Holiday in Cambodia

After that late night with Chris and Kate we managed to meet our group at 6am to begin our tour through Cambodia. But first we had to get to Cambodia, our guide Sophie had warned us that it'd be 'a bit of a mission' (one of many phrases she constantly used!) She wasn't kidding. First we got a bus to the bus station, where we were told we'd be getting the 7am bus, but Sophie couldn't get tickets until the 8.30 am bus as it was a public holiday that day and the place was rammed! So we waited about and eventually got the bus. This took about 4 hours to get to the border, traffic coming out of Bangkok was a nightmare. Took a while to actually get through the border but once through we were on the back on a couple of trucks which would take us all the way to Siem Reap. There were 15 of us in total, split (with all our luggage) between 2 pickup trucks, where we sat cramped in with all our luggage!!! It was a hairy ride along a very dusty very very bumpy road. It was fun and we got to know the people on our truck but by the time we arrived in Siem Reap, 6 hours (yes, that's 6 hours!!) later we were battered and bruised and covered in orange dust and tired and hungry but relieved to finally be there. So quick shower and we got into tuk tuks to take us to a restuarant for dinner.



The people on our tour were.....Jean (Canada) Bob and Angie, Sarah, Helen, Caroline and Susie, Milly and Becky, David and Linda, Grahame and Lorinda, me and Rich and Sophie (all English!)

The next morning we all got up at stupid o'clock again and took a short bus journey to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise, which was a little disappointing as it was a cloudy day! After breakfast a bus and local guide came to take us on a tour of Angkor Wat (yay, more temples!!) We visited 3 temples (ruins you understand) in the morning, one of them, had trees growing on top of them, made famous by Tomb Raider. It was quite interesting, more so because we had a guide to tell us various stories about history of them. It was very bloody busy though, didn't expect that many tourists, was a bit of a theme park! In the car parks there were always little market stalls selling water, postcards, hats, food and the like and there were always kids (offspring of market stall owners) crowding round the bus trying to get you to buy everything and anything. They are very persistant and well practised at sad faces and it was hard work saying no, but even harder if you actually want something!! I wanted some water a girl offered me water, I said I would like some and the minute I said that, there were about 10 kids all trying to drag me to their stall. That was all a bit too much, I could see a stall right in front of me and so I headed for it, bought some water and carried on. I was then chased by the girl who offered me water first and the conversation went like this:

Girl (with sad look on her face) - You hurt me, you didn't buy my water, you said you'd buy my water
Me (feeling very bad) - I'm sorry
Girl (even sadder look) - I don't want your sorry.....you buy a hat !!!!!!!!!!

I guess you had to be there but it was very funny, and I didn't buy a hat but when we returned to the bus later I did try and avoid her as I didn't want another guilt trip!!

After the temples it was time for lunch which was all very nice and in the afternoon we visited the landmine museum, which was very sad but quite uplifting too. It's run by a man who was forced to be a child soldier during the Khmer Rouge period and during that time he laid many land mines. Now he dedicates his life to clearing them and to taking care of some of the victims. He has adopted many young boys who've had arms and legs blown off due to these land mines and helps them to get education, medical care and food. He also raises awareness about the cause and clears the landmines himself without the aid of machinery. He's quite a guy, it's not a government funded museum, it's funded by him and donations plus profits from the gift shop there. We were shown a video of the young boys who live there and despite their missing limbs, they mess about and play football and stuff and just get on with it, it's good to see.



Our first day in Cambodia was a very full and hectic one and at last was a free day to do whatever we fancied. Rich and I and a couple of the others decided to give blood at the local childrens hospital as they have a big shortage of it. They were very grateful for our donation and gave us a goodie bag with a t-shrit, a weeks worth of iron tablets and vitamins, stickers and biscuits....brilliant. Of course we were all rewarded by the knowledge that we might help to save a childs life. We had a look around the market, and then sat at a bar in town watching the world go by and drinking a beer or 2! Before we knew it though it was time to meet everyone for dinner. We had a very nice meal and some went home after that while the rest of us went to a bar for a few more beers......and then it got a bit messy! Rich was playing pool with some of the others and we got chatting to other people in the bar (mostly tourists), most others had gone home and it was just me Rich and Bob. When the bar shut Bob was nowhere to be seen, so we just hoped he'd left earlier and got home OK. It was about 4am when we returned to the hotel, we were leaving at 5.30 for Phnom Penh and we still had to pack so we decided not to go to bed as we'd never get up again. We started packing in our wobbly tired state and Rich went out onto the balcony for a fag....and then fell asleep! So I finished the packing with half an hour to spare and had a little lie down, and then the cockrells started, and I lay there, and then Rich started along with the cockrells......yes, in his drunken / sleepy state he was cock a doodle dooing with the cockrells, very loudly, it was sooooooo funny!!! I just lay there laughing at him, I thought about getting the camera and recording him but I was too tired to try and dig it out, but I wish I had though!! Rich had no memory of it!!!

We found out the next day that Bob had tried to get back to the hotel, wandered around the dark streets and into the jungle, but managed to find his way out and get a lift home......Phewy he was lucky as there are still plenty of landmines out there even that close to the city.



Needless to say when we met with the group in the morning we were feeling a little, how can I put it.....pissed ??? yes, we were still very drunk as we'd only stopped drinking about 2 hours previously and Rich and I were giggling like kids for the first half hour of the bus journey and then we were asleep! The bus took us to the lake where we had a 6 hour boat journey accross to Phnom Penh, I managed to sleep through nearly all of it, which was nice. Rich had some sleep, and had spent a few hours on the top of the boat and so got sunburnt, along with everyone else!!

When we arrived, we had a little look around the markets and the shopping mall. The traffic here is even more scary than Bangkok, there are motorbikes everywhere, and tuk tuks, there's some order to it I'm sure but crossing the road can take ages!!

The following day we had a hectic schedule of seeing all the sights as after that we'd be travelling to Saigon. We were up early and a bus came to pick us up with a very nice local guide. First stop was the royal palace and the silver pagoda (it's not made of silver but the floor tiles inside are). The palace was very ornate and there wasn't a huge crowd of tourists but there were plenty of kids selling stuff, and a fair few beggars, some with missing limbs, very sad to see. After that we visited the Russian market which was huge but was just another market, starting to get a bit marketed out now too!!! We had lunch at a nice restaurant which was a bit pricey (for Cambodia) but it supports local children and victims of landmines. After lunch was the sad part of the day. First we visited Tuol Sleng (S-21) museum, this was a prison where people were held, tortored and executed during the Khmer Rouge period. It was all very chilling to see. Our guide told us a lot about it, and did so with dignity even though he was a child then and knew most of his family had been sent there (and therefore were executed). He taught us a lot about that period, and Rich and I have been reading a lot about it too and it is really shocking. It was only 30 years ago so, it's so amazing to see how the people have just got on with their lives, despite all the trauma they all suffered, they're not bitter, they're very happy people and are not ashamed to talk about their experiences. It's a country that's quickly getting back on it's feet and the people are proud and willing to do their bit. Next we visited the killing fields of Cheung Ek, where people were executed en-masse and just buried where they fell. Many mass graves were discovered here and as you walk around there are bones and bits of clothing and things are still emerging all the time. It was quite disturbing and very sad. As I said our guide was very good and to lighten the sombre mood on the bus on the way home, he sang us a couple of songs Karaoke style (asian people loove karaoke!!), which was very entertaining and he seemed right chuffed with himself too!!

Our week in Cambodia was very hectic and sad but very enjoyable and over too soon. Next we were on a bus bound for Saigon