Finally posting the travel writing we did in 2008 - we each took turns to write about our adventures through South East Asia, as we spent a month exploring Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. All writing was done by hand, and it took forever to transcribe!
21st January 2008, 11:00pm Bangkok, Thailand
Exhausted, its been a long but rewarding end to
the day. Left London about 10 pm after an hours delay (the day before). The
farewells to friends had gone pretty well, not too many tears just lots of
happy memories. Recall thinking that our time in London had gone too quickly
but it was such a rewarding experience. Our last week had just been so hectic,
filled with trying to organise our wedding, travels and departure from the UK…
In the end we managed, but something had to give – in our case we missed our
last rabies injection.
The flight to Bangkok was pretty uneventful.
Chatted to an Aussie named Damian who had been on holiday in Europe. Watched a
movie called Stardust (romantic fantasy epic), then slept fitfully through the
night. Ah the trials of economy class travel!
Touched down in Bangkok @ about 5pm on 21st Jan. Customs and baggage collection all went smoothly. Then caught the A32 air-conditioned bus into Bangkok city (thank goodness for A/C!). Got off at 38 Soi Sukhumvit road and made our way uncertainly to the HI (Hosteling International). It was actually really nice. Once we checked in, we decided to grab some food, and settled on Lonely Planet’s recommendation of ‘Cabbages and Condoms’, mostly because the name was just too amusing and intriguing to miss! We hopped onto the sky train and after 2 stops got off at Asok station, walked down Soi (pronounced ‘sigh’) 12, to C&C. On first impression Bangkok actually scored pretty high. Reasonably clean and sky train is efficient. Didn’t feel threatened at any point and generally people seem friendly and polite. The smell of street vendors was fueling our appetites for Thai food. Cabbages and Condoms was a real delight. The whole place was lit up with hundreds of tiny lights, and everywhere you looked the décor was made of condoms (no cabbages!). There were statues made of condoms, even a father Christmas. We hurriedly ordered a grilled chicken and duck curry, which after some time appeared on our table. Both dishes were delicious and filling. The bill arrived with two condoms in it instead of mints, what a laugh.
We took a few snaps of the décor and then headed ‘home’, content with our initial foray into Bangkok. Tried to learn a few phrases with little success. It seems you change the ending depending on whether you are male or female (possibly to assist in identifying all the herms and transvestites Bangkok is famous for):
Hello: sawat dii khrap/kha (male/female)
Thank you: khaup khun khrap/kha (m/f)
Got back to the hostel, showered and got ready for
the next day. Up early tomorrow to get to Angkor Wat, this should be a
highlight of our tour!
22nd Jan 2008, 18h00 Siem Reap, Cambodia
Sipping a cold ‘Angkor’ beer at the butterfly garden on the East Bank of the Siem Reap river. The place has a really laid back vibe, but there are no butterflies here, what can I say but TIA (This is Asia!).
We are staying in the Rosy Guesthouse, about 15 minutes’ walk up the river. The place is ok, nothing spectacular, but who cares. At $7 a night, you get what you pay for. Still can’t get my head around the fact that Cambodia uses US$ as de facto currency.
Siem Reap is a nice town on first impressions. So
far we have only explored around the river, but we will visit the old market
and some of the Wats (temples) in the coming days. Cambodia has a totally
different feel to Thailand, much less developed.
We started our journey to Siem Reap at 6am this
morning. I was up even earlier, at 4:30am on account of jetlag. We left the
hostel and hailed a taxi to Morchit bus station. I wanted to use the sky train as I’m inherently skeptical of taxi drivers, but Nix convinced me to give it a
try. The taxi ride when fine, but even at 6am there is congestion in Bangkok.
Cost us B150, sky train would have been more (Nix 1, Van 0).
Thanks to an awesome website, www.talesofasia.com we knew exactly (and
I mean EXACTLY) the right ticket window (31 inside) to purchase the bus ticket
to Aranyaprathet border post (B180 each). We made our way to the bus depot, and
located the Aranyaprathet bus stop (12). After a short wait the bus left just
after 7am. This random Thai Australian asked us for help on getting to the
border, and on to Siem Reap, he didn’t have a clue. The bus trip was largely
uneventful; we were the only foreigners on it… The bus made a lot of stops but
none for food; thank goodness we had packed some snacks. There was also a stop
for a military/police checkpoint, but they didn’t even bother with us.
We eventually arrived in Aranyaprathet at about
11:30 after which we had to catch a tuk-tuk to the border (80B). That was fun
but scary as they are not all that stable and look like they were assembled by
an amateur. Our tuk-tuk had about 4 rearview mirrors and lots of redundant
lights for decoration. After the tuk-tuk we walked a short distance to the Thai
immigration . No problems getting out (sigh of relief). Another short walk and
we were in Cambodia. Loads of casinos appeared out of nowhere, apparently
gambling is huge with Thais, but its forbidden in Thailand.
Some touts started following us trying to ‘assist’
with finding the Cambodia checkpoint. I used some Afrikaans and they quickly
got the message. We found the checkpoint with little difficulty and proceeded
to fill in our arrival forms. Our eVisa application (which we arranged from the
UK) saved us a mass of time, money and hassle even though we were worried it
wouldn’t be accepted. The whole process was actually quite painless, pays to be
prepared!
We had arranged for the Rosy Guesthouse to
organise us a transfer taxi. The guide came looking for us with our names on a
piece of paper and we followed him to an awaiting bus. The bus drove a few
minutes and then we transferred to the taxi. This was a huge relief after all
the horror stories we had read about the Cambodian ‘taxi mafia’. After an
introduction in how to refill LPG from a backstreet LPG filling station we were
on our way.
Cambodian landscape slid by as we break danced our
way along the potholed road. It is hard to describe just how bad these roads
are, it felt like the car was gradually being shaken to bits. Cambodia is flat
along the road; little reed huts are all that is to be seen. The Cambodians
drive all over the road trying to avoid potholes. Our driver regularly hoots to
let everyone know he is around and so wont accidentally swerve into us…
Occasionally we see fishermen fishing with nets in the murky waters next to the
road. Water seems to be everywhere, collected in small ponds across the
landscape.
We stop for lunch in Sisphon, the food was cheap
and we were happy, had a curry and some fried noodles ($17). Everything changed
as we came into Siem Reap. Enormous hotels and all the trappings of tourism are
evident. All the same, its good to be back in civilisation. We have bikes arranged and plan to make an early start (4:30am) to get to Angkor Wat. Cant
wait, excitement is running high!
23 January 2008, 21:00 Siem Reap Cambodia
Writing while in bed at the Rosy Guesthouse.
Exhausted as we have been up since 4am this morning. Its been a very busy day
indeed! We got our bicycles at 4:30am as planned, for $2 each per day. These
were not just any bicycles – these were soviet reconditioned 19??, single gear,
marginal braking capacity, zero suspension bicycles.
In the darkness we made a few wrong turns before
we found the right road out of town to Angkor Wat. After peddling for some
time, we reached the ticket office for Angkor, and after parting with $20 each
we were the proud owners of a single day pass, complete with our photos. We
were soon back on the road and reached the forest/jungle that covers the area
around Angkor, thick and impenetrable. Cycling through the darkness of the
jungle is intimidating, there are no wild animals here right??
The road seems to go on forever. Occasionally we
are passed by other tourists in tuk-tuks, so we are not alone in our quest for
an Angkor sunrise. Eventually a lake appears in front of us and we turn left
following the tuk-tuks. The lake turns out to be the moat around Angkor Wat. A
short while later we see a lot of tuk-tuks stopping on the left. Having no idea
where we were and adhering to the principle of the herd mentality, we did the
same. In total we had cycled about 7km to get to this point.
Following the other tourists we made our way
across the causeway to Angkor Wat, to the sounds of chanting. There is a full
moon so we can just barely make out the outline of the Western gopura with the
moon in the background. Nix is not feeling well, the combination of the
strenuous bike ride and the early start have taken their toll.
Continuing along the walkway, we catch a glimpse of the Angkor temple silhouetted by the early dawn light. Just to our left the other tourists start making their way to a square pond. We follow and take up our positions on the edge of the pond. Space soon runs out as more tourists arrive. Suddenly it becomes apparent why the pond is so sought after: the silhouette of the temple is reflected in the water, creating a beautiful symmetrical image. I attempt a few pictures and am rewarded with some amazing results.
The peace and stillness of the scene is beguiling. The excitement in the air is palpable. The only distraction is the occasional high pitched call of coffee vendors desperate to make their first sale of the day. The light gradually changes as the sun starts to rise, bathing the scene is a golden pink light. We lingered and enjoyed the unique and amazing scene, taking lots of pics.
Having lost sensation in our buttocks and eager for new sights, we departed the pond and made our way back onto the walkway with its Naga balustrades. The naga is a Hindu/Buddhist symbol for protection but to us it looks pretty menacing with its 9 heads. I guess their use here is a bit like gargoyles in Western churches. We make our way East up a flight of stairs, through the temple gopura and up to a second level to the cruciform cloister with its four stone water basins. This area used to be named the ‘hall of a thousand Buddhas’ due to all the statues, but these have been removed to safety and the space is now bare. We continued East out of the cloister up more flights of stairs to the next level and upon reaching it found ourselves staring upwards towards the 5 inner towers. Steep staircases lead up the towers but access is currently cordoned off (gutted). The towers are covered in carvings of mythical scenes. The tower tops look a bit like pine cones, or pineapples, rather organic feeling. We both remarked later on how the temple seems to blend in so well with the jungle as if purely an extension of nature.
Making our way East around the central towers we head down stairs to the Eastern galleries. We stumble upon the scene of the ‘Churning of the Milk’ depicted in bas relief. This scene tells the story of the creation of the world according to Hindu legend. The gods and asuras (demons) pull on the naga to turn a mountain which churns the milk and creates apsaras and the elixir of life. We make our way along the south galleries (Judgement of Yama, Heaven and Hells and the procession of Suryavarman II). Spotting a colourful band of people outside the temple we make our way to a Buddhist school. They are all chanting and looking peaceful, that incense is powerful stuff you know ;)
Once back on the bikes, we headed for Angkor Thom, a vast walled city (9sq km) and reach the Southern gate. The gate is topped with four huge heads, staring in cardinal directions. The bridge over the moat features statues of asuras and gods, tugging the naga. We pass through the gate and continue north until we reach the centre of the city and spot the Bayon. The Bayon is truly impressive, its structure is hard to discern and it appears almost as a jumble of towers and walls. Each of the towers has the pine cone top but also features enormous faces carved into the rock. The confusing architecture of the Bayon can be attributed to the many changes and additions made over the years. We made our way in via the Eastern terrace and gopura, through to the inner gallery. Working our way South through a maze of passageways to a ladder leading to the upper level. There, we could see the faces up close. We continue to wander through the maze and eventually make out way to the outer galleries. We spent some time viewing the magnificent carvings in the outer galleries, a mixture of legend, history and weird symbology, completely foreign to Western understanding.
Glimpsing a tour offloading a fresh swarm of Chinese tourists, we beat a hasty retreat to Baphuon. We approached to the Baphuon from the East, walking on an elevated walkway. We could see the Baphuon looming in the distance, reconstruction workers carrying out their work. As we neared the temple and made our way to the stairs we realised that the entire site was off limits to tourists, very disappointing. We were however, fortunate enough to be able to access the rear of the Baphuon, which features an enormous Buddha carved into the building. Unfortunately this was also under restoration, so another disappointment. It was, however, interesting to learn that the two libraries of the Baphuon had been dismantled previously and the plans had later been destroyed by the Khmer Rouge. Now there is an incredible challenge to re-assemble this life size jigsaw puzzle! In summary the Baphuon was impressive in terms of scale but disappointing due to reconstruction.
At this point the Cambodian sun was making its presence felt, and we were having to take more frequent breaks. Next we visited the Phimeanakas, a tall rectangular shaped pyramid made largely of laterite (reddish rock with lots of holes in it). We climbed to the top for some great views of the whole site. Heading east we finally found the elephant terrace. So called due to the three headed elephants carved on its walls. Among other carvings of elephants, garudas (birdmen) and lions. The terrace runs North South for 300m and connects the Bayon to the terrace of the leper king. We spent some time exploring the terrace, the central stairway of the elephant terrace has some hidden walls with intricate carvings of multi headed horses and other scenes. He hidden reliefs are part of an older construction that was built over by another ruler. This explains the excellent state of preservation.
We made our way to the leper king pavilion, so called due to the statue here thought to be of a king who died of leprosy. Again we found hidden reliefs with amazing details and carvings. At this point we succumbed to the heat and retreated to the shade for a snooze.
After recovering we made a tour of the North and South Kleangs but these were in bad shape and not particularly noteworthy. We also made a quick trip to Tep Pranam which features an enormous sitting buddha.
Next, we got back on our bikes and headed for Preah Khan (sacred sword), a short distance outside Angkor Thom. The walk to Preah Khan consists of a shady avenue which leads up to the Western gopura. Preah Khan is surrounded by a moat. Once through the gopura we walked a short distance and sighted the temple which is a Buddhist school. A friendly Cambodian police man offered to show us around and we eventually accepted. He ended up teaching us a great deal about the site. Preah Khan was built by Jayavarman VII and dedicated to his father. It is twinned with Ta Prohm, dedicated to the king’s mother. Preah Khan has been extensively restored after being damaged by the jungle encroachment. The guide explained a great deal about Hindu and Buddhist religion and the symbology of the site. He explained about the shiva linga and yoni (male and female representations). We viewed the hall of dancers, indicated by friezes of dancing apsaras. Interestingly the dancers have been carved over buddha carvings and buddha statues have been removed. This happened when the next king came to power and ‘hindu-ised’ the temple.
Heading away from Preah Khan we set our sights on Ta Prohm, which turned out to be quite run down, in the grips of the destructive jungle. Tree seeds are carried onto the roof of the temple through bird poo, where they germinate, and their roots grow downward, slowly tearing the building apart. Ta Prohm has a feeling of mystery and romance and gave us plenty of opportunities to explore amongst the ruins. The French teams that found this site deliberately left Ta Prohm unrestored, to highlight the effects of the jungle encroachment.
By now we were thoroughly exhausted and decided to call it a day. Our return took us past the Bayon, south gate and Angkor Wat, reminding us of the incredible scenes that had unfolded before our eyes during the day. The bike ride home was hard, our bottoms had had enough punishment for one day.
After cleaning up at the Rosy guesthouse, we went out for dinner near the market area of Siem Reap at a restaurant called Khmer kitchen. I had the ‘amok’ dish, a traditional coconut based Khmer dish, delicious.
24th January 2008
Siem Reap Cambodia
Woke up late and had breakfast at the guesthouse.
Then made our way to the market for some shopping. Watching the stall owners
and patrons interacting was fascinating. It seemed like well and truly anything
could be bought here, including live fish. We bought some T-shirts and shawls
as gifts for the family in NZ. Then visited the Angkor museum, a brand new
addition, overall very interesting and informative. Realising it was late we
decided to avoid paying another $20 each for another trip to Angkor and spent
the rest of the day chilling and reading.
25th January 2008, 19:30
Phnom Penh Cambodia
Some time has elapsed since my last entry and its
amazing how much happens in such a short space of time. Sipping an Angkor beer
next to the Boeung Kak lake with a torrential downpour in progress. Thoroughly
tired out today.
Got up at 5:30am to catch the bus to the boat. The
bus only arrived at 6:40 and still had other passengers to collect. With each
stop the bus got more and more crowded and eventually I had to stand to make
place for an old French lady. It was raining so the roads were getting slippery
as we drove to the greatest lake in South East Asia, the Ton Le Sap. Finally,
we arrived and we were immediately beset with food vendors and the driving
rain. We made our way up a narrow gangplank onto the ship, nearly slipping into
the waters below. In the chaos, our bags disappear into the hold at the end of
the boat. We descend into the seating area, totally full and seat numbers
apparently mean nothing. Nix manages to bag a seat and the attendant asks
another guy to shift over for me. The selfish prick totally ignores us, I make
my seat on a trash can. I spend most of the trip constantly getting up for
people on the way to the washroom.
Later when the weather got better everyone went up on deck and the seating got better. The view over the Tonle Sap was amazing. Initially we could barely see any dry land, later the banks were visible. Dotted on the shores we could see river folk in their stilt homes, fishing and carrying out their work. Occasionally, friendly Cambodians waved to us.
After 6 hours, we finally arrived in Phnom Penh, at about 14:00, more chaos. I grabbed our bags and scrambled off the ship, assisted by taxi tuk drivers. Crazy. I could have fallen and seriously injured myself. A tuk tuk driver named Lucky offered us a $1 ride to the Grand View guesthouse. We caught sight of the Phnom Wat en route. Once at the guesthouse, we managed to confirm our booking and dumped out bags in the room. At this stage we hadn’t eaten since 6am, we were both really low on energy but decided we would get to the palace first before getting lunch. Lucky the tuk tuk driver had been waiting for us outside, and transported us to the royal palace. Once there, we made arrangements for him to transport us to Choeng Ek the next day. He seemed a good character, and his English was workable.
We made our way inside the Royal Palace ($6,25 per
person) and were immediately rewarded with a magnificent view of immaculate
gardens and Cambodian style temples and palaces. The fantastical designs were
breath-taking to behold, so much detail, gilding and rich colour. We quickly
entered the throne room and saw the kings throne, richly decorated. We made our
way on, to the silver pagoda. Once inside we understood the name – the floor
inside is covered in silver tiles. More impressive still was a solid gold
standing buddha, covered in diamonds (1024 to be exact!), amazing. Behind this
was a large pyramidal platform, on top of which sat a jade buddha. We made our
way out, and caught our breath. A few more sights kept us occupied: brahman
temple, stupas, Khmer house, palanquin exhibitions, before we finally ran out
of energy and had dinner/lunch at a restaurant on the river.
Our energy levels renewed, we walked to Phnom Wat and explored the hill. The wat at the top was particularly spectacular. We spent the rest of the evening chilling, drinking cheap beer ($0.50) and reading. Bought a $4 book from a Cambodian child, felt guilty/good all at once.
26th January 2008 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Sitting on the top deck of the floating island
Guesthouse, hot in the late afternoon $ no sign of any beers or cold drinks…
The Boeng Kak lake however, looks amazing reflecting the setting yellow sun.
The lake seems to be cultivated as people are working on boats harvesting the
lanes of green growth. Its been a really easy day, not too busy.
Got up just before 7am, got dressed and had breakfast on the rooftop of the guesthouse, pancake, fruit, muesli and coffee for under $5. We got picked up by Lucky for the day. We haggled a little over the price for transport to the killing fields of Choeng Ek and the Tuol Sleng genocide museum and agreed on $16.
The ride to Choeng Ek was hectic. The streets were crowded with scooters, bicycles and every other form of traffic. Eventually we reached the outskirts of town, and Choeng Ek. From the outside the place doesn’t look like much, just a few buildings and trees. We pay our entrance fee and hire a guide as there aren’t many signs around. The guide leads us to a pagoda and we catch sight of shelf after shelf of skulls. These were the skulls found in the mass graves, along with all the other bones and clothing. There are 17 shelves to commemorate the date (17 April 1975) that Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge. Many of the skulls clearly show how the victims were bludgeoned to death to save on bullets. It is horrific.
The guide leads us to the actual death pits where the bodies were found. It is chilling to realise we are standing on a grave. The guide points out small fragments of bone and clothing on the surface of the ground. We were shocked when he led us to the next pit, here only bodies of women and children were found, with no clothing. A tree next to the pit was used to kill babies by holding them by their feet and swinging them so their heads would be broken against the tree trunk. Our hearts sink and our stomachs feel sick. The next pit was reserved for headless bodies, those of suspected Khmer rouge traitors. The guide explained that most Khmer Rouge soldiers were very young (10-15) and this is how they were brainwashed to kill innocent people as part of Pol Pot's mad revolution, ‘Year zero’. Most of the victims were educated Cambodians deemed a threat, even a few foreigners perished here. The killing took place after dark in secret. The victims would have been interrogated and tortured at Tuol Sleng S21 prior to coming here. Even being here, it is hard for me to truly comprehend the abject fear and terror these people must have experienced prior to their deaths. With heavy hearts we depart Choeng Ek for Tuol Sleng to complete our grisly tour.
Tuol Sleng is equally depressing. It was originally a high school. The name can be translated as poisonous hill to keep those who bear guilt towards Angkor (Khmer Rouge). The first block we visit has a row of small rooms, each has a single rusting steel bed, with foot manacles, a magazine box for gun bullets and a crude iron club. A black and white photo on the walls shows what the Vietnamese liberators /invaders found. On these beds high ranking officials and others were shackled and tortured, often to death. The photos are horrific and shocking. The ‘no laughing’ sign just above the entrance is completely unnecessary, the place simply begs silence and respect. Today the city around us is full of life and activity but at the time of the Khmer Rouge it would have been deathly quiet (excepts for screams of agony from the prisoners) as the cities were completely evacuated.
We make our way back to the courtyard, there are a number of graves of the last victims claimed by Tuol Sleng. There is a set of gallows here, actually more like a high school gym rope climbing exercise setup. Cruelly this was used to tortured prisoners by tying their hands behind their backs and hosting them up until they passed out from the pain.
The next block contains large open rooms on the
ground floor. Photographs of prisoners are on display here. Each prisoner was
photographed and records kept of the name and other details. They were then
stripped to their underwear. The photos really bring home to human side of this
painful story, the prisoners are evidently scared witless and confused. The
prisoner photos show so many different faces, men, women, children, old and
young. Their expressions blank but their eyes tell their story. A twisted assortment
of iron comes into view and on closer inspection turns out to be more foot
manacles. Prisoners would have been manacled together (20-30 prisoners every 6
metres) and left to lie on the floor. The conditions would have been horrific,
disease and infection must have been rife.
On the top floor is an exhibition of biographies
of Cambodian people who lived and died during the Khmer Rouge years. Their
stories are like a cross sectional glimpse through the apocalypse, each thread
giving a new insight into the torn fabric of Cambodian society. So much loss,
so many people affected. The individual accounts really bring home the tragic
events of those years. I found myself asking where I was when these people
perished, and I realise I was hardly taking my first steps in this world, in a
country far away with its own history of repression. I realised that each of
the people in this story had their own hopes and dreams, and even those in the
Khmer Rouge had a human side before they gave in to pure evil and were sucked
into the system of terror Pol Pot created.
The last blocks contained subdivided rooms,
shoddily built prisons of wood and brick. The block is fronted by a curtain of
barbed wire, to prevent the desperate prisoners from throwing themselves to
their deaths. There are more photos, paintings of torture scenes and skulls
with post mortem analysis. A room is dedicated to some photos of surviving
Khmer Rouge members and their accounts. Its shocking that no trial was ever
held to bring the KR to justice. I can only imagine the agony that this must
cause the families of the victims. The photos of the Khmer Rouge officials are
heavily graffitied, giving voice to the anger felt by the visitors.
The last thing I notice as I leave the prison is some mathematical equations from the high school years, written on the wall. I was forced to ask myself how mankind is capable of such wonders of music and science, and yet in the same heartbeat is able to maim, kill torture and obliterate itself as a species…
We made our way from the school to the riverfront
for some lunch. We obviously had a lot on our minds, and conversation turned to
politics and other deep topics.
After lunch we tackled the national museum. It was
hot and so we made a swift tour of the museum before resting in the shade, The
museum was pretty interesting. Lots of statues from Cambodia's long history
were on display. Religious influence of India's Hinduism and Buddhism is
evident. The museum itself is quite a nice building, all painted in deep red
with Cambodian style roofs.
We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out next to the lake. We planned to watch the Killing Fields movie at the guesthouse that night.
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