day in Siem Reap began with an 18km trip through the countryside.  Cambodia is beautiful.  Very green with lots of rice fields.  The houses are very rustic.  Wooden shacks where the people live and work.  It was nice to see the children running around playing in the water and just having a good time.

We were heading to Banteay Srei which is also known as The Lady Temple.  It is a reasonably small temple which like all the others is a ruin.  They are all built with a type of sandstone but the stone that this one was made of is a bit harder than the others so the carvings here are more complete. 

 We visited two more temples on the way back to Siem Reap. 

We certainly saw all it was possible to see with our three day ticket.

Think Rahn was tired by the time we were finished.  We certainly were.  Think we underestimated the length of time we should stay here.

We spent our final evening in Pub street.  There are lots of bars and small restaurants serving all kinds of foods.  Many street stalls where you can try the local food cooked on street carts.  We had a meal in The Red Piano which is where the “Tomb Raider” cocktail was created and sampled by Angelina Jolie.