Cambodia

We flew from Chiang Mai back to BKK and discover that our flight to Siem Reap was cancelled. They got us on the next flight though, so we just had to kill some time at BKK. There are worse fates in the world as the airport offers much in the way of distractions: shops, restaurants, massages.

We spent a bit of time crashing the Bangkok Airlines lounge, which had free Internet and munchies. Finally (after 5 hours or so), we got on our way and make the short (40 minute) flight to Siem Reap. Strange that the shortest flight has been the most expensive--that's monopoly for you.

The airport in Siem Reap is new and very cute. Construction is booming in Siem Reap--trying to keep up with the tourist demand. Customs is a bit unnerving as you have to give your $20 (plus $2 for not having a picture) with your passport and then go stand in another line while your passport is passed down a line of officials. Despite being really late, the driver we had arranged was still there, bless his heart. His name was Tong and he spoke great English and was training to be a tour guide, so we hired him as our driver for our stay. He dropped us at our hotel, Molly Malones (yep, an Irish bar/hotel) and we made plans to hit the temples the next day.

Molly Malone's is run by a French guy named Thierry and his partners and is located in the old market section of the city, which is quite the hot spot. The hotel itself is quaint, if a little noisy. Make that a lot noisy when a dude starts playing acoustic (amplified) guitar. Sweet.

The next day, I fly solo (Sue is illin' a bit) and hit up some far away temples (more than two hours away). We hit the road and get a traffic jam. It's a national holiday and no one is working, to include the police who normally assist in regulating traffic. Therefore, what are usually chaotic driving conditions are amplified to point of gridlock. Specifically, we have an hour's wait by the town market as folks, impatient with the wait, have started a second and third lane on a two way street, thereby jamming up the works. It was pretty amazing. We eventually got on the road and soon the city jams were behind us. Beautiful rice fields lay on all sides with houses on stilts (some very rundown, others very opulent, by Cambodian standards). Driving in Cambodia is a very Darwinian experience. Cars zip along and around mopeds/motorbikes, not hesitating to pass in the opposite lane, even if there's oncoming traffic. The horn is used liberally (much different than Thailand). Still, it all works...sorta. Families of four or five pile on one scooter--quite a sight. We drive for some time and when we get to Beng Melea, we decide to head out a a further 70 km to Koh Ker (check spelling), which was the first of the temples. It's a long trip (the roads get pretty bad toward the end, making the going slow), but was great to get out and see some rural Cambodian action. Highlights: the massive pryamid and a great lunch. It was sad to see the state of ruins at the hands of man though. Looters and the Khmer Rouge have pretty much leveled the structures. They weren't very ornate, but cool to see. Rocks used were bricks (only in the early ones), volcanic rock (for walls) and sandstone. The temple was in the jungle, though it wasn't thick like you might expect. 65% of Cambodia was jungle, but clearcutting has decreased it to 40%. Other factoids: 80% of the people are farmers. Not surprisingly, they have large families: sometimes as many as 10 kids. There were lots of kids about.

Tong is a good guide and I find out lots of interesting tidbits about the country's history and culture. There are 3 political parties, the biggest of which is the Cambodian People's Party--they have over 80 of 120 seats in the parliment. They have offices (or whatever) every few kilometers, it seems. Much of the damage to the temples took place within the last 30 years (Khmer Rougue).

After Koh Ker, we then went to Beng Melea, which was pretty awesome. It was just one place (as opposed the to the very spread out action of the first)--very impressive, but, again, sad to see the extent of distruction. Then we headed back with some stops for village pics and sticky rice (AWESOME). Got stuck in another holiday traffic jam, seems everyone in Cambodia wanted to be in town NOW. Took an hour to get to the hotel from the town limits. Sue was still feeling ill, so we dined downstairs (had a kitten frenzy of cuteness) and hit the sack.

The next day, we get up for our Angkor Wat tour. It's pretty impressive--it's scale is hard to capture in photos. Did a lot of walking and picture taking and then go to the larger Angkor Thom--which has a lot of cool temples spread about.

In the evening, we walked about the town and walk into the epicenter of the ful moon/harvest celebration. There are tons of people; the streets are jammed with both motorbikes and pedistrians. As we pass a bridge we start to see many lit floats--offerings of thanks to the moon. Kids are lighting them and walking them down to set adrift on the river. Some even swim them out to make sure their
journey starts right. Along the sidewalks are food vendors and folks
selling the lightable offerings. There are also fireworks in play
(though not as much as in Chiang Mai). We walk along the river for a
while, stopping to take pictures of the floats (lite-brite like
structures) and people. It's a very chaotic, yet joyful celebration.

We turn left and cross the next bridge and then head back toward the Old
Market area. The temperature is much nicer at night than in Thailand--very comfortable. We amble over to Khmer Kitchen and have a good meal (pumpkin in the pot with pork) before heading home to watch some Star Wars with Cambodian subtitles and crash out.

In the morning, we get a visit from the black and white preggers kitty that lives next door. She's barely past kittenhood herself and is very sweet. I have some breakfast (egg with sausage and bacon) then head out with Tong. We drive out to see the river people. For $20, we hire a boat that takes us along the river and follows the temporary settlement of the floating city. They are 50% Vietamese (though they've been in Cambodia for over 40 years and have some sort of citizenship), 40% Cambodian and a small number of Muslim. It's a far cry from the houseboats of
Sausalito. The boats are modest and they have floating public structures--hospital, police, schools, newspaper, churches, temple etc. Very scenic and nice to be out on the water. Eventually we come to Tônlé Sap, which is the biggest lake in SE Asia (120x35 km, bigger in high season). The flow of the river reverses after rainy season and the river folk follow the flow down toward the Mekong delta.

After cruising around the lake for a bit, we stop at a commercial boat, where they have fish and crocodiles (along with touristy things to buy). Apparently, the richer Cambodians are crocodile farmers -- they get up to $500 for each one they raise to maturity (for their skins). They are expensive to feed though, so it's a hard racket to get into.

We pick up head out to Banteay Srei, which is about 35km out of town. It's called the women's temple as it's very ornate--best carvings we've seen, though it's on the small side though. Then it's a tour of Ta Prohm-- the overgrown, Tomb Raider place. It's very cool--trees encroaching on the temple. The drone of the cicadas only outdone by the annoying French tourists. Very cool nonetheless. A little shopping rounded out the day and the next day, we were off to Ko Phi Phi.

152 photos | 320 views

items are from between 22 Nov 2007 & 24 Nov 2007.