Siem Reap

Siem Reap is the capital city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia, and is the gateway to Angkor region.  The bus from Sihanoukville was an overnight sleeper and took 11 hours, the journey was quite pleasant thanks to our friend Viktor.   He gave us some valium tablets, we took one at 8.30pm as we left, i slept until midnight, got off for a toilet stop and then slept until we pulled into Siem Reap bus station at 7am the following morning.  Considering i never sleep whilst travelling, it was a wonderful journey.  The beds on the bus were like two layers of sun loungers, so if you were under 5.5 foot it was all good. 

We went straight to our hotel and spent the rest of the day strolling around town and relaxing in the pool.  The rooms originally cost us $7 a night, but they were very damp and not really habitable, so we all had to move to slightly more expensive rooms. They were but still under $20, which for a major city was not too bad.

The main reason to visit Siem Reap is to see the Angkor Archaeological Park Stretching over 400 square kms the park contains the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries, including the largest pre-industrial city in the world. The most famous are the Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations.

On the second day we decided to visit Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.  Before you can enter the park you have to get a pass, we decided on a 3 day pass for $40.

Angkor Wat is six kms north of Siem Reap, its one of the largest of Khmer monuments. Built around the first half of 12th century by King Suryavarman II, the temple's balance, composition and beauty make it one of the finest monuments in the world.

 

 

Whilst we we there, there was a wedding. It was beautiful a really special place to hold your special day!

After leaving the temple, we were supposed to meet our tuk tuk driver, but he had disappeared.  After a few frustrated phone calls and about an hour, his brother turned up, and off we went again.  

The city of Angkor Thom was built in the latter part of the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, Bayon is one of the most widely recognised temples in Siem Reap because of the giant stone faces that adorn the towers of Bayon. There are 54 towers of four faces each, totalling 216 faces. There is still a debate as to who is being depicted in the faces. It could be Avalokiteshvara, Mahayana Buddhism's compassionate Bodhisattva, or perhaps a combination of King Jayavarman VII and Buddha.

Driving around the city of Angkor Thom, there were some children selling bananas to give the monkeys.  The monkeys were cute and the children were too, and really wanted there photos taken (Despite the look on her face to the contrary she did ask me to take her picture, i promise!).

 

After a hard day of temple tramping we returned to a much deserved swim.  The following day was really hot, so we spent the day in the pool and roaming around town.

The third day we arranged to go 40kms out of town to another temple called Banteay Srei, it is built mostly of red  sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusually so when measured by the standards of Angkorian construction. These factors have made the temple extremely popular with tourists, and have led to its being widely praised as a "precious gem", or the "jewel of Khmer art."  The temple's modern name, Bantãy Srĕi — citadel of the women, or citadel of beauty — is probably related to the intricacy of the relief carvings found on the walls and the tiny dimensions of the buildings themselves.  This was defintely my favourite of all the temples.

After leaving the temple it was onto the Landmine museum.  This was founded by Aki Ra, who was recruited into the Khmer Rouge at the age of 10 and was made to lay landmines.  In 1987 he defected from the Khmer Rouge to the Vietnamese army and then the Cambodian National Army.  Later Aki joined the UN as a deminer, and has worked with various different organisations and village people to clear mines.  All the mines shown in the museum Aki collected, but its pretty scary to know that he believes there are between 5-6 million still in the Cambodian countryside unexploded.  He gets more calls than he can deal with from villagers who know there are mines on their land and need someone professional to clear them.

Next stop was the the Butterfly sanctuary, we got a nice tour off a very funny Thai guy and i got to meet a big stick insect.

The boys really enjoyed it!

The last stop of the day was Ta Prohm. Built during the time of king Jayavarman VII and is best known as the temple where trees have been left intertwined with the stonework, much as it was uncovered from the jungle. It might be considered in a state of disrepair but there is a strange beauty in the marvellous strangler fig trees which provide a stunning display of the embrace between nature and the human handiwork. Pop culture fans may recognise a few scenes from Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider. Large sections of the temple are unstable rubble and have been cordoned off, as they are in real danger of collapse.

Siem Reap is a pretty strange place as most people come to see the temples.  The town is pretty empty during the day, but at night comes alive and there are a few really big markets, selling everything you could ever think of.  The Cambodian traditional bbq was said to be a must.  So although some people will not agree, when in Rome, we tried it.  You get a little grill on your table, with noodles, veg and 5 meats.  We had Ostrich, Snake, Crocodile, Goat and some prawns.  The only one i would want to eat again would be goat, it was bloody lovely, just like lamb, so goat curry all the way from now on.

After a couple more days relaxing by the pool it is back to Bangkok to get Elliott on his flight home.  We were planning to take the bus to the border, then you have to walk over the border and a tuk tuk and then a train on the other side.

I shall let you know how that goes, but for now bye-bye Cambodia.

Otres Beach, Sihanoukville

The bus dropped us at Sihanoukville bus station, after a journey that certainly was not 4 hours, it was probably nearer 6.  Lee is working in Otres beach and had said that the rooms were cheap, so we got a tuk tuk driver, with quite possibly the coolest tuk tuk interpretation i have seen so far.
 

 
We then drove about 20 minutes to Otres beach.  Otres is basically one very long dusty road that runs along parallel to the beach.  The beach has a good selection of bars and restaurant, and the road is lined with guest houses and two little shops, it looks a bit like something from the wild west.  When we arrived Lee was not there as he had gone to an island so we ended up in some nice rooms for $15 a night.
 
After a couple of days when Lee returned we put our names down for the $5 a night rooms at a bar called sunshine.  The next day Elliott got one and then myself and Craig did too.  The rooms are really nice for $5, you get a mattress on the floor, a mosquito net and a shelving unit.  There are 5 rooms and they are basically plyboard separated areas in the loft of the bar, they certainly do the job.  The only downside is the shared bathroom and the fact that it is down a stepladder, but i am getting quite nifty on the stepladder after a bit of practise!
 

 

The plan was to spend a week here with Lee and then move onto one of the islands.  The beach here is really nice and there is a really good community of backpackers, expats and beach sellers.  One of our new best friends is this lady who sells, what i think is some sort of crayfish, with a pepper and lime dressing, they are divine!  And of course fresh mango everyday can never be bad!
 

 

 

 

Sihanoukville like a lot of Cambodia has a problem with prostitution of women and children.  From what i have found out most of the child prostitution happens around the beaches.  There are lots of children that sell jewellery, collect cans and beg on the beach and one of the local charities have been handing out the t-shirt the girl below is wearing.  Its pretty hard hitting but obviously necessary.
 

 
I havent seen anything untoward with regards to the children but there are young Cambodian women who are obviously prostitutes all over the beach with old, fat white men.  The women pour their drinks for them, apply their sunscreen and in some cases feed them, like a slave.  The sex industry is massive in Sihanoukville.

The police only earn $25 a month, they are totally corrupt and always looking to top up their earnings anyway they can.  The most popular way seems to be fining people riding motorbikes, with each offence costing $1.  So when Lee took Elliott into town on the back of the bike, they of course got pulled over.  They came away with a $5 fine, made up of - No helmet $1, No licence $1, Light out $1, No insurance $1 and finally being western $1.
 
After a few days myself and Craig decided to go camping on Koh Ta Kiev for a couple of nights, just an hour away by long-tail.  The island was really pretty and the camping was run by a group of travellers.  We picked an awesome spot and spent the next couple of days exploring the beaches the island and snorkeling.  The snorkeling was totally different to what we had done in Thailand as it was not coral but weeds.  It made it feel like quite an eery jungle type thing but underwater.
 

 

 

 
Unfortunately in 2008 a Malaysian company was been given the go ahead from Cambodian authorities to develop an integrated resort similar to Singapore’s Sentosa Island.  Ang Tom Nam Company is to develop an almost carbon copy of Singapore’s development plans in Cambodia’s Koh Ta Kiev Island, which has long been famous as a destination for snorkeling and scuba diving.
The island offers a huge potential for development.  Cambodian authorities granted the Malaysian company a 99-year lease on 1,000 hectares of land for the integrated resort, which would include a golf course, hotel accommodation and casino.  However since the financial crisis all this work has stopped.  So the island is now left with 3 massive unpaved roads that have been bulldozed through the jungle.  We took a walk and although i am sure before the bulldozers came in there was lots of wildlife, it was dead quiet.  There was literally no birds, no monkeys and no weird unidentifiable noises, now i hope that they are still there but deeper in the jungle, but it was quite a weird experience.
 

 

 
Of course as on every island sunset is a amazingly different experience each night.
 

 

 

On our return from the island as well as lazing around on the beach we went on a short boat trip.  We were meant to go on an organised trip with one of the guest houses, but for some reason the guy was not there that day.  So we wandered over to the next bay and found a fisherman (in his boxer shorts) and his son, who would take us out and around a couple of islands for $5 each.  It was the best unorganised boat trip i have ever been on.  The fisherman gave us watermelon, and then took us to his friend who he had to deliver phone credit to (in the middle of the ocean may i add!)  This friend of his was just having dinner.  So after the fishermans son killed the shark type thing by banging it very hard against the boat, the other guy cooked it on a built in stove on his small wooden longtail boat.  We all had a bit of a swim at that point (well i actually didnt because i have a real problem getting back in these boats with no steps, and noone wants to get towed back).  The fisherman then took us round the island and back to the bar on the mainland.  Armed with our JD and lemonade in a bottle (backpacker style) it was a perfect way to spend the afternoon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the time has been spend lazing and balancing on a beam (simple things)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And having massages.

 

 

One afternoon a boat that has been wrecked in a storm and rebuilt was blessed and launched back into the ocean.  The blessing was attended by a monk and the family from the guest house that owned the boat.  The blessing did go on for quite some time, but probably 80% of that time the monk was texting or actually talking on the phone while the other guy was chanting, it was quite funny. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 On the 14th February we have a overnight bus booked to Siem Reap, so until then...