Aymi’s Adventures

Gillian Cat and I arrived in Phnomn Penh very tired and weary. Its amazing how much a cold can affect you in this heat. Although to be fair the last 2 nights I have only had 4 hours sleep in total and had to leave at ridiculous o-clock in the morning. So after the scary tuk tuk ride from the airport and unfriendly Cambodian faces staring at us with a mixture of curiosity and fear, we were pleased that the staff at the Sunday guesthouse were really friendly and we fell into bed for a few hours.

After catching up on some Zeds we went for a walk to Boeng Kak, the riverside – or at least we tried. My map-reading skills took us past independence monument and various other things of interest leaving us at the wrong side of town!! A tuk tuk ride later and we got there just after sunset, missing the whole objective of the evening! Oh well, we did get taken home on motorbikes which was quite fun – there were 3 on a bike and the little one said roll over….! The Cambodians manage to fit a family of 4 on a bike with a baby and a dog as carry on luggage, and 8 year olds seem to ride scooters to school!!

Considering Phnomh Penh is the capital city here, and I normally hate capital cities, this just isnt the case here. I now realise that the look of fear in the Cambodians eyes was probably because we all looked so terrible after the lack of sleep and early mornings. They are the friendliest people I have ever met, nothing is too much trouble. Even the fact that you dice with your life every time you try and cross the road, I love it – sure beats road rage which just doesnt exist here, unbelievable considering all the traffic.

The Tuol Sleng museum (or S 21) was tear-jurking and sombering. So much so that words cannot describe it, as for photos, it just didnt feel right to be taking pictures of a sight where so much horror and torture has happened. It amazes me that such genocide can take place and so few people in Western Societies even hear about it – mainly because of the American involvement which will always be kept quiet (or tried to).

The Russian Markets were nice, but I wasnt really in the mood for shopping after Tuol Sleng, so we headed to the riverside, took a boat tour for an hour and then got refused entry to the Royal Palace, I mean I know im a traveller and my clothes ain’t the best, but come on – how rude!!!

Arrived in Battambang after a 7 hour bumpy sweaty bus journey, got taken on motorbikes – with all our cases to the Royal Hotel, again staff just cannot do enough for you. I Went for a ride along the riverside with a guy from the hotel to see how typical Cambodians live, felt like a celebrity as everyone was waving and shouting hi as we rode past. Stopped at a farm for some fruit tasting, which soon ended in tasting home-made rice wine and home grown marijuana. Well it would be seen as rude to refuse, and it is legal over here, they even have happy herb pizza places, not tried them yet though!

Another 7 hour journey, this time crammed like sardines onto the top of a “speedboat” (probably the slowest boat I have ever been on) took us to Siem Reap. The sun was relentless from 7am to 2pm and although I put on sunscreen continuously I still looked like a lobster. The hotel obviously knew more than us when they gave us krama’s (scarves worn by Cambodians as an affirmation of identity), they definately provided some respite from the sun, if not enough!

Watched the Sunset over Angkor Wat to get us in the mood for the next long hot day travelling around all the different Angkor temples on a tuk tuk, starting at 5am to get back to Angkor Wat for sunrise.  It was pretty spectacular feeling wandering around the temples knowing that in its day this was one of the biggest empires in the world boasting a population of 1 million people when London only had 50,000 inhibitants. 

The next day we visited the floating villiage and an apsara traditional Cambodian dance and buffet dinner.  The food was amazing, the dancing reminded me mainly of what I have seen before in Thailand which shows how much Cambodia has been influences by Thailand in the past. 

So now we are still stuck in Siem Reap waiting until we can get a flight up to Laos.  I wish I could stay here longer and explore East Cambodia, but I will definately be back.  We have also successfully managed to avoid eating the national dish of duck embryo’s – we think!