The Party of 5 headed off to catch our 5.55am train to the border - this was proper travelling at last. The reception at our guesthouse had said that the tuk tuk to the train station would take an hour, so we decided to leave at 4.45am to ensure we had time to get our tickets.
10 minutes later, we arrived at the station, and decided to stock up on snacks as we weren’t entirely sure about the on board catering. The train journey, which would take 5.5 hours cost a massive £1 - National Rail could learn a thing or too…..the train was 3rd class only, but pretty comfortable, and actually arrived on time, so First Great Western should definitely come out here on a fact finding study.
The journey was mainly spent in getting to know each other - Ben, Ollie & Rox had met in Goa, so were already pretty well acquainted, but Kathryn and I were both newbies to the group. However after 5 hours, we pretty much knew all there was to know about our lives to date.
At Aranya Prathet, the terminus of Thailand, we crossed the border into Cambodia - despite horror stories to the contrary, it all went pretty smoothly, and we said “sawadee kaa” for the last time, and started practising our “sous lei”s
Siem Reap, the town best placed for viewing Angkor Wat, is about a 4 hour taxi ride from the border town of Poipet. The 5 of us managed to squeeze into a Toyota Camry (which seem to be the only cars in Cambodia). 4 well grown adults in the back of a car was always going to be a bit of a squeeze, but with a bit of leg entanglement and balancing on one butt cheek, we managed pretty well.
The road between Poipet and Siem Reap is notoriously poor - Bangkok Airways have a monopoly on the flight between Bangkok and Siem Reap, and there have been all sorts of allegations that bribes have been paid to ensure the road stays in terrible condition to encourage more people to fly. With the monopoly finishing next year, works are finally underway to improve the road.
Which is where we hit a snag, or rather, we hit some protruding metal work on a bridge, resulting in a breakdown of the Camry. Oops. We managed to push the car up and over the bridge, with (not much) help from some road workers, then hitched a lift to the next town where it could get repaired. Which it did do in a fairly short time period. Which was all a bit of an adventure. We got chatting to a lovely 13 year old boy who was keen to practice his English - his ambition was to become a tour guide at Angkor Wat, and for that, you need to have really good English.
We eventually arrived in Siem Reap, to the European Guesthouse, which was to be our home for the next 10 nights (despite the fact that we’d only plan to stay for 5)
The next morning was Christmas Eve, and we decided to go for Sunrise at Angkor Wat.
Now, I’ve seen some temples in my time - Karnak, Abu Simbel, Luxor. But for sheer scale and grandeur, Angkor beats them all. It was a stunning experience to watch the sky lighten and the sun rise above the three famous pinnacles that so represent the country.
We explored the three key areas of Angkor, which took us about 7 hours, stopping for the obligatory Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones style shots. We also had the added amusement of our Christmas hats, which SOOOO many people were jealous of.
After so much exertion, it was time for a restful afternoon, and an early dinner. The plan was to pop home after dinner to actually make an effort before hitting the town, but the cocktails were going down extremely well, the music was fantastic, and well - the rest is history…….Suffice to say, we all saw at least 4am on Christmas Day morning J
On Christmas Day itself, Rox and I decided to go for a Christmas hair wash & straighten (we know how to have a good time) before heading to the Funky Munky bar for our proper Christmas lunch. Yum Yum. It felt really weird to be eating Turkey and roast potatoes, wearing a santa hat, on the balcony of a French colonial style building on Christmas Day.
To complete the traditional Christmas day, we all decamped back to my room to watch Love Actually. Ahhhhh. Or so we girls said. The boys said the ending was naff, but what do THEY know?!
It was a fantastic Christmas, definitely one of the most memorable I’ve ever had, and I’d even go as far to say, possibly my best Christmas ever.
Boxing day was spent in recovery mode, before Kathryn, Ollie & I along with a girl from Hong Kong we met called Sara decided to go for a bit of an expedition to a silk farm and a lake. We met up with Cat from work for dinner, which was great - so nice to see a face from home J Later that night, we hit the Angkor What? bar again, but this time with the watchword ‘Moderation’ which we completed with some aplomb, and NO drunkenness (impressive eh?)
Saturday and Sunday were spent just pottering around Siem Reap - which was lovely, really nice to spend some time in one place, getting to know it. Saturday night we were out again, again being extremely restrained, apart from when we got the munchies at 4am and decided to order pizza in.
On Monday, we just about summoned up the energy to go out for the day, heading off to a waterfall in the national park, Phnom Kulen. The waterfall was just amazing - Kathryn, Ollie & I braved the waters and swam to the falls, scrambling over rocks to feel the force of the water. I really enjoyed the journey back - it felt fantastic to be hanging my head out of the minibus window, listening to great music on my ipod, watching Cambodia unfold in front of me. The people are so friendly: waving as we passed by them preparing food in front of their homes, smiling from their bikes as they saw me hanging out of the window. We also made a stop at the landmine museum. Cambodia has suffered hugely from the landmines that were dropped during the civil war. Even today, 2 people each day die from the unexploded landmines that remain. The evidence of landmine victims is everywhere - most often seen selling books in the cities of Cambodia. The landmine museum was set up by a former Khmer Rouge soldier who used his knowledge to find and destroy landmines, and teach others to do so too. He’s also opened a school and Orphanage at the site. It was a fantastic day.
The following day, Ollie & I decided to make an early start and head off quad biking for the morning. We were picked up at 6.30, for my first ride on the back of a motorbike. We headed off on our Quads with our local Khmer guide, heading off through the backroads of Siem Reap. Our first stop was at an Orphanage and local school. 49 orphans live there full time, and 320 children from rural areas are taught English, Computing and Chinese - the subjects most likely to enable them to work. These children would otherwise not be able to go to school as they couldn’t afford it. We played with the kids, and one 13 year old boy attempted, with limited success to teach me to introduce myself in Khmer.
After the Orphanage we travelled through the countryside and jungle areas. What really struck me was the number of children - 50% of the population is under 16, which speaks of the thirst for life and living the Cambodians have after living through the atrocities of the Pol Pot years. The second thing to really strike me was the happiness of the people - everywhere we went, everyone would be waving, and shouting ’Bye!’ at the top of their voices, kids would run as fast as they could to the side of the road to wave at us, and one little boy had the added excitement of squirting us with a water pistol.
We stopped for a break after a couple of hours, and chatted to our guide. He spoke great English, but French was his true second language. He explained to us that his parents, who were a teacher & journalist, spoke French to him at home, but then, very matter of factly said : “Of course, because they were intellectuals, they were some of the first to be killed” he also lost his brother and sister during the conflict and ended up in an Orphanage. An Australian lady ended up sponsoring him through university so he could complete his education and get a job.
It’s such a common story in this country, but there seems to be remarkably little bitterness: the story of the Khmer Rouge and the civil war is not taught in schools, as it is policy not to look at the past, but only to look forward.
We were both pretty blown away by our experiences that morning, so we decided to stop for a coffee refuelling stop. 6 hours later we left the café, having put the world to rights and trying to decide how we personally could make a difference to the Khmer people, beyond the $20 we donated to the Orphanage and the eating and drinking we were doing in charity establishments. Cambodia impacts you like that. It makes you want to make a difference. It touches your self-centred, selfish Western heart.
New Years Eve dawned, and it found me in a reflective, but euphoric mood. I looked back at the lost soul I was this time last year, and it hit me: I’m here, in Cambodia, on the trip of a lifetime, having an amazing time with people who ordinarily I would probably never have met, but who have all become really great friends.
New years eve evening was predictably messy, with a major street party being held in the centre of Siem Reap. Much drink was consumed, and my watchword of moderation didn’t quite make it through the evening….but you’ve probably already seen the Facebook photos and figured that out for yourselves J
http://picasaweb.google.com/Clairestravels/CambodiaAngkorWat
http://picasaweb.google.com/Clairestravels/CambodiaSiemReapII
