Cambodia, my last destination in Indochina.
Before leaving Vietnam I did a trip on the Mekong Delta and crossed the borders connecting me from Chau Doc (Vietnam) to Phnom Penh (Cambodia). It was an organised tour as I had been convinced in Saigon that this was a cheaper way of crossing into Cambodia from Vietnam than doing it myself, especially if I wanted to see the Mekong Delta on the way. However it really was a waste of time and money as it felt like we were ferried through the villages etc like a human conveyor belt. Arrived in Phnom Penh after a two day trip from Vietnam, harassed by tuc tuc drivers at the bus stop. I have by now realised the hardest part of traveling is arriving in a new place, not knowing where to stay and being swarmed and hassled to the maximum by tuc tuc drivers.
My first impression of Phnom Penh was good, it felt there was enough impressions to wake my interest. I spent most of my two days here with some people I met on the journey from Vietnam which was nice as it felt a bit lonely after James had left Vietnam.
During my time in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh we went to the S-21 Prison museum, this used to be a school before Pol Pot's regime took over and turned it into a prison where prisoners were tortured and interrogated before being sent to the killing fields. It was very depressing and unbelievable what was going on here between 1975-1979, I felt very disturbed by the stories our guide told us. We then continued out to the killing fields. After these two visits I needed some time on my own, felt quite exhausted and disturbed by the experience. During my time in Cambodia I have met and talked to a couple of women in their 40's who remembers this time and have talked to me about their memories and close family members that were killed, such a sad and awful stories.
After my visit to Phnom Penh I continued down to Sihanoukville which is in Southern Cambodia on the coast as I wanted to spend a couple of peaceful days on the beach. However the guesthouse I stayed in the first night was the noisiest I experienced, there was music coming from four different bars and my room almost vibrated with the loud music, this continued to about 3 o'clock in the morning. I really had to practice my relaxation skills here, this was not easy though. The next day I decided to head out to one of the islands. Arriving on Bamboo Island was like coming from hell to paradise, I spent two nights here living in a bamboo hut right on the beach, falling asleep in the night by the waves hitting the shore, the beach was deserted and the water was just amazing, I loved it here.
I then continued up to a place called Battambang in Northwestern Cambodia, this was a lovely little place and I was taken out to the surrounding villages by a motor bike driver, had a really nice afternoon driving through villages getting a feel of life in these small communities. Very simple lives, but somehow it seemed very idyllic to me.
My time in Cambodia was rushing by and I realised I needed to head up to Siem Reap as I only had about 3 days left. I traveled on an eight hour boat journey from Battambang to Siem Reap, which was so picturesque passing lots of different villages including some floating villages along the river. Again I got touched by the children waving and screaming "hello" to us with big smiles on their faces, they are such a gorgeous children.
I Arrived in Siem Reap and met up with Nikki who I shared a room with on my trip in Nepal back in October, we had a nice evening exchanging stories from our experiences we had so far traveling.
I spent a day seeing the Temples of Angkor, what a fantastic day. Just a magical place, even though swarmed with thousands of tourists, I am so glad I have seen it. Some of the sites were breathtaking.
Next on my iteniry is Borneo, very excited about this.
