Cambodia – Battambang and Siem Reap

From the islands we went back to Bangkok and then flew to Siem Reap. We then ended up in Battambang (pronounced battambong) due to a series of unfortunate incidents. We didn’t like it, it was grotty and dirty with too many motorbikes and we might have liked it more had the lonely planet not made it sound like a picturesque colonial riverside town. We did have a really cool (but very expensive) journey there by a long dusty unmade road. It was bumpy and chaotic but we saw so much cool stuff like live pigs, chickens, ducks and even calves being transported by motorbike and millions of people crowded into cars and trucks. It was amazing to see how people transport themselves and all their belongings along such a crap road! We also saw people selling loads of cool food and lots of houses on stilts that had been flooded. The people of Cambodia (apart from the evil touts and rip-off merchants) are such amazing people. They have been through so much awfulness in their lives and yet they can give you the most warmest smiles that make you want to cry with joy (seriously) and they love laughing and joking.
We stayed in an awful place (Bus Stop guesthouse) with an owner who wanted to rip us off more than we already had been. We did, however, have a brilliant tuk tuk ride out into the countryside surrounding Battambang. Along the red mud roads and rice fields children ran out of their houses waving and smiling at us and shouting ‘hello! hello!’and ‘bye bye!’. It was so sweet, we loved it. We visited Phnom Sampeon, a wat on a mountain. Our guide was a little boy named Pee, he took us up the beautifully scenic mountain telling us stories all the way up without looking slightly out of breath and refusing any drinks or snacks we had whilst we died of exhaustion. He was a really intelligent little boy who knew lots about the area and about Cambodia politics and was working as a guide to fund extra lessons on English grammar, he also spent the summer working in the rice fields. He looked so young but he was actually 12, just tiny! I don’t know how ethical it was to pay him as our guide, but he sounded like he was doing it out of his own initiative and I hope our money went to his education in the end. At the top of the mountain there was a great view of the other mountains nearby (chicken mountain, duck mountain etc), and the wat which had been used as a prison during the Khymer Rouge rule. We then visited the nearby cave which had been used to kill and ‘dispose’ of the unwanted prisoners. There was an alter in the cave and a pile of skulls of the dead. It was quite disturbing. Pee taught us lots about his country and we sadly said goodbye as we left in our tuk tuk.
We then drove to Wat Banan (Banana to the locals), which was some impressive Angkorian ruins on a hill up some impressively long steps. Our driver then took us to a monastery which had a large Banyan tree in its grounds. We didn’t understand why we had stopped until he gestured to the trees and we saw hundreds of large fruit bats roosting there. It started to rain and a few of them flew about, their wing spans were immense and it was an amazing sight. Our driver told us that the only reason they are there is that the Cambodian people (who will eat anything) catch the bats and eat them (taste good – better than chicken apparently) but due to Buddhist monks not being about to kill things, they are safe in the grounds of the monastery. Also the Banyan tree was the species that Buddah found enlightenment under (I may have got the tree name wrong, but it was that sort of tree anyway). We then went to see the bamboo railway which is a kind of makeshift form of transport made of a bamboo platform on wheels which drove along the mainly disused railway track powered by a small engine. It was amazing to see so many people crammed onto it with all of their animals on their way to the city.
Back in Battambang proper we dined at the White Rose and the Smokin’ Pot. There were lots of NGO-types there and it was really sad to see little street kids begging for food. One little girl waited until the waiters had turned their backs and then went around empty table emptying half finished drinks into a little plastic cup and then sharing it with the younger children. I saw her mix beer and coconut milkshake together. It was heartbreaking how hungry she was and so I gave her half of my food which she wolfed down.

The best part of being in Battambang was the 7 hour bat ride along the Tonle Sap (and part of the Mekong I think) to Siem Reap. It was brilliant, a few tourists and a lotof locals crammed on to a tny boat. It had been raining lots so the river was high and we passed villagers fishing and washing in the rivers, small villages in the water with their houses on stilts. Their inhabitants relaxing in their front rooms on hammocks as it rained and traveling about by boat. Children ran out of their houses to wave and shout hello and we stopped to eat at a small shop in the water. As the course narrowed the drowned tree and foliage ended up in the boat as the boat struggled though, the crew had to get machetes out to cut a path out for us and had to dive into the water a few times to untangle the rudders from the lotus plants. It was raining a lot by then and the branches splashed water into the boat which made us all laugh. It was loads of fun.
When we landed at Siem Reap the ground had turned to mud. We slipped and slid up the muddy banks with our rucksacks until one of the tuk tuk drivers who descended on the boat as it docked, told us it was easier if we took our shoes off. So we did, and it was and it was really funny squelching through the ankle deep read mud as fast as we could to avoid the rain.
We were staying at the charming Palm Garden Lodge, we were welcomed with wet towels and a welcome drink, all the staff wore pretty uniforms and it was like a proper hotel (even though we were paying a pittance to stay there). The only downside was that it was just out of town on a muddy track, it was hilarious trying to navigate its slipper self with all its pot holes and bumps especially in the dark because there were no street lamps! Although they did actually offer a free tuk tuk so everything was great!
Siem Reap was brilliant! It has a couple of reeeeally touristy streets, which are actually really nice and there are loads of nice restaurants and bars and many happy hours (a jug of beer for about a quid!). There were also some street stalls where a delicious meal can be bought for a dollar! Theres a huge day market selling everything from strange food to silks and clothes and a night market which has a small cinema where we watched a documentary about the Kymer Rouge.
We splashed out on the three day ticket to Angkor Wat, on the first day we hired a tuk tuk and did the ‘mini tour’, we started off with Angkor Wat itself, we didn’t really find it that impressive, although it is very beautiful, set behind its immense moat. We then visited Angkor Thom and absolutely loved Bayon (the one with all the faces), it was so vast and beautiful and its hard to think that they’re so old. It started raining really heavily when we were at the Elephant terrace and soon the place as deserted, but we were hardcore and carried on looking at the temples and reading our guide book with only a flimsy parasol to protect us. We sort refuge in one of the Prasats sour Prats, there were a few other people perched in other prasat doorways hiding from the rain and we had one to ourselves. We then went to eat on at a stall nearby. I forgot to mention, every time you stop at a wat millions of kids rush out with silks, fruit, umbrellas, drinks and books to you. All you can hear is ‘Lady! You buy! Only one dollar, only one dollar!’ ‘Sir! Cold drink! You like cold drink? Where you from? England, capital London, Lovely Jubbly’. Its awful on so many levels, its annoying after a time and makes you feel really bad because we’re not rich but they think all Westeners are rich and you feel bad for not buying something because they are so happy when you do, but mainly its really heart-wrenching because most of these families are so poor and instead of begging they’re selling stuff and when you buy something it really seems to make a difference I you. They know that you’re more likely to give in to a small child so they’re made to do it young and some of them are so hard and ruthless and sometimes fiercely competitive for your custom and you wonder where their childhood has gone. Its also quite amusing because they only seem to know money in one dollars, so as you walk away apologizing that you cant buy whatever is on offer instead of lowering the price, you get offered more and more for one dollar, one little boy offered Liam 6 wooden flutes for one dollar! We did get some good bargains from them though, stuff that is sold in town for much much more. It was really lovely when we got a chance to chat with the kids (usually if you bought something and they calmed down), they were really smiley kids and once these two girls who looked poorer than most, walked down the road with us for ages and at one point their different chants ‘buy my post cards, only one dollar’ ‘you want cold drink? Buy my cold drink lady’ combined into a sort of little song which they sang together but didn’t find funny, but we did. It was quite distressing that they were so desperate for us to buy something and they kept lowering their prices, but we really didn’t want anymore postcards and I think its really bad to give them money for nothing (begging) so I eventually offered them some sweets which they were shocked but very happy to receive for nothing in return. I later realized that this was probably a bad idea as I doubt they brush their teeth ever, but at least they had a little niceness that day!
After Angkor Thom we visited Spean Thma, a really cool ancient bridge which had been overgrown with trees, Ka Teo, a hill wat which was really scary to climb and then Ta Phrom, our unrivalled favourite. It’s all overgrown with huge ancient trees and its where Tomb Raider was filmed. It was raining so the next day we geekily came back to take better pictures! Then we went to Bantey Kdei and then back to the guesthouse.
The next day we ventured out on bicycles, we realized that this is a much better, cheaper, more fun option to getting a tuk tuk. We started at 4.30am so we could get to Angkor Wat in time for sunrise. Of course, our rusty hired bicycles didn’t have headlamps and it was terrifying navigating the roads in the pitch black! We reached Angkor just in time for sunrise, it was packed with tourists from tour buses, but we only spotted one other person who came by bike. Sunrise was a bit cloudy, but still cool. We headed off soon after to climb Phnom Bakheng – a mountain temple up a windy path and some steep steps, it was so early it was deserted and there was only a few groups of college kids practicing their English in groups at the top. We continued on the ‘grand tour’ through Angkor Thom to Thommanom (again empty but us) and its sister Chausay Tevod, we then went to Krol Romeas, Preah Khan, Krol Ko, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon, Pre Rup, Sras Srang and then back to Ta Phrom. We then ate a traditional Cambodian stew/curry which was sort of sweet with white noodles and lots of offal in it (we feared for food poisoning) and then climbed back up Phnom Bakheng for sunset. It was packed, and the road leading up to it was so full with tuk tusk, motos and coaches that we didn’t even recognize it as the same place! We followed the procession up to the top and perched ourselves on the walls at the top and waited for the sunset. The place was so crowded that it wasn’t a very romantic setting, it was much nicer seeing the views alone in the daytime without all the cameras beeping everywhere! It was still pretty cool and weird though that there were so many people on an ancient monument all waiting for the sun.

The way back was much, much scarier than the way there! Lots of tuk tuk drivers offered us lifts before it got dark and we laughed them off and gestured to our bikes and they laughed back and said they meant with our bikes as well. We thought that was a silly idea, but when everyone from the Angkor park vacated at the same time by car, coach, tuk tuk and motorbike and it was pitch black again, we realized that we really should have took the tuk tuk back! It was a long and scary journey, but after arriving and leaving in the dark and seeing so much by ourselves we were so proud of ourselves and it was a great day overall!

The next day we ventured out on our bicycles further to the Roulos group, about 13km away from town on the hottest day in Cambodia so far. The journey was excellent, we saw the more local side of Siem Reap and loads more of the countryside, we had the usual cheers from children and saw lots of small villages and cool local stuff. The Roulos group was alright, nothing too special, we visited Preah Ko (where my chain fell off and we had to repair it with twigs, kids came out and watched us and brought us water to wash our black oily hands, I gave them sweets in return), Bakong, tried to find Prasat Prei Monti but instead found more small villages and some small (I believe) hospital chapels hidden behind huts, we also saw a girl herding a huge flock of ducklings which was cool. There was also a procession of female monks (dressed in white, I don’t know if they’re called nuns?). We then cycled to Lolei where we picked up loads of cool snacks like bananas and tasty bread things all for one dollar for the journey back.

The next few days we enjoyed Siem Reap town in a leisurely sort of way before catching the bus to Phnom Penh. It was uneventful apart from that one night a man on the roadside rather sinisterly commented on my engagement ring, I felt a bit wierded out about it so we decided I should take it off and we’d buy something cheaply to replace it. On the way back that night a tiny child grabbed my left hand in the same road the man had been. She wouldn’t let go and kept asking for food We had nothing on us and we were quite far away from any shops (we were about to approach the dreaded dark muddy street), we were really freaked out and she was so persistent and was nearly crying and we had no idea what to do with her because she walked really far with us and we felt awful that she was far away from town and all alone. We decided to give her a tiny amount of money and I put it in her hand but she looked frightened and wouldn’t accept it and so we walked and she followed us. Eventually we got to the muddy road and we told her once again that we had no food and she should go back to town and she reluctantly took the money and trotted off back. It all seemed so weird, but we think that maybe she was told to get my ring off me, but since I didn’t have it on she would have gone back empty handed and god knows what would have happened to her, she looked so frightened. Cambodia is so lovely, but so sad and it leaves you feeling so crap because there doesn’t seem to be much that you can do to help!