Some Siem Reap

Next day, (after Zoe found monkey heaven) we set off on a grand coach trip up to Siem Reap, in Northern Cambodia, home to the famous temples of Angkor! We figured they must be famous, as most of the beer we had seen was named after it. 7 hours on the coach was long enough - even though it was comforable, that was still a long time to sit still, even with breaks for ablutions and lunch. Still, we were happy to arrive, and were given a very warm welcome to our next spot, The Rose Apple Hotel, ran by a nice Belgian guy (Tim) and his Cambodian wife, with their two young kids running around. We were greeted with a drink and a scarf, and felt very happy with the decisions in our lives that had led to this moment. In particular, the moment we spotted a fridge full of Beligian beers (including a couple of favourites, Le Chouffe and Liefmann’s).

That night, we explored town, and were pleased to find it all a lot more chilled out than Bangkok and Phnom Penh, but I suppose that might be due to the fact that those two places were both capital cities. Still, nice vibe, and we had some tasty food on Pub Street!

Day two in Siem Reap, and we headed off to the main attraction in town, Angkor. We didn’t know much about it beforehand, and were surprised when guide books recommended three days minimum to explore it! But, when we learned some more about it, that started to make sense. Essentially, this area was the site of the old capital of the Khmer empire in the 11th century, an area covering Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Accordingly, the rulers had themselves seen as God-Kings, and commisioned increasingly grand and ornate temples to prove their power - each one trying to outdo his predecessors, it would appear. The end result was a staggering 400 large stone temples, enormous feats of landscape engineering in the form of massive resevoirs and canals to defy the dry season (and treble rice crops), and finally a city estimated to home over a million people, when London was just a few tens of thousands in size. The city itself has long since disappeared into the jungle again, but the Khmer insistence that Gods need stone buildings means that there are some impressive sights to be seen.

On our first day in Angkor, we hired a tuk-tuk to take-take (hehehe) us around one of the circuits, and we saw some very grand temples, in a variety of shapes and sizes. What was particularly interesting was seeing some of the parts where the jungle was taking over again, and huge trees had taken root in walls, dwarfing the already huge buildings in the centuries they’ve had to grow. Our last stop was Angkor Thom, which I believe was another massive city in it’s heyday, complete with moat and large stone walls.

A chicken. In a basket.

For Dad to try and identify - bigger picture available on demand!

These guys have all been affected by some of the gazillions of landmines and unexploded ordinance scattered around Cambodia, and were playing cool local music as we wandered round to make an income, adding a lot to the atmosphere.

After a day exploring in the heat, we retreated to our pool for the afternoon. That night we ate in our hotel, and were treated to watching it be cooked in front of us - we had Chicken Amok, which was creamy and subtly spiced, and just fantastic. Yum.

For our second day in Angkor, we hired a guide called Bali to show us around, and give us some more history for the place. He was an affable dude, who clearly knew his stuff. He took us on a different circuit, to see other temples - the first of which was defined by dozens of towers, each with a huge smiling face on each of the four faces at the top. When we reached the middle, you could see these faces all around you, clearly very pleased with themselves - I think it’s believed that these were a likeness of the God-King who had ordered it’s construction.

Another temple that stood out was the one now known as the Tomb Raider temple - essentially, Angelina Jolie ran around it in hot pants as part of the film (before breaking into a fake interior back in Pinewood Studios), so the temple has been unofficially renamed in her honour. Interestingly, a significant amount of the restoration work that has been done in and around Angkor has been due to the needs of that film, so it seems to have been a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties. It’s easy to see why this one in particular was chosen - the jungle has been trying it’s damndest to wrestle the temple back into the earth, with some dramatic results.

The grand finale of our day touring with Bali was Angkor Wat, the big kahuna. This place is the largest religious building in the world, and a contender for the so-called eighth wonder of the world. Oh, and namesake to a pretty tasty local lager! It’s hard to describe how big it is, but… there’s a moat at least 100m wide and over a kilometer long on each side, then you reach the outer walls, which are ornate and at least 5m tall. Through these and beyond the first set of gates is the huge complex, where a city used to hide in the shadow of the five iconic towers of the Wat. The main building has three layers, each higher that the last, and with their walls covered with detailed carvings and murals depicting the Hindu story of the universe.

So yes, a very impressive building, and even moreso when we stopped to remember that it was built around a thousand years ago, by sheer manpower. I don’t think there was a minimum wage in those days, and I shudder to think what it would have been like to have to toil over such a thing in the sort of heat we had there. Bloody God-Kings, all they had to do was point where they wanted their next monument, they didn’t have to shift the stones!

After two days of temples, we took a break and had a lazy day. We wandered in to town at lunchtime, and made a beeline for a gelato shop we had ogled the night before. Me and Zoe have no shame in admitting that we had two scoops each, and we damn well enjoyed them! Then followed a slightlier boozier afternoon than we had originally planned, and then we went to…

First this happened...

...then this happened.

The Circus! The Cambodian Circus! But wait, wait! Fret ye not, this wasn’t motheaten lions standing on buckets, or sad elephants juggling, no no! This was human people performing incredible feats of acrobatics and musical talent, in a jaw-dropping show! And, to top it off, it was part of another excellent charity that took (even more of the) disadvantaged kids, and gave them the opportunity of an education in the fields of art, circus and music, where previously they would have had little chance at a life beyond poverty. Instead, after years of teaching and nurturing, these superhumans resulted, who are infinitely more strong and talented than me. I can’t really describe it, but suffice to say that we can see why they are starting to tour the world, and would heartily recommend anyone who gets the chance to go see the Cambodian Circus! (http://pharecircus.org/)

Next time, one last bit of Siem Reap, and then on to Kampot! Plenty more to come :)

Fur-ther Adventures in Phnom Penh

After the two days exploring the recent history of Cambodia, we went a little more lighthearted, and saw another grand palace. It was beautiful and hot. Then, the national museum (it was pretty okay, and hot!), then a stroke of luck when we stumbled across a cafe called Friends, which we had read about in our bible (Lonely Planet) - this was a cool place that gave kids from disadvantaged backgrounds (and there are a lot of these in Cambodia), and gave then an unrivalled opportunity to get thorough training in the hospitality industry - in waiting, cooking and managing. As an added bonus, the food was fantastic! A definite winner.

Giant Pigeon attacking Angkor Wat

Then, we took ourselves (or rather, were taken via tuk-tuk) to another temple, the post-office (finally!), and to a travel clinic for my last rabies jab. I won’t go into detail (ask us about it sometime), but suffice to say that it was a bizarre experience, and the bottom line is that I’m now fully immunised, just in time for our last day, and…

Animal sanctuary! A place a little out of town, spread out over Tamao Mountain. We were shown around by a surprisingly knowledgeable ice-cream salesman, and I think the fact that his bike had a coolbox full of goodies attached as a sidecar helped us keep motivated. Poaching is a big problem in Cambodia, particularly of things like sun bears, who are indigenous, and have the misfortune of being on the recipe for some Chinese medicines, so lots of them have been rescued and are being well looked after at this place. We were immediately greeted by a pack of very curious and cantankerous macaques, with a slightly less cantankerous group of locals happy to sell us bunches of bananas to pander to the crowds. It was fun trying to get the food to the little ones, or those with babies in tow, as the big ones certainly knew how to throw their weight around. Word of advice though, don’t try teasing them with bananas then not letting go! But of course, you knew that.

Whilst there, we also got to feed fish to some otters, which was also super-cute. We saw some flying squirrels, and lots of hot looking bears, and an elephant with a prosthetic leg! Apparently he had looked the wrong way at some poachers, or had been unlucky enough to be on the recipe for another medicine. Regardless, he looked very well, and enjoyed a bunch of bananas for the trouble of wandering over to say hello.

Lastly, I should mention that Zoe made friends with some very nice monkeys - a blind spider monkey who enjoyed holding hands, and a blonde gibbon who liked having her arms stroked. An excellent experience, and one that won’t leave us any time soon.

Oh, and we had ice-cream in a hammock, which was pretty chill! Thus marked the end of that spell in Phnom Penh. More to come, as we gradually catch up with ourselves - stay tuned for the north!

Previously, in Phnom Penh...

Phnom Penh

We stayed at the Manor House Boutique (ooh) Hotel in PP. This was a cosy place near the centre of the action, with a cute little pool tucked away behind some trees. Despite having seen many run down buildings as we came in from the airport, the centre of the city seemed to be thriving, with loads of cool cafes and bars to choose from, and designer shops scattered around. That night we had tasty Amok (local curry) and Lok Lac (beef dish, v good).

We knew only a little about Cambodia’s history, so we made a point on our first full day of going to Tuol Sleng, or S21, a grim but fascinating museum on the site of a Khmer Rouge prison and torture facility, where Duch did his work and is estimated to have tortured between 12 and 20 thousand people before sending them to be executed. In another previous place, this had been a school, so it was particularly galling to hear and see what had been done to so many poor souls there (and elsewhere) between 1975 and 1979. The audio tour was excellent, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone else who happens to be there. Not to be missed - a plaque from UNESCO marked this as a part of the memory of the world - not to be forgotten, and instead to be learned from in the hope of preventing future tragedy.

Next day, we followed the obvious route, and took a tuk-tuk (heh) ride out to a place known as the killing fields, about 45 minutes out of the city. This was where people were taken in the middle of the night for execution, after ridiculous confessions had been tortured from them. Another grisly stop, but undeniably worthwhile, again made all the more real by another good audio tour. The main exhibit here was a powerful monument in the centre, standing tall and displaying the skulls of over 9000 victims, each of which had been subject to pathological exam to determine age and likely cause of death. They didn’t use bullets here, as those were expensive and noisy. Not for the faint hearted, but again very worthwhile from an educational point of view.

More to come...

Belated Bangkok

Bangkok!

We arrived after, ooh, too long in the air. 6.30 in the morning, to be precise, when our body clocks understandably expected it to be 11.30 the night before. On adrenaline and toll roads we made it to our first stop, the Anantara Sathorn Hotel. You’d think a 38 storey building with its name on the roof would be easy to find, but not in a city of 8 million plus and seemingly a skyscraper for every citizen! Anyway, I exaggerate. Our taxi took us to where we needed, and we lounged around by the pool until our room was ready, taking a couple of breaks for all you can eat dim sum (more like dim YUM), and an impromptu nap in the shade.

We had made a point of booking somewhere that looked especially comfortable for our first few nights, and we were amazed at what we had found for our money. That night, we enjoyed rooftop beers overlooking the megacity and marvelling at the scale of everything.

Next day was a breakfast buffet so big it couldn’t fit indoors, then an ambitious excursion on public transport as far as we could get (via metro and Sky Train), then what looked like a brief stroll through Chinatown before arriving at the centre of the action - Kaohsan Road, tourist central.

As you can possible imagine, this turned out to be a bit ambitious. The public transport was fine, and efficient, but the walk was nigh on impossible - after over an hour walking in the sweltering heat, we were barely halfway to our destination! We had an emergency McDonalds stop whilst I recovered from this crisis with an Ice Tea, then we (I) swallowed our (MY) pride and we jumped into the nearest Tuk-tuk. Kaohsan Road was down as tourist central, so that was where we headed. It was mercifully pedestrianised, and also heaving with people from all over the world. We couldn’t move without being offered pad thai, t-shirts, beer or scorpions on sticks. It was nice to find somewhere we could stroll around without being caught in a traffic jam. Needless to say, we found a few quiet haunts for some cheapish drinks, steering clear of the sports bars and the places blaring club music midfternoon, clearly catering for the classic ‘gap year’ backpackers, spilled out of universities.

So, we learned that Bangkok is pretty big, which I may have mentioned once or twice.

Day three at Anantara we elected to spend by the pool, recuperating from the previous day’s ordeal with a filthy burger or two, and plenty of quiet contempation in the shade and breeze, well away from the high thirties that the rest of the city was labouring under. At the end of the day, as dusk was settling in, we ventured out to a nearby park, which was surprisingly excellent, all the more so as the peace it offered was in marked contrast to the dozens of skyscrapers and thousands of vehicles swirling around the outside. It is here that Zoe spotted giant (3ft) lizards, possibly monitors, just strolling about as if they owned the place! Also, hundreds of Thai people got together for an open air aerobics class, complete with banging club music. It was surreal, and stopped only when the national anthem came on (when all in public spaces are expected to stop what they are doing, and think nice thoughts about the lovely king and queen).

That evening, we treated ourselves to some very tasty street food outside of our hotel. With cheap beer! It felt good to be sitting on some plastic furniture, watching the world go by.

On our last day at the grand Anantara, we went seeking some culture, and decided to start with the grand temple of the emerald buddha (sounds like an Indiana Jones movie in the making), but! We realised after one hot tuk-tuk ride there, that we were not dressed appropriately, and would have to come back another time! This was briefly annoying, but we coped, and instead took ourselves to the river, and navigated the waterways for a while, visiting Wat Arun (temple of the dawn, very beatiful though undergoing restoration), and afterwards being taken on a private tour of some old canals running through Bangkok. That was really intersting, and we saw some truly beautiful sights - a contrast between quiet canal and noisy engine, crumbling buildings in the process of slipping into the water, and bright colourful temples. I didn’t know this before, but in years gone by, Bangkok was called the Venice of Asia! Things have moved on recently, and for practical reasons canals have given way to roads, but we were glad to get this snapshot.

That evening, we were back in Kaohsan road where Zoe had an excellent Massaman curry (I had a mediocre Red one), then back to make the most of our rooftop bar one more time.

After 4 days at the Anantara, we elected to move a little closer to the centre of the action, to somewhere a little more wallet-friendly. Enter, The Region! We got there via taxi and some heroic GPS navigation by yours truly. This was a cosy little place, overlooking a canal and near a temple called the Golden Mount. We felt very welcome there! One day we succeeded in breaking in to the palace, and afterwards we explored another palace, full to to brim of giant gold and silk gifts that the Thai people had bestowed on their royals. Like, how many golden plinths decorated with pearlescent beetle wings do two people need? I think they had the same dilemma, so had happened upon the solution of opening up their garage to Joe Public. Might have been a bit out of place at a car boot sale.

One thing that I feel the need to record for posterity - the mineral water served at the Region was blue! Not transparent, like real-life water is, but blue-coloured! It tasted of nothing, and seemed fine, but we continue to scratch our heads over that one.

Eventually, we  figured we had run out of things to do in Bangkok for the moment, and we decided to move on (knowing that we will likely come back at least once during our remaining adventures). So, we had a brief excursion to the temple of the Golden Mount (which became a bit of a temple of death after a cholera outbreak, apparently??), got a taxi to the (other) airport, and flew to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia!