The Countries of Cambodia and Laos
Trip Start
Oct 26, 2010
1
16
Trip End
May 24, 2011
Balikpapan, Borneo, Indonesia
Friday, April 22, 2011
Dooms day did come, mom left and I was on a flight back north to a part of Vietnam I had not visited, Nha Trang. Here I would spend one day and night with a Romanian couple I met during our day with the elephants who I hit it off with real well. We hit the beach during the day and spent the evening getting to know each other over a few drinks at the hostel and had a really fun time together. They are from Montreal and the girl studied Hospitality and Tourism as I did and so we had plenty in common and plenty to talk off her boyfriend's ear about!
Anya and I rejoined the following morning after she finished up her time with her friend from school that visited. We spent a few more days enjoying the beach, but the area is fairly packed with westerners like ourselves, so we wanted to get back on the road and get across to Cambodia.
To do this however, it meant a flight back to Saigon and then an 8 hour bus ride to the capital of Cambodia, Phenomh Penh. I have to admit, I was very nervous about going to this country and I cannot really justify why, other than it was new and different and I didn’t have moms with me for this one. Also I think because Vietnam seemed so intense when we entered, I figured this country would feel the same. Hallelujah, it wasn’t bad at all! The man handling the visas was very friendly and full of smiles and laughs. Between him and the passport control man, I was giddy with grins and head on ready to enter the country.
The hostel we booked was a cheap (and I mean like $4 USD!) and was also very warm and welcoming. Did you know that the main currency of Cambodia is US dollar?? It felt so strange, yet almost comforting in a way, to receive my currency from the ATMs. In an attempt to get most everything on our agenda completed before the end of the trip however, we have had to shorten our stays in the places we visited, so sadly we only had 1.5 full days in the city. This said though, we made excellent use of that first full day.
Granted what we saw during this day was not some of the most pleasant, but surely it was way more educational than I had expected… especially since I went into the city absolutely clueless about the destructive and disgusting acts executed just a few years earlier by Pot Pol and his regime. For those who were unaware of what I am talking about, let me fill you in briefly. Back in the late 70’s and I mean nearly the 1980s, this guy Pot Pol thought he could come in and take over Cambodia, and with a rally of men, attempted and nearly did so. He decided that all folks of the country should be considered "equals" and by this, he meant that all people should become peasant like, doing daily chores like cutting rice and tending to fields. This meant however, that anyone who was smart or held good jobs already (doctors, lawyers, teachers, you name it), was also forced to become a peasant like figure and do these chores… and that was that. There was no room for growth; there was no becoming anything more. This is what Pot Pol wanted, and with the help of other highly influential people (and corrupting), they managed to take over Penamh Penh and nearly all of Cambodia. Hundreds of thousands of people were not only stripped of their personal powers, but they were also slaughtered. Mass killings happened (which I will talk about later) and the city as well as lots of Cambodia was destroyed and left nearly empty.
OK so to start our day, I was first introduced to who Pot Pol was and I learned all about what he did in the camps that they used as prisons, known as S21. These camps were initially a school, for little kids, that the regime took over and turned into torture chambers and holding areas for hundreds of people. Each classroom was either filled with torturing devices such as knives, scissors, hammers, and more, with just a bed in the middle of the room, or the classrooms were fitted with dividers in order to hold hundreds of people at a time. Walking through S21, you could actually still see the blood stains left on the floors from the torturing and the walls were scratched in blood with words in Cambodian. It was an eerie place to be, especially for a building that was once used to captivate and open children’s minds….. That is now a museum for the tortured and dead. It is no wonder wandering around the city there are not that many older people…. They were all killed.
S21 was an eye opening place to start my day, especially since I was so naïve to what occurred, and only such a short time ago, but I was eager to learn more and see more of what the city had to show of this awful time.
That said, our next stop, was the Killing Fields. Talk about eerie to the max, this is literally a field where thousands upon thousands were brought and they killed, either by blow to the head, stabbing, or shooting (although I learned they did the shooting last such not to waste ammunition). They would line a huge hole with bodies, cover them with chemicals to keep the smell down so those living nearby would somehow not expect what was going on, and then keep killing more and more people placing them on top of the already laid bodies. They placed music, loud music, to prevent the sounds of screams to escape and be heard afar. They killed babies by throwing them up in the air and shooting them mid through, or bashing them against a tree, still standing, known as the “Killing Tree.” What is even more creepy than everything I just wrote, is that despite the huge monument in the center of the field with all the collected bones and skulls, and clothing articles in it, there are still tons and tons all around the field. When you walk the path, you literally are stepping over teeth, and femurs, and parts of shirts, and pants. There were little kids hats, and popped buttons all mixed amongst the upturned bones. Each time it rains the people who care for the fields have to go around collecting more and more of this matter, but it is inevitably there and impossible to miss. That said, there are still over 1000 bodies which have not been found or identified in that field, but this is due to the fact that there is a huge marsh now and much of what is to be found is lying under those waters. What a site to see and experience. Left me with goose bumps and disgusted thoughts about how some people in this world really can be so sick. But the past is the past and thankfully the country is healing itself back together again, and none of this would you ever know about considering how nice a people the citizens of Cambodia are.
What followed next after seeing all this death and destruction, was something I had not planned on or expected to do, but very happy I did it when I did - perhaps to clear my mind and to do something good for a country which has been through so much. So, I visited an orphanage. One of the managers of the hostel was from this particular orphanage and told us all about growing up there. He said how the children loved it when people visited to play games and sing songs or just talk with them. Not a huge kid lover myself, I was pretty unsure of how I would react… I can barely handle teaching ski lessons without wanting to stay kid free hahah BUT that said, I actually did really enjoy myself. When we first arrived some of the adult workers introduced themselves and were extremely thankful for our $50USD bag of rice we donated to them. They then told us a bit about how the establishment came to be and what a typical day is like for the kids. And then, and my most feared moment, they led us to where the 10 or so kids were playing, and left us to fend for ourselves! Gah I was terrified haha. The language barrier was not so bad especially with the older kids, but we soon found common grounds after asking names and having them show us what games they were playing. The kids were ranging in ages from about 6 to 12 and they were all very enthusiastic about the games we played. One such game was with a piece of string, they would hold it up higher and higher each round and the goal of the game was to either jump over or touch the string with their legs… so picture this, Anya and I are literally on our tip toes holding the string up as high as we can make it go, and these kids would run and do some crazy cartwheel jump flip thing in hopes of hitting the string with their toes. Some of the older ones I swear could jump 5ft in the air. They were crazy good!
They all went crazyyyyyyyyyy when we brought out my digital camera and we all grouped up together to make silly faces and poses. One boy actually decided he was the photographer and took tons of pics of all of his friends. Ill post some up for you to see. But it was great to see them and see what an orphanage is like, especially in Cambodia, and in the end I was very happy I went. Still doesn’t really make me want to have kids however: P
It was certainly a short visit to the capital, and if more time allowed I would love to of stayed longer, but I guess I will save that for my next trip. I just feel there is so much more to learn about a people which have undergone so much in such a recent time. It was different from Vietnam too, because for once I didn’t feel like it was the fault of us, the Americans. And it was also a good feeling not be looked upon in a way which made me feel like guilty. Everyone was just so nice to us and wanted to be our best friend. I really really was glad to of gone to Cambodia and see just how fast a country can bounce back from such tragedy.
The following morning it was time to go already, and we were picked up at our hostel and taxied over to the bus terminal where we trudged amongst tourists and locals alike to find a seat for our 4hr ride south to Sihanookville on the southern coast of Cambodia.
This once lazy quiet beach town has certainly been hit with bouts of western tourists and upon arrival I felt like I was back at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire. Again had we had more than just a few days we could have gone to some of the quieter more beautiful beaches, but this one was just one large melting pot of Russians, Canadians, Britts and all the rest thrown in. Sadly, many families of the area are very poor and use their children to send them out onto the beaches to get the tourists to buy their handmade jewelry etc, so there were literally hoards of kids everywhere using every trick in the book to try and get sales. We were forewarned however that the town pays for every kid to get free education and health care and so, they asked many times and in many places that we do not buy from them. By doing it only keeps the kids out of school and the families from finding other means of work. We didn’t buy from any lil munchkins don’t worry!
I didn’t mind the nightlife, especially since we were surrounded by kids of our own age, but the beach was covered and I mean covered in trash. I didn’t even go in the ocean once because I was pretty put off by the look and smells surrounding me. We did take a part of one day to lie out amongst the garbage to try and get a tan. But the area itself was a bit too westernized and dirty for our liking. Good to see but good to go as well.
What was to come after our last day there though, was the night from hell. We had paid (and even paid a bit extra) to ensure a spot on the night bus from Sihanookville to Siem Reap, a 10hr bus ride. What we stepped up onto however, was not anything like what we thought we would expect. We had paid for a sleeper bus, that means a bus with beds on it that you can sleep in during the ride to your destination. What we found however, was that the beds were hard metal slabs, like those in the operating room and we were expected to sleep on them, for 10 hours. Needless to say, it was a long journey and by the time I arrived in Siem Reap I felt like I could faint… or kill any tuk-tuk driver who tried to get me to take their ride at 6am. Ugfgh!!!
What a breath of fresh air though this city was. After we found our own pre-arranged tuk-tuk, we arrived at a sweet hotel which had clean rooms and warmish showers. The city was lush and green and clean for the most part.
This place of course, is where you go to see the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” Angkor Wat! And what amazingly spellbinding temples Angkor and the others turned out to be. It was all beyond words to be in and around these colossal structures, but I felt a bit like the girl from the movie, The Secret Garden, I felt like I was this small child running around through these lush jungles and in and out of these old temples which had the faces of monkeys and tigers all over them. Maybe it was more like being in The Land of the Lost. Where were the dinosaurs at?! It was beautiful, and our wonderful tuk-tuk driver took us around all day to visit the four biggest ones there are. With the limited time we had we really could only get those in. My only complaint is that it is SO hot out and going and going all day, even when drinking water, is tiring and by the end of the day, we were ready for some shade and a good meal. Again never enough time, but well worth the trip from hell to get there…. Siem Reap was a gem to be in and I am grateful to of experienced it.
OKayyyyyyyyy sooo, moving forward from here and it is off to the next country we go. Our next leg of the trip took us journeying north up through the southern border of Laos and Cambodia and up to Vang Viene, which all in all took 30 hours to do. The trip involved a bus, a sleeper bus (with real beds on it!!) and a tuk tuk ride to our hostel but we made it! As for Laos, I wish again there was more time because Laos also proved to be a country highly underrated but truly incredible.
For those of you who don’t know or have never heard of Vang Viene, imagine spring break meets a Umass Fraternity party, meets tubing down a river. It is unlike any event I have witnessed anywhere in my lifetime to date. Overview: The day begins in the morning, let’s say like 11 or so after you have lazily eaten your breakfast at one of the dozen or so (and all westernized) eating spots. These small restaurants are lined with not chairs, but couches and cushions around low laying tables…. This is a sitting cross legged on the cushions kind of place, reminds me of a proper Japanese place. Anyways, all of us 20-something year olds sit in these establishments waiting for our food while watching TV. Yes, every single eating facility in the small town is equipped with one TV or a few, and blares from it re-run after re-run of Family Guy, Friends, and once in a while, the Simpsons. It makes for a feeling of home away from home, lounging in front of the television, sprawled out on the couch, eating as you like and also possible drinking at that hour, whichever you want, and no one cares.
Once breakfast is paid (whopping 1,000 Kip, or like $2USD) you and your new found friends from breakfast or from the hostel, all gather together and walk wearing only your bikini and anything you don’t mind getting soaked, and walk to the Tube renting facility. Here you pay up front to receive this huge black inner-tube which will become your personal flotation device for the next 6 hours or so… depending on how you take your day.
A huge tuk-tuk, or as I call it, a truck-tuk, comes along and hauls everyone and their tubes off to the start of the river. Once the group has arrived it is not just a large river we are met by, but a river lined with open air bars and rope swings, with hip hop and techno music blaring away from each trying to entice us in. The way the day works is, you start at one bar, “The First Bar,” and you have a drink, maybe two, and you receive a fabric wrist band which after you leave this crazy river jungle town, you wear with pride and boast about to others what they are from. Anyways, this massive group, and I mean hundreds of kids, go from bar to bar, via their tube to get in between each and get into each via a rope which the locals throw to you so you can hoist yourself into their bar. In each bar there are numerous games of beer pong, and flip cup going on, people are spray painting different logos on each other, some appropriate, some not so much, people swinging from rope swings and jumping from large platforms high above the water, and drinking.
The locals own the area, and have been making their money by opening these bars along the river to entice us youngsters to come and party on their land and river. When I first arrived (stone cold sober and long after the party starts) on my first day, just to see the bars, and not to tube, I felt sorry that the friendly and wonderful people of Vang Viene had to deal with drunk 20something year olds to make a living, but hey I guess they found what works, right?
Also that first day there, sober and unsure of the mayhem that was unfolded in front of me, I decided to not drink, because at this stage there would be no point. People were long past “that” point and were falling into me and coming up to me asking stupid questions. I got spray paint all over my back (though I did not want it) and given one of the most disgusting and undrinkable drinks of my life. I was tired though after that 30hr long bus ride and thought maybe I was just seeing it all in the wrong light, and that doing it the “proper” way the following morning would render for a much better experience.
And so I did do as I explained above – lazy breakfast to Family Guy, rented a tube around 11am, and went bar to bar getting my super cool clothe bracelet and a free drink. I tried the rope swings, attempted at playing the games, and nearly made it down the entire river… but it was getting close to dark and the people we were with as well as myself were getting hungry and cold, so we got out early and went back into town.
Evenings in this small party town are raging until about midnight, when everyone, myself included, feels the day drinking effects creeping up on them, and everyone heads back home and into bed all by a reasonable hour. At this late hour, amongst the stray dogs and cats, kids roamed the dirt streets, buying up their late night snacks of pancakes filled with Nutella, bananas, peanut butter, and butter… or some other baguette creation and all stumble home. Locals at one end of the town, and us at the other, it was not exactly the most cultural experience on my journey, but one that all backpackers traveling this area, must partake in.
So a few days of this, my liver wreaking havoc, and the weather beginning to turn for the worse, it was time we left this strange little niche area to get a ride back in to good 'ol Thailand.
This is where I will end here, for this blog I am seeing is now hitting six pages, and I am sure your eyes are beginning to tire. I wish there was room and time for all the many details because I hate being so vague and I hate rushing it all out onto paper like I do… but hey, just means I have to write a book, am I wrong?? Who knows!
Just finished southern Thailand and I am currently in Indonesia… this blog will be next so be ready and prepared for it!!! Time is flying as per usual and look it is almost Easter! Hope you all get time with your families for the holiday and please everyone, EAT SOME CHOCOLATE BUNNIES FOR ME!!!
Ciao for now and more to come soon!
Comments
I will be eating chocolate humans on Easter, thank you very much!