Me and the gang moved from Siem Reap on to Cambodian capital, Phnom Pehn on Friday. we decided to try the ferry as an interesting trip, rather than another long bus ride. I didn't look into prices though, and the bus ride would have been loads cheaper!
First off we were crammed (literally) into a little minibus which was already pretty tightly packed. There was a european couple in front of us who were really edgy and refused to open the window because they had their daughter there. she was easily 7 or 8 years old, hardly going to jump out of the bloody window! Stupid people do my head in... ;)
The road was typically rough and along this route we saw some real poverty stricken areas. Many people living together in small shacks, sandwiched between the busy road and the river, over which their shacks stood on twisted stilts. The river banks were covered in all their rubbish and it smelt bad. Not a nice place to exist. Even here the kids who were being kept out of school by their parents to work for them were happy and waving at us... amazing!
Once we got to the ferry port we were immediately surrounded by people wanting to carry bags and sell us food. As we were used to this being for a dollar or so we elected to carry our own, but we later realised that these guys were not charging, but trying to load the boat as quickly as possible and would literally run along the boat's side with huge rucksacks and suitcases on their shoulders! We put our bags into the hold and took up some space on top of the boat roof. Richard (who we met in Siem Reap) suggested sitting on top was best, as the inside gets really hot. I looked in a little later and not only was it hot, but the lighting was odd too as the windows had orange film over them... We didn't get right at the front, which was were Richard suggested was best to sit, but it wasn't a bad looking spot, only a few meters back. From here we bought some bread and cheese triangles and a few bananas from the women walking around the boat edge, this was going to be a long trip (5 hours with out stopping) so we would need something.
As they packed more and more people on the boat, it began listing heavily in the dock as the hull was now touching the bed of the dock. They manouvered the boat a bit further out and now people were crossing onboard using two wobbly planks instead of one, Lol!
Once we got going I realised I'd left my sunscreen in my rucksack, which was now buried below. I borrowed some from Bex and put my baseball cap on. This was going to be hot!
After carefully moving out of the docks, past the floating school and into the river proper, we were under way. We only had a short stretch to go before we were in the wide open lake part of the river at Tonle Sap. At this point the driver opened up the throttle as we could obviously move much faster through this massive open space. This meant that the spray from the front of the boat, where it was cutting through, was now quite big, and the wind was blowing in our faces from the side, meaning that the spray from the brown lake, was hitting us! We laughed to begin with, but within minutes we were soaked to the skin, literally! This was not funny... after a few minutes people started jumping off of the roof and climbing into the cabin area underneath. This was very risky, the boat was moving fast, the spray was covering the walkway and grab bar and the boat was banging in the wash!! The driver slowed down once the panic set in and almost everyone on the roof went inside. We were able to move to the other side of the boat (away from the windy side) and a little further up towards the front of the boat with the people making space. I didn't really want to sit inside in the already stiffling heat, now compounded with lots of wet bodies! Once we got back under way, it was clear that the spray was now missing us, so we decided to stick it out here. The wind and heat would eventually dry our sodden clothes out too...
After about two hours(!) we got to the river section and the boat slowed down. Some of the people from inside came back out to the roof and the heat of the sun really started to soak in. David helped the time fly with some jokes and stories which helped. And to think we were going to try and play cards on this trip! Lol!
We took turns in lying back and standing on the side, to help our now sore lower backs. This was yet another grueling trip in Cambodia, yet it was also another rich experience which I was glad to take.
Along the river we saw many floating villages and fishing villages, with plenty of small boats in the water, some with only kids onboard, working hard in the midday sun.
Once we finally docked in the capital we were all exausted and baked by the sun. But at least my pants were dry now!
Joanie slipped off of the roof when we climbed off, due to the grip on her shoes wearing down over the last few weeks of walking. She bumped her leg pretty hard and was dumped onto her backside on the side of the boat with a leg over the side between the boat and jetty! There was some pretty big tyres there to stop the boat banging into the side, but I couldn't help rushing her to move her leg! Not a nice situation. Poor Joanie has been in the wars the last few days, what with that, stomach cramps and getting bitten to death by half the mozzies in Cambodia! :(
Waiting for our bags we were surrounded with tuktuk drivers, all desperate to secure their fare. They must know that by now, after the trip we just made, we know who they are and how to get them! I got pretty angry for the first time on this trip. I'd had about 4 hours broken sleep, with some pretty horrid nightmares, then this long trip with a thorough soaking and then a thorough baking. Stood on the fooking hot metal jetty waiting for my bag, the last thing I needed was a new Cambodian friend stood on my shoulder whispering about his fucking tuktuk in my ear. He got told to fuck off, which he duly obliged for only a few minutes. Had I been traveling alone, I would have walked out of the dock area and into town, such was my anger at these idiots!
After a bit of a cool off in the shade, and the rest of the guys doing some price haggling with said tuktwat, we were underway again to look for accomodation. Richard had recommended a place in town, but we were going to look at some of the suggested places from the lonely planet guide book. These turned out to be duds and we ended up checking out the place recommended, which seemed ok although they only had aircon rooms for $10, rather than the fan cooled rooms we wanted for $5. We checked in and after a shower and chill out met up and went to have a little explore of the area...
We ended up finding a big indoor market in a fairly modern multi story building which was worth an explore, and it had a food court inside, which was handy as we were all hungry! The food court was pretty hectic, and there were no foreigners in there at all. We walked around the little kitchen windows checking out the selection of foods available. Only a handful of the kitchens had english on their menus, and the food was laid out in glass cabinets for us to see. We picked where we wanted to eat from the 25 plus kitchens available and all went for it. Once I ordered I was told to go get coupons. The kitchens don't need the hassle of dealing with cash as they are knocking out food really fast... so we had to go back across the other side of the court and grab some tokens for our cash! The food was pretty nice, although I went with a safe option of some tempura and fried rice. We also got fresh fruit juice from the non English speaking stalls and once finshed went for a wander around the market. This was a pretty cool little mini adventure, something I've never tried before. :)
After the food we went upstairs in the market and on the top floor was a roller disco, cinema (Khmer films) and games arcade. There was a cool view of the city from the roof top too. Lots of kids here were enjoying the games, it looked like the place to hang out, Lol. It was mayhem outside when we left, so many people wanted to go to this place!
After finding a pharmacy, we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest. Going to visit the War museum and killing fields tomorrow...
What a day! Phew...
