Ups and Downs in Cambodia

This has become a pattern for us, we finish one country, leave and then a week or two later we make a post about it. Can't help it, it's the nature of travel.

Let's start where we left of in the last blog:
From Bangkok the plan was to take the train to Aranyaprathet (Thailand), then take a tuk-tuk to the border, get a visa there and cross into Cambodia. Pretty simple, no?.........

After getting off the train in Aranyaprathet, the tuk-tuk drivers were already waiting for the foreigners to come out. Just like in India. We went with one of them because he would not leave us alone and his price was fair. And as always, the fair price from a harassing tuk-tuk means that he is going to stop where you did not ask him to. First he stopped at some travel agency, then at the Cambodian Embassy(?!) pushing us to get the visa there. Finally he would not even take us to the border but dropped us off at a market near by. Then we walked to the Thai border and that was very straightforward and simple. But after crossing to the Cambodian side, we found ourselves in no man's land. There were hotels and casinos around. It was not clear where we were supposed to go next. We ended up being stopped by what looked like a police border officer. By that point we were suspicious of everything. We felt that everything around was fake and arranged to trick us and cheat us, which in the end is probably true. As expected, the police border overcharged us and we payed $30 for our visa instead of $20. They would not give us a receipt no matter how persistent we were about it. Miko was so paranoid that in the middle of the visa process, he got up and walked further to see if the real police border wasn't down the road. Then he saw a second stand with policemen in different uniforms, and finally there was a check point with more policemen, again different uniform, all working as border police and charging $30 per visa. He decided to ask the last one for an explanation. He answered with the 2 famous southeast Asian words: "Same, same".
So we got our visas with the first corrupt police officer and passed the border still expecting the policemen stamping our passports to ask for more money. Likely that did not happen. But all this madness was not over yet.
Stepping into Cambodia we were suspicious of everything and very tense. We felt like everybody around us was trying to get a piece of us. Had no idea where to go. We wanted to get to the bus station but did not trust anybody who approached us trying to "help". We ended up joining a group of 8 other travelers who were as lost and confused as we were. They had arranged a deal with some guy to take taxis to Siem Reap, but we wanted to go to Battambang. The bus we were all on was supposed to bring us to the official bus station. Instead they took us further away, in the middle of nowhere. There was no bus station but an empty building under construction and a boss with several taxis and his drivers. We were cornered. In the matter of minutes the other 8 travelers got into taxis and went for Siem Reap and we were left alone. The boss asked for $40 to take us to Battambang when we knew it should be $20. Finally we agreed on $30 and got into a cab. The people who cornered us looked so suspicious, that even in the taxi we were wondering what next is going to happen to us. Miko even asked me if I had the Swiss knife handy.
Likely our trip from the "shit border" (BTW: it's Poipet border crossing) to Battambang went smooth. Inside the taxi we found an ad, promoting rides to Siem Reap (which is further away) for $20. Once we arrived, Miko decided to scare the driver and his boss a little, just like they did to us. With the proof in his hand, he told the driver he would pay only $20 and he freaked out and immediately called his boss. The guy was yelling and screaming on the phone and cursing the "fucking tourists". In the end, the boss was freaking out so Miko was happy, we paid the full price and walked away.

Finally we were in Battambang! The only reason we went there was to take the slow boat the next morning to Siem Reap! It was worth it.

























The trip on the slow boat took 7 hours along the river and across the Tonle Sap Lake. This stays one of the best moments we had in Cambodia. We could stand, sit, or lay down on the roof of the boat and enjoy the full 360 degree view of the beautiful scenery. It was amazing to see all the floating villages along the river. Sometimes there was no solid ground anywhere and people live there, never touching the ground except the wooden floor of their house and the bottom of their canoe. A food stand where we stopped for lunch was a canoe in the middle of the river. Such a different world. It was beautiful...... until we arrived at our destination. There, at the Siem Reap harbor, it was back to reality where the Westerners are seen as big bags full of cash.
As our boat approached the harbor, we noticed guys looking at us, then jumping in their tuk-tuks then following us from the land, racing each other. Then when they figured out where we were going to dock, they jumped out of their vehicles and raced each other again to the dock jumping and running over the boats parked around the spot where we were headed. They looked like a group of agitated monkeys pushing each other, looking at us with hunger. As soon as our boat stopped they all jumped on it, like a bunch of pirates attacking another ship, and grabbed the first traveler in sight to take them to their tuk-tuk. It is funny to recount the story now. But at the time we felt like a piece of meat. It was panic and I tried to keep calm while Miko was slowly boiling over. It was every traveler for himself and finally we just picked a random guy and left.
Anyway, the memory of it all is pretty funny now. We just need to assume that this will happen again and laugh at it when it does. Because in a way we really are bags full of cash compared to most of the people living here.


Siem Reap
is a place that all the tourists go to to visit Angkor Wat. Until few years ago it was a small fishing town and now it's growing and growing. Constructions everywhere. They are building fancy resorts and hotels. The center is full of restaurants and bars (there is even a bar lane) and it's a big party place now. And of course more expensive because of it all.
























Angkor is actually a complex of many, many temples and Angkor Wat is just one of them or the most popular. We decided to spend couple of days exploring them.
On our first day there we relaxed in the morning and rented bicycles to go see the sunset at the Angkor Wat in the afternoon. Angkor Wat is really impressive. It is massive and the wall carvings are beautiful. Still, Miko says he was more impressed with the Taj Mahal in India.
The next day we got up super early and left at 5:30am with a tuk-tuk to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat again. There is a huge debate if Angkor Wat is better to visit at sunrise or sunset, so we decided to see both :)
When we arrived there were so many people already, all ready with their cameras. It was very clouded that morning and it took a while before the sun raised above the mass of clouds. By that time most of the people have already left :) It was very nice and peaceful. We visited the temple again and it looked different from yesterday because of the different light. We noticed coloration on the walls that we could not see the day before. After spending a lot of time looking at the reliefs on the outside of the temple (incredible details), we went back to our tuk-tuk and headed toward our next destination - Banteay Srei temple, 36km away. This temple is very small but famous for its carvings. They are so detailed and deep. The color of the rock has all these variations of red, green, ochre, yellow and black. A feast for the eyes.
The only problem there are the hordes of tourists, especially the big Japanese groups (sorry Toshi, Yoshie and Mie). They take pictures of themselves in front of every door, window, column, sculpture.... You get the idea. You have to wait for each one of them to be done with their pictures in order to appreciate the place. And then there is another group showing up right after...
We finished the day by visiting the Land Mine Museum, created by a guy named Akira who was a child soldier in the Khmer Rouge army after they killed his parents and recruited him when he was 5 years old. Later he joined the Vietnamese army and fought against the Khmer Rouge. As a child soldier, his job was to plant mines and he did it for 10 years. No he is clearing the land of mines and training Cambodian army on how to do it. In addition to creating the museum displaying the mines and showing other instructive information, he opened a school for children in need with family problems, land mine victims, or just very poor. This was not cheerful but very informative visit. A stop everybody should make when they visit Cambodia.

On our third day visiting Angkor, we rented bicycles to visit two more temples. This was a great choice. It is so much better to visit at your own pace, stopping wherever you want.
The first temple was Bayon - famous for the large faces looking in different directions. I think that was my favorite temple (Hana). Unfortunately it was very busy again, so hard to appreciate. The sky was overcast when we started the visit but likely it opened up later in the day.
The next temple was Ta Prohm - or how they sadly call it now: the Lara Croft temple, because the first movie was shot there. The temple is mostly in ruins and it's being swallowed by the jungle, the giant trees wrapping around the structure. It's an amazing blend. A perfect fantasy movie set (Miko). The atmosphere is special here and definitely worth the visit. And surprisingly it wasn't that crowded in the middle of the day :)















Our stay in Siem Reap was nice even thought the place itself is very touristy. We were not sad to leave. We also did our Christmas shopping there for Miko's family and the package actually arrived in France. Success!
On our last evening, we met a Swiss-German couple in their late 50's. Looking at them we assumed that they were just like most of the tourists in their age group, here on a 2 week comfortable vacation, until they told us that they were sailing for 8 years and they just stopped 3 years ago. When their only son was old enough to take care of himself, they got a sailing licence, bought a boat and went to sail around the world for 8 years! With no prior sailing experience. It is so inspiring to meet people like them. It shows that age should not stop us from dreaming and taking on crazy projects. Life needs to be fully enjoyed all the way!
(So for now the next project is to buy a bad-ass motorcycle and travel through India and who knows where else, and then make some more money and buy a sailing boat and sail around the world - but wait, Miko doesn't like boats......)


Phnom Penh

We stayed in Phnom Penh for 4 days, longer than planned not because it was great, but because Miko got a bad cold. We stayed at the Lakeside, a sort of backpacker village in the city by the lake. Full of guesthouses with big floating terraces. We stayed at Number 9 Sister guest house which for the first 2 nights was a quiet place compared to the other guest houses competing with each other on the level of their sound system. Unfortunately it did not remain like that for the rest of our stay there. The manager happened to be a big fan of Michael Jackson and would play the same freaking music over and over again. Unbelievable.
Compared to the other guest houses around, this place was the cleanest, still we had to deal with a few enormous cockroaches (the relatives of the ones at Wells Fargo). Yum! Yum!



































The main reason we had to come to Phnom Penh was to get a visa for Laos. You can't get it at the border when entering from Cambodia.
The main reason for Miko was to visit the Toul Sleng Museum. An old high school, taken over by the Pol Pot security forces to create a prison called S-21 where everybody who entered was tortured and subsequently killed. Miko spent an entire afternoon visiting. There is so much information about the place itself but also about the Khmer Rouge regime and its leaders. During the 4 years of Pol Pot regime (1975-1979), 20% of the Cambodian population was killed by Khmer Rouge or died of starvation and diseases. It was a very interesting and moving visit. Again, not very uplifting but so informative.
The fun part of that day was getting there and coming back on a taxi motorbike. It was cool to be in the middle of the busy traffic of Phnom Penh, full of tuk-tuks and other motorcycles.
The next day we walked around the city a little. It has a few fun markets but otherwise we found the city not very pretty. The visit to the Royal Palace (where the government is) was nice. Beautiful buildings with colorful rooftops, pagoda like shapes covered with gold ornaments.

We were interested in learning more about the genocide while we were in Cambodia, since it's part of its recent history. We both read the book "First They Killed My Father" recounting a true story of a 5 year old girl from the year Khmer Rouge came into power until she moved to the US, 5 years later. It is a very good book and it really conveys the reality of the war here. But Miko said he is not going to read another war book because it affected his mood here. For me as well, it was weird visiting all these touristy sights and at the same time thinking about the genocide that happened here and trying to understand, but more about that later...

There was also a little hospital episode while we were in Phnom Penh. From the previous blog, you know that Miko cut his arm on some sharp rocks in Thailand while snorkeling. Well he had some butterfly stitches on it for a week or so and then it started itching. So, we took the bandages off and saw that it was infected, the sweet yellow juice was coming out of the wound. We found a hospital nearby and went straight there. They reopened his wound (which we thought was healing well) and cleaned it. They said it looked bad, probably meant infected. He paid $5, got a prescription for antibiotics and pain killers (?!) and was told to come back in 2 days for another cleaning. He went, they cleaned it again, paid $5 and was told to come back again. I guess at that point we should have figured out that there was no need for him to come the third time and that they just wanted another $5, but we didn't. At least the money went to the hospital, maybe it paid for someones bill or salary. And Miko's arm is fine now :)

Finally after one day too many in Phnom Penh we were leaving for Sen Monorom in Mondulkiri Province of East Cambodia. We bought a bus ticket at a travel agency. That morning a tuk-tuk driver was supposed to take us to the bus station. Instead, they took us to a place with minivans and pick-ups, which were overloaded with luggage, motorbikes, vegetables, chickens, etc.... And as we arrived a horde of drivers again jumped on us trying to take our bags and get us in their vehicle. We were shocked. What the hell is going on now? We were told that we are taking a bus by Sorya company and now this? We started arguing with the guy from the agency and Miko exploded. All the frustration from the day we arrived in Cambodia came out. And by doing that he made the guy who was bringing us to the place loose face, the worst thing in Southeast Asian countries. Pretty much, every time you get upset or angry, you loose face and so does the person you get angry at.
Suddenly, the guy flipped and started yelling also, ready to punch Miko, which made Miko even angrier. Then I said something to the guy and he turned ready to punch me, that's when Miko jumped over our bags out of the tuk-tuk ready to fight the guy..... Likely the driver came in between and stopped everything before it went too far. It's worth mentioning that the guy Miko was going to fight was up to his chest. Small but feisty.
After everybody came down a bit, we all went back to the travel agency where they sold us the tickets. They said there was a mistake, bla, bla, bla...... By that point we already had missed the bus and had no choice but to get into one of those minivans to get to Sen Monorom.
We did not mind taking the minibus with the locals, we just hated being lied to.
In the end we learned not to get upset about things like that. Not worth it. The eight hour ride that followed was just another local experience. The driver didn't speak any English, so we were only hopeful that everything will go well and that he will get us to the right destination. As expected, the price you are paying per person in Cambodia is just for the half seat. Just as we thought that the minivan was full, the driver stopped to pick up two more people and strap a few more roosters to the roof. (These roosters were transported to Sen Monorom for cock fights, as we learned later on) Finally we did arrive in one piece and the only mishap happened to our bags - the driver put a gallon of some kind of palm alcohol which spilled partly over our backpacks... Oh well, more stinky laundry.

Sen Monorom


is a red, dusty town in the hills of Mondulkiri. The main reason we wanted to go there is to do some elephant trekking in the jungle.
We stayed there at the "Nature Lodge", 2km outside of Sen Monorom. It is kind of a farm/guesthouse run by a young couple. She is Israeli and he Cambodian. It's been open for 3 years. Everything is made out of wood, the open restaurant, the bar area, all the tables and chairs. The huts are very primitive, on stilts, with slanted roof, little terrace and a big bed in the middle. The bathrooms are separate, an open roof squat toilet surrounded by plants and rocks with a shower under a tree. All very rustic! Cute place.
The next day we went to visit a small waterfall 7km away. It was totally unimpressive (wrong choice) and we almost regretted going there. But as we were leaving, a family who was setting up a picnic nearby, invited us to have a lunch with them. We accepted gladly. The family was from Phnom Penh on their short vacation. They spoke french because they lived in France for a while. It was obvious they were well off because of their big SUV cars, rounded bellies, their education and the fact they were on vacation. They have 5 children but only their youngest daughter was with them, chubby and spoiled. I really wanted to ask the father questions about the Khmer Rouge regime, but wasn't comfortable doing it in French. And it seemed he wasn't interested in this kind of subject. We were happy about the generosity we experienced. Our first real encounter with the Cambodians.

On our way back Miko got a haircut and a beard trim at the local shack for $1. No head massage like in Rishikesh but a fun moment none the less.

The next day was Christmas but it didn't feel like Christmas at all. We went on an elephant ride!
They took us on motos to a village where we were supposed to get on the elephants. When we arrived, a camera crew was there doing some kind of promotional video. They rounded all the tourists, about 10 of us, and we all had to shout in front of the camera: "Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonders!" Nobody was excited about it except the young American couple. After three tries, they finally let us go. We climbed on the elephants and started our trek in the jungle. For the first 15 minutes, the camera man kept jumping out of the bushes to film us passing by. It was funny.
So on our first encounter with the elephant we had to step on it's head in order to climb into the basket/seat. I felt uncomfortable about this and tried to appologize to the elephant later. We were sitting 2 people in each basket and in front of us the mahout - elephant driver. I guess it is the custom here that the little boys, usually no more than 10 years old, are the drivers. There were couple of adults on foot for supervision. We learned that several families in the village own the elephants and the ownership has been inherited from their grand parents and great grandparents. The elephants used to be used for heavy lifting of timber, but now they mostly use them for tourism. They work no more than 20 days per month and 4 hours per day. I hope that's true.
It was fun sitting up so high and going through the forest. But riding elephants wasn't as exciting as we expected. There is no direct contact between us and the animal. But watching them bathe in the river was the best part. We loved it. And that was our Christmas present to ourselves! And this whole trip of course.
That was the good part of the Sen Monorom visit. Then the weather got really bad, rainy and windy and cold. And Hana got the same cold Miko had in Phnom Penh.
Miko went on a 2 day trek in the jungle while I nursed my cold at the Nature Lodge. My mood was affected by it and the bad weather, so by the time Miko got back from his trek I was ready to leave Sen Monorom.
He came back with mixed feelings about the trekking experience.

*TREK*( I have to tell the story there : coming soon)





























Kratie
was our last stop in Cambodia before we headed to Laos. We did not expect much from it and that's probably why it ended up being a lot of fun.
The fun started for Miko almost as soon as we left Sen Monorom. He decided to give his half of the front seat in the pick-up to me, so I could fully enjoy my ritual transportation naps. (It's true, I've been sleeping on any transportation we have taken on this trip, train, bus, boat, tuc-tuc, doesn't matter. I can't help it) Instead Miko rode on the top of the pick-up cabin together with all the luggage and the locals in the back. He loved the 3 hour ride at about 60km per hour and would not stop raving about it even though he was all covered in dust afterward.



After we arrived in Kratie, we went to see the river dolphins, an endangered specie. There is only about 80-100 of them left and this was the place to see them. First we had to take moto taxi for 30 minute drive to the boat. The ride there on the motos was great. The sun was setting down and we were passing through villages. People were everywhere, cooking, cleaning up for dinner. Beautiful old, traditional houses on stilts, palm trees around, animals everywhere. It was great. Then we were on the boat, cruising up and down the river looking for dolphins and that was fun too. We shared a boat with a nice Swiss family with their two daughters. The kids were excited about spotting the dolphins and so were we. Plus we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset on the river Mekong. A great day!

Back at our guest house we met an interesting English man called Roger. He is 62 years old and riding his bycicle through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Very impressive. He was very nice and happy to talk to us. He even payed for our food and drinks. Very sweet of him. Thank you Roger.

The following day, Miko rented a motorcycle so we could ride around Kratie and see more of the beautiful countryside. (By the way, Miko has been regreting not getting the motorcycle liscence before our trip. So one afternoon in Sen Monorom, he rented one (a semi-automatic is what they all ride here) and asked the guy to teach him. Soon enough we are riding all over the place. He keeps saying it's easy, but still I'm impressed.)
While riding around Kratie, he was stopping a lot and taking photos of people. I remembered seeing a sign at the guesthouse saying that they print photos, so I suggested we go back and print the photos then deliver them to the people. Even back in India we noticed that when seeing their photo on the camera screen, people wanted to have it. We printed about 5 photos for 3 houses and then went back to give it to them. They were so surprised and happy. My favorite was a grandma with red teeth and a scarf wrapped around her head. She had a really nice face.
We are happy we were finally able to do this and hopefully we'll be able to do it again.

































The next day we left happy for Laos.


Epilogue (by Miko)
Our visit to Cambodia has been a transitional period. Sadly, I think. India was so intense that everything after seemed a little dull. Both Hana and I got sick with a cold that was affecting a lot of people. Locals and tourists alike. On top of it the weather has been unstable. Overcast a lot with some rain. And the bad experience entering the country left a bad taste in our mouth for a long time after.
But we ended our trip on a really good note. Our last stop in Kratie was great and looking back at what we have done there, I recount a lot more good than bad things. Like this girl from England told us in Sen Monorom, we were coming down from some kind of drugs (which was India). Getting sick didn't help. And finally we were trying to find our rhythm again. I hope I will come back here again to visit what I didn't. I liked the people. Expecially in the country side. I love their smiles, which by the way mean a lot more than joy. It is happyness and joy, but also discomfort and shyness. For example, when they disagree over the price of a ride on a tuk-tuk, they first laugh and say no with a big smile on their face. Or if they have no idea what you are asking them, they look at you laughing instead with a blank face. They also constantly tease each other and joke around.
And for some reason, I really, really loved the kids here. No matter how poor they are, they look happy. I also found them really nice and affectionate with each other.
I was a little sad to leave Cambodia. We met some local people only in our last week and missed the opportunity to do a homestay in the countryside. Next time.
Hana has her own take on the country. She will post a separate entry about it.