Day 11 – 24th February 2014 – Phnom Penh

Lucky the Elephant

Lucky with our guide

Today we had a behind the scenes tour booked at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Reserve, which is run in partnership by the Cambodian government and a charity called Wildlife Alliance.  The park is not so much a zoo, as a habitat for rescued animals which have been confiscated from their illegal owners.  Animal trafficking is a huge problem throughout Asia, and animals are sold for food, as pets, or for traditional medicine.  The centre exists not just to house these animals and keep them alive after they have been confiscated, but also plays a huge part in educating the Cambodian people about the animals, and why they shouldn’t buy them for food or pets. 

Having his prosthetic foot cleaned

We were picked up by the centres van and headed out to the bark, which is just over an hour out of Phnom Penh.  Once we arrived at the park (which is a huge area you have to drive around, not walk) we pulled over to the side of the road, and where greeted by the sight of an elephant barrelling towards us and trumpeting away, a pretty incredible sight I can assure you!  This was our first meeting with Lucky the elephant, who was rescued as an orphaned juvenile off poachers at six months old.  She is a very friendly elephant, and the only one at the park that visitors are allowed to interact with since she has been with them so long.  We had a big bunch of sugar bananas and we were all given a few each to feed to Lucky for her morning snack, which was again an amazing experience.  She is very comfortable around people, and was constantly sniffing us with her trunk and searching around for more food.  It was also great fun feeding her, and it was interesting how agile she was with her trunk, able to manipulate each little banana into the right spot and then pop it in her mouth.

Painting with Lucky

More painting

She started off taking one banana off each person, but then realised it would be much more efficient if she added a couple more as well, so by the end was taking one banana off three people, before popping then in her gob, and this was just a snack! She apparently eats over 100kg of food per day!  So after we finished stuffing Lucky with Bananas and she wandered back off to finish her morning walk we headed on further into the park.  Our next stop was to go and see the rest of the elephants, of which they have 6 in total, including a couple of bulls and some more females.  One of the elephants lost a foot in a snare, so they have had a prosthetic foot made for him by one of the land mine hospitals, so we got to watch him having his foot and stump cleaned.  He gets around great on it, a little tender but much better than he would have been without it. 

A Tiger, just chilling

After checking out all the other elephants (who don’t come out of their enclosures as they are a bit unpredictable) we then met up with Lucky again, who painted T-shirts for all of us while we wore them.  This was pretty hilarious, and involves the keeper giving lucky various colour paint brushes which she holds in her trunk, and then paints up and down on the white t-shirt we were given to wear.  She did get a little enthusiastic with mine, and I ended up with a bright blue beard as well, but I forgave her.  There is quite a sad history of elephants painting in a lot of areas throughout Asia, where they are often beaten until they do what the keepers want, however at Phnom Tmao they use only positive reinforcement (food treats) and voice commands. 

Big fat python

From there we moved on to the tiger enclosures and again we were able to head behind the scenes and had just some metal bars between us and the tigers.  It was amazing being so close to such incredible creatures, they are enormous, and so beautiful!  It did seem a bit sad that they were just hanging on a concrete pad with metal bars, however they had open doors into their enclosures, but apparently they prefer to escape onto the concrete in the heat of the day, as its much cooler.  Fair enough, can’t say I blame them!  One of the tigers appeared to take a particular dislike to me, and every time I came near it would raise its head and give me this incredibly intense stare, as well as baring its teeth several times.  Pretty bloody intimidating!

Mr & Mrs Gibbon

From there we moved through to see several other exhibits, including some enormous pythons, some deer, various birds, and some very entertaining gibbons!  I do love monkeys, and while gibbons and I have a somewhat murky history, this was a pair that loved to put on a show for people.  It was amazing watching them fling themselves around on their ropes, they are so agile and never seem to miss a beat, they are also monogamous and mate for life.  After this there was a lovely lady gibbon who was very friendly, and loves to get a scratch.  She comes right up to the wire and hangs backwards so you can put your hand in and give her a scratch, this monkey and I seemed to get along a lot better, every time I stopped scratching her she would look around as if to say, “no you’re not finished yet!”

Having a scratch

From there we headed to the eating area which is a series of little pagodas which you sit on the floor of to eat, there was a lovely breeze coming through which was nice.  Lunch was traditional Cambodian but vegetarian, so a variety of rices, vegies and noodles.  Yummy, and very peaceful until a tribe of macaques moved in and started warring over the leftovers, slightly less peaceful and a little scary, so we decided to make a move. 

Sharing our lunch

From there we wandered through a few other enclosures which had a variety of other animals including storks, deer, and sun bears as well.  It’s amazing to think that all these animals have been rescued from somewhere, people can be so cold sometimes, which is why the education aspect of the centre is so important.  From there we headed back over to Lucky to join her on her afternoon walk.  Again it was amazing just strolling along beside such a magnificent creature, and it was great to watch her doing some foraging as well. She was digging up tree roots with her feet, then pulling them up with her trunk.  It was amazing how delicate she could be, holding down a root with her foot and peeling it up with her trunk before eating it. 

Baby Macaques

Once Lucky was ready to head back, we wandered over to our final stop for the day, the nursery centre where they keep the baby macaques, as well as the hairy faced otter, the only one currently held in captivity in the world.  This is a little sad, as he hasn’t got a mate to keep with him, and they are critically endangered in the wild, so he is not likely to get one.  We were able to go into the enclosure with the baby macaques which are just adorable, and once we loaded up on longans they were flying around the cage, landing on everyone’s heads and shoulders, climbing all over as and just having a great time in general.  It was hilarious, adorable, and I didn’t want to leave, but unfortunately we had to, and headed back on the long journey to the hotel to wind down and start to prepare for our departure the next day to Siem Reap. 

More Lucky

We caught the 12.30pm bus to Siem Reap the next day, after lounging around the hotel and packing most of the morning, and I’m actually writing this from the bus right now.  The journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is around 350km and takes about 7 hours by road.  I’ll let you do the math, this is a seriously slow trip.  The road condition is incredible, sometimes sealed, sometimes dirt, sometimes the pot holes were so bad in the sealed section, our driver opted to drive in the dirt beside the road.  This is one of the major national highways, and yet it is in probably the worst condition I have ever seen a road.  

The traffic is again incredible, and we are constantly swerving back onto our side of the road, or onto the other side depending on which is smoother, or what the oncoming vehicles do.

Playing with the baby Macaques

  It certainly is an experience, but at least it is air conditioned… Kind of…. We are about 3 and a half hours away from Siem Reap now, and should be getting in at 7.30pm, I think the hotel room will be an even more welcome sight than when we were sick! But it is still a fun part of the adventure, and a great way to see parts of the country we never would have otherwise, even if it’s just driving past.  

More playing with babies

Getting a grooming

Day 10 – 23rd February 2014 – Phnom Penh

The view for sunset cocktails

So I have to start off this post, with last night’s food tour, which was fantastic.  It started when I was picked up from the hotel by the Australian lady who runs the tour.  She has been in Cambodia just over a year, and was previously a travel agent who took other agents around Asia, but she said she has always been a foodie, and so taking other tourists around to her favourite eating spots came naturally.  Our first stop was for a sunset cocktail at a sky-top bar 23 floors up at Phnom Penh tower.  It was a fantastic spot, and a bit of an adventure to get to, as the top floor is currently undergoing a massive renovation.  So in true Cambodian style after taking a lovely elevator 22 floors up, we then climbed up some stairs through a complete construction zone, with people welding, grinding etc, and then emerged out onto an amazing rooftop with a spectacular view out over the city.  It was a brilliant spot and not one I would have found otherwise!

Night view from Sky Bar

On the tour with me also (Giss didn’t come as she still wasn’t feeling up to it) was  German girl, a girl from Singapore and an American couple.  So after enjoying our Cocktail and watching the sun disappear behind the haze cloud that seems to be constantly present here, we headed back to the tuk-tuks for our next stop, which was a local market.  The markets here I had already seen a bit of, but they are great fun, always buzzing with activity and with plenty of interesting foods to see, and full of interesting smells as well as plenty of locals who seem to find us as interesting as we do them.  We stopped at a dessert vendor first, to try some of the local sweets which were fantastic.  Cambodians take their sweets very seriously, as apparently they have a real sweet tooth. So everything from shaved ice with condensed milk, to lentils flavoured with sugar and coconut milk was available here, and I enjoyed all of it, though the lentils were surprisingly  yummy and probably took my vote for the best.

The dessert vendor at the market

After that we tried some local fruits available, including mangosteens, longans, rambutans, and some mini-apple type things whose name I have forgotten. Some of them I had tried before but they were all quite yummy.  Then I heard Ducky (our guide) say “oh good the bug man is here tonight” which is when, as the French would say; Shit got real.  I had a feeling some boundaries may be crossed with this tour, but here it was staring me right in the face.   Bug time.  This vendor had several delicacies on offer, including crickets, water beetles, chickens livers, grilled snake, meal-worms, and quails eggs  complete with fetus.  At this point I decided to just hang back and see how the other tourists took their tastes before diving in, in other words, I was terrified.  It seems I was the only one however, as they all got stuck in especially the German girl who put everyone else to shame.  She even opted to try the quail egg with fetus, that’s just a fertilised quail egg that has been cooked after the fetus has developed for a while, not sure why but I found that the most disgusting, maybe it was because Ducky warned me if you notice something crunchy when you eat it, you’ve just found the beak.   

The bug man! From L to R meal worms, crickets, prawns, snakes

I didn’t chicken out completely, and tried the crickets, which weren’t too bad, that taste was ok but you ended up with a heap of cricket shell stuck in your mouth after, and the snake, which was tough as leather.  Suffice to say neither of these items will be appearing on the menu when we get back home.

More bugs, including quails eggs, with fetus or without

  After that it was on to our final dinner destination, a proper Cambodian BBQ.  This is held in a large open plan restaurant, where everyone just grabs a table, and you can either BBQ yourself at your table, or just order the food cooked by the pro’s. Thankfully we went for the pro-cooked option, and removed the risk of us destroying the food at the table.  The large breweries here also employ beer girls who serve up jugs of beer at each table, they are paid no salary, and only earn a commission based on the amount of beer they sell.  So our glasses never sat empty for very long, but I’m not sure it’s the best way to promote responsible consumption!  Once we were settled in the food started to arrive, and boy was there a lot of it! We ended up with deep fried frogs, calamari, beautiful grilled pork, vegetables and noodles, as well as a whole fried/baked fish, which I think may have been some kind of catfish, definitely a rive

The fest at the Cambodian BBQ

r fish.  You are also given a big bowl of a mild coconut curry sauce to pour over the fish, as well as sides of tamarind sauce, a yoghurt type sauce, and a beautiful mix of salt, sugar, kampot pepper and lime juice.  It was all amazing, and I was so stuffed by the end of it, I felt like I was going to burst!  From there I retired to the hotel to get some rest and prepare for the next day. 

We started off with a lie in at the hotel, which is absolutely lovely.  I’m so glad we changed hotels as being sick sucks, but it is much easier to bear in a lovely comfy room with big windows and air conditioning!  It seemed I had picked up Giss’s tummy bug just to complement my head cold, so after lazing around for a while, I decided it would be too sad to waste the day in the room , so I decided to head out to the Russian market to “test the waters” so to speak, and see if I could cope with being away from a toilet for more than 15 minutes (after popping a couple of immodium of course).

The Russian market is named this because originally it was the popular market for foreigners who were mostly Russian in the days it was formed.  I don’t know if there is still a large Russian community in Cambodia, I haven’t seen much sign of it if there is.  The market is much less organised than the Central market we had been to previously, but apparently was much cheaper and with a wider range.  The Tuk-Tuk driver from the hotel dropped me over to the market and promised to return in 1 hour to pick me up, I figured I should be able to last at least an hour. 

The fish course

So I strode into the market, with tummy churning and cheeks clenched, to see what bargains lay in store.  Shopping in Cambodia is certainly cheap, though it is very dependent on your bargaining skills, and mine aren’t so crash hot.  I always end up feeling too guilty!  So wandering through the market I was having a hard time finding anything that really grabbed me.  It was a variety of stores, from the usual knock off t shirts and shorts, as well a shops selling a large variety of souvenirs, mostly carved wood items, oil burners, statues etc.  While much of the stuff is very nice, I think having to try and find places for all our existing stuff in a small house has made me much less impulsive!

Cocktails on the roof

My only purchase from the market ended up being a small oil painting on a canvas sheet, which I picked up for $2 (originally $4).  Other than that I still enjoyed wandering around and taking in the sights.  Today everything seemed to be much quieter, the roads were very quiet on the way there, and the market itself was pretty empty as well, which I was grateful for, as in my delicate condition and considering how tight the paths were here, it wouldn’t have been much fun when packed!  It was interesting the way the market was broken up, as at one point I realised I had left tourist part and wandered into the locals zone, where they sell scooter tyres and door locks instead of hand bags and chopstick sets.  There was also a large food section, which had some great, and some not so great aromas emanating from it.  All in all while I didn’t find much to buy it was nice to be out and about and I survived so I felt safe to at least head out again later.

The sunset.  Nawwww

Thankfully we were both feeling up to it, so that night I took Giss to the sky bar I had been to the night before to enjoy a sunset and a cocktail, which was fantastic again. The staff are all so lovely and welcoming, and always excited to have a chat with you about where you come from and what you’ve been up to in Cambodia.  I’m not sure if they enjoy the chat more, or if they just love a chance to practice their English.   So we sat and enjoyed our drinks and the view for a couple of hours, before heading back to the hotel for an early night, as we have the wildlife park tour tomorrow.  

Day 8/9 – 21st & 22nd February 2014 – Phnom Penh

Apologies for the delay in an update, things have been a little unpleasant, as both myself and Giss have been struck down with a couple of bugs.  Myself with my tonsils doing their usual trick, of inflating to imitate small golf balls, and Giss with the travellers tummy flu.  None the less, the blog must go on!

Inside the Central Market

So yesterday we decided to take it fairly easy, it was our first free day and I was pretty under the weather, so we had a bit of a sleep in and headed down for breaky fairly late. Unfortunately this meant we missed most of breaky, as obviously they stop topping up well before breakfast is officially over.  All good though, we had food in our bellies and were ready to face the day.  Not wanting to waste our holiday away in a hotel room, we decided to venture out despite not feeling overly flash. 

We hopped in a Tuk-Tuk and headed to the central market, a giant building of colonial design housing a huge variety of market stalls, from jewellery to watches, scarves and carvings, as well as food and the usual mish mash of fake handbags, belts and wallets.  The market was fairly unproductive for us, obviously our desire for imitation goods had worn out on previous trips, so we just did a bit of aimless wandering, much to the dismay of the helpful shopkeeps, who were always on hand to offer us a “special price for you sir”.  The shopping here is certainly much cheaper than that in KL, this is especially true for booze, but more on that later.

Outside the central market

Our wandering of the market led us to the food section, a particularly interesting place to be, with an amazing selection of meat, fruits and vegetables.  Hygiene standards are, well, non-existent, in fact they seem to be going the opposite way.  The fruits and vegetables all look lovely and fresh, with beautiful colour, but once it comes to meat, well that’s another story.  For a start, cross contamination seems to be the only way they can prepare food, with fish, half cooked chickens, raw chickens, and everything else sharing the chopping block.  Flies eat for free here, and I think our full realisation came when we found a guy washing freshly plucked chickens in a tub, with one foot in the tub as well. 

I finally got to test out my formidable (I tell myself) haggling skills when we found a lovely wooden carving in a stall.  “How much?” I ask.  “$35” he says.  “So much?  Never mind.” I say as we walk away  “Ok ok I do good price for you sir, $30.”  “Pfft” I say,” never mind, we’ll have a look at the next stall. “Ok ok how much you pay?”. “$15.”  In the end we settled on $20, which while still probably high is a fraction of what we would pay back home, and while initially I did feel guilty about screwing them down, they seem to enjoy it as much as we do. 

Our new carving, not bad for $20

So now it was down to the riverfront for lunch, with my appetite still lacking we settled for something fairly tame, a club sandwich for me, and a Khmer Sour Soup which has taken Giss’s fancy, and will obviously be something I’ll need to add to the bag of tricks back home.  After lunch we wandered back to the hotel for a rest, as I was still feeling pretty rough. 

Once we had some A/C recuperation, it was down to the riverfront again, to find a nice spot to watch the world go by, but first we checked out the night markets, which were pretty much the same as the central market, just hotter and with Khmer traditional music being blasted around 12 times louder than was tolerable.  So we exited fairly quickly, and found a great spot with a 2^nd floor balcony bar, and happy hour(s) from 7am to 12am.  Cambodia must be the only

Bargain beers, and the cocktails were
actually only $2

country in the world, where beer is actually cheaper than water ($.75 for beer, $1 for water).  However seeing that I was still not feeling the best, I decided to splash out the $2 for a cocktail, as by my logic that would be much better for me than the beer.  I had a White Russian, in ode to the Dude, an Giss went for a Pina Colada.  It was a great place to just sit and watch the traffic, the people wandering the riverside, and the river as well, and we both decided if we were feeling better it would be a great place for a few quiets later on in the trip. 

One of the less pleasant sights was the easily 60+ western man wandering along hand in hand with the maybe 18+ Cambodian girl.  One of the main attractions of Cambodia to many is its sex trade, and there is no shortage of westerners ready to take advantage of the desperation of these women (and girls and boys) to get themselves out of the poverty they live in.  While the Cambodian government is making a show of stamping down on this activity, you have to wonder how seriously it is being taken. 

Another much more positive experience was the young boy who took up position opposite us, and put on an impromptu dance show.  He was a brilliant dancer, and everything from MJ to popping was in his repertoire.  He was dancing away for ages, with no music, and stopping only so often to wave to us.  I would kill to be able to dance half as good as him, let alone to no music, but when we finally wandered down to give him a tip on our way home, it turned out he was deaf as well!  A talent like that would no doubt be a brilliant sob story on some reality tv show, but this kid was ecstatic just to get a couple of dollars off us, how the hell he learned to dance like that while not being able to hear beats me. 

Cocktails on the Mekong River front

So from there we wandered back to the hotel to try and get an early night, knowing that tomorrow we had to relocate hotels.  We started fairly early and hit the hotel breakfast again, while I was feeling a bit better now Giss was battling a dreaded case of the tummy flu!  So while she retreated to the bedroom to relax in the A/C I wandered down to hit an ATM for some money.  Unfortunately the only one nearby was an ANZ which charged $5 per withdrawal, about the only thing I’ve found here which isn’t cheaper, what a surprise!

From there we just relaxed at the hotel until it was time to head to our new digs, which are an incredible improvement!  For an extra $5 a night, it feels like we have moved from a backpackers into a resort!  The room is huge, and beautifully decorated, we have a balcony looking out onto the street, all the doors are beautiful hand carved timber, and most importantly it has

The new hotel, a big improvement!

a pool!  The area seems much nicer as well, while it is a bit further from the action there are plenty of lovely looking restaurants around, and the streets are bit quieter and cleaner here.  All in all a good move, especially for a sick Giss!  So tonight I’m heading out solo for my night market food tour, a bit hesitant as to what that might involve given what I saw at the central market, but it’s run by an Aussie ex-pat who gets great reviews on trip advisor, so I guess it can’t be too bad. 

Tomorrow is another free day, so the blog may be a little slow again, but on Monday we are off for a behind the scenes tour at the local zoo, which hopefully will be amazing.   

Day 7 – 20th February 2014 – Phnom Penh

Hand carving a silver elephant

Today was another day where we got to experience the polar opposites of Cambodia, from the desperate poverty, to the over the top grandeur.   We started out in a Van today (I definitely prefer Tuk Tuk, although it might have been a bit hard on this trip) and we headed out just over an hour out of Phnom Penh, to see a silver and copper smith village.  The journey itself is half the fun, and the chaos of the city just spreads out into the country roads.  What side of the road do they drive on here? On the right, unless they feel like going to the left.  No right turn sign? Well if you need to turn right I guess it’s ok.  One way street? Yes, unless you need to go the other way. 

A completed eye

And yet still everyone seems to know what’s going in, haven’t seen one angry incident or near miss, I’m sure they happen, but it seems like this no rules business works just fine.  The urban sprawl here is also quite incredible, almost all the way to our destination, there was just constant buildings (shacks is probably a better word) with businesses set up, selling everything from motorbike tyres, to petrol, timber and steel, bricks etc.  There were very few areas where it was just open space. 

So we eventually arrived at the village, and went into one of the silver smith stores, it

Giss with the boss of the shop and an orphan
child they have taken in

was pretty amazing to see the work they do.  Everything is done by hand here, there is absolutely no automation.  They start off with solid silver bars and melt it down in little forges with hand powered bellows.  It is then poured into moulds which they mix up a resin of fish paste, clay and the root of some tree to fill it with.  Then the women hand carve, using a variety of punches and hammers, the ornament to decorate it.  It was amazing to watch how quickly this lady could create an elephant ear and eye from this vaguely elephant shaped lump of silver.  Once we had been shown the ropes of creation, it was on to the hard sell.  It does get a bit tiring being sold to all the time here, but it is also understandable considering the conditions they live in, and the amount of money they know we have. 

The kids loved to show off for us

It also seemed a little risky buying silver in place like this, but at the end of the day we ended up with a beautiful hand carved cup which even if it isn’t all silver, is a fraction of the price you would expect to pay for something like this in Australia.  Once the transaction was complete we took a few more photos with smiles all round, and it was on to the next smith.  To be honest we had no idea we would be going to more than one, so we then had to disappoint everyone afterwards by not buying anything (except a beautiful copper elephant) which then made us feel quite guilty.  One probably would have been enough but it was still quite interesting.

Hand carving copper elephants

After that we headed to ascend the Oudong Mountain, which has a beautiful Buddhist temple at the top, but first we did a wander through the markets at the base, where there is a huge variety of food on offer, most of it way too exotic for my tastes!  We did try some lovely biscuits and some soy bean cakes as well, and then we headed to the base of the mountain to make the climb.  As we started up, we noticed a cute little monkey hanging around, took some photos and continued on, however a few steps further and we noticed what I would exaggeratingly call a “stampede” of at least five or more monkeys barrelling down the stairs and making a bee line for us.  Given my history with monkeys, this was slightly unnerving, they were very cute, but the intent stares they were giving our left over food was a little worrying, so we decided to turn back and get rid of the food before trying again. 

The food market at Oudong Mountain

Easier said than done, every time we moved to the side, a monkey would mirror us, effectively blocking off our only escape route!  Finally we managed to outsmart the little buggers and get past, but they still followed us all the way down to the markets while we tried to finish off our food!  They are clearly very used to people, and we were a bit less worried by them at that point, so we were able to enjoy their company and get a few pics/movies as well. 

So now we could finally re-start our climb, while it is only 500 stairs to the top, it was bloody hot, and quite a few breathers were taken!  But once we got there the view was spectacular, and the temple was also very beautiful.

One of our monkey mates

  It was so peaceful up there, with just the sound of small bells on the decorations swaying in the breeze, I was very close to settling down for an afternoon nap (as several of the workers there already were) but instead we took our photos and headed back down to the base, all the while still enjoying the antics of these monkeys, who would peek out at us from behind pillars like shy children. 

Monkey Calisthenics

Our next stop was a little less enjoyable but still a very interesting one, we went to a very poor village which was built to house people displaced from Phnom Penh.  Apparently according to our guide it is very common for the government to seize land off people, giving them minimal or no compensation, and then sell it to private investors (many of which are the Prime Minister’s own companies).  This village was a series of run down shacks that had been built for these people who were residents of a slum area on the Phnom Penh riverfront, ironically right across the road from the Australian Embassy. 

The view from Oudong Mountain

The problem they face is while they have been provided a home of sorts, it is over an hour by van out of the city, and while in the city they were able to find work in this area there are no jobs to be found.  So they are now stuck in the cycle of having no money to get out, and no jobs nearby to allow them to earn money.  When we visited the village was mostly women as the men go to Phnom Penh during the week to try and find work, but even when they do it only earns them a dollar or two per day.  It’s amazing to hear the stories of these people, forcibly displaced and desperate to find work to improve their lives, but completely unable to and with no recourse against the corrupt

The temple atop Oudong Mountain

government that displaced them.  Countless sites we drove past which were being developed were companies of the Prime Minster, or his son, or friends etc.  When you see his house (one of two) a towering mansion of seriously ridiculous grandeur, you have to wonder how the world has stood by and let this man get enormously rich off the backs of these people who live in squander, and it gives a lot of perspective to the protests seen in Cambodia recently.

From there we headed to a second village, which was built by habitat for humanity, and spoke with the people there to hear a similar story.  These people are required to pay back mortgages to habitat for humanity including $500US of interest on the loan (an enormous amount when you earn $2 per day). But again they find themselves in a remote area with minimal to no options for employment.  One particularly sad statement came from a young girl who our guide asked what she would like to end up doing when she grew up.  Her only dream was to be a worker in a garment factory, meaningless employment for a tiny wage, but more than her parents were able to find. 

Where the phrase "cheeky monkey" originated

We then travelled to another Buddhist temple, and again, the difference was incredible, from collapsing shacks and shanty towns to an enormous ornately decorated temple, which houses the “king of the monks” in Cambodia (who apparently drives a nice new Lexus).  We took plenty of photos and it was a beautiful sight, but again it’s hard to enjoy with the memory of the people we had just met. 

From there it was back to the hotel, before we were picked up by our Tuk Tuk driver, and taken for dinner, this once again reaffirmed my belief that Tuk-Tuk is the only way to travel!  We headed to a buffet restaurant recommended by our guide, and we ended up with what I think was the most extravagant meal I have ever had in my life.  This place was enormous, with around 6 fully stocked food stations offering every variety of food you could

A slum village for displaced people

imagine, as well as some you probably couldn’t.  We started at the Vietnamese station, which offered things like rice paper rolls, fresh to order Vietnamese salads, Pho, spring rolls and more.  Then there was a sushi station with beautifully presented sushi and sashimi, followed by a fresh fruit station. 

There was a man with his own little counter making fresh Peking duck pancakes, and then on to the hot food section which had even more to choose from.  Fried rice, pork ribs, whole pork hocks, scallops, prawns, I would guess at least 25 hot dishes.  Then there was a BBQ station, where they were grilling huge Scampi, or prawns, as well as satay sticks and you could order your own fried noodles with a variety of ingredients. 

Kids in the village (with rotten teeth already)

Finally the dessert station again had around 25 dishes to choose from, from beautiful little cakes, puddings, ice creams, and rice cakes plus many more which I had no idea about.

Just trust me that words cannot do this place justice, and unfortunately photography was not allowed, but all up for $30 (it was all you can eat remember) it was an amazing experience, and again just highlights the difference between the wealthy and poor in this country.   

Another magnificent temple

Detail at the temple

Day 6 – 19th February 2014 – Phnom Penh

So today was our first real day in Cambodia, and it was incredible.  I have no idea how I’m going to be able to write this post without going on forever, but I’ll give it a go.  First up, we headed down for the hotel brekky, which was included with the room at around $30/night.  The room is really nice, pretty basic, but plenty of room and quiet, with good a/c.  Good news on the breakfast front too, I am definitely a Cambodian fan when it comes to the crucial morning meal.  Fresh fruit, yoghurt, breads, French toast, bacon, sausages, fried noodles, eggs or omelettes cooked to order.  It was the duck’s nuts.

View from outside our hotel

So after a solid feed, we headed down to meet our guide for the day, Mrs Davy (pronounced Dah-Vey) and our tuk-tuk driver Mr Paul.  I discovered another thing I’m a massive fan of, Tuk-Tuks!  This is such an awesome way to travel, you are just so in the thick of it, with trucks, cars and bikes going everywhere around you.  The view is amazing and it’s a bit of excitement as well, there were a couple of times when our driver headed off the main road to avoid traffic, that I swore we were about to capsize, thankfully she stayed upright though, and we made it to all our destinations in-tact.  There was also a very heavy police presence on most street corners, which was slightly unnerving, as they were all heavily armed and suited up in riot gear, Davy was not sure why they were around but I had heard on the news that protests in Thailand had escalated so it was possible they were discouraging any similar actions here.

Armed police

Our first stop was the killing fields in Choeung Ek, which house several mass graves of victims from the Pol Pot regime as well as a large memorial.  The memorial that has been constructed is beautiful from afar, but as you get closer the reality of the site sinks in, as each of the 17 levels is filled with the bones of victims recovered from the mass graves on the site.  To see so many skulls piled high, I don’t think it can sink in fully the level of carnage this country has endured, but it certainly is a blunt image.

Memorial at Cheoung Ek

 While it’s hard to get a reliable figure, the UN estimates that around 2-3 million Cambodians died under the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979 (interesting to note that the UN, backed by several western countries allowed the Khmer Rouge to keep its seat with them until 1993).  We were very lucky to have our guide Davy share her personal tale, of being dislodged from their family home in Phnom Penh, not allowed to take anything other than what they could carry, and then her constant struggle for survival until the country was liberated.

Mass Graves that have been dug up

Wandering around the mass graves that still hold countless victims’ bodies, it was a little unnerving when Davy pointed down to the ground, at a bone protruding just above the surface of the dirt.  There were several more bones that we saw semi-buried as we wandered around, and apparently it is a regular occurrence after heavy rain for bones and clothing items of victims to be uncovered.  What was also surprising is the level of access people have to this

Victims' skulls on display

material, the skulls are openly displayed and bones including skulls, teeth, etc. have been piled on top of other displays.  Not something you would see in a western museum, however the Cambodians still hold a great respect for the victims, and efforts are still being made as funds allow, exhuming and restoring the bones to a peaceful resting place. 

 Our next stop was at the S21 Prison, which was formerly a high school, but was converted by the Khmer Rouge to house enemies of the movement, usually meaning any citizens that had educations, doctors, lawyers, teachers etc.  They also employed heavy torture here, so many victims were simply

The kids are always excited to see us and wave

people named as traitors by other citizens undergoing torture and trying to end their suffering.  It was incredible the way they had converted a high school to a place of such horror, with barbed wire and razor wire strung up all around, and cells built out of brick and mortar, or timber inside classrooms.

What was more upsetting though was the photos lining wall after wall of the victims of S21.  The Khmer Rouge thoroughly documented all their prisoners before execution, including photographs and full biographies.  It was both eerie and heart breaking to see the pictures of these people staring out at you, knowing that they likely knew their fate.  Young, Old, Men, Women, the looks varied from defiant and angry, to lonely and terrified.  But overall it was just so sad knowing what incredible atrocities people are capable of, especially considering this was all perpetrated by their own countrymen.

The cells constructed at S21 - a former high school

We spent a good few hours at the museum, and were able to read the “confessions” of many of the prisoners there, all most likely produced under torture.  They read like complete propaganda, professing the sorrow these prisoners had for their supposed crimes, and the greatness of the Khmer Rouge regime.  It was interesting to also read the false confession of Australian victim David Scott, and also saddening to read that his family in Australia are still searching for answers from the Australian government as to why he and his travel companions plight was ignored, while Malcolm Fraser was seeking “diplomatic relations” with Pol Pot and speaking on his behalf to the UN. 

Child victims of the Khmer Rouge

Suffice to say it was a very powerful visit, and we were feeling a little exhausted after this, so a lunch break was taken at a restaurant our guide recommended.   We had an amazing meal, with Giss having Stir Fry Chicken with cashews, and I tried a traditional dish of Pra Hok Ktis, which is pork mince cooked with peanuts and coconut milk.  Our guide had a traditional sour soup with fish which she kindly allowed us to try, it was all amazing.  One of the nicest meals I have had anywhere I have to say. 

So after that we headed to the royal palace, which is and incredible series of buildings including the residence of the King of Cambodia. 

Lunch 

Before Pol Pot (it was interesting that Davy described most events as “before Pol Pot” or “after Pol Pot” as the period had such a devastating impact on the country) the King was very powerful and greatly loved and respected by the people, however afterwards (the king fled to Vietnam for a long time) the government refused to return any power to the royalty, and so now it is purely symbolic.  The royal palace is incredible, it’s grand and ornate, with several huge buildings and stupa’s, but somehow it all just seemed almost disgusting, that so much money could be spent on such grandeur while so many people lived in complete poverty.  Anyway it was very beautiful, and the history of the kings was fascinating, so it was well worth the visit. 

Us at the Royal Palace

We visited a couple of other places before heading back to the hotel, but one of the real highlights happened outside a cultural centre, where there was traditional dancing.  We just happened to randomly drive past, and our driver pulled over so we could watch the dancing.  Then they started inviting people up from the crowd, and one of them headed straight for us and dragged Giss up onto the stage, so there she was in the middle of a traditional Cambodian dance! It was great to watch and they were so excited to have her there.  While I was standing in the crowd, a young Cambodian guy (around 20 if I had to guess) came up to me and struck up a conversation, we chatted for a while and he asked me where I was from. He was so excited when I told him Australia, as he said I was the first Australian he has ever met, and he would never forget meeting me!  He was just such a lovely guy, and we swapped email addresses as he said he would love to correspond with a foreigner.  I think for me this really summed up Cambodia so far.

Another building at the Royal Palace

Our local dancing star

We’ve only been here a day, but the people of Cambodia have stood out so much as the real highlight of this country.  It is a country that has seen incredible civil war, genocide under a brutal dictator, and now suffers under an incredibly corrupt government (rated 160 out of 175 on the corruption perception index).  There is minimal infrastructure, poor healthcare, widespread poverty and the average worker earns $1 - $2 US per day.  And yet they are such a lovely and welcoming people as well, and all we have been met with is smiles and laughter.  The children are especially lovely, and are always excited to wave and yell “hello” when we go past.  Even the 6 year olds who wander the street at night selling nick-nacks are bright and bubbly, with a huge smile ready to recite their ABC’s or just to mimic your conversation to someone else if you try to ignore them. 

Today we are off to see the Oudong Mountain, and a silver/copper smith village.