As we headed into February, reality began to set in and the fact that this trip has an end date is, well...down right disturbing! So, with the clock ticking and only 2 months to go, we left Vietnam, with its hands down best coffee in the whole wide world, and headed into Cambodia.
Now, I don't know about all of you readers out there, but beyond the fact that Angelina adopted a kid from Cambodia, I really knew very little about the country. Needless to say, there was a lot to learn. In short, Cambodia spiraled into a civil war in the mid 1970's that resulted in the Nazi-like genocide of 2 million of its own people under the communist leader Pol Pot (aka Brother Number One) and the Khmer Rouge. The history and events leading up to the fall of the Pol Pot regime in 1978 are extremely confusing and infused with corruption and insanity at every level. In the end, it was ironically the Vietnamese that liberated Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge but internal fighting would continue on into the late 1990's. The country has only recently begun to heal from its wounds.
We entered Cambodia at the southeastern-most point - a town called Prek Chak. The border between Vietnam and Cambodia could not have been more physical. As soon as you left the customs building in Vietnam the asphalt road ended and the red dirt road of Cambodia began. Concrete buildings with air conditioners were replaced by shanties made of bamboo, coated in a thick red dust from the passing vehicles. There were few trees and the countryside was infinitely flat. Dried up rice paddies extended into the horizon and we could only imagine what it must look like in the wet season (Unlike the Mekong Delta, much of Cambodia can only produce 1 or 2 crops of rice per year as they depend on the rain, not the rivers, to provide water. The Mekong river provides for up to 4 plantings a year in the Delta). Realizing this was not a town worth more than 2 minutes of our time, we quickly hopped in a local bus and made our way to the capital, Phnom Penh.
The capital city is located at the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers. Here's a little trivia: During the wet season, the fast flowing Mekong begins to back up because it cannot empty into the Gulf of Thailand fast enough. It backs up so much that the Tonle Sap actually reverses direction and flows 'upstream'. Apparently this is the only river in the world to do that. Fascinating I know! Anyway, the city is a crossroads in Asia and attracts tourists and businesses from all over. It's also extremely hot. As the wise Rick Harrison once said, "..its a tropical blowtorch". I couldn't agree more. Between the hours of 11am and 3pm you have to walk from shady area to shady area just to avoid the searing burn of the midday sun. I can not imagine having to farm in weather like this. What is humorous though is that the Cambodians, like the Vietnamese, hate the sun and bundle up every inch of their body to protect against it. Mika has been scolded more than once for not covering her feet, wrists, hands and neck. It probably explains why the $8 bottle of sunscreen is covered in a layer of dust an inch thick on the pharmacy shelves.
We spent two days museum hopping, taking naps and showers in the middle of the day and feasting on the best Mexican food we had seen in 5 months. You have no idea how hard it is to get a descent taco in Asia! We strolled through some night markets and except for the frequent solicitations from the tuk-tuk drivers, which usually went "You need tuk-tuk? Killing fields, prison, land mine museum?", you would never know the country had just emerged from a bloody civil war.
Kompang Cham
On our way to Siem Reap we stopped for two nights in Kompang Cham. Beside the usual farming and agriculture there is not a whole lot going on here, however, we stayed with a local family who runs a Homestay (essentially a guest house run by a local family giving you a glimpse into what local life is like). Without electricity, air conditioning, hot water or our own private bathroom, we spent two days immersed in the Cambodian culture. This homestay is run by an expat from Michigan, Don, who a local guy referred to as a 'nasty old man' - which we agreed with, and his exceptionally kind wife Seng. Their two kids, two dogs and an assortment of farm animals rounded out the family. Although Don was helpful with our travel arrangements, he mostly drank cheep beer, chain smoked cheap cigarettes and complained about everything, so we were happy that the majority of the time was spent with his wife. (Although in the end he gave us a 10% discount because we were Americans and he son accidentally sprayed Mika with a herbicide!)
Seng gave us a tour of the countryside. We visited nearby villages and saw families doing the normal 9 to 5 stuff: women in the rice fields tending to their crop, young men watching over generators that ran the pumps to underground wells providing water for the rice (Interestingly enough, the men slept in the fields next to the equipment to prevent theft), teenagers and younger children looked after the cows and the water buffalo while they grazed, and we met a 70 year old man that climbed 40 foot palm trees to harvest the sugar palm from its flowers. This was a sight to see. We took a bicycle tour of the nearby rubber plantations (which of course had no activity because we happen to be there the 2 weeks out of the year that they allow the trees to rest!), the local Buddhist Wat and saw the dams and canals the peasants were forced to build during the war. The most interesting part of the homestay, however, were the evenings.
Each night, a guest speaker was invited over to talk to us. The first night we spoke with Seng'smother who survived the Pol Pot Era and the war. For almost two hours we discussed what her family went through and how she survived. It was eerily similar to talking to Holocaustsurvivors. She described the fear and the endless days working in the fields, the routine killings and the circumstances under which the peasants were forced to live. All culture, religion and social aspects of life were eliminated. Currency was abandoned and all education (except for communist 're-education') ceased.
Which conveniently brings me to our second night speaker, a 26 year old, 1st Grade teacher at the local school. Again, he was open and warm and enjoyed talking to us. He explained that he earns a salary of $90/month which does not cover his living expenses so he is forced to farm on the side. He averages 50 students per class and the age range in each class could be as much as 3 years (meaning 7 and 10 year old are in the same class together). The curriculum is simple and the astonishing part of the whole system is that less than 5% of the kids enrolled in Grade 1 will graduate high school. He himself was 1 of 2 people that graduated from his class and this is apparently normal. The level of education in the rural areas of Cambodia is so low that most people have no more hope than their parents had of making a better life for themselves. They are not even taught of the brutality that occurred in their front yards just 30 years ago until high school - which means that most children know nothing about it. I can only imagine the impact of an entire generation without education. The country is essentially primed for a more corrupt government than before and unfortunately, there is little they are prepared to do about it. The 'democracy' the UN declared they established years back is only a facade. The government parties blatantly use bribes and pay offs to win elections and exchange rice and othercommodities with the peasants in exchange for posting a large sign in their front yardproclaiming their party allegiance. Come to think of it, it sounds a little familiar.
As only a good mother could, Seng walked us to the bus stop the next morning and bid us farewell and we began our journey further north to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat around the city of Siem Reap. If there ever was a Disneyland of the East, Siem Reap and Angkor Wat are it. At $20/day/person for just the ticket, Angkor Wat is cash cow. (This does not include the $15-25/day for transport - we instead opted to bike the 40+ km over two days for the price of $5 dollars but man it was hot!) Tour buses come carrying tourists from all over the world. They move in masses following the green or yellow or red flag proudly held by their accompanying tour guide and take photos of anything that will stand still long enough. I hate to sound annoyed but, well, they are annoying! One good thing has come of it. The food in Siem Reap is fantastically comforting. Restaurants serving Mexican, Thai, Sushi, etc. line the main streets while the markets are overflowing with open pit BBQ's of fresh seafood and meats. And to Mika's delight, there was a fresh bakery and ice cream parlour which we managed to visit at least twice a day.
Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples, aside from the masses and diesel buses, are truly the eighth (or ninth or whatever number) wonder of the world. The sheer size and scale of these structures is overwhelming and the precision and craftsmanship is remarkable. Some are restored or in the process of being restored, and others have succumbed to the elements of nature which in itself is just as beautiful. Walking through all the nooks and cranny's you begin to feel like Indiana Jones looking for some long forgotten treasure. Like most of these types of places, the pictures do not do it justice, but hey, we tried and we definitely missed our old camera!
Terrace of the Elephants
Angkor Wat
Boat Ride To Battambang
After 3 days of biking, hiking and tuk-tuk'ing around, we headed West by boat to Battambang. Keeping in mind that this was Valentine's Day, the first 4 hours of the ride were beautiful. The boat meandered through the rivers sprouting off the Tonle Sap Lake, passing floating villages that move with the annual rise and fall of its waters. Unfortunately, because it was the dry season and the water levels were extremely low (no more than 2 to 3 feet in some places), the next 6 hours were spent prodding along in the midday heat! We arrived, hot and bothered - in the not so Valentine's Day way - and quickly found a hotel with air conditioning and a cold shower. Like so many of the rural towns in Cambodia, Battambang does not have a whole lot to offer. It does however have the Bamboo Train. It's kind of silly and no more than a ride but the Bamboo Train is both fun and funny. It is simply four pieces: 2 sets of axles with wheels, a bamboo platform and a lawnmower engine. The whole thing can be disassembled in a matter of seconds. Why would this be necessary? Because there is only one track and the Bamboo Trains run in both directions. So whoever has the lighter load, has to get out of the way by disassembling their train and moving off the track. It runs about 20 minutes in each direction passing - you guessed it - rice fields along the way. The tracks are uneven and un-aligned and the train drives at a speed that prompts you to hold onto something secure. The first thing we both said immediately after we started was that this should be an amusement park ride.
After lunch, we bought a ticket and hoped on a bus back to Phnom Penh for our last day in Asia. This, unfortunately, was also our last mistake in Asia. We arrived in Phenom Phen and expected a lazy day of shopping, eating and over all general relaxation. At breakfast, while trying to check in for our flight the next day, Mika turns to me, laughs and simply says, "You're not going to believe this. Look at our reservation." So I did, and it clearly said in black and white, "Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur". Siem Reap as in the place we just left and took a five hour bus ride to get away from. Siem Reap as in the other side of the country. Hence the title of this blog! For a little bit of reference, we has essentially just traveled from NY to Washington DC to catch a flight that left from Newark. Needless to say this was not one of our shining moments! And just in case we thought about leaving right away, we looked up to see that our laundry had just been hung out to dry! So we booked a ticket on the last bus leaving that night which supposedly put us back in Siem Reap at 6am. Plenty of time to catch the 8:30am flight. Except for the fact that we didn't get in until 7:20am. Thankfully, the Cambodians do not adhere to the 2hr international flight rule and we strolled into the terminal just under an hour before takeoff, which apparently was fine.
Asia, its been a wonderful 4 months. We've laughed, we've cried. We've gotten sick and had some stomach issues. We've met some incredible people and seen some amazing things. It was a fantastic ride and we appreciate the parting gift just to keep us on our toes.
Until next time...Namaste, Sabadee, Lia haoy and Tam biet
-Alan
no way scotty read all that
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