My two day trip started with the hectic exit from Saigon. You would not have believed it was early on a Sunday morning with the amount of traffic about.
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| Traffic on way to Mekong Delta |
The journey by bus took a couple of hours and it was then a transfer on a boat to My Tho past Dragon, Phoenix, Unicorn and Turtle Islands, stopping at Unicorn Island to visit a bee keeping farm and to sample some honey tea.
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| Bees |
It was then a short walk to reach the reach the nature water coconut canal to see local life on the Mekong Delta - my foot! For the above read the London underground on water at rush hour. It was a total scum of small narrow unstable rowing boats crashing into each other like demented dodgem cars.
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| Rush hour on the Delta |
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| Me on the Delta |
When we eventually reached the end of this haven of untranquility we transferred to another larger boat which took us up another branch of the river which was thankfully less crowded. At this point I was having grave misgivings about my escape from the city but things did improve as the day went on.
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| A more peaceful Mekong Delta |
It was then a visit to a Coconut candy making workshop for a demonstration and a taste of the very sweet candy - I bought a bar of soap! And then on to another boat for lunch which was included in the tour but they tried very hard to upsell on to a more expensive menu. I had virtually no cash with me so stuck to the freeby! Then it was on to another boat to sample tropical fruit and listen to discordant Vietnamese music. Then another boat and a bus to Vinh Long where I was staying in a homestay.
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| Coconut Candy mixing machine |
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| Dragon Fruit |
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| Tropical Fruit tasting |
By now I was really worried about what I might find there but my fears were soon allayed. Together with Clarissa, Matt and Annie, three work colleagues travelling together, we landed at this beautiful peaceful place. The homestay was clean with white sheets and mosquito nets and the bathrooms were immaculate. Our hosts were very friendly with a smattering of English and our pretty little guide was sweet and took us for a walk around the area to see the baby crocodile farm, the monkey bridge and the fish farm.
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| Crocodile on Ah Binh Island |
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| Fish farm |
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| Monkey bridge |
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| Me on Ah Binh Island |
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| Bedroom in the Homestay |
A cold beer was welcome on the terrace before we went and helped cook dinner. That is to say we rolled the spring rolls, chopped some vegetables and stirred the stir fry but it was good sitting in the kitchen watching them cook over a wood fire.
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| Preparing vegetables for dinner |
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| Helping to cook |
Dinner was delicious with a pumpkin soup in clear broth, some really good fish in a lovely sauce, our wonderfully rolled spring rolls, stir fry vegetables with pork and rice. Vietnamese food is so light and flavourful it would be a great place to come to lose weight as long as you didn't drink the coffee sweetened with condensed milk (I am addicted), eat the bread and too much rice and drink the beer but where is the fun in that!
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| Dinner at Homestay |
After omelette for breakfast, it was a short walk to the boat where we were joined by three young French people who we would spend the day with. It was lovely to be in a small group and our trip along the Mekong to the floating market at Cai Be was relaxing. We bought a coffee from the lady selling drinks on the river and went past the large boats advertising their wares by flying whatever vegetable they were selling from a mast on the boat. It was interesting to watch life on the river, ferries going to an fro with motorbikes and bicycles on board, people doing their washing, children playing aboard the boats and people sleeping in hammocks.
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| Ducks taking an early morning walk |
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| Early morning on the Mekong Delta |
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| Boat selling pumpkins |
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| Ferry crossing the Delta |
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| Coffee seller |
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| Relaxing on the Delta |
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| My new friends, Matt, Clarissa and Annie hard at work in the office |
From the market we went again on rowing boats but without the scrum ending up at a Bonsai Garden where there were beautiful orchids and other tropical flowers and strangely a pig and her young. Their pigs here are quite different from English large pink pigs, being rather small, brown and with a long pointed snout. Their young are striped and look really cute.
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| Pig and young |
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| Orchid at Bonsai Garden |
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| Relaxing on the Delta |
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| Rambutan on the move |
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| Ladies who row the tourists up the river |
Then it was off to the restaurant for lunch and a relax. After lunch Annie, Matt and Clarissa went off on bikes but I just went for a walk which was not all that rewarding as I kept ending up in people's gardens. On one track though, I bumped into Lucy, Mel, Emily and Aoife and later on into Russ and Syliva and Wendy and Colin - small jungle!
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| Graves in the jungle |
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| Lovely jungle scene |
We joined up with another group and headed back to Vinh Long and the bus back to Saigon. It started to pour with rain so it was a wet journey back but fortunately the weather had stayed fine up until then. Back in Saigon, the bus dropped me back near hotel but I still got soaked in the short walk so it was noodles and spring rolls in the hotel for supper and another sort out of bag, download of all photos and bed.
An early start for the best border crossing ever. The bus company filled in all the forms and we sailed out of Vietnam and into Cambodia with its smiling faces. A quick stop for food just after the border saw the first of the little children begging for money or food. Fortunately I had some bananas which I gave the two little girls and they went away to a quiet corner to eat them.
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| On road to Phnom Penh |
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| On ferry crossing the Mekong |
Two hours later we were in Phnom Penh.
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| Sylvia and Russ on tuk tuk to hotel |
Mel and I had a room in the better of the two hotels. Our bedroom was fine but the bathroom left a lot to be desired with a permanent puddle in the bathroom which caused everything to be rather slippery but others fared much worse so we weren’t complaining. I fell instantly in love with the city despite its rather seedy underside with boys sniffing glue just down the street.
Whilst having lunch we were approached by two beautiful little girls selling bracelets which although I did not want or need them I was coerced into buying some.
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| Girls who sold us bracelets |
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| Lovely old nun who sold me flowers |
These little girls popped up all over the place during our stay and always rushed up to greet us followed by “you want bracelets”. A young boy came over to sell books which I did not want but I did express an interest in Lonely Planet for South East Asia. He did not have it but suddenly disappeared and then reappeared on the back of a motorbike with the book so once again I was coerced into buying. It was not until later I discovered that the pages for Siem Reap were missing. Hopefully there are not other chunks missing. So having that morning happily thrown away a minute tube of moisturizer weighing less than 5 grams, I now have a huge book weighing about a kilo! That pack is just not getting any lighter and it proceeded to get heavier over the next two days as I bought more beautiful things. Another shipment back to Australia from Bangkok is on the cards.
Mel and I treated ourselves that night to a meal in a restaurant which acts as a training centre for young disadvantaged people called Romdeng. The restaurant is in an old Colonial building and we were seated by a pool. It was a lovely meal in wonderful surroundings and served by the very sweet staff who are taking full advantage of the training they receive. Apparently there are more NGOs in this country than anywhere else in the world and I was determined that my tourist dollar would benefit the people as much as possible so supported the restaurants and shops that were helping people. Anyway that is my excuse for buying lots of lovely silk products, eating in superb restaurants and having massages.
The following morning was not about pleasure and indulgence as we went first to the S-21 prison where we heard the horrific stories of the brutal killing and torture of the prisoners who were sent here for no crime at all. Pol Pot believed in a particularly severe form of communism so anyone who was educated was arrested. After he took over Phnom Penh he moved all the people out of the city and in to the country where they had to work on the land and the town became a ghost town. As the four years passed people were arrested because they wore glasses or because they were not able to work on the land and they were tortured to give up the names of others who were intellectuals. By the end of the four years one third of the population of Cambodia had been killed. The Vietnamese invaded the country with tanks and Pol Pot escaped to the west of the country where he survived until his death in the late 1990’s. He was never brought to justice. Only seven people survived at S-21 prison and one of the survivors was there to meet us.
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| Rules of Prison S-21 |
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| View from cell block |
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| The 7 survivors of S-21 |
After that sobering visit, we took tuk tuks again out to the Killing Field of Cheung Ek. This peaceful and beautiful place had formerly been orchards and a Chinese cemetery. The prisoners from S-21 were transferred here at night and killed not by gun as bullets were expensive but by being clubbed to death. 17,000 bodies have been discovered here and they are 200 Killing Fields throughout Cambodia. How evil can mankind be? The Stupa there contains the skulls of many of the victims.
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| Flower at Killing Field |
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| Chinese Gravestone at Cheung Ek |
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| Burial ground at Cheung Ek |
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| Skulls in Stupa |
It was good to get back to the hustle and bustle of the town and to see once again the smiling faces. It is amazing that they seem such a happy race with their tragic history.
The afternoon passed by quickly with shopping and a blind massage. Blind massage you may ask – what a brilliant idea which I first encountered in Vietnam. Blind people are trained as masseurs and my lady was wonderful, quite painful at times but really getting into the knots on my back. I walked out of the place feeling relaxed and slightly spaced out.
Our evening was a very enjoyable occasion as we dressed up in our new clothes bought in Hoi An and met on the lovely breezy deck for Happy Hour at the Foreign Correspondents Club.
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| Girls enjoying cocktails |
It was cocktails all round and a very happy evening was spent before walking down to the excellent restaurant that Zoe and Susan had found for another delicious meal. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the food in Cambodia – everything I have eaten has been delicious and rather different. I plan to do another cooking course in Siem Reap as I have to learn how to make the Fish Amok. Dinner over, we headed for the fish nibbling tank. For those of you who have not heard of this, it is a place where you sit with your feet in a tank full of little fish which feast on the dead skin of your feet. It sounds bizarre and the sensation is certainly different but once you have got used to the tickling it is quite pleasurable and it leaves your feet feeling soft and smooth (or at least better than they were). Accompanied by a beer and with friends it was a good way to round off the evening.
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| Coffin shop on way to restaurant! |
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| Fish nibbling tank |
A hot morning for wandering round the Royal Palace but a friendly tuk tuk driver was waiting for me when I finished. The Palace is a series of very elaborate building and the King actually lives in one of the buildings which we could not get near. I wondered how it escaped the horrors of Pol Pot and will have to do some research on that unless anyone can enlighten me. The gardens were lovely and there was an air of peace about the place away from the madness of persistent tuk tuk drivers, kids selling books and bracelets and motorbike taxis.
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| At the Royal Palace |
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| The old and the new - mobile phone and temple god |
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| Wooden elephant in Royal Palace |
I met Mandy and Emily at the Palace and we shared a tuk tuk to the Russian market which was a thriving, exciting and very cheap place. A new bag, two teeshirts, underwear and some shuttlecocks to send to my sponsored child later we headed back towards town stopping at another silk shop for disadvantaged people.
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| In Russian market |
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| In Russian market |
Shortly after Emily and Mandy got off and I continued via another silk shop before heading back to hotel. Noodle soup made a delicious lunch and then it was a foot massage by a student at the Friends shop. I love having my feet massaged and this one was very good so I now feel in great shape.
Went with Mandy, Emily, Mel and Steve to the Friends Restaurant for dinner and enjoyed more great food. It really is a foodies paradise here and we still have Thailand to come!
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| Tarantullas on way to Siem Reap - Lucy of course bought one to eat! |
Siem Reap and a lovely hotel, Le Tigre, complete with Jacuzzi and swimming pool which I didn’t manage to take advantage of. Tuk tuks took us out to Angkor Wat to buy our tickets for the following day and some of us went in to see the place at sunset. It had been raining and the sun was firmly hidden behind clouds but as they say “the sun shines on the righteous” and right on cue the clouds lifted and we had a glorious night sky complete with full rainbow. We had the place virtually to ourselves so were able to wander peacefully around without those annoying tourists!
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| Angkor Wat |
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| Monk at Angkor Wat |
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| Angkor Wat |
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| Sunset at Angkor Wat |
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| Rainbow over Angkor Wat |
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| Night sky at Angkor Wat |
I had gatecrashed Wendy, Colin, Denis and Aoife’s tuk tuk so it was a tight squeeze back into town. Our tuk tuk driver took us to a traditional Khemer restaurant where we had a typical local meal little realising that we could have had the same in town for less than half the price but it was in lovely surroundings with extremely attentive staff.
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| What to drink after visiting Angkor Wat - Angkor Beer! |
An even earlier than usual start for departure at 5.15 to go to Angkor Wat for sunrise. That pesky sun was hiding so those of us who had seen the sunset were feeling a trifle smug.
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| Morning at the back of Angkor Wat |
Our guide very sensibly took us away from Angkor Wat to visit Ta Prohm while it was quiet. We were able to wander through this site with its amazing strangler figs and silk-cotton trees which have grown all over the buildings giving an eerie effect. Apart from one other couple we were the only people there so were able to soak up the atmosphere of the place in peace and to get that perfect picture. The film, Tomb Raider, was made in this location.
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| Ta Prom and amazing trees |
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| Strangler fig at Ta Prom |
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| Jim and Denis at Ta Prom |
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| Ta Prom |
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| Some of the group at Ta Prom |
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| Ta Prom |
I hope no-one will use my blog as research as the Wats did tend to blur into each other a bit but I hope I have more or less got the names right!
We went on to Angkor Thom where it was distressing to see a little girl maybe aged 3 or 4 dropped off the back of a motorbike by presumably her father and left to sell bracelets. The children here break your heart although most of them seem happy and cheerful and we were extremely impressed by one 13 year old who told us that she buys 8 bracelets for a dollar and sells them to us at 5 bracelets for a dollar, therefore making a profit of 1500 riel. Her English was great and one can only hope that she will escape from the poverty cycle although most of the kids speak great English.
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| Angkor Prom |
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| Angkor Prom |
Angkor Thom was built in the late 12th century and was one of the largest Khmer cities with the Bayon at the centre. It probably remained the capital until the 17th century. We crossed the moat with its gods and asuras lining the bridge.
The Bayon was a complex of face towers with narrative bas-reliefs of daily life and Khmer history. We did not spend as much time in these sights as they deserved and I think a return visit will be necessary when only a couple of places are visited in a day so that they can really be appreciated but our tour certainly gave us a good overview of the place and with a little more research and time to do some walking or bike riding there, it is a place I would love to return to.
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| The Bayon |
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| At the Bayon |
The Elephant Terrace was our next destination with its bas-reliefs of hunting scenes with elephants. As they say there is nothing new in the world and one of the friezes depicted people playing polo on horseback.
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| The Elephant Terrace |
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| The Elephant Terrace |
Ta Keo with its five massive towers on top of the imposing temple mountain construction was next and then it was on to Preah Khan which was formerly a Buddist University and city. It has a unique round columned two storey building and an atmosphere similar to Ta Phrom on a larger scale.
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| Preah Khan |
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| Preah Khan |
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| Wendy at Preah Khan |
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| Preah Khan |
The majority of the group went back to Angkor Wat but Wendy, Colin, Denis, Aoife and I headed off to Banteay Srei with its pink sandstone buildings. This was a long tuk tuk drive but took us past many villages. I was most impressed to see signs in the front gardens of the houses saying that people had donated money for wells to provide clean drinking water. What a wonderful legacy to give these people. Banteay Srei is only a small site but exquisite. Many of the pediments were carved with mythological creatures. It was in a lovely peaceful setting with few tourists and made a great ending to Angkor Wat day.
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| Banteay Srei |
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| Children at Banteay Srei |
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| Banteay Srei |
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| Banteay Srei |
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| Landmine Victims playing music |
On the long drive back to town our tuk tuk had a puncture. As the tyre was nearly flat when we set out, we had been expecting it but it was quickly remedied as our driver left us on the side of the road for approximately 10 minutes while he roared off and returned with a new tyre.
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| Oxen on way back to Siem Reap |
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| Rice waiting to be planted |
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| Industrious ants taking spider up tree |
Back in town we went for lunch at the Cambodian Traditional Chef restaurant and had an excellent meal and a couple of beers. I saw that they had a cooking class there and tentatively booked for the following day. In the evening I returned there to let them know three of us would be attending.
The next morning I was bright and breezy although my fellow would be chefs had slight hangovers from a night out at a bad drag queen bar. However we all arrived at restaurant to find Lucky waiting to take us to the market where we got to taste, sniff and touch the various herbs and spices. Then it was back to the restaurant where we got dressed up in chefs’ uniforms and feeling vaguely ridiculous especially as CJ and Jim walked past, had hysterics and took photos of us, we proceed to chop, pound, stir fry, cook and then eat. It was all enormous fun and quite different from our class in Vietnam as it was much less formal. I had arranged that instead of making a starter which we had done previously we would make two main courses; Khmer Curry and Khmer Tasty and we also made a dessert of pumpkin, sago, sugar and coconut cream which was delicious. The main courses were so substantial that we ended up taking the Khmer Tasty back to the hotel and eating it for dinner so for US$10 it was a fun and informative morning and fantastic value.
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| The chefs |
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| Chopping |
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| Khmer Spicy |
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| Enjoying the fruits of our labour |
After a rest, I took a tuk tuk driver to visit the Spice Garden. He had never heard of it and was really interested and came round with me pointing out various things. This garden was a work in progress and I am sure in a few months will be a wonderful showcase of the various herbs and spices used in Cambodia. I was feeling rather jealous that I would not have room to grow the ginger, galangal and turmeric that feature so highly in the cooking but they are not the plants to grow on an apartment balcony! Then it was on to the Butterfly Farm which was a great disappointment. Apparently the butterflies die off in the wet season so there were not many to see and so I headed back to the hotel. Later Melissa and I walked through the Night Market and ended up back at “my restaurant” where she ate and I just had a cocktail as I had eaten my Khmer Spicy earlier.
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| Cardamon Flower |
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| Sign outside hospital |
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| At the butterfly farm |
So it is to the end of our stay in Cambodia. I have really fallen in love with the country and the people and very much hope to return one day to see more. I would love to spend more time at Angkor Wat having done some research on the place beforehand so that I could get a bit more out of the architecture, bas-reliefs and history of the place. Of all the countries we have visited so far, this has been the one that has really touched my heart.
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