Cambodia Part 2 - Battambang and boat trip to Siem Reap

We had a few days in Battambang and whilst we were there we went to Phare Ponleu Selpak, which is a wonderful organisation that provides a child care centre , social services and a leisure centre. It also has a music school, a visual arts school and a performance arts school. We went to see a performance in the evening that was being performed for the first time and it was incredible. It told the story of the Khmer Rouge and the dancing and circus skills were amazing. The story was also very moving and the music and art pieces (painted during the performance) were wonderful. These young people have so much talent.


We also did a day trip to see some of the sights in the area. Our first destination was Phnom Banan, a temple at the top of a hill, we got there early so we could climb the 358 steps when it wasn't too hot. Next we went to Phnom Sampeau and we had to ride on the back of a 'moto' (motorbike) to get up the hill, as the alternative was a long, sweaty, uphill walk. On the way to the top we stopped to look at a temple and the Killing Caves. The Khmer Rouge killed about 10,000 people here, including about 3,000 tiny babies. It's one of the saddest places I've ever been to and I was overcome with grief when I went inside the cave. The way they killed these people is beyond belief. There is now a beautiful Buddha and a memorial inside the cave. May all the people who died here rest in peace.


At the top of the hill we had great views and a beautiful temple and pagoda to explore.


Later on we made our way to the Bamboo Train station. The Bamboo train = bamboo platform + engine + 4 wheels, and it's amazing fun. The 20 minute journey is very fast and bumpy and if someone is coming the other way one of the trains has to be removed and then reassembled. We arrived at a village, had a beer with a lovely local lady and our driver and then headed back.


We decided to get the boat to Siem Reap. At the end of the rainy season the journey only takes around 6 hours but as we were going at the end of the dry season we knew that the journey could take 10. Anyway, we're so glad that we took the boat because we got to see lots of floating villages, very friendly people, beautiful wetland birds and stunning scenery. Our boat had a few problems and crashed into the banks a few times but this just added to the sense of adventure! Here's a few of the many many photos we took:






When we arrived, we had a 1 hour tuk tuk drive to our hotel and this was wonderful too. The people in the village were so excited to see us and everyone waved and smiled. What a welcome!


We're in Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat and the other many temples here.

This blog is dedicated to my lovely Nan who died in November and who I thought about, with the rest of my family, on Mother's Day.

Cambodia Part 1 - Phnom Penh, Kampot, Koh Rong Samloem and Krong Koh Kong

On the 28th March we landed in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The crowds, pollution and heat were a bit of a shock after our trip to Thailand. We spent 4 days here and I found a great Cambodian physio who did some more work on me.

Around sunset the locals congregate by the river and get up to all sorts of energetic activities including aerobics, great entertainment!



Of course, whilst we were here we visited the famous Tuoi Sieng Musem (S21) and the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. If you've seen the film the Killing Fields, then you'll have a good idea about how horrific Cambodia's history is. S21 was a school that was taken over by the security forces in 1975 and used as a prison until the Vietnamese army liberated PP in early 1979. Around 12,000 people were tortured here and killed at the killing fields. I cannot put into words how sad and shocking these place are, you have to experience it for yourself.

This is a photo of 2 men. The man on the left was a small child when he was imprisoned in S21 with his mother and brother. The other man was a guard. The boy and his brother was found by the Veitnamese when they discovered the prison (because of the smell). They are smiling and joking together and have never spoken about what happened to them in the prison. Buddhists have a very different philosophy when it comes to reconciliation and they use their religion to heal themselves. They do not practice revenge or blame each other and they do not expect an apology. Very different from Christians!!!


This is the memorial at the Killing Fields. I wonder if we'll ever understand why these terrible things happen. Whilst travelling in Cambodia I sat next to a lovely lady who now lives in Melbourne and she told me her amazing story. Her mother, herself and her 5 younger siblings survived the Kymer Rouge and fled to Thailand in 1979. They lived in a refugee camp for 3 years and she wrote a letter every week to different organisations around the world, hoping to be accepted as a refugee in another country. Finally, her prayers were answered and they all moved to Australia.


We left PP and headed to the small riverside town on Kampot, where we went on a great day trip. We saw people working in the salt fields and then we went to an amazing cave. We had to do a bit of climbing and and at times it was a bit scary but we all survived and really enjoyed ourselves. We travelled through gorgeous countryside and went to a pepper plantation. Kampot pepper is exported all over the world and is very tasty. Next we headed to Kep, which is famous for crabs, so we tucked into a very messy crab lunch with Kampot pepper sauce, delicious. Next we went on a boat to Rabbit Island where we chilled out for the rest of the day. There was a hilarious dog which paddled out to see us. We would all pat him and then he'd paddle back to shore.



Hliarious paddling dog:

We left Kampot and headed to Sihanoukville, which is the Benidorm of Cambodia and totally hideous. Anyway we only had one night there and then we went to a wonderful tropical paradise, Krong Koh Kong. We spent 3 nights on the island and had a wonderful time. We stayed in a basic bungalow on the beach, swam, snorkelled, ate, watched the fab sunsets and socialised with some of the locals, other travellers and an English lady who teaches the children in the village. The island has 180 locals and a handful of tourists, perfect. The snorkelling was very good and we even saw 2 cuttlefish mating!


This huge gecko lived with his family in our bungalow:


We then sadly left our paradise island and headed to Krong Koh Kong. We did a trip to see the mangroves and to spend some time on another tropical island. After lunch the local dogs and chickens attacked our leftovers:


We then left and headed back to Phnom Penh for 2 nights, so I could have more physio, and then we got the bus to Battambang.