This is Cambodia!

In our first few hours in Cambodia, we got ourselves into a bit of a stand-off with the local 'mafia'. It turned out to be a very entertaining and surprisingly enjoyable day. Basically, two guys who said they worked for 'The Company' latched onto us at the border and tried to sell us their extortionate bus tickets to Siem Reap. We had other ideas and headed off in search of a better deal. Little did we know, although it soon became apparent, that our guys were "the law in this town'' and no taxi/bus/truck drivers could take us without their permission. Together with two Hungarian and two other British tourists, we sat at the roadside and drank cold beer with the hope that these guys would get bored. Meanwhile, a small crowd was gathering round us and the big man of the town started making little threats, telling us that "this is not like your country, the police won't listen to you, they listen to me, this is Cambodia!'' Three hours after crossing the border, we finally got permission to leave in a taxi which cost us about a third of the bus ticket price. Mind you, there were six of us, six large rucksacks, six little rucksacks and a driver all crammed into the car! The road to Siem Reap is a famously potholed one so we bumped along for three hours but still arrived with smiles on our faces from the comedy of the afternoon.

Very close to Siem Reap are the temples of Angkor, including the famous Angkor Wat (largest religious building in the world). The temples, constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries, are a testament to the grandeur of the Angkorian Empire. We spent a lovely day exploring the area on bicycles and enjoying the beautiful countryside at the same time. Many of the temples are in incredibly good condition, with beautiful carved patterns and bas reliefs adorning the stone. My favourite temple has succumbed a little more to the power of nature and is gradually being pulled apart by the roots from some enormous trees. We also visited the Cambodia Landmine Museum which gives a background into the history of landmines and the terrible suffering which they cause. Cambodia remains one of the world's most heavily mined countries with an estimated three million still remaining. Amazingly, many countries refuse to halt the production and use of anti-personnel mines.




After Siem Reap, we took a seven hour boat ride to Battambang along what was supposedly a river but looked much more like a lake in places. It is the wet season and, believe me, there is a lot of water around. We passed through many small villages, made up of houses on stilts or boat houses which can remain despite the dramatically changing water levels. In every village, we were greeted with children's shouts and smiles which got even larger when we returned their waves. Battambang itself, with its many shuttered windows, has a very French feel. However, it is evident that there has been little in the way of building maintenance since the French left in 1953 so the town had a very run-down kind of charm.

Further south, we spent some time in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh and the provincial town of Kampot. The highlight of our trip to Kampot was the bus journey there and back. The Cambodian countryside is absolutely beautiful. The rice fields here are huge, flat and dotted with palm trees. They shine an incredibly lurid green in the afternoon sun. In the background there are tree-covered hills and in the foreground there are water lilies, buffalo, fishermen and playing children. The roads in Cambodia are noteworthy as they are seriously bumpy and dusty when dry and just as bumpy but very muddy when wet. On the way to Kampot, our bus went over one bump too many and refused to continue. We settled down on the roadside to enjoy the timely sunset and await the replacement bus. The other passengers gradually gave up waiting and opted to pay for onward rides from the all-too-eager moto drivers. Therefore, only Matt and I remained to witness the arrival of the second bus. Just before reaching us, the driver carelessly swung the bus off the road in order to do a 180 degree turn. It got stuck! Matt and I sat there giggling for a few minutes before joining the pushing and pulling effort. No amount of pushing could free the bus so we now had two useless buses! As we weren't in a hurry, we found this all rather amusing. In the end, we too had to opt for a moto ride for the remaining half hour which, in the cool early evening, was very enjoyable.

Whilst in Phnom Penh, we visited both the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum and the Killing Fields of Choeng Ek. Back in the early 1970s, Tuol Sleng was a regular high school but in 1975 it was transformed into Security prison 21 (S-21) by Pol Pot's security forces. Between 1975 and 1978 about 17,000 people were detained and tortured at S-21 before being transported to Choeng Ek to be murdered. Much of the prison remains as it was, with rusty beds and instruments of torture in otherwise empty classrooms. The most sickening display was of the prisoner's mugshots that had been taken on their arrival at S-21. Rows and rows of faces- sad, scared, defiant, proud. All but seven of those held at S-21 were killed, their bodies buried in mass graves at Choeng Ek. It is estimated that around two million Cambodians died between 1975 and 1979 as a result of the Khmer Rouge and their horrific policies. I felt sick and guilty in a way for visiting these morbid sites but I think it is important to acknowledge their importance and understand their significance in a country which is still recovering.