My initial thoughts of Cambodia are very positive. Where compared to Thailand, the food is seemingly more expensive, but the alcohol is dirt cheap. USD 50c beers are commonplace around here. The people also seem much happier than in Thailand, despite being a poorer country.
Here in Battambang, being a less tourist driven area, when riding around in a tuk tuk all of the kids by the roadside wave to you with big smiles on their faces. I don't exactly know the reason behind it - perhaps they are told at a young age that white people have money and to be extra friendly?
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A week ago (the 19th); the day started waiting at the hostel for our trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat Fitzey and I were ready at 7.30am for our bus. Waiting at the hostel, we get signalled by a guy to come with him... A motorbike taxi. A little hesitantly we both jump on the back of a scooter each, big packs and all.
Lucky it was only a short trip a few hundred metres up the road to where the minibus was due to arrive.. And we waited.
After around thirty minutes we were told that the minibus that was meant to pick us up was broken down and they were sending another one - another half hour wait. At least it didn't happen when we were in the middle of no where I suppose.
Eventually the minibus came and we were on the way to the border - around 4 hours.
We were dropped at a little travel agent type setup where our visa was issued - Cambodia requires a paid visa which we came as part of our bus ticket. We sat in a little room, were told to hand over an extra 100 baht for photos which we didn't have, and a further 100 baht for the arrival/departure card - not much bargaining power here we paid it.
I had a quick meal at this stop - my last pad thai for a while. Much to my surprise they sold big glass bottles of Coke for 20 baht - I had to buy one.
Back to waiting and eventually we got in another minibus which travelled another ten minutes up the road to the border. Here our driver jumped out and explained what had to happen - he put us in line for immigration and met us on the other side. We got stamped out of Thailand and into Cambodia!
From here, more waiting, and eventually got on our final bus bound for Siem Reap. By the time we arrived it was 9.30 at night - a damn long day of busses!
We jumped in a tuk tuk for $1 each to get to the hostel and checked in.
We grabbed a pizza from a unique to Cambodia pizza parlour and crashed out after.
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Friday the 20th, my birthday.
I didn't do a whole lot during the day, just went out and had food, a few beers with Fitzey and acclimatised to being in a new city. A quick video call to the family back home kept them happy.
That night while trying to work out what to do I came across a pub crawl, this one run by a couple Kiwis and starting at a pub a two minute walk from our hostel. I was sold.
After rocking up and paying for the singlet I told them it was my birthday; "Oh cool, happy birthday ya cunt!" was one of their reactions. Almost like home. I was told they would look after me because it was my birthday, and that they did...
They played a bunch of games at the different pubs, me getting automatically nominated for the first one. It was a beer "chugging" competition. I finished mine around second or so of the five, with a clear winner standing out. This bloke then had a bottle of whiskey handcuffed to him and told he had to finish it before leaving for the next place in twenty minutes. He was dosing out mouthfuls to everyone that approached him!
The night continued much the same way - more drinking and more games at different pubs. I told the guy giving out the drink tokens it was my birthday and each time got between 3-5 instead of the usual 1.. Made for a cheap night!
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Once more, not a lot was achieved the next day.
I finally caught up with Nathan that night, he came by our hostel with a present - a bottle of Captain Morgan and coke for us to share. After polishing that off we went out for more drinks and crashed out after a few hours of partying.
I really don't have a lot to write about here. I was still getting over being on antibiotics for my infected wounds and nursing a cough so took it pretty easy for a few days.
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Monday morning Fitzey and I checked out the Angkor Museum, a good background into the history behind Angkor Wat and surrounding temples, prior to tackling that the next day.
The museum was full of ancient stone carvings and artifacts from as early as the 9th century, with most being around the Angkor period in the 12th.
It was interesting to read about the different gods and deities, how they are represented throughout history and the stories of their origins.
That night we organised a tuk tuk tour to Angkor Wat and nearby Angkor Thom temples, for sunrise. The price was $18 for the driver for seven hours, with a max of three people. A Chinese girl traveling alone ended up joining us to reduce the cost for us all.
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After a ridiculously early 4:20am wake up, I grabbed a coffee and a couple apples for breakfast and we jumped in the tuk tuk. About 1.5km from Angkor Wat the tuk tuk died on us - out of gas. We started walking. I was anxious, not wanting to miss the sunrise, but in the end there was really no worry of that. After a few hundred metres the tuk tuk then rocked up again and took us the rest of the way - he presumably managed to find some petrol!
I found a decent vantage point to sit down on (another ancient structure nearby) and we waited.
The "sunrise" is much different to back home, where the sun is visible from the horizon. I'm not sure if its due to pollution, position on the Earth or what, but the sky becomes lighter and lighter until finally the sun appears some 20 degrees above the horizon and rises.
After that was over, we headed inside to check out Angkor Wat. The place is massive - we spent a couple hours just walking around exploring the different areas. It really is quite beautiful also, surrounded by gardens on multiple sides, with the whole walled temple area surrounded by a moat.
Following this, the tuk tuk driver took us somewhere to eat inside Angkor Thom, before which we explored more temples. Now some of these are in ruin, much to contrast how preserved Angkor Wat has been, which I actually enjoyed way more.
After walking inside one of the temples, I spotted a corridor that no one was around and immediately ran through. I ended up in an area of the temple with absolutely no one else around, and was like that for a good fifteen minutes, climbing through window openings and getting lost inside the halls, it was incredible. I once again felt like a child.
From here I head outside and started climbing the ancient, very steep, staircases of smaller surrounding structures.
The day continued like this; acting like a kid and climbing up as many tall structures as I could, including at one point being yelled at for climbing on top of a wall...
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The next day we left for Battambang, a more rural and less touristy town south west of Siem Reap.
The four hour bus ride left at 8am, of which most of it was spent sleeping.
As we arrived a tuk tuk driver appeared at the window next to Fitzey with a list of hotels, hostels and guest houses to take people to. Ours (Here Be Dragons) was on it.
The driver took us to the hostel and said if we want to go on a tour with him later in the day he can come back in a couple hours and take us out, for $7 per person. Given that we haven't done all that much around Cambodia as yet, we agreed. The driver was very grateful.
The first stop is the most common tourist destination in Battambang; what the locals refer to as Nori, or the bamboo train. These "trains" are flat bamboo karts with what looks like a lawn mower motor on the back and put along the regular train tracks at around 20kph!
The coolest thing about these trains is that if another one is coming in the opposite direction, they simply stop, take the kart off the axles, take the axles off and the path is clear!
We stopped at the next station along where some stalls were set up to sell stuff to tourists. A bunch of little kids came up to each of us and sold us wrist bands. They are pretty good at making you feel guilty for not handing over cash...
On the way back there were some cows on the track... a little nudge from the kart sent them running though!
From here we were taken to a temple up high on a mountain, which also houses the killing caves, and is home to a few bats..
The killing caves is a cave where Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge - revolutionaries from the sixties through to the nineties - took people to execute them by throwing them down a deep cave, to make an example of them.
Since then, memorials have been built at a number of the killing areas, often shrouded with old bones and skulls of those murdered. Its seriously fucked up shit.
From here we climbed the mountain further and were rewarded with a great view of the surrounding area. I just wish I had worn shoes climbing the mountain - thongs aren't the best trekking footware!
We cruised back down the stairs to the bottom of the mountain and were told to wait by a dark hole in the mountain, a cave. At around 5:30pm each day apparently an impressive natural phenomenon occurs - the bats fly out. Millions upon millions of them.
After watching this we hopped back in the tuk tuk and headed for the hostel.
Each Wednesday night the hostel runs a pub quiz. Fitzey and I formed a team with a few people we met earlier in the day up the mountain who were staying at our hostel (an Israeli girl, a Turkish girl and a loud Pom bloke). We sucked. Badly. We later found out that there is a group of older expats that attend every week and win every week, so we were doomed from the start!
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This morning I had to wake up super early once more to go on another tour that we agreed to with the tuk tuk driver from the day before. The main driving factor was that we didnt have cash to pay him at the time and no where would give us change for our marked bills (somehow ended up with two USD$20 with texta on them which most places will not accept), so we agreed to another tour in the morning!
I woke up bright an early at 7:30am ready for the 8am tour. Fitzey decided he was going to stay in bed and skip the tour.
From the hostel I was taken to a bunch of very local places - I didnt see another tourist for the three hours I was with the tuk tuk driver.
First stop was a shop to see how bamboo sticky rice was made - a delicacy here in Cambodia.
They start by cutting bamboo into 20cm or so lengths, stuffing it with sticky rice, sealing the bamboo with a pineapple leaf and cooking it over a coconut peal fire. From here it sits for a while to cool down, and then the outer layer of the bamboo is hacked off to finish with a nicely presented white bamboo dish. To eat it, you break and peel the outer layer of the bamboo like a banana. It tasted pretty good!
The next stop was a whole lot more sobering and depressing - another killing field.
This monument was surrounded by stone carvings and words describing the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge. It really is hard to read about what happened as recently as fourty years ago at this site. The killing fields in Phnom Penh are one of the most popular attractions, it's going to be interesting....
We drove around some more to get to the next place, a factory where fish sauce and fish products are made.
On the road again, we went to an ancient temple which is apparently older than Angkor Wat, and in ruins.
Upon seeing that flag, I knew I had to climb it.
It was pretty scary up there; a good 15m up or so, but the climb wasnt too hard..
Last stop on the tour was a rice paper making shop. I saw how rice paper that is used for spring rolls is made from a rice paste and left in the sun to dry, and bought a couple of spring rolls from the shop, delicious!
I have decided that for at least a while I need to do this trip alone. I am not getting the same out of comfort zone experiences I wish I was having with Fitzey around, so tonight I jump on a night bus to Phnom Penh for a new start and a new adventure!
