Siem Reap

Arriving in Siem Reap was the first time we found we had been dropped off outside town needing to find transport into the centre. We found a taxi fairly easily, although it would be more accurate to say he found us having barged passed various others, and soon we were in town at our latest accommodation; Hotel 89. For the second time on our travels we were welcomed with honey tea and then shown to our room which wasn’t anything special but was clean and most importantly had air-conditioning. After long days wandering round the neighbouring ancient wonder of the world we would definitely require air-conditioned rooms to collapse in.

We didn't plan on seeing the Temple of Angkor until the following day so had pre-booked an activity for the first time that evening, and later on we were picked up and taken to a quad-biking centre. After a standard safety briefing and fitting of helmets as well as face masks, which I have mocked almost constantly in my head since landing in Beijing, we set off for an hour’s quad-biking in the area around Siem Reap. Linz, who has never mounted a quad bike, faired pretty well and was bombing it along the dusty paths by the end, but there was quite a scare when a cow bolted out in front of her. She never normally finds herself fleeing from beef but it was moving quite a lot faster than her usual medium-cooked variety. I on the other hand didn't take so long to get to grips with the bike so found myself very quickly retreating into my 10-year old self successfully hitting every puddle I could find until the bike could scarcely be described as red anymore. My biggest scare came when I let a local child, who got very excited at seeing himself in the video screen, hold my camera. Our guide got increasingly more worried, as of course did I, as the childs grip got harder and harder as I tried to get it back. Having returned to the office we were presented with a certificate which I wondered whether everyone got or whether they just thought, due to my childish need to get muddy, I’d get excited over and run home to show to my mummy.

We stopped for sunset over the rice paddys and these guys came wandering past

That evening we walked into town and found it very lively offering a range of food options, a load of markets but an even larger number of fish massage spas. These massage parlours, which are barely a step up from a pet shop specialising in tropical fish, allow tourists to pay around $3 to sit on the edge of a tank and have hundreds of fish nibble the dead skin off your feet. We passed on the numerous offers and just opted for dinner.

We were determined to do the Temples correctly so had put some solid time into planning our two days on the site. We decided our first day would be spent driven around by a tuk tuk seeing the smaller of the temples on offer before hiring bicycles to get around the major ones the next day in an attempt to save the best until last. Before continuing I must explain how the Temples are laid out as I was amazed at how much more there is on the site than I had thought. I believed there was just Angkor Wat as this is what gets all the attention, however there are in fact dozens of temples in this ancient city which, at its peak, spanned 1000 square-kilometres although they are mainly group in the centre roughly 1-2 kilometres from each other.

Click to enlarge it

We were picked up at 7am by our hotel-appointed tuk tuk driver who was fairly moody all day and a real bring-down following Mr Kim in Battambang. We didn't get his name all day as he barely spoke but, solely to enable me to describe our day clearer, I shall be calling him Moody. Siem Reap is surprisingly close to the ancient city and in no time we were buying our multiple day tickets, complete with terrible passport photographs of ourselves, and entering the site. We initially headed east in the direction of Bantaey Srei located the furthest from the central cluster of temples, however on the way we stopped at Pre Rup as it was deserted. Our high-intensity planning had generated a route around the temples based on seeing everything at their least busiest times in the day. Pre Rup, meaning “turn the body” was believed to be used for funerals however we enjoyed the climb to the top and the view from above the forest canopy rather than identifying the ancient funeral pyres. We immediately started taking too many photos as if we expected no other temples to include such remarkable features like stairs and crumpled sections of wall.

"Has the timer started?"

Following this Moody continued to drive us to Bantaey Srei which has been described as the hidden gem of the Temples. Based on its hype there was no way to avoid the crowds here so we had to do the best we could to take photos without people in them. The most memorable of the photos being one where I walked ahead so I could take one of Linz as she came round a corner, only to find she had been overtaken by a confused looking German man as I snapped one in his face as he rounded to corner. The journey to and from the temple was enjoyable as we went through a number of villages I was surprised to see within the Temples site. Despite this there was a bigger surprise on the return leg as Moody suddenly announced he could talk as he pulled over to show us locals making sweets out of palm sugar collected in the area. He didn't have the story-telling abilities of Mr Kim, nor a particularly interesting subject matter, so having feigned interest we moved on and he didn't attempt to speak again.

Moody leading us of to Banteay Srei

We returned to the main centre of the site and continued our planned route to East Mebon to find it again deserted. The temple, which was originally situated on a lake but which has now dried up, was actually a Hindu temple contrary to my belief that the temples here were all Buddhist. Rather than continue to take photos of carvings, or rocks or close-ups of flowers I decided to whip out the gorilla-pod, only usually used for taking night shots when the camera must be perfectly still, and take some cheesy photos of us exploring together or posing as if for some kind of Indiana Jones themed photo shoot.

Successful use of the self-timer

Unsuccessful use of the self-timer

Having already needed to buy a few rounds of drinks, given the incredible heat, we returned to Moody to head north to Ta Som which one of a few temples partially taken over by the jungle that surrounds them all. The Angkorians, who lived between approximately 800 AD and 1400 AD, destroyed a lot of the jungle in order to build their city so there is a sense of symmetry that since the civilisation moved away from Angkor that the jungle is taking back the land and overpowering some of the temples. Although some of the others are more overrun with foliage than Ta Som the return of the jungle is quite clear in that the main gateway is now almost completely covered by a gigantic tree. Here we were followed by a girl, who couldn’t have been much older than three, repeating the phrase “Mister, you buy postcard?” for our entire walk round the temple going in and out of her mother’s sight who was trying to sell stuff of her own.

The main entry to Ta Som almost completely taken over by one tree

Our next stop continued to demonstrate how different every temple on the site is as it was almost entirely made up of rectangular pools of water which you could stroll around. Once again we found ourselves getting there at a low point in the day, with regards to tourists, however given that this was one of the lesser impressive temples we could see why. Our final stop on our first day’s tour was Bantaey Kdei, a Buddhist temple, in the north of the central cluster but by this point we were starting to seriously flag under the heat so didn't stay long and soon we back in the tuk tuk heading back to Siem Reap. We had Moody drop us off where we had had dinner the previous day and found somewhere to enjoy a far-from Cambodian lunch of coronation chicken sandwich and a cottage pie.

Wandering round Neak Pean's man-made pools

We planned to recuperate from our day in the sun climbing over ruins by relaxing in our cool hotel room before heading back to the site to finally see the famous Angkor Wat itself in time for sunset. To get there we needed to hire bicycles, which would be a first for Linz on this trip and my first since Guilin, which we achieved at the end of our road for just $2. We headed off about with a little under an hour to get there however a combination of traffic issues and getting slightly lost meant we could only enjoy a not so pleasant sunset out of the corner of our eyes while we focused on the cars we were competing for road space with. We at least could use it as a practise run for the following morning as we were more excited about the prospect of sunrise over Angkor Wat anyway. The highlight of our 16 kilometre ride was stumbling upon a family of monkeys on the approach to the visitor’s entrance.

That evening we found a new hotel to stay in, as they didn't have room for us at Hotel 89 for an extra night, then  we ventured even further away from Cambodian cuisine than the previous day by going to a Mexican. On the way back however, our excellent day was tarnished as we were set on by a couple of locals who pounced on Linz in a thought out and meticulous assault. However, I’m afraid, once again, I am exaggerating the truth as this time I look to avoid Linz the embarrassment of retelling the story of how she was attacked by a couple “evil” of cockroaches causing her to panic wildly on the streets of Siem Reap.

 The next morning we were up at an excruciating 4:00am to get out the hotel and reach Angkor Wat for sunrise. The roads were considerably easier at this time in the morning as the only thing we had to deal with were tuk tuks overtaking us hauling a number of smug looking tourists appearing to question why we were cycling. Having avoided the queues of people needing tickets we found somewhere to leave our bikes under the watchful eye of a stall owner called Tom having bought a huge bottle of water off him. In addition we had to promise to take a look at his collection of guide books he had for sale when we returned.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat. Unfortunately Angkor Wat itself has had to be cut out so I didnt get the crowds or scaffolding in the photo

Angkor Wat hides itself behind a substantial wall and is only accessible from the front via a long causeway. Although this means there is only one way for the tourists to flock it does at least means you approach it from its best side. Our delight at finding an excellent perch to watch the sunrise, and eat our pre-packed breakfast, was unfortunately not enough to make up for the fact the central tower of the wonder of the world was blocked by scaffolding. The sunrise was fantastic and rose just to the left of the temple creating quite a spectacular view over the small lake in front and, although it would have been better without them, even the hordes of people and scaffolding couldn’t completely ruin it. Anyway, I had a much more pressing issue. A word of advice, there are very few wonders of the world and generally they are in the harder places on the planet to get to, but when you do reach them they are, I imagine, quite stunning, so make sure you remember to charge your camera. Why did know one suggest this idea to me sooner.



Angkor Wat featuring scaffolding



We had read that the majority of the horde would be part of tour groups who would head back to town for breakfast immediately after sunrise, so we took our opportunity to walk round the most famous temple of the site. Unlike the majority of temples here, Angkor Wat, meaning “temple of the city”, is both Hindu and Buddhist making it rather unique both in the site and in the world. Unfortunately the majority of the temple is barred off as UNESCO intends to maintain it as the most intact temple here, and consequently our self guided tour was over rather quickly. We returned, slightly disappointed, to our bikes while making sure we avoided Tom and his questionable guidebooks, before heading north into the large walled area of Angkor Thom.

Having passed through the South Gate we entered Angkor Thom (“Great City”) which is a walled section of the site including within it a few of the major sites people come to see when they visit the Temples. Our first stop, within the nine square kilometre area of the site, was the Bayon which didn't take long to eclipse Angkor Wat as my favourite temple. At first glance you could be mistaken for thinking the Bayon as merely various piles of rumble due to the decay, and eventual collapse, of wooden roofing sections. However, when you enter the temple you find evidence of walkways and corridors leading between massive stone carvings of the faces of past kings and deities. Like all other temples at Angkor, it is believed that the entire building was constructed before any carving took place suggesting building techniques quite advanced for the time. We left the Bayon just before 8am as we had read this was the time the tour groups tend to hit this temple, and almost to the minute it was correct as groups of tourists lead by flag waving guides descended on us as we made our escape.

The Bayon before the crowds showed up

Before leaving Angkor Thom we stumbled upon Baphuon which we believed to be the ruins of a temple which was now just a wall, however somehow hidden behind this relatively small wall was a huge pyramidal temple set back from the road by a stretching raised platform. The temple appeared to be half finished but he later read it was in the process of being restored, by taking sections down and rebuilding them, when the Khmer Rouge came to power and the plans for how to rebuild it were lost. So currently archaeologists are having to try and reassemble the temple with as much difficultly as if they had just bought the Lego Death Star without an instruction manual.

Linz's modern bike, which looks like it could scale Mount Everest, behind my bike which struggled with the smallest bump and looked like it was built around the same time as the temple behind (Baphuon)

Just north of Baphuon were the terraces of elephants and the leper king which in their day were platforms for royalty to oversee great parades in the area in front of them. Heat was starting to become an issue at this point even though we were no way near the midday sun, so we bought a couple of ice creams and drinks and headed up a small pyramidal temple, which was shaded by trees, to rest. There was little to say about the temple however a stall owner had sought privacy near the base of it to relieve herself, while at one with nature, rather than find a toilet block. We assume she didn't expect anyone to be sitting atop this relatively unvisited temple with quite an unimpeded view. Needless to say we busied ourselves pretending to look interested in tiny details in the stone in case she glanced up.

Following this we ventured north to Preah Khan where heat really started to take its toll and for the first time I found myself thinking “Oh, not another temple”. Although I’m not sure what else I was expecting to find; laser-quest maybe?  Our decision to do day two on bikes, although undeniably more effort, was highly rewarding as we had complete freedom and never had to worry about how long we took anywhere in case Moody got more grumpy. If we’d have continued along the road we were on we would start seeing temples we found the previous day, so we headed back south through Angkor Thom and out the East Gate until we reached Ta Keo.

Ta Keo sits in an area of the Temples where the jungle is really taking over, however it remains relatively intact. If we had thought Baphuon was a colossal pyramid it had nothing compared to what we faced here with regards to the steep angle of the sides. The three flights of stairs to reach the top were almost vertical it seemed and I was starting to regret leaving my Everest climbing gear back at the hotel. Although my ambition to reach the top was increased by the fact that I was pretty confident I saw England cricket captain Andrew Strauss up there. The view from the top, which didn't include anyone famous it turned out, was well worth the climb. The descent however was quite a different story as I became considerably more tentative on the return all the time questioning the functionality of Angkorian step design.

"Who's stupid idea were these steps?"

Having survived Ta Keo we ventured further into the jungle to find Ta Phrom, a temple made famous not by stunning architecture or deep interesting history but by Angelina Jolie’s version of Tombraider filmed here in 2001. All of our reading, as well as an embarrassing knowledge of the pre-mentioned film, suggested to me this would be my favourite tomb given the recklessness with which the jungle had re-conquered  the temple however, as with the Temple’s other big-hitter, Angkor Wat, it disappointed. It seems accounts of the uncontrollable forest are greatly exaggerated as it is quite clear paths are maintained and, where necessary to maintain an ease for tourists, trees have been cut back.

Ta Prohm was kept until last partly to avoid crowds and the worst of the heat but also as I expected it to be one of the best, but it turns out, like with so many big-name attractions across Asia, that the best sights are those off the beaten track. Our most enjoyable temples included Pre Rup, East Mebon and especially the Bayon where we could roam free and get decent photos free from people. However, as we cycled out of the main site we were very pleased with how we managed one of the biggest attractions of our travels and wouldn’t have changed anything. Except charging my camera so I wouldn’t have had to ration my photos or maybe choosing a slightly perkier tuk tuk driver.

Watch out for those pesky elephants

Before calling it a day we opted to go up in the Angkor Balloon which when at its peak, always fixed to the ground though, gave a reasonable view of Angkor Wat for us to end the day on. Shame it wasn’t quite far away enough to prevent me noticing the scaffolding though.

On the return to town we organised our transport not just to our next destination, but to our next country as Siem Reap was our last stop in Cambodia before entering Thailand. Despite having to slightly rush through the country we greatly enjoyed our time here which I put largely down to the people. I didn't think the Vietnamese could be beaten for friendliness but they already have been, and coupled with their amazing curries I can’t help but put Cambodia high on my list of favourite countries. However, I'm sure Thailand isn’t known as the “Land of Smiles” for nothing, although they seriously need to sort out their border crossing points...

Battambang

By now I reckon there’s no need to go into detail regarding how many people were hanging around the bus stop when we arrived in Battambang offering services, but just say that having rejected so many we ended up having to pick between two of the tuk tuk drivers on offer. They offered the same price ($2 to our hotel) and we ended up going with the more friendly looking one and within the first hundred metres were pleased we picked him. Any Cambodian who puts in the effort to learn some cockney rhyming slang is going to be good value for money.

We were soon dropped off at The Bungalow hotel where we had a good ten minute chat with our driver, now identified as Mr Kim, during which he gave us his number in case we needed any further transport we could call him on the “dog and bone”. Our room, for an incredible £5 a night each, was enormous and as well as an abundance of space it included a sitting area, huge wardrobe and a balcony (again with a sitting area). Having marvelled at the room for a while we headed out the hotel, to explore the local area which it turned out was slightly further away from the centre of town than we thought. Our quite brief walking tour consisted of a wander round the fairly quiet roads around our hotel taking in the Governor’s residence, a walk along the towns old French bridge and a really strange fountain with a statue of a lady seemingly being mugged by a fish.

Battambang from across the river

In the evening we arranged for Mr Kim to pick us up again and take us into town and on the way we planned a tour, for the next day, of all the sights around Battambang we wanted to see. Battambang is a pleasant town not far south-west of the capital city but when it comes to sights they are almost all outside the town itself so the only options are to join a group tour through an operator or arrange one yourself. That evening we ate at a restaurant called the Gecko Cafe, which seemed only fitting to an area of the world which appears to be inhabited by more geckos than humans.  I was getting seriously into my Cambodian curries and the Gecko didn't disappoint. Having had a lengthy chat with a local who ran the Gecko Cafe shop, we were picked up once again by Mr Kim who dropped us back to the hotel.

The following morning we were up at 7:30am to start our self-made tour of the area. We planned to get some breakfast before leaving and seeing as Mr Kim had arrived early he joined us for a coffee and explained that he had already been working for almost three hours. After a breakfast of eggs and toast we hit the “frog and toad” and headed for our first stop which would take us south to one of Battambang’s most popular attractions. Even though we were heading out of town that didn't stop Mr Kim from pausing every so often to point out, and explain, various statues, buildings and bridges for our enjoyment. Our first stop was the famous bamboo train which was originally just a means of transportation for the locals to move produce around, but now serves as a great source of entertainment for tourists. To explain, a train track runs just south of Battambang but rarely sees trains run along it, so the local farmers lunged on the opportunity and built for themselves bamboo platforms, powered by go-kart engines, which could run up and down the track transporting goods. The problem, you may see, is what happens if there is an oncoming bamboo train, or even a full sized passenger one? Not a problem, the bamboo train is so light, and made of so few parts, that one of them simply stops and lifts their train off the track to allow the other to pass.

Dismantling our bamboo train

Although our trip along the track only lasted about fifteen minutes (we had to remove our train twice) it was one of the most enjoyable modes of transport we’ve used so far. Although getting the occasionally butterfly in the face isn’t so pleasant.

Arriving at the main platform

At the end of the track we could explore a tiny village where we only saw locals and one other couple of tourists who we had actually sat next to the previous night in the Gecko. The local children pounced on us and lead us to the snake farm before showing us the village’s main source of income at the brick factory. Although I enjoyed the snake farm I did find myself questioning whoever decided it was worth being called a farm as one snake in a box doesn’t cut it for me. The brick factory lived up to its name as it churned out a good few dozen bricks a minute but still there is a limit to how much excitement can be gained from the production of bricks. A highlight, mainly for Linz, was the local children making us some banana leaf jewellery. The ring and bracelet barely lasted our trip back along the bamboo train line but we were happy to give the children a dollar as they had shown us round their village.

Back with Mr Kim, who didn't accompany us on the train, we headed for our next sight but on the way stopped at the old Pepsi bottling plant, shut down during the Khmer Rouge, and later at a lady making sticky rice cakes by the side of the road. It was good to watch her make them but, following a rather unpleasant experience with these cakes on the Mekong Delta, I had to pass on the offer to try one. I did however try some sugar cane juice she was selling which was much more enjoyable despite being, rather unsurprisingly, very sweet. A highlight here, again more so for Linz, was me failing down the riverbank while attempting to reach a bamboo “monkey bridge” over the stream behind the shop. It was clear from her evil laughing that Mr Kim was a little more concerned than Linz was.

A typical Cambodian petrol station. Green being the expensive stuff

Following this Mr Kim suggested we drive passed the Battambang cheese factory although he did warn us about the smell. I’m not really a fan of cheese but I could easily put up with the smell I thought. As it turns out Battambang cheese contains no cheese at all or even any dairy, but is in fact a paste made up of rotten fish. So actually the smell was horrific and we didn't stay long.

When we had planned our tour with Mr Kim we had mentioned all the places we wanted to go thinking it would be a good tour, however Mr Kim made it so much better by continuing to stop at things we may find interesting on the way. We hadn’t planned to stop at the sticky rice lady or the “cheese” factory but by adding these stops in it made the day so much more interesting. Our next stops were again Mr Kim additions.

Making cheese, apparently

We stopped at two more factories on either side of a small country lane, one of which produced rice paper, which would be sold to restaurants for making spring rolls, and the other making banana paper sold as a snack. Both factories, which were more like production lines made in the back of homes, were family run and let us wander round watching the whole, highly efficient, processes. One slightly odd moment came in the banana factory where I was given a free banana but found myself looking thoroughly confused when also presented with a sharp knife with which to eat it. How do you eat a banana with a knife? Why would you even need a knife? Having peeled and eaten it we left with the ladies in the factory assuming westerners don’t have bananas back home or surely they’d no how to eat them properly.

From here we continued on to Wat Ek Phnom (“Wat” meaning temple and “Phnom” meaning hill) which was to be our only temple of the day. The temple was the scene of many battles during the Khmer Rouge so now is largely destroyed but we could still walk through it a get a pretty good idea of how it looked in its prime. Next to the temple there is a very large statue of a Buddha which seemed in quite a state is disrepair but Mr Kim later informed us that it was in actually half built and that production of it had been stopped years ago as they hadn’t been given planning permission. When we were done exploring the site we returned to Mr Kim, who had just finished his lunch of noodles, where we found some very adventurous Americans trying out crocodile eggs for their lunch. We passed knowing we were heading back to town soon.

The crumpled Wat Ek Phnom

Our final stop, on what had been a very busy morning, was a crocodile farm where I was pleased to find a number of crocodiles which warranted the used of the term farm. Apparently there were about a thousand crocodiles here but it was hard to tell given how many were in each enclosure. Mr Kim, who had been joking all day, took the opportunity to bring out his very best in crocodile related banter including pretending to fall in and suggesting they wouldn’t eat us if we climbed in for really close photos. All the tanks featured pools of green water which the crocodiles could cool down in, except one which had bright red water due to the recent feeding that took place. As far back as our journey to Hue, in Vietnam, Linz has laughed at me for being repeatedly punched in the arm by our overly aggressive bus driver but it was finally at the crocodile farm in Battambang that she could experience the feeling. I’m not saying that I got fed up of being laughed at and punched her for it, I’m saying the lady who owned the farm seemed to think laughing at someone’s joke needs to be accompanied by hitting someone in the arm and Linz was closest. She deserved it.

Following our incredibly busy morning we returned to the hotel where Mr Kim left us for a few hours to have lunch, and let Linz recover from her beating, before continuing in the late afternoon. So far this blog has been fairly light hearted but again we couldn’t get away from the tragic elements of Cambodian history which has scarred the country. Around 4pm we were picked up and headed to the Killing Caves not far outside Battambang where the Khmer Rouge had murdered even more innocent men, woman and children by throwing them, still living, into over 20 meter deep caves. When we arrived it had started pouring down and seeing as the trip up to the caves, atop a small mountain, could only be reached by motorbike it was decided we’d wait for the rain to subside before continuing. In that time Mr Kim entertained us by giving us a detailed history of Cambodia broken up with riddles which he was pleased to see baffled us but turned out to be incredibly simple. How do you get an elephant in a fridge? Open the door. Then how do you get a giraffe in the fridge?

Linz being taken up the mountain

When the rain cleared, Linz and I were ridden to the top of the mountain on separate motorbikes and given a tour of the temples recently built up there as well as the caves themselves. The three caves, used for the disposal of different aged civilians, were quite hard to take as, even though there was almost no evidence at all of what had happened, the place itself had an eerie atmosphere that even S-21 or the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh couldn’t match. Our tour was by a lad of a similar age to us who studied at the town’s university and we enjoyed talking to him about it while we watched the sun set from the top of the mountain. When we reached the bottom of the mountain we tipped him just a small amount but it was equivalent to one weeks tuition.

One of the older temples built atop the mountain

The reason we had come to the mountain late in the day was because at around dusk a colossal number of bats fly out of a different cave on the side of the mountain. According to Mr Kim all the other tuk tuk drivers say that millions of bats fly out the cave but his tours are better because he says a billion fly out. I was prepared to side with him as bats flew non-stop out the cave in a constant stream for the 20 minutes we stood there and we hadn’t even arrived to see the first lot come out. Following this we returned to town and at our restaurant that evening said goodbye to Mr Kim, our favourite person so far, who we even decided to tip a whopping 30% ($10).

Some of the billions of bats

The next day we headed off to our bus to Siem Reap, although slightly later than we planned as there was a mix up with our tuk tuk to the station. We should have just stuck to Mr Kim. Again it was just a local bus but we did have the enjoyment of some incredibly bizarre Cambodian music videos thanks to the on-board entertainment. Other than this we began to plan our next few days as Siem Reap is a mere eight kilometres from the Temples of Angkor, and the world famous Angkor Wat, and I was excited about the prospect of ticking a second Wonder of the World off on my travels.

Oh, and if you were  wondering how to get a giraffe in the fridge you have to open the door as well, but first take out the elephant. Classic Mr Kim humour.

Phnom Penh

We assumed that on our arrival in the capital city at 1am in the morning that we wouldn’t be greeted by the usual crowd, however it seems tuk tuk drivers and hotel touts don’t get early nights. Having shunned a few of them we had enough space to confirm where we thought we were and decide we were easily in walking distance. With so many tuk tuk drivers around you have to keep your guard up to ensure you don’t get conned into paying over the odds for services but this time we had to avoid being conned by a westerner. Worse still she was English. She came over to us and tried to claim we were miles from the centre of town and that it would benefit all three of us if we shared a tuk tuk. We weren’t having any of it as I had followed our route into town on the map and knew where we were, and we were especially pleased to have passed on her offer when we heard her later trying to negotiate with a driver to take her for just two dollars. Effectively she had considerably less money than she needed and wasn’t going to tell us this until she had already had us pay the majority of her transport costs to her hotel.

We set off into the night following the river south towards our hotel located on Street 136. The street layout in Phnom Penh appears at first to be logical as it’s a fairly simple grid system with each road numbered, however we got off the bus on Street 108 and had reached our hotel just four roads later. The numbers it turns out barely follow a pattern and for all we knew Street 137 may not have been next to us but may well have been on the other side of town.

Shortly, having passed a number of restaurants and bars still in full swing, we arrived at the Europe Guesthouse to find the storm we had been driving through all night had presented us with a problem. Despite following us all the way from Sihanoukville it appeared that all the rain water had been dropped in a perfect square outside our hotel resulting in an impassable six inch deep flood preventing us actually reaching the doors. Apparently my suggestion of taking off our shoes and wading through it was not an option so instead we just stood there for a minute. Obviously standing anywhere and looking confused makes you a prime target for a tuk tuk driver and almost immediately one appeared asking us where we needed to go. His eyes lit up when we explained we needed to travel all of 3 metres as he instantly offered us dry passage for the extortionate price of one dollar. Having negotiated down to a still-extortionate 50 cents we took longer loading our bags than actually reaching the door but at least Linz’s nice clean trainers remained sparkly white. The hotel room itself was very basic as it didn't even have a window but the bed was comfortable and having been on the bus for five hours and then having to deal with floods, not quite on the same scale to those recently experienced in Queensland, a nice bed was what we needed.

Our first day in the capital would be the first time in Cambodia where we really started to learn about the tragedies caused by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970’s. We left the hotel and found ourselves a local tuk tuk syndicate who we negotiated a driver out of to take us to the Killing Fields located out of town. Over the few years where the country was ruled by the Khmer Rouge, lead by Pol Pot, millions of innocent Cambodians were brutally murdered in an attempt to literally kill off any chance of revolution against the government. Those killed included any supporters of the previous leadership, the military and anyone deemed intelligent including students, teachers and doctors. The Killing Fields, which now houses a monument of remembrance and a museum, was the site where thousands of adults and children were murdered and buried. Other than the monument, which accommodates 8000 human skulls excavated from the burial pits on the site, there is little to show in the way of evidence of the atrocities. There is also little to report as the main feature, for want of a better word, is just the realisation of what happened there.

We easily found a tuk tuk outside the fields to take us back to town despite what our original tuk tuk driver said, who was purely trying to make a bigger sale, and headed off to our next site. Unfortunately you will have to wait for some more light hearted blogging as our next stop was the Khmer Rouge prison referred to as S-21. This former primary school was turned into a holding prison for Cambodians deemed as a risk to the government and would eventually, due to overcrowding, be the last stop for prisoners before heading to the Killing Fields. The atmosphere while walking through the rooms, each featuring graphic photographs from the days when the prison was in use, was quite disturbing. Given the government’s intentions of dumbing down the country it made sense to put the school to new use, and we both found it eerie how easy it was to imagine children running round the halls as it looked so similar schools we would see back home. We left and found a new tuk tuk driver to move on.

One of the cell blocks at S-21

That's it for heavy reading in this update, from now on you can sit back and enjoy more bright and breezy blogging including tales of unrelenting heat, successful shopping trips and even an elephant. Our next stop, on what had already been a busy day, was the Grand Palace in the heart of town whose main feature was the Silver Pagoda. We researched our trip here in advance so had both worn shorts which cover our knees and tops which covered our shoulders so we were allowed entry. This was more of an issue of Linz as short-shorts and vests are not so much my thing. This was the first attraction we had ever really had to queue for and having to stand in the burning sun was hard enough, but standing opposite a fridge full of chilled drinks but with no one there to accept our money for them made it agonising. I often find myself comparing attractions to each other and I felt the Grand Palace was mainly competing with Beijing’s Forbidden City as both were built as cities-within-cities enclosed by thick walls and housing a number of religious buildings. Similar to the Forbidden City the Palace was full of tourists however I found it considerably easier to ignore the groups here as the building was so much more impressive. The Silver Pagoda being a particular highlight as it included a large emerald Buddha, as well as a life-sized Buddha encrusted with just under 9000 diamonds and the floor itself was constructed using approximately 8000 silver tiles which is where the building gets its name. Although I would like to say the pagoda was the biggest highlight I must also point out the delights of the ice cream stall and the Cornetto which followed our trip there. This was most certainly not our only essential ice cream stop of the day.

Not enjoying the heat but definitely enjoying a break from the tourist crowds

Following the palace, which incidentally was full of people who hadn’t planned ahead and were having to wear ridiculous Silver Pagoda branded T-shirts to cover their shoulders, we stopped for lunch before embarking on a walking tour of central Phnom Penh. Having passed through various districts of the city we came across a market we browsed for well over an hour. I’m not sure if it could really be described as a market as it was indoors and built on eight floors including escalators and a food court, so maybe shopping centre would be more appropriate. However, I’ve settled on calling it a market as the shops, although indoors, were more like stalls which all sold the same things, every sale was based on negotiation and all the stall owners did everything they could to get you in their shop. Following this modern-day market we headed for a more traditional market targeted at your everyday Cambodian selling bits and bobs and a lot of fish.

Despite having done more so far on this day than we had during our entire stay so far in Cambodia, we continued on and headed for a peak to the north of the town centre where we could get a good view of the city. On our way we passed locals playing football which was most amazing for the fact that they had about five matches going on simultaneously in a small area and despite each of them overlapping, and no kits to be seen , everyone playing new exactly who to pass to. The hill, which it turned out we were meant to pay to enter, didn't have the view of the city we thought it did, however it was crawling with monkeys which easily offered enough entertainment to justify the walk through the heat. Finally we decided to call it a day and found the river to walk along back to our hotel.

This was the best action-shot I could manage

On our way back, having stopped at KFC for a the biggest iced drink they had, we found a tourist office were we could look into visiting the wildlife sanctuary, located quite a long way out of town, on the following day. The office was closed however we were approached by a tuk tuk driver who said he often did tours to the sanctuary and offered us his services. Usually we would rather go through a company however Curly, not his original Cambodian name, spoke excellent English and seemed like a good lad so we accepted and he even offered us a complimentary ride back to the hotel. Oh, and we saw an elephant on the way back. See, I knew the elephant story was worth reading through all the hard hitting genocide parts of the blog.

We were up early the next day to meet Curly outside the hotel and start the hour and a half journey to the sanctuary. On the way we stopped for breakfast, which included buying Curly a sandwich, and once again just outside to sanctuary to buy luminous ponchos on his suggestion and it looked like it was going to rain. On arrival at the sanctuary we met our guide for the day who would take us on a private tour round the site. The place is more than just a zoo as, in addition to standard zoo animals, it also takes in a lot of injured and rescued animals including a three legged elephant. Despite the presence of tigers, crocodiles, leopards and countless monkeys our favourite by far was a gibbon who had, to use the wording of our guide, “lost his wife” about a year ago. Consequently he is now the loneliest animal you’ve ever seen but who gets so happy when people come to visit him. He offered his hand to us to hold through his cage and when we obliged he was desperate not to let go as he didn't want us to leave. Aw...

Me and my new little friend



A different gibbon who tried to steal the camera and then, having failed, tried to wee on us



We had an excellent time at the park, where it didn't rain, but left earlier than we thought meaning we could have some time to relax, following our efforts the previous day, when we returned to the hotel. Unfortunately on the return trip Curly exhibited some of the deceptive tendencies of tuk tuk drivers we’ve had in the past. Firstly he had to stop for petrol and asked us to pay for some of it and then suggested we add an extra five dollars to the agreed price as a tip. We had already planned to give him an extra five dollars but by requesting the tip he cut it to just two dollars which we had already parted with anyway at the petrol station. In addition to this he dropped us off at his friend’s roadside stall where he said we could book a bus to or next town. We decided it was probably best not to buy tickets from a stall which looked like it would fall over at any slight breeze.

Later that evening, having booked our bus from a shop with walls, we went for dinner and then visited the night market we had first seen on arrival in town two days earlier. The dinner, although good, could not match the amazing spring rolls I had had the night before but still offered a good curry. The food so far in Cambodia has beaten that of Vietnam and China as they seem to make a bigger deal of their famous dishes including particularly tasty beef lok lak and coconut curries. The night market offered Linz another chance to buy a cheap watch, which would be broken soon after purchase, and both of us the chance to witness some truly horrific Cambodian singing from a lady who appeared to have been paid to sing up on a stage overlooking the market. Some one better have been fired for that error.

Our bus to the town of Battambang was leaving early the next day so we were up shortly after sunrise to find the hotel doors still locked and the staff still asleep. With the bus leaving dangerously soon we resorted to loudly shuffling our bags and talking between ourselves rather than physically waking either of the men sleeping in the reception. Finally one of them woke up and we could check out only to find the bus was late and we ended up hanging around for about half an hour. We had opted, quite accidentally, for the cheap bus where we were the only non-Cambodians onboard for the five hour trip. The main difference on these buses when compared to the tourist buses, other than the rarity of westerners, is that they stop for every single waving hand on the side of the road, despite the number of people already on board, which adds quite a lot of time to the trip. I wasn’t bothered this time as I had recently purchased Football Manager on my iPod so I was in a world of my own.

Southern Cambodia

Rather than make our own way across the Vietnam-Cambodia border we had opted for a guided border crossing which included, in addition to our ferry back to the mainland, a car to take us to the border, a man to lead us through, and a bus to take us further into Cambodia. So when we got off our ferry we were greeted by our Cambodian guide who was easy enough to spot in his straw hat and abnormally flamboyant shirt for someone in this part of the world. The two of us were loaded into a car and handed all the necessary paper work we would need for the border so we could have it filled out in advance. The Vietnamese border gate was a surprisingly grand archway and after a couple of minutes at immigration our passports were stamped and we had officially left Vietnam.

The clearest indication of how we felt about Vietnam is shown by the fact we have seriously jeopardised later parts of our trip by opting to overstay our planned time here by a week. We ended up staying in the country for three weeks when we have just eight weeks to cover the entire of south-east Asia. Vietnam is a perfect combination of extremely friendly people, stunning scenery and an amazing history. Although I enjoyed my month in China so much, this country may have beaten it in every way.

Entering Cambodia

Having had our passports stamped we found ourselves in a kind of no-man’s land as we hadn’t officially entered Cambodia yet as we had to walk a sweltering few hundred meters to the entry point. It seemed we weren’t the only people to recognise the lack of government in this small patch of land as multiple casinos had staked claim to parts of it as they aren’t welcome in either neighbouring country. It was at this point that our guide dropped the bombshell that a Cambodian visa costs more than we had been informed and that we didn't have enough money. Having found out that, given their lack of a country, the casinos have no cash points we were starting to wonder how we were going to get out of the limbo we found ourselves in. Very kindly our driver offered to lend us the extra few dollars we needed to be able to enter the country as we soon arrived at the considerably less impressive Cambodian gate. This time our guide did all the work as he took our forms and passports and dealt with almost everything while we just sat at a small cafe with the driver. The only thing we were required to do was stop at the Ministry of Health office to confirm we weren’t bringing in any diseases. This sounds like a big deal but the government building was more of a government shack were we merely gave in some forms confirming we didn't have a cold. It turned out we also had to give him a dollar so we found ourselves once again at the mercy of our poor Cambodian taxi driver.

With our thorough medical over we were stamped into our next country and boarded a new minibus which would take us to our first town; Kampot. With a population of just 33,000, Kampot was by far the smallest town we had seen so far and predominately makes its money from farming and the travellers which pass between Cambodia and Vietnam due to its location so close to the border. Having been turned away from our first choice guesthouse we checked into one over the road called The Orchid where we had ourselves a small wooden hut for the night. Having dumped our bags we headed out into what can only be described as a ghost town as we barely saw anyone. I started to wonder whether the population of 33,000 had been massively over exaggerated. Our first stop was lunch in one of the towns few restaurants which proved such a success we ended up going back for dinner as well. The only real sight in town was the old French bridge which is quite unique. Weather and conflict has destroyed it so many times over the years that different sections of it have had to be rebuilt but each in a different time period making it a mismatch of different styles. Having completed our homemade walking tour of Kampot in considerably less time than planned we returned to the hotel to rest before dinner. At night a few more locals seemed to appear but it was hard to tell given the scarcity of streetlamps to such an extent we found ourselves walking down pitch black roads.

The Old French Bridge in Kampot

The following day we were up early to visit the beach town of Sihanoukville named after the long reigning king in the period before Pol Pot tore the country apart not so long ago. Once again our transport would be a minibus and we started to get the idea that the relatively luxurious coaches of Vietnam were a thing of the past. We boarded the minibus having watched our bags be wedged in the boot and then tied shut with rope to find we would be sharing the five hour trip with a few other tourists. However, not long after setting off we deviated off the main road into a small local village where we picked up a family of five who continued to cram themselves into the remaining three seats behind us making for quite a cramped trip. Other than this the journey went smoothly and we even got dropped off right outside our pre-booked accommodation. We had reserved a room at Mick and Craig’s guesthouse which seemed to be in a pretty lively spot however we were fairly gutted to find the weather was far from what we had hoped for at this beach town. Suddenly we found ourselves at a very loose end wondering what there actually was in this town other than the beach to such an extent that we settled on a makeshift tuk tuk tour including a brewery and a hilltop view point. Our time in Sihanoukville continued to fail as we arrived at the brewery of Cambodia’s number one lager (Angkor Beer) to find the guards very confused why tourists were trying to enter and who told us to leave. The brewery tours we had heard about proving to be lies.

Sihanoukville as seen from the peak

Following this though we had a more successful trip up the highest peak in the town where for the first time we could spot the sea since arriving. We also found a particularly cute puppy which we approached only to find two considerably larger and fully grown versions had appeared behind us effectively blocking our escape path.

Stopped in our tracks by a ferocious beast

Having edged passed them we returned hastily to our tuk tuk and started our way down the hill. However we soon stopped as we spotted a troop of monkeys feeding in a tree so jumped out to watch for a while. The only downside was a lady had appeared and was encouraging her small daughter to follow us around looking sad and repeating the phrase “money please”. This was a shame as we had passed her earlier looking so happy to see us drive by that she was jumping up and down, waving and shouting to us. The mother unfortunately felt a depressed looking girl had a better chance of scoring some change.

A monkey tucking into some jackfruit

We returned to our part of town to plan our next destination a bit better than we had planned either Kampot or Sihanoukville. We had already decided not to use our room that evening an instead make back some time we had used up in Vietnam and move on while just accepting Sihanoukville as a mistake. While we planned we did get to enjoy quite a soap opera as a distressed looking American guy wandered the streets looking for his girlfriend who had decide to leave without telling him where she was going. Curiously it seemed to be him doing the apologising when she eventually returned. The highlight of our time here was possibly dinner where Linz opted to be highly adventurous for her and choose something fairly exotic. Odd that she chose to venture into Mexican food though.

Later that evening we were picked up by our transport to the capital city of Phnom Penh which we were glad to see was a full sized coach as opposed to a minibus. Even more pleasingly the seats seemed more like armchairs than usual coach seats meaning I was actually comfortable on a bus for the first time in Asia. We could also enjoy quite a dramatic storm outside the windows which lasted almost the entire trip. The journey was only five hours and would get us to the capital at 1am so we decided it would be best not to sleep on board so we would definitely sleep when we arrived at our hostel. Neither of us managed this.

Phu Quoc

After a couple of hours aboard the Superdong we landed on the eastern coast of Phu Quoc Island in need of transportation across to the west side and our hotel, however some serious negotiation would be required first. If there’s just one thing I have learnt over the past two months, it’s that a well timed walk-away can almost guarantee winning any negotiation. Getting a cheap taxi proved another success.

Phu Quoc Island, located in the Gulf of Thailand, is actually closer to Cambodia than Vietnam and would mark the end of our stay in the country. We had very high hopes for the island as, being so small, we could enjoy both miles of sandy beaches as well as the tropical rainforest centre. The trouble with rainforests being they tend to rain and we arrived in the middle of quite a downpour. Not so much the island paradise we had hoped for.

We soon made it the 23km across the island and were dropped off, via a seriously unmaintained road, at our hotel. We were given a choice on arrival of either a room which was available now, but had no hot water, or one with hot water that wouldn’t be available for two hours. Rather than settle for cold showers we chose to hang around and wait for the good room seeing as the rain was preventing us from going anywhere anyway. Almost three hours later, which included lunch and a victorious few games of cards, our room was ready and we were shown to our private bungalow. Occasionally I’ve thought we have spent too much on hotels as they have been a little too nice, but this was even more the case at this place. If it being a private bungalow wasn’t enough it also came with a veranda, hammock, spare bed and a safe which was so grand it looked like it had been lifted straight off a cowboy film set shooting a bank robbery.

Eventually the rain stopped so we could get out the hotel and explore the island. Although the end of the rain was good for our plans it also meant the hotel got swarmed with insects enjoying the post-rain environment. This would not be the only insect related trouble we would have.

We felt the only way to explore the island was via motorbike, so once again we strapped on a pair of ridiculous looking helmets and rode out on our newly rented bike. We first headed north to Duong Dong which was the main town on our side of the island as we had read about a cafe which offered travel advice and free maps. The fact that it was an ice cream cafe was purely coincidental. Having retrieved a map, and a few scoops of cookies and cream, we ventured south past our hotel along the coast.

Heading south along a typical dirt track road

Our first stop was a pearl farm where we heard you could learn all about the farming process and view the creation of pearls. However, it turned out it was merely a shop selling jewellery with a couple of posters about the manufacturing process. To understand better how little there was to see I’ll explain that the highlight was in fact witnessing a monkey getting frisky was a cat outside the shop. They both seemed quite keen.

Monkey business

From the loosely-described factory we continued along the coast towards the southernmost tip of the island at a town called An Thoi. On the way we stopped at a scenic spot for some photos although had to make a bit of a frantic get away when a pack of dogs, from a species known for wiping out the majority of other wildlife on the island, appeared and seemed rather angry. I was still learning that a motorbike with its kickstand down won’t start, so there was a bit of a panic as to why the key was doing nothing.

Free from canine danger we reached An Thoi relatively incident free but almost immediately had a new challenge; hundreds of people. We seemed to enter the town right in the middle of a market crowded with so many people that the road was barely visible. Up until this point I’d barely had to deal with corners but now suddenly had to weave in between moving objects while being overtaken by the vastly more experienced locals every few seconds. Having successfully avoided ramming any stalls or clipping any people we emerged from the market and continued to aimlessly drive further into town. There was almost nothing in An Thoi, which is probably why everyone just hangs around the market getting in the way, however we had a great time as the local children were just coming out of school and seemed amazed by us. Almost every one of them shouted “Hello” and, slightly worryingly, ran towards the bike to such an extent we couldn’t help but think we were some sort of celebrities. It was pleasing to see that just being in their town seemed to make them all so happy. Except the ten year old who gave us the finger.

We stumbled across the fishing port in An Thoi

Shortly after leaving town we spotted a road heading towards one of the beaches we had read about so deviated to check it out rather than head straight back to the hotel. The road, which started as a standard Phu Quoc road, soon deteriorated to a thick sandy path making for quite a precarious trip down to the beach. The beach itself was a bit of a letdown as it was quite a lot smaller than we had heard and was covered in a disappointing amount of litter, so we headed back to the bike as the sun was beginning to set. The ride back to the main road didn't go to plan. About half way back we hit a deceptively deep patch of sand causing the motorbike to wobble and veer drastically off road, at which point we crashed into some rocks causing me to fly off the bike and rip open my leg, and Linz to shoot forward into the handlebars and injure her wrist. Although this is all accurate there is a possibility I am over exaggerating as it all happened at an embarrassing 5mph and the gash on my leg could be easily mistaken for a mosquito bite. It’s just motorbike crashes always seem more dramatic than saying we fell in some sand.

Not quite a multi-car pile up

The rest of the trip was fairly incident free until the sun had fully disappeared below the trees and we found ourselves biking through what seemed like the entire insect population of the island. The journey could include very little talking as I was being hit so regularly in the face with bugs that I wouldn’t dare open my mouth. Unfortunately I couldn’t ride with my eyes closed and it was too dark for sunglasses so my eyes took a couple head on. Having a still alive insect in your eye is rather unpleasant.

Before returning to the hotel we stopped for dinner where I could enjoy another bug related freak out from Linz as one about the same size as the moon flew around the restaurant. Apologies for the over exaggeration again but it was quite large. We followed dinner up with a second trip of the day to Buddy’s Ice Cream for dessert and to use their computers which had a rare ability in Vietnam to access Facebook. We returned to the hotel and played cards on our veranda which was only interrupted by the occasional attack from flying bugs which would result in Linz sprinting back inside. That night Linz controlled entry and exit from the mosquito net over the bed so strictly I felt like I was back at the China-Vietnam border crossing.

The following morning we were asked to move bungalows as we hadn’t booked a second night but had decided to stay an extra day and our room was no longer available. So we were moved into the room with no hot water we were offered the previous day. We were quite happy to oblige as the scuffs to the motorbike’s paintwork hadn’t gone unnoticed and we were hoping to be able to charm our way out for paying for them.

We planned to spend our second day relaxing on the beach as the sun had come out and the hotel had a section of the beach reserved for guests. Other than the perfectly clear and warm sea water, highlights included having fresh watermelon and pineapple cut up for us in our loungers and more entertainingly seeing a small jellyfish in the shallows. Initially I was sceptical and thought Linz was panicking over a used sweet wrapper or something similar but amazingly there was actually a tiny jellyfish bobbing along. We stayed on the beach all day until we could watch the sun set into the Gulf of Thailand then retreated back to the bungalow.

Having our fruit cut up in front of the setting sun

Dinner that evening was had just around the corner where we ate alone except for an incredibly lively group of German sounding children who seemed fascinated by the local cats. There was little to report from the meal itself but obviously it was followed up by a trip back to Buddy’s.

By this point you are probably questioning the lack of bug related stories from our second day, but don’t worry, there’s still time. We had to return the motorbike with a full tank of petrol so having dropped Linz off I headed out to find the petrol station I was told was just 200 metres away. Having failed to find this one I had to journey to the far side of town to find one we had passed yesterday to fill up “Mogas” petrol. Eventually I returned to find Linz in reception using the internet computer which was odd seeing as we had a laptop with wi-fi in the room. Apparently a rather large bug had slipped into the room while we were out resulting in Linz literally fleeing to a more populated area of the hotel. Unsurprisingly I was dispatched to the room to deal with the problem which turned out to be a rather mammoth cockroach. I’m not one to be freaked out by bugs but when one is hiding between the top of the door and the frame, and it falls in my head as I push the door open it can be a different story. No need for details but needless to say I haven’t moved that quickly for a while. The cockroach met a quick end by means of flip-flop. Before going to bed we had to settle our bill which included two nights accommodation, lunch from the first day and a tin of red motorbike paint.

We were up early on our final day as we had to return to the east coast to catch our ferry back to the mainland. Leaving the hotel however didn't go smoothly as the taxi didn't arrive until it was worryingly late and not giving us very long to make it to the port. Eventually it did show up and we made it to the pier on time although we then had to lug our bags along the length of it which extended at least 500 metres into the sea. As we were not returning to the mainland town of Rach Gia where we had left from we couldn’t enjoy the pleasures of the Superdong but instead had to contend with a very cramped and loud ferry. However the most annoying feature was easily the English woman next to us who was determined to outdo us regarding every aspect of travelling and felt the need to make me look through her photos from the island. She even mocked us about our traumatic motorbike crash.