Cambodia

Cambodia (Sihanoukville)

Welcome to Cambodia

Live but drugged pigs, lightly shaded (or pre-seasoned?) going for a bike ride

                Made our way easily across a sleepy little border post, with a little help from our friendly guide who explained that the process was so smooth and the passports she’d previously collected from us got pre-stamped without our ever seeing or talking to the border guards with the help from a little bribe money. Also, apparently you’re technically supposed to have some proof of immunizations thing but not having it is fine with a little help from a dollar bill. Welcome to Cambodia I suppose. This view was further reinforced a couple days later in Sihanoukville (a.k.a. Snookyville) when I had to directly pay my first police bribe of the trip. We were driving around on motorbikes when we encountered a police checkpoint engaged in the process of pulling over every single Western driver and “fining” them for not having an International Driver’s License (or if you had that for not having a Cambodian one or for your lights/turn signals not working or whatever else they could think of). So that was a couple bucks and for some reason no receipt for the, apparently negotiable as it started at 5 dollars apiece, fine was forthcoming.  
    

Some fire-show action

                Sihanoukville is a lively beach town with tourists and expats aplenty and all the beachfront bars nightlife enthusiasts could ever want. Definitely should be a fun place to spend the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period. Sampled a bit of the nightlife, arranged long-term accommodation for our return on the 23^rd of December and got in a bit of quality beach time. Some travel friends of ours are staying there for an entire month and got a little apartment a bit outside of the main tourist drag but close to a good beach and we stopped by for a little housewarming. Met their Cambodian neighbors who despite not speaking very much English were extremely friendly and welcoming and came out for a night on the town with us after some drinks. We ended up sitting in chairs in the back of their white work van as they shuttled us to a local nightclub. Got some drinks at the club and were happily dancing away when suddenly they stopped the music and shuffled everyone off the main dance floor to clear a big space. The pumping nightclub music was then replaced by some slow music and a few couples had a slow dance in the middle while everyone else watched. Soon after that was stopped and some weird and completely incomprehensible local play started up on stage. What a weird transition, but everyone else seemed to like it. Didn’t stick around for the ending though and off we went in the van to the beach bars with our new friends. Fun night.

Weirdness

Chilling with our new Cambodian friends

                Although my experiences with Vietnam and the locals there were generally positive I can see why so many people compare Vietnam unfavorably to Cambodia. Cambodians do seem a lot more genuinely friendly and approachable and not so single-mindedly focused on separating you from as much cash as possible. I think part of it too is that in general there seem to be more and more fluent English speakers here, especially the younger generation. On the other hand there is also a lot more visible poverty and street children begging. Both countries suffer from an attitude towards rubbish disposal that involves just throwing your garbage anywhere or disposing of plastics and anything and everything else via burn piles. So anyway, a quick but satisfying preview of Sihanoukville and Patrick and  I were off to the capital of Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh

A sample of Phnom Penh's charming nightlife....

                Phnom Penh at first glance appears a pretty standard SE Asian capital though noticeably less developed and modern than its Thai and Vietnamese counterparts. Re-met up with our Dutch friends there and found a tuk-tuk driver for the next day to give us a tour of some of the city’s interesting cultural sites. Unfortunately the royal palace was evidently temporarily off the tourist list as the King had recently died and an official mourning period was still ongoing. This left us with the rather macabre and depressing experiences of learning more about Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime and its genocidal excesses. The “Killing Fields” was in a really well done and quite moving audio format where you wandered around the area silently, listening on headphones to some of the history of this particular massacre site (one of many in the country). Definitely not cheery, parts of it are heart-wrenching in fact, but nevertheless worth seeing and learning about. SE Asia is full of periodic reminders that people can be real assholes on a big scale. Well, at least America isn’t so obviously and directly implicated in this particular tragedy, unlike the Agent Orange victims, etc. The Killing Fields were then followed up by a tour of the notorious Khmer Rouge S-21 prison specializing in the torture, detention and forced confessions of regime enemies (many of them former employees, but also plenty of likely innocent men, women and children) prior to their transport to be executed. There are mugshot style photos of many of the victims on display and it was really hard to look at them and imagine what they went through and the cruelty they experienced. Of the roughly 14,000 prisoners that went through S-21 only 7 managed to survive, 2 of whom are still alive today. When the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh, within a week they had forced all of the some 2 million residents (many of them refugees from the years of civil war) out of the city on forced marches into the countryside to become communist agricultural peasants. Craziness.

Tree Khmer soldiers allegedly used to kill babies by swinging them against it

                Did two nights in the capital and then booked tickets onwards to Siem Reap for a bit of R&R and the temples of Ankor Wat, thankfully a bit of local culture and history not involving the mass killings of innocent people.

Siem Reap and Ankor Wat

Sunrise at Ankor

Siem Reap by night

                Siem Reap is definitely geared towards the hordes of tourists and backpackers that flock here to see the Temples as it’s flush with various competing night markets, lots of neon signage and the popular “Pub Street.” We arranged a couple tuk-tuk drivers for the next day and, somewhat reluctantly on some people’s parts, asked them to pick us up at 5AM so we could get there in time for sunrise. Turned out to be quite a big turnout for the sunrise and the banks of the little lake facing the main Ankor Wat temple was packed with people taking pictures and jockeying for position as the sky started to lighten. It was definitely a beautiful sight as the towers slowly became visible to the background of a pink-tinged sky, though, maybe due to particular atmospheric conditions, not quite as spectacular as I’d pictured it in my mind. Spent a good, long, hot day touring the various main temples, climbing steep staircases and paying respectful homage to the filming site of a big scene in the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie. Some really interesting carvings and statuary were seen and incense offered to Buddha in the hope of “good luck, long life”. The scale and sheer number of temples and temple complexes is staggering and we really only scratched the surface by visiting the bigger ones on the more well-beaten paths. Not something you’d go to Cambodia and then want to miss. We then proceeded to celebrate our viewing of the wonders of Ankor Wat with a rather big night on the town. The next couple days following this were spent escaping the rather oppressive heat and humidity of Siem Reap by staking out lounge chairs next to a nice pool at a nearby fancy hotel. A good massage and round of mini-golf were also indulged in. Next stop on the journey is the town of Battambang as we start to make our way back down towards Snookyville, with tentative plans to get back early and spend a few days on the islands off the Southern coast.

Claim to fame: scene from Tomb Raider filmed here

Battambang

The founder of Battambang who found a magic stick and became a king

                Battambang is a fairly sleepy, mid-sized Cambodian city off the normal Cambodian backpacker itinerary. The legend of the founding of the city involves some prince and his magic stick (undoubtedly the inspiration for the 50 Cent song) and is commemorated by a large statue. The main attraction seemed to be a tuk-tuk tour of various sights and attractions surrounding the city and so we duly arranged a driver and headed off. Our first stop was a crocodile “farm” hosting murky pits packed with crocs destined to be skinned and sent off to Thailand. The tour apparently included the opportunity to literally poke the crocs with a stick, something our driver seemed to take a bit too much pleasure in doing. Pretty impressive how they go from perfectly still to instant vicious motion, thrashing and loud snapping of jaws. Not that anyone can blame them considering we were jabbing them with a pole. Also got to go to the croc nursery and hold some baby crocodiles. Those squirmy little things are pure muscle.

Crocs being poked with a stick

                The second stop was the “bamboo train,” which though no longer in regular or useful service is maintained as a tourist attraction. It turned out to be a one-way track plied by “trains” which were bamboo platforms mounted on wheels with a small engine. The ride was extremely loud, bumpy and jarring and interrupted periodically by return traffic which by some obscure formula necessitated either one or the other of the trains to stop and lift their contraptions all the way off the track so the others could pass. After about an hour of travel we arrived at the endpoint, some huts in the middle of nowhere selling the usual array of tourist-trap crap. We indulged in a cold drink, wandered around for a bit and then got back on for the return trip. Ta-da! It was actually so bad it was almost hilarious and at least led to a running joke about the experience being the can’t-miss highlight of the entire trip up to that point.

Bamboo "train"

Cute little baby croc

                There was also a temple complex touted as the “mini-Ankor Wat” which while maybe not as impressive as the actual was still a nice place to wander around and spend an hour or so. The tour also included a stop at another, inevitably depressing, Cambodian historical site: the “Killing Cave.” More skulls on display and a truly horrifying story from our driver about how people were chucked to their deaths from the top of what was basically a bit over some rocks. It included his second-hand account of how all the locals were made to watch these killings and basically forced to somewhat condone the killings at least through their fear and silence when asked if anyone objected to the “justice” about to be carried out. Khmer Rouge times were obviously not a great time to live in Cambodia.  I actually read a book, purportedly a biography of Pol Pot, hoping to get some insight into what motivations could have underlay such senseless depravity coming about but it was actually a struggle to read and not at all illuminating. While detailing lots of internal Communist party politics and other rather dry facts the 300+ pages basically boiled down to, “Pol Pot was extremely secretive, didn’t talk or write much about his internal decision-making process and no one really has any idea what he was thinking or why he did what he did.” Though at one point in his later years he did acknowledge that, “Mistakes were made.” So, there’s that at least.

                Our final stop as dusk approached was near the mouth of a bat cave which at some invisible signal spilled out a never-ending seeming stream of millions of bats flying out for dinner. Truly unbelievable how many there were and they really did just keep coming and coming; we left before the flow had even begun to taper off. From a distance driving away it looked like plumes of smoke floating across the sky. Brought a smile to my face thinking of all the mosquitoes that would meet their doom that night.

Bats, lots of bats!

                We ended off the Battambang adventure by getting an amazing massage from a blind lady (though the initial positioning phase was a bit awkward) and then wandering around and sampling some truly odd food. Someone ordered what was thought to be a fruit and yogurt type dish and which ended up being this weird soupy concoction with ice flakes and potatoes in it and which tasted rather strongly of onions. Yum. Decided we’d seen all there was to see and although we weren’t due back in Sihanoukville for a few days still for our Christmas and New Year’s reservation we headed back that direction anyway to spend a few days on a quiet little island off the Southern coast. One other, dark and macabre, thing of note was that on our bus ride out of there we came across the immediate aftermath of a horrible accident. A motorbike had somehow hit a bus head on and the bike was wedged underneath the grill with its rider lying prone nearby. Despite his unhealthy looking pose my immediate wishful thought was, “I’m sure he’s just unconscious and will be fine and they’re just waiting for the ambulance.” An illusion immediately shattered when someone unceremoniously dragged him by the feet out from under the bus revealing and leaving a very large bloodstain originating from his head region. Definitely something I wished I could unsee. Can’t believe people drive around without helmets in these countries and a quick dampener on my enthusiasm for riding bikes myself.

A sampling of delicious Cambodian cuisine

Koh Rong

                Koh Rong was a small stretch of beach and definitely a contrast to the anticipated upcoming wild chaos of Sihanoukville. Spent a few pretty relaxed days there. Hung out on the nice beach that was our doorstep, went on a little fishing expedition with a group of Dutch girls who, despite Patrick’s frequent reminders, kept reverting exclusively to speaking Dutch. Fishing in Cambodia is weird. For whatever reason they don’t seem to ever throw back anything that’s caught, no matter how small and presumably almost worthless as food. So we ended up with a ton of tiny grilled fish for lunch. Had to eat like 6 to get a full meal… Oh yeah, passed out on our hostel couch one night after a whiskey or few and woke up the next morning pretty much entirely covered with our hostel’s cats and kittens. So, that was nice. Not much else of note to my recollection: unfortunately all our pictures from this time disappeared with the subsequent loss of Patrick's camera in Snookyville one night. Which basically means IT'S LIKE THE WHOLE THING NEVER EVEN HAPPENED!

Sihanoukville (Part 2)

                Back to Snookyville and this time for a couple of weeks to celebrate the end of the year festivities. Me Patrick and the Dutchies were all staying in the same guesthouse and looking forward to some beach and relaxation time. Ended up being lots of nights out at the beach bars, lazy days spent both at the beach and as often as not at a nearby swimming pool. Definitely got a lot of reading done and had a generally good time but to be honest started going through a period of homesickness during my stay here and so maybe didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have. Got a little boring being in one spot for that long maybe. The beach scene in Sihanoukville is a bit off somehow too, not sure really how to explain. For one thing the constant stream of children trying to sell you things, especially fireworks got pretty old after, well immediately actually.

Child: “Want to buy fireworks?!” Me: “No, thank you though.” Child: “Why not?” Me: “What? Because I don’t want any fireworks.” Child: “Why?” Me: “….?! NO! GO AWAY!”

                That was one constant of the time there: fireworks being shot over the water pretty much non-stop all night, every night. While the local’s and other Asian tourists enthusiasm for Western New Year’s was impressive it was also a bit confusing, especially considering that it started two weeks before the actual event and never let up the entire time. I’m sure white tourists were into it too guess, just not us.

Can't have a good party without balloons...

                We did have a nice gift exchange with a big group of friends around Christmas and that was nice even if it didn’t completely alleviate my homesickness. I got a bottle of absinthe…yay? My mood probably wasn’t helped any by the fact that I’d somehow and somewhere managed to acquire a long line of insect bites along one forearm that looked like raised blisters/pustules and beside being itchy were rather deforming looking.

A bottle of absinthe...just what I wanted for Christmas

The tame beginning to the a booze cruise that subsequently got much wilder and more topless

                Don’t mean to make it sound like it was all that bad or anything. The nightlife was good and wild, I was with good friends and there were some highlights such as a booze cruise we went on which approached Spring Break levels of wild debauchery. New Year’s Eve itself ended up being a weird night as well. We’d pre-bought tickets to what was supposed to be a good party but waited a bit too long with the pre-gaming to head out and so ended up spending the actual stroke of midnight wandering around the street in heavy traffic trying to find this party. Was pretty funny really. Apparently the locals end their celebrations exactly at midnight, since there was a giant traffic jam on all the streets as everyone simultaneously decided to head home at that exact moment. Turns out no one else could find the party either and it was basically empty anyway we were told and so just headed for the beach club scene and then later did a reset and re-celebrated in a different time zone.

New Year's Eve: Cambodia style!

                So yeah, the time in Sihanoukville while on the whole enjoyable felt a bit weird for various reasons and by the end I was quite ready to move on. Me, Patrick and our Dutch friends decided to go to another small and quiet nearby island for a couple days to recover from the Snookyville madness and then planned to head into southern Laos, which I hadn’t managed to make it to in my first foray into that country.

Koh Ruh (Bamboo Island)

A little bit of paradise

            Koh Ruh’s a little offshore Cambodian island available for those wishing to escape hectic Sihanoukville. Even smaller and more laid-back than Bamboo Island. Just one restaurant/guesthouse main building and a row of cabins right at the beach edge. Definitely is nice having the beach at your doorstep. Got lots of reading in hammocks and relaxing done. Pretty much never gets old doing that and was a good peaceful way to spend some time after the craziness of Sihanoukville for the Christmas/New Year’s period.