Catchphrase: You get what you pay for with a 'free dorm'
Everyone can stop with the sleepless nights... my foot is
A-okay! Truely. Apart from still feeling bruised-like it is back to it's
fine self. Though because i managed to get another bout of stomach
sickness straight after i haven't really had a reprieve from
antibiotics... until yesterday! Now i am free at last! I am an excited
thing.
Phnom Penh happenings:
So the first day my
foot was slightly better i went with my fellow backpackers Ulrike and
Richard to see a few historical sights around Phnom Penh. The first
place was S-21, a high school-turned-prison where the Khmer Rouge
tortured and imprisoned thousands of men, women and children. After
"confessing" to treason, all were sent out of town to the killings
fields, where they were brutally executed. It was a strange thing,
because i knew what had happened, read about it, watched documentaries.
But seeing the remains of hundreds of people around S-21 and the killing
fields, their bones piled together, I realized how recent and immediate
these events were. It's distressing, but still important to see.
I spent the next two days volunteering at Sunflower Orphanage,
who look after seventeen children between nine and sixteen who have had
HIV from birth. At the orphanage they get the medication they need, so
they're all still fairly healthy. And cheeky to boot! It was so much fun
to play with them for the morning. In the afternoon the volunteers go
to the front of the National Museum or the Royal Palace and fund raise
for the orphanage. It was lovely to raise money and give a little
something to help out. If you're in Siam Reap ever you should drop in!
Kampot
happenings:
We decided to leave the bright lights of Phnom
Penh for the sleepy little town of Kampot that had been so highly
recommended to us. When we first got into town the guesthouse we had
picked was too expensive for the likes of us, so when a guy on a
motorbike told us he could take us to his cheap guesthouse for free, we
thought that was a pretty good deal. (By the way, his name is Darin, if
you ever meet him.)He took us to a hotel on the outskirts and then
started with the offers to take us on tours, even around town to bars
and restaurants. We're fairly capable of doing that ourselves, and we
said so. But he had already made up his mind that we were his "clients"
to look after. This was the beginning of a few very uncomfortable days
in Kampot. The next day when we tried to leave the hotel for a better
one, the hostess was already on the phone to him. He arrived a minute
later, asking us where we were going. We said we were meeting friends at
another guesthouse. He then insisted on giving us a lift to the new
hotel, and there was no way out of it without a scene. By a stroke of
luck, i burnt my leg on the exhaust as i was getting off the motorbike -
a handy excuse i used later to never go on his motorbike again.
I
didn't get to see much of Kampot, because every time we left our
guesthouse we met Darin, and we'd have to decline his offers to take us
out somewhere for ten minutes. Each time we said no he was getting more
frustrated and angry, so we decided to leave early the next morning. I
was in teh middle of buying our bus tickets out of there when Darin
found us, how i have no idea. He got real angry, called us liars and god
knows what else, right in front of everyone on the street. We left
pretty soon after that.
Sihanoukville happenings:
The
beach! I was pretty excited to swim in something other than the Mekong
for once. The beach bungalows were a whopping $US25 an night, but we got
word of a 'free dorm' at a bar called Utopia. The price was right so we
dumped our stuff there and went to the beach. We hadn't sat for two
seconds before we were surrounded by beachworkers, asking if we wanted
anything from harmless fruit to getting our legs waxed. ON THE BEACH.
WITH STRING. An effective selling technique (apparently) is to tell us
how hairy our legs are, that we would never get boyfriends EVER unless
we had smooth legs, and then start to remove the hair before we had time
to say no. Not your typical day at the beach.
After we survived
the first onslaught, four girls wanted to sell us bracelets. After
saying we didn't want anything for ten minutes they decided we needed
'free', 'friendship' bracelets, which we also said we didn't want. After
15 minutes it got nasty. One girl started a tantrum with tears, another
said that if i didn't give her money she wouldn't leave me alone all
day. One was swearing at us in Khmer and English. I couldn't believe how
how quickly they became so bitter and angry. It's upsetting, that
they're young and exploited, and so desperate for money they will say
and try anything. I don't give money to children, and i try not to act
interested in wares that i do not want. But it's still difficult
sometimes.
So we got what we paid for with the 'free' dorm.
Apparently monday nights at Utopia GO OFF and so we went to sleep in the
wee hours to Cambodia's top house/mashup DJ. Oh yes. And did i mention
that the dorm was actually a garage too? No? It was a hilarious if not
restful night.
Siam
Reap happenings:
ANGKOR...
my
goodness
!
It
was mindblowingly awesome. Expensive, but awesome. The best thing we
did was to hire a guide for the day, who not only told us really
interesting facts and legends regarding the temples, but also pointed
out strangely shiny parts on the celestial nymph statues, caused by men
rubbing them inappropriately. He was great value.
To avoid temple
overload, we watched the sunrise (5:30!) over Angkor Wat, then spent the
rest of the morning exploring around Ankor Thom, the ancient city
centre. In the afternoon we swung by the aesthetic but overcrowded Ta
Phrom, the one famously overgrown with massive trees. This was my
all-time favourite, but really seeing the forest reclaim anything rocks
my socks. Then we entered Angkor Wat from the eastern entrance and did a
fair amount of exploring there too.
It's a wonderfully
spectacular place. We were lucky enough not only to be here in the low
season - although the heat can get pretty unbearable - but to also have
one savvy guide, who helped us avoid the worst of the tourist
congestion. And now i've been to one of the seven wonders of the world!
High fives all round...
It is a sad affair, with Grace and i finally going our
separate ways after nearly three months. I didn't think anyone could put
up with me for that long, let alone still talk to me! But she's a gem
:) I'm trying to keep my jealousy in check while wishing her the safest
and raddest of travels... and hoping she finds her way back to Melbourne
soon! Even if it's just for the fruit trees.
So that's all for
Cambodia! I'm off tomorrow on another epic bus/train/bus ride from Siam
Reap to Phuket. And also, unavoidably, Bangkok. It'd seemed to settle
there for a while but of course, as soon as i bought my tickets, things
changed again. I am a bit nervous but as long as i stay away from the
center of town, and not wear certain coloured articles of clothing, i
should be fine and dandy!
Anyway wish me luck!
xxx mel
