Entry to Cambodia on Thursday morning is easy, some custom officers relax in hammocks while others stamp our passports with smiles and greetings. By 9:30am we all are back in bus, this time different one which will take us to Kampong Chum and there we stay overnight before continuing to Siam Reap on the next day. It looks like this ride will be a lot of fun as conductor asks everyone out to push the bus - the battery is flat. Dry season is quite evident, landscape has brown color, it is very hot and air-con would be nice. Few hours in ride a big bang wakes everybody up as bus is filled immediately with rusty dust. We both sit right above the rear axle and the bang was very loud and scary. One guy sleeping behind us jumped into middle isle because he thought someone was shooting. Right hand side rear tire blew into pieces. There is no shade and we all wait in 52C mid-day sun for guys to replace the faulty tire with one which does not look much better. My bet is no more then two hours, I am thinking quietly. And I was right! Mid afternoon Iva turns to me "I can smell burnt rubber" and few seconds later we hear another, this time smaller bang and the replacement tire is flat. Hm, how many spare tires do they have? None! Driver continues slowly to the nearest tire-fixing shack and with help of few locals the tube is patched and re-placed. It is getting late, by now we almost should be at our destination but we have not had lunch stop yet. At 5pm we have 30min break for 'lunch', one more push start and three more hours to go. Ok, everything seems fine just that we are tired and covered with dust and sweat. Guess what? Around 9pm Iva smells rubber once more and before I can scream at drivers the same tire goes again! Outside is pitch black, no houses around and with no spare tires we apparently have ten more km's to Kampong Chum. At this point no surpise some people get quite edgy. How are they going to fix this one? Well, there are four tires on rear axle, both on right are busted, both on left are still good (ha,ha). Simple! It does not take Einstein's brain to put one good and one bad on each side of the bus! By 11pm we are on the move again and with slow motion we make it to the hotel which is full. Hm, we have to walk around town to find one really soon, we desperately need shower and bed. Next morning a replacement bus comes an hour later but this time we make it to Siam Reap without problems, and on time.
Siam Reap is like an oasis, sipping Anchor drought in company of Swiss girls which we meet again, we quickly forget about tires . View from our hotel balcony is very unususl - backyard is filled with huge crocodiles partly submerged in muddy pool. Hey, do not fall over the balcony railing or they will have you for lunch! This crock farm is in middle of town! Our mission in Siam Reap however, is not only drinking beer but we came here to visit Angkor Wat. Over dinner we get an ingenious idea to share one tuk-tuk between four of us, hence saving some valuable $$$. Sarah and Christine are excited so next morning we form Swiss-Czech alliance to hunt for reasonable tuk-tuk driver. It deos not take any hard effort because streets are full of them and they are happy to negotiate. A $15 deal is struck soon so by 8am bumpy and slow ride to ruins begins. Wow! No words can describe our amazement when we stand in front of Angkor Wat. No wander many Cambodian couples come here for their special wedding day having photos taken in two different garments. One can spend hours in this temple admiring its majestic size and fine Apsara figurines carved into stones but we need to move if we want to see more today so an hour later our tuk-tuk driver continues to Angkor Thom, which is the largest ancient city here, surrounded by walls streching 3 x 3km. Many monuments and lot of walking. The Bayon temple with its 216 stone Gargantuan faces constantly watching over visitors, is the most impressive structure in this large complex. There is one more famous temple to see today and its name is Ta Prohm. Wow again! Authorities left this temple for mother nature to take over, roots of large ficus trees consume stone structures slowly destroying what people slowly built hundreds years ago. Trully amazing. Scenes from movie Tomb Rider were made here. And what makes perfect finish for a perfect day? Delicious traditional food Amok for dinner followed by full body massage. Next day see more temples but one is really worth of extra 18km travel with jerky tuk-tuk. Its name is Banteay Srei (Citadel of the Woman) and its beauty is much larger then its size. Elaborate carvings in pink stone doorways and walls are unbeleivable. Ever present adorable sweet local kids of every age offer souveniers but we can not please everyone. It is almost heart braking to walk away but they always greet us with many smiles as our tuk-tuk drives off. On way back home we learn how palm sugar is made, play with wild monkeys and stop in five souvenier shops to score few litres of petrol for our driver. Tonight we also attend cello concert performed by Swiss pediatrician in local childrens hospital Kantha Bopha. He dedicated his life to provide free medical care to all Cambodian children, funding his annual budget mainly from donations. We are touched by his life story so much that we will come back on Monday to donate blood. This is especially difficult for Christine as she never gave blood before but on Monday she does not cry! Walking out of hospital we feel we have done something small but special for those beautifull, often very poor kids. Today Tue 3 March we take 6-hour bus to capitol city Phom Phen, here we need to organise visas to Vietnam. From bus station we go directly to embassy leaving our passports untill next day afternoon, and from here to Okay Guesthouse which is very nice, reasonably priced and positioned near Mekong river walkway so looking for a local food is easy. The town itself is not that exciting except its dark history from 1975-1979 horific Pol Pot's regime. Everyone visiting Phom Phen should make an extra effort to see high school converted to prison where classrooms were used for interogation and torture. This shocking evidence continues to shake our minds later afternoon visiting Killing Field where thousands of innocent people were slaughtered and burried in mass graves. We are shocked and in disbeleif what could happen in 20's century! At 4pm we pick up our passports, then try to buy new pair of sandals for me without any luck - girls at shops gigle when I ask for size 46, and before going to bed we chat with locals over jug of beer. Cambodian people are very warm, open hearted and appreciative of foreigners visiting their country.
Next morning we leave for a small beach town Sihunakville on south coast of Cambodia from where we hope to continue our adventures to Vietnam - I do not know how yet but we will work it out later. In meantime we enjoy this relaxed place and that can be done in number of ways - sitting in 'satelite dish' beach chairs doing really nothing, or hiring a 125ccm motorbike exploring other beaches where we can relax and do nothing. With large plate of BBQ seafood for $3 and $0.50 beer on tap it can not get any better. Ahh, almost forgot - we were told by group of Czech travelers about Czech guesthouse/bar in town so we search and find the familiar flag. It is hard to leave this laid back town but four nights is enough and we need to make next move towards Vietnam. Preferring D.I.Y. approach we buy minivan tickets to Kampot which is still 45km from the border, and from here we negotiate a tuk-tuk to the crossing. At this stage we have no idea what is ahead of us...
To be continued...
