Rarely in all my travels have I met such a friendly, considerate, generous race of people such as the Cambodians.
Gone, are the triangular rooftops, the tiered and sweeping gables of Thailand. Here, architecture is more angular and square and nearly every house has a large, open balcony to the front or side, French colonial influence is everywhere. Add to the mix a more manicured, formal setting, tree lined streets and smart boutiques, this is Siem Reap.
Scooters laden with families and young couples, tuk tuks and 4×4 cars, all jostle for position on the road, the noise of beeping horns and revving engines fills the air and still there appears to be some calm order to it all.
This evening, as I sat aboard a tuk tuk heading off to watch the sun set at an Angkor temple, a wide smile appeared across my face, for no other reason than I was happy to be at that particular place and moment in time…I had already fallen in love with Cambodia.
Papa, my driver for the next two days
Papa has done a great job ferrying us round the various temples around Siem Reap, there are so many memories and pictures and I have found it impossible to remember all the temple names so I will have to let the pictures talk for themselves. These huge structures, built during the era of the Khmer Empire were an incredible feat of engineering and craftsmanship. Set in beautiful natural surroundings, the ancient city boasts a community of 1000’s, mainly poor Cambodians, etching an existence through farming and catering for the tourism industry.
My favourite constructions were the Bayon Temple (main picture above) with a multitude of faces staring out in all directions, Wat Bakong, and Banteay Sray (The Jewel of Khmer art) which is in a beautiful park outside of the main complex and includes many intricate carvings.
Angkor Wat the largest religious building in the world
Banteay Srey
Ta Phrom temple is renowned for a large tree that has grown up and through one of the perimeter walls, spreading its roots across the ancient stonework.
Papa was keen to take me to see the temple at Boeing Mealea, about 60km outside of Siem Reap. The rainforest here is reclaiming the ruins, the tree roots are literally tearing the building apart.
Papa by his favourite root.
It was recommended that I took a taxi boat over the mighty Tonle Sap to my next destination, the trip takes several hours, passing through numerous floating villages and includes a stop at a floating restaurant for lunch. At times the waterway was so clogged up with a floating green weed that the boat struggled to make any progress at all.
The waterways in Cambodia often appear brown and unhealthy. (There are no Kingfishers perched above these filthy brown reans, no Egret or Heron dare sully there feet, in the putrid silt below).
Bruce Maxfield 2018
BATTAMBANG (Pronounced Batam-bong)
I am really enjoying the hostel experience, I booked myself into a hostel called ‘Here Be Dragons’ using a shared dorm for the first time, the room houses six bunk beds and is open to male and female guests for the price of just £2:70 a night.
On Sunday me and a Swiss girl booked ourselves into a cookery class to learn how to prepare and cook some traditional Cambodian food. To begin with, the host took us to a local market where we purchased some of our ingredients, many srange fruits, vegetables and herbs were on offer but the meat section was of particular interest, on offer here were live lung fish and chickens, large frogs could be purchased and were decapitated in front of you. A host of insects were available as well as snakes, skinned rats and small bats, women literally snapped the wings off and peeled the skin and fur away. Dogs testicles were also on offer!
We then made our way back to make Fish Amok, Chicken Lok Lak, a side of Mango Salad and Sweet Banana with Coconut Milk, a delicious combination which was polished off with a bowl of rice.
Our self prepared meal
Centre right-literally ‘the dogs bollocks”
Today I hired a tuk tuk to take me to Wat Samrong Knong, on the outskirts of Battambang. Here, a monument has been erected in testament to the atrocities carried out against the Cambodian people by the Kmer Rouge, during the 1970’s. Thousands of Cambodians were imprisoned, tortured and executed at this site. I was fortunate that my driver was a of a simular age to me and as we walked around the site he relayed to me, his own stories from that period and analysed the various carvings around the base of the monument, which graphically depict some of the horrific methods that were used by the Kmer to torture and mutilate there victims. Human skulls and bones are on display within the monument.
I could not help taking my thoughts back to 1975 when I was happily riding my bike around the streets of Devizes, playing with Action Man and Marbles. The boy beside me would have been witnessing brutal murders and opression, fearing daily for his life…
I earned one night of free accomadation at my hostel in return for an hours electrical work. I managed to find an electrical fault which had been blowing the fuse for months…this sparky is never off duty.
Next stop… Kampot.
KAMPOT
A beautiful setting by the river, bedded down in a simple tree hut, a lounge overlooking the water. Kingfishers perch above the jetty and distant thunder storms light up the clouds at night. Fishing boats chug lazily out to sea at dusk and chug back at dawn. Samons place has to be my favourite hostel so far.
Waking up at Samons
Fishing boats heading out in the evening
I decided to abandon four-wheeled transport and hired a scooter for two days.
There are no rules that cannot be broken on these lawless highways! It seems perfectly acceptable to drive on any part of the the highway at any time, left or right, with or against the flow of traffic. Vehicles do not stop at junctions, they merge in and the oncoming traffic must adjust accordingly, and yet…..there appears to be a calm order about it all. There is no road rage, no raising of fingers, the hazard is avoided and people blissfully continue their journey.
Day 1
Riding up the winding roads of Bokor National Park, easing round the twists and turns on near deserted highway is as much fun as you can have on a scooter under the sunny skies of Cambodia.
On reaching the summit there are large Buddhas, beautiful lakes and waterfalls and lush forest to explore. But Bokor is most famous for its architecture, it is possible to wander round an old hill station which was built in the 1920’s before being deserted and the nearby church, both buildings were the scene of heavy fighting between the Kmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces during the 1970’s and still bare the scars.
A brand new casino resort has recently been completed in the park, this huge, green monstrosity looms over the summit, totally dominating the hillside and would not look out of place on the Las Vegas Strip.
Day 2
I took the scooter about 18km to the east of Kampot to the small fishing town of Kep. The morning was spent exploring Kep National Park, ticking off a few interesting birds, marvelling at the beautiful butterflies, almost tripping over skinks and lizards and being barked at by monkeys, a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours.
I then headed for Kep’s famous crab Market for some lunch. Here, you can choose your own freshly caught crabs for purchase and then the vendor will cook them over a barbeque while you watch and serve them up with a sauce of your choise, the smell around the market of fresh sea food and burning charcoal was intoxicating.
The crabs were a little small and rather expensive for a kilo so I decided to have a freshly barbecued Mackerel instead, there was no cutlery available, I felt quite primitive sat at the table, pulling off bite sized chunks of fish with my fingers and stuffing it in my mouth, delicious.
Bringing in the crab pots
Phnom Phen
My short journey through Cambodia is nearly at an end. During my travels it has been obvious that the difference between my wealth and the average Cambodians poverty is vast. Every cent counts and many will haggle, beg and work hard to draw each valuable dollar from your pocket. Of course there are those who are there to exploit the hardship of others and i have witnessed the suffering and misery that is inflicted upon the less fortunate.
Cambodia is a beautiful country that is being choked to death by its litter and waste. Plastic defiles the rice fields, the rivers, the streets of every town, the waterways are brown and full of sewage and waste, I don’t think I have been to another country where Egrets have been so obviously absent from the countryside and rivers.
I have met some lovely people in Cambodia, they are a friendly, curious and welcoming people, quick with a smile and often, if their English is good enough, they are eager to talk about life in their Kingdom. For some, I must admit, I have felt deep sorrow.
Language has been a big barrier and it has been fun overcoming this, Google Maps has been a godsend when trying to direct a city tuk tuk to my latest hostel, they really don’t compare to the London cabbies!
The capital city of Phnom Phen is my final destination in the country. I must admit I was a little sceptical about staying here but I have actually had a fantastic time, wandering the old streets and markets, lazing around on the riverside promenade and visiting historical sites around the centre. On the down side I was approached several times by Cambodians offering me illegal goods and girls for a price, this unnerved me a little as they obviously saw me as an easy target so I spoilt myself, hid away and booked into an expensive hotel for the last two days, visiting Phnom Phen has been one of life’s great adventures and I feel wiser for it.
Naga Centre, riverside
The mighty Mekong River
The stunning – Wat Phnom
View from FCC bar, 2nd floor
Did you here the one about the English man who ended up sharing a taxi for two hours with a Cambodian businessman, a mother and her ten year old son and a teenage girl who played loud Cambodian rock music for the entire journey (you counted right, that’s five people, plus the driver). This wasn’t the original taxi he caught mind you, that one broke down and the driver proceeded to sell his fares to the highest bidder!
Consider then, that the English man had asked his hostel to book a BUS ride to his destination.
Lesson learnt.