Day4
Woke up earlier than previous day and had a coffee the first coffee at breakfast since leaving the UK. Yum, we suddenly remember how good caffeine is. Collected the laundry and headed down to the river to take the boat a little further downstream to see the golden Buddha. It’s quite big and apparently made of solid gold though doubt that it is actually solid.
Very beautiful and again in an ancient temple with an elevator. Not quite as enigmatic as the Jade Buddha previously and we were surprised that local Buddhists were photographing the Buddha. Wondered into Chinatown which was very interesting as we obviously walked through a small engineering quarter full of metal merchants and vendors of every size and shape of valve, washer and widget. All there in little lock up shops. Imagine the black country would have had similar streets at the turn of the 20th Century.
Chinatown poked at you with five spice and garlic Hello Kitty and Peking duck, Plastic containers and strange fruit. A miasma of stalls and mopeds, narrow streets and cats feeding their litters. We thought at one point that we were going to see a film crew and Jackie Chan. Bought some Rambutan and munched our way back to the fast boat. We also scouted the Station out in preparation for an early morning rush to the Cambodian border. Early to bed. Only to be woken by the mother and father of all rainstorms. Prehistoric it was!
Day5
Or almost still day 4
Day 4 1/2
4am still awake from the stair rod weather we donned our ponchos and rucksacks and looked like some bedraggled French bellringers as we took a tuk tuk to the station. We had to pay the driver more as he didn’t want to drive all the way to the station in the rain. When we saw the flooded roads and his lack of any kind of windscreen wiper we could see why.
We spluttered our way to the station the tuktuk creating an impressive bow wave and alighted at the station with plenty of time to spare before the train at 5:55 Previous to this I had thought that these times only happened in the afternoon. Coffee. Ah that’s better now.
We rattled out of the station on a flooded rail line giving the train a snake like quality and out of Bangkok into more suburban and then rural and jungle countryside. The cleansing early morning rainstorm made for much more comfortable traveling combined with the opening windows and globe fans in the ceiling of our 1950’s rail carriage.
How nice it was to realise that not every country treats everyone like buffoons. Here we are on a train in the very end carriage with the back door open the entrance doors open windows open. No guards no disclaimers no safety rails just a great view and pleasing sense of motion. You put your head out the windows too close to trees it’s going to hurt. You fall out the back of the train it’s going to hurt more. Common sense really. The view from the rear of the train was a perspective we never get from train travel in the UK.
6 and a half long hours on uncomfortable upright seats in a noisy drafty carriage, a man with a bucket selling beers, little old ladies selling rice and things I don’t recognise. Rain coming in through the windows mosquitoes, toilets of the Turk, and other niceties can all be had for the princely sum of 48Baht, Just to give you an idea that’s a 6 ½ hour train journey for a Pound!
We reached Aranpayhet just after midday and were pounced upon by tuktuk drivers vying for trade. We took pole position and were off closely followed by an American couple from Chicago and the Hitler youth, well at least a young Arian looking German couple. With our advanced technique of eVisa the cutting edge of border race technology we avoided the whole visa application process notorious for scams.
After a few form fillings and queues we made it through customs and into no man’s land with the Cambodia border in sight at the end of a long lorry sausage. We crossed through into Camboja and did some more form filling and queuing and were ushered hurriedly by official/unofficial officials who were very helpful none the less and provide a ‘free’ bus service to the local bus station where they convince you that a two and a half hour journey in an air conditioned taxi would be much better than waiting two hours for the next bus which would then take 3 and a half hours sitting next to chickens and sweating on to other passengers on the non air conditioned bus. W
e stopped briefly for a beer......In hindsight the extra cost of the share taxi was well worth it. Arriving in Siem Riep in good time to find a hotel and relax.
Moto! Latest form of transport. The transport list so far since leaving home is thus Land Rover Series 1, High Speed Train, Vauxhall Corsa (mentioned separately as not big enough to be a car) Underground train, Big plane, shuttle bus, another big plane. Travellator, escalator, Taxis, tuktuks, boats, ferry, longtail wooden boat and now Moto. Or moped with a trailer. Very good they are too!
Seating 3 people and all their luggage in the trailer attached to a small moped we were transported sedately to the centre of Siem Riep and to our first Hotel. A old French Colonial builing with cool rooms and even cooler Air con, probably not a period feature. Our rooms have no windows which is odd but a welcome relief from the clawing dust and heat of the city outside.
The hotel is situated near a traffic island, watching the rush hour traffic is a beehive of mopeds performing their waggledance with one two three or four people on board. Sometimes girls in surgical masks riding side saddle other times men carrying 5 metre long planks of wood or other items incongruous with moped travel. My favourite, 2 dozen live chickens held by their feet whilst riding pillion! Road rules seem to work on the horn and size principle of driving. Whoever has the biggest vehicle or the loudest horn gains the right of way. Very simple. I’m all for it! I don’t know how bees avoid collisions either.
Astonishingly tired from the day of travelling we retired early after eating some Khmer street food cooked on a hub cap at the night market in town.
Day 6
Refreshed and up early but not early enough for the hotels breakfast regime we planned for the day over strange coffee and stolen baguette and opted to leave the city of Angkor for an early start another day . Instead we took a moto 20minutes out of Siem Riep to the edge of Tonle Sap, catching a long boat along a tributary into this massive lake. So big you might think it was a sea. We had the boat to ourselves and a young Cambodian man presented himself as an unofficial guide came along as a guide and assisted the pilot with mooring etc. His English was much better than our Cambodian but he was difficult to understand at times though he did know a lot about English football ironic as he lived in a floating village.
Approaching the village was odd, other worldy, downright weird, fascinating and a voyeuristic to our right was a small boy sat in a tin bucket as a boat complete with a paddle, big grin and showing off his snake. To our left a school complete with floating playground and girls skipping rope as it was break time. I don’t think they were impressed with his snake either.
The floating village fishermen are among the poorest people in Cambodia and it is very difficult to remain aloof from the constant demand for donations and charity from the people there. I hope that tourism doesn’t destroy their culture and that the Cambodian government is able to assist them financially before tourism swallows up their pride.
Day 7
The adventure into the city of Angkor began at eight with baguette and jam. Securing a driver for the day cost us 10 dollars. Armed with local knowledge, cold water and Nic’s new Khmer scarf we set off arriving 20 minutes later at our first temple.
Banyon an edifice that rises out of the jungle with vast skyscraper columns adorned with the face of King Jarayamen on each side. Words don’t really do the first experience justice and I’m not going to be all American and say ‘awesome’ but visit and you’ll find it difficult not too.
We battled on through four or five other temples during the heat of the day each temple having a character of it’s own with a common theme running throughout all the architecture.
Temple pyramids with incredibly steep steps, labyrinth like tunnels, raised promenade supported on columns of elephants, friezes of battle scenes and gods through to tree enveloped structures and bioarchitecture
reminiscent of HR Geiger.
We stopped for lunch out in the jungle, as you do, and sat down to eat some tasty khmer beef. The many local stall holders came and asked us to buy their goods. Only one dollar!
We have been very successful in batting off the hawkers since we arrived and have noticed other tourists have not been so lucky. We have a secret weapon. Speak to them politely in khmer and just say no thank you. They seem to be so taken aback at our strange accents and use of the Cambodian language they mostly just smile and correct our pronunciation and leave us alone. The other weapon of choice works particularly well with kids. Sweets. Never leave the hotel without them!
Pooped but not suffering from Temple fatigue we returned late in the afternoon to shower and look forward to an ‘Ice Cold In Alex’ moment with slightly less sand and no Carlsberg.
Day 8
Arising before dawn to see the sunrise was a bit of a shock. Our driver was already bright eyed and bushy tailed waiting in reception for us at 4:15am. The journey up to Angkor Wat was interesting in the dark, Still warm but quiet compared to the normal melé of Siem Reap.
We were the first at the temple, ushered to a prime viewing spot by a local trader who provided us with chairs and a coffee. Arriving while still dark and with no one else there we thought we may have a quiet sunrise and then .....the Americans arrived . With their cameras and tripods, baseball caps, loud shorts and louder voices. Followed closely by the Japanese. A spiritual moment turned into a photographic trophy for some. Awesome.
Nonetheless very moving. Especially as we had the patience to wait till the sun actually came over the horizon and painted a margin of orange down the edge of each tower.
Our patience paid off as the coach parties peeled of and were probably half way round the temple contemplating breakfast and the meaning of maple syrup before we started our journey into this epic 12th century building.
Whilst we Angles were still building things from cow poo and straw and fearing the invading Normans these people were undertaking architecture on a gigantic scale. The sheer size of the site alone is impressive even by modern standards. Coupled with the detail and intricacy of every stone. Carved, rendered, painted symmetry it must have been a celestial palace.
We returned to Siem Riep and to the real world at around lunch time having spent six hours walking around the central structure. The grounds and other deities will remain a mystery till next time perhaps.
Tickets now booked for Phnom Penh, an early night beckons.
Day 9
The journey to Phnom Penh by bus was passengered by locals in the main together with chickens monks and mopeds. The air conditioning barely kept us from melting into the seats which provided little support when the tarmac ran out which was frequent.
We arrived early in the afternoon in a bustling smelly capital busier and less friendly than Siem Reap. The attitude of the locals is clearly a reflection of the sort of tourist they experience. We chose to stay near the Lake in the city which is on old back packer haunt, to save a little money and for the opportunity to spend some time in a wooden bungalow over the water on stilts. As squalid as it is it has a certain charm. We got to use a mosquito nets for the first time last night as everywhere else has had climate control. I can confirm that the mosquito nets we bought are also bat proof as we had a visit from two of the confused little buggers at 4:15 this morning. Nic managed to squeal into an octave that could probably only be heard by the poor little bats who flapped their way eventually out the door with a little persuasion. Considering myself Van Helsing I retired and slept in.
We trapped around Phnom Penh by foot and Moto a grid system of squalor tipped with a diamante royal presence in the Royal Square. We had planned to visit the Grand Palace and Kings Silver Pagoda but the overinflated gate prices struck a nerve and we ventured into darker realms of the city.
The city has much recent history involving the Khmer Rouge, the killings fields S21 etc. It’s all here and is pushed into your face by tuk tuk drivers everywhere. ‘ I take you to the killing Fields?’ No thanks. Cambodia has more to offer than this and I would hope that once the country becomes wealthier they don’t continue to tout this vile period in their recent history to visitors. It is shocking to see children less than 10 years old selling books showing graphic photographs of the mutilation and torture carried out at S21. They sell them because the tourists buy them. Like I said earlier, a different kind of tourist visits Phnom Penh.
We leave for the south coast and silver beaches tomorrow. We need a holiday!
these photos are a selection of the lovely things available in asia. The first photo is a deep fried cricket, we met a couple of Italian guys who were brave enough to buy just 2 (they usually come in packs of ten, just like cigarettes, but probably tastier??
this is fish amok from Cambodia, you can see that they have held with tradition and used the customary banana leaf to present the dish, all held together with the traditional fastening of staples....
the Grand palace in Bangkok, it was beautiful.
Sam and I in the local market in Saigon, each eating shrimp noodle soup and bbq pork with rice in cho ben than
this is for Nic and Sam's Mom and Dad. When was the last time you saw us outside Dairy Queen? this was in Muscat airport, sadly it was shut but still gave us a taste of our childhood!
OHH! Deep fried pumpkin flower with chilli sauce, yum x
for those of you that wanted more photos, weird, i hate other people's holiday photos x but our mommy loves us and my photos
then a tuk tuk for Tony who does not know what a tuk tuk is, then a picture of the floating village and then a cyclo. please now imagine our butts being pushed around on on one of these by a small Vietnamese chappie.
