Cambodia

Cambodia 24/07/09 – 03/08/09

Phnom Penh

Got our $10 bus from HCMC to the border. We got crap seats again. We were sitting right in front of the toilets so we couldn’t put our seats back and the people in front of us did so no room for us. We paid the guide on the bus $25 each for our Cambodian visa cos he filled out all our forms and did everything for us. We stopped at the Moc Bai – Bavet Border. We had to get our bags scanned there as we were leaving Vietnam and give our leaving card. After that we got on the bus again for another 2 min journey and got to the Cambodian border. We were only there for 5 mins to get our passport stamped as our guide got our visas for us when he got off the bus. We arrived in Cambodia at about 3pm and got a Tuk Tuk with Mark who was on our bus to a few different hotels, they didn’t have room, they were too expensive or there was no power in the hotel. Our Tuk driver took us to one hotel which was $12 but it was nice and had a generator should the power go. After dropping our bags we went for a jug of Angkor beer in the Riverside Restaurant. We went for dinner in a place along the riverside. I and Damien got our food but Mark never got his. After we both finished our meal a while Mark complained and told him we’d leave without paying if he didn’t get his food now and so the waitress got his food and gave us a free beer each!! After he finished we paid our bill and they tried to do us out if change but luckily we noticed and got our money back…

Had a great sleep as the beds in this place were amazing…Got up and had breakfast. We rang our Tuk Tuk driver from the day before and he sent his friend to us. We went to the Tuol SlengMuseum (S-21 Prison) were we watched a DVD on the prison first and then we went around all the rooms and read about prisons and the people who ran the prison. We also read aboutCambodia and what went on while the Khmer Rouge was in power. We saw the torture techniques and the pictures of all the prisoners or most of them who were then taken to the Killing fields. After a depressing 4hrs we finished there and went and got lunch. After that our Tuk Tuk brought us to the killing fields. We decided to get a guide there. Our guide was born in 1980 so after the Khmer Rouge were in power and has been doing tours of the killing fields for 7yrs but yet he still got emotional talking about it. He thinks his uncle was brought there as he disappeared and was never found again. He told us some history ofCambodia and all about the killing fields. There are 87 killing fields in Cambodia. This is the most famous because between 20,000-24,000 people were killed in that field alone. They have a Stupa built there that is a memorial to all the people killed. They have 9,000 skulls there ranging in age from 15yrs upwards. They don’t have any baby skulls cos the baby’s heads were smashed against a tree and so were too smashed up to display. They have been excavating the fields since 1980 but think they won’t find that many more skulls cos the area was flooded before and so they might have gone into the river. After our tour of the field we went to the museum was they had information about Pol Pot and his people. It also told us about the ones who are on trial today but only 1 Duch has admitted to what he did the others say they did it cos they were told to and if they didn’t they’d die. After we left there we got our Tuk Tuk back 14km in silence to our hotel. We went for a rest and then headed out for dinner. Mark got his meal the same time as us so it was ok. After that we headed to Pontoon club to meet Aoife & Eimear. Drinks were really expensive there so after they came we left. We wanted some cheap drink so we went down the side streets only to find every bar we went into was full of prostitutes. Eventually we found a supermarket and bought a litre of vodka for $10 and drank outside the shop which had tables and chairs outside of it!! After we polished off the vodka we went back to Pontoon cos it was Aoife’s friend’s birthday and we were all pretty tanked up by then… A few more drinks, dancing and meeting more Irish. Walked back to our hotel. Got in at 5.30am

Woke up at 11.30am and went for breakfast in the Riverside. I got Confessions of a shopoholic and Damien and Mark went down by the river and took some photos. They didn’t go into the Palace as they weren’t dressed appropriately and there was a really long queue. They came back to the hotel and we all watched night at the museum 2 and then showered and headed out to a Mexican called Cantina. It was rated in the lonely planet as a must eat so in we went. It was the worst food we had in all our time traveling. I asked for chicken and they gave me beef which they tried to force me to eat and the lad’s dishes looked equally horrible. We ate, paid our bill and left feeling a little ill…

Siem Reap

We got up and got the bus to Siem Reap. It was only a 6hr journey so off we went. I was pretty wrecked so as usual I slept for the whole journey. Poor Mark had asked for an isle seat as he’s very tall but he didn’t get one. We met a group of 5 Irish girls on the bus. Irish everywhere!! We got collected from the bus station by our hotel and the roads were terrible. This is real wild wild west…

We settled into our nice new hotel with fan for $10. We had organized with Eimear and Aoife to meet them at Nest later so we got a Tuk Tuk to there. It was really near us and really expensive so we had a beer each there and then went off to find cheaper food. We went to the Red Piano which is quiet famous as Angelina Jolie ate there when she was filming Tomb Raider. We had some food and a few beers. They had a cocktail named after Angelina.

We got up early and went to Angkor. We decided to get a 3 Day ticket as it was cheaper. We started at the Rolous Group. These temples are a bit far out so not so many tourists at these. We did get mobbed by the traders about 6 girls shouting at us to “buy from me” eventually after telling them to be quiet or we wouldn’t buy anything myself and Damien did buy a Khmer scarf each!! We bought one from one girl and another from another girl. The other girls were upset that we didn’t buy from them but we didn’t need 6 scarfs… Later on we all met up at the Angkor Wat bar for some refreshing jugs of beer. We went for dinner in the Temple across the road which had a show on while we ate. We headed to another bar and met Craig & Grace and their friends. They asked us to join them all in their hotel for a few drinks. As the girls were heading on to Ko Chang in the morning only I and Damien went. We had a fair few vodka’s in theirs and then we headed back out to the Temple again and got in a about 5.30am.

Mark tried to wake us the next day at 9am but to no avail. We got up late had some food but by the time we had done that we had missed the day so we waited for Mark to come back and we all went out for dinner and watched P.S I Love you.

Mark got up at 5am the next morning to watch the sun rise. A bit early for us!! We got up about 9.30 and headed to the red piano for brekkie and takeaway lunch. We got a Tuk Tuk to the landmine museum. We watched a documentary about the museum and learned about the guy who started it. He was recruited as a child solider for the Khmer Rouge and used to put the landmines in the ground himself. He now assists in taking them out. We learned a lot. It started to piss rain as we left the museum and out driver gave us some lovely rain jackets/plastic bags. We went to see Mebon, Ta Som, Preah Neak & Preah Khan. They were nice but as it was raining so much we didn’t enjoy them as much and they looked fairly gaunt with no sunlight! We got back and as it was Mark’s last night we went to Cheeky Monkey restaurant and had a meal and a few drinks. We also did the pub quiz but unlike Pai we didn’t win. We actually came last…. It was really hard!!

As it was still raining us decided not to go to the temples but instead just chilled out in the hotel. We had some Khmer food and watches DVD’s but this time we weren’t hung-over!!

We got up and headed off to Angkor Wat which was amazing. Very big. We spent 2hrs looking at it. Went on to Bayon inAngkor Tom. Loads of faces looking at you. Got some good photos there. We then went on to the terrace of Elephants and Baphuon, this was closed to reconstruction. Damien bought a shirt outside this temple after a lot of haggling… we headed onto Ta Prohm which is the tomb raider temple. They had the areas the film was shot in cornered off for photos so it was good. I and Damien really got into this temple which you will see from the photos!! We headed out for dinner and met the lads from Malahide and 2 other lads that Damien had met earlier. Had a few too many jugs of vodka and red bull and just about made it home for about 2.30.

Got up for our bus to Phnom Penh at 7am still pretty pissed. We slept the whole way back and were sober by the time we arrived back in Phnom Penh. We got off the bus and walked to the lake side as it was the cheaper side of town. We were recommended by these English girls to stay in a place for $5 for the 2 of us so we did. We lay down for a while and watched a DVD. The power went off around dinner time so we decided to go out and find a place to eat as with no power in the room the room was really hot. We went into the Irish bar and ordered our food by candle light. We met a guy Rob from Cork. The power came on before we ate and so we joined Rob. After we ate we drank Barry’s tea and then Rob showed us how to play “Begging my Neighbor” and “Knock”. We also met Rob’s friend Paul. We played cards till 12.30 and then went home to bed. We were all getting the same flight back to Bangkok so arranged to meet to get a taxi together.

We got breakfast and headed off to the airport with Rob after a few games of “Begging my Neighbor”. We met Paul and his bro there.

Bye Bye Cambodia