Wed 24th – Fri 26th Feb
Vientiane, according to the Lonely Planet 2008 has a population of 200,000. The city is friendly and peaceful, studded with crumbling French mansions and streets of noodle stalls, it is somewhere between a big town and a city.
"Vientiane’s peaceful demeanor belies a turbulent history. Over the thousand or so years of its history, it’s been variously abused by successive Vietnamese, Burmese, Siamese, Khmer, and French conquerors. The French cemented Vientiane’s status as a capital city when the took over the protectorship of Laos in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries: it was further inhabited by CIA ‘spooks’ and the charismatic Ravens (the screw-loose CIA-funded pilots of Air America) in the 60’s and early 70’s. After their victory in 1973 the Pathet Laos briefly considered moving the capital to Vieng Xai but them relented and stuck with Vientiane, and the city began a rapid transformation from notorious den of vice to austere socialist outpost. Since opening up to international investment, Vientiane has slowly been broadening its potential." (Lonely Planet, 2008)
After our taxi driver had kindly taken us to several guesthouses, many of which were full we decided to go for the Lonely Planet’s recommendation of Syri 1 guesthouse, which had some old style décor but plenty of character! We opted for the dorm room which cost 150,000 Kip (12 pounds) for the 3 bed dorm room with ensuite.
We spent a couple of days exploring the city by bike before stopping off at a travel information office to get some advice on what to see in Laos. I was surprised to find out that Laos actually has a small population and 236,800 sq Km of rugged geography, and is the least altered environment in SE Asia. That most of Lao still live at or just above subsistence level, consuming far fewer of their own natural resources than the people of any developed country. Not only that the people and government of Laos have fully embraced ‘Sustainable Tourism’. Laos has 18 eco parks set up in 1993 by the government to protect its wildlife and forests from slash-and-burn farming, hunting and logging.
"Unlike Thailand which seems to have learnt too late, Laos is flourishing as an eco-conscious nation – if you forget about the destructive HE power dams and logging licenses granted to the Chinese, who are munching their way through ancient teak and rosewood (in return for aiding with road-building and a stadium in Vientiane for the Asean Games in 2009). To be fair, Laos is still one of the poorest nations on earth, trying desperately to become self-sufficient; the fact the government has welcomed international eco-advice is encouraging. The environmental blueprint, designed to benefit both travelers and ethnic peoples in a sustainable controlled way, has improved hygiene, education and commerce. A number of villages receiving organised visits from trekkers have seen a reduction in opium addition and a renewed zeal to preserve their natural heritage." (Lonely Planet, 2008).
With this in mind I was determined to do a ‘Eco Trek’ and contribute to this positive economic development. However, as most of these treks are in the North we had quite a way to travel before we could see any protected areas. The tour operator in Vientiane advised us to stop off at Vang Vieng which was just a 4 hour bus ride, to break the journey up. Traveling in Laos is very cheap, costing just a few pounds on a local bus.
Tuesday 30 March 2010
Nong Khai, Thailand to Laos
Wednesday 24th Feb
Having caught the bus from Namsom to Nong Khai, we were greeted with the usual line of tuk-tuk drivers. We explained that we wanted to be taken to the Friendship Bridge and after a huge smile he was please to take us! Having seen this sort of smile before I immediately knew not to trust him ;o)!
He took us to an office along with a French guy that looked like he had had a life time on Tiger Beer, with the hum of stale cigarette smoke and booze, sitting next to him on a squashed tuk-tuk was not a pleasant experience. The office we were taken to was a tour operator offering us Visa’s for Laos and transportation all the way to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The catch was they wanted 400 baht (8 pounds each), to travel just a few miles! I smiled politely looked at Jonny and Elliott, took out the Lonely Planet and explained that if we went our own way it would be a lot cheaper. After a short discussion we all agreed, I was a little concerned that the tuk-tuk driver would refuse to take us as he would not be making a commission, just a few baht for the tuk-tuk ride. However, fortunately for us the French guy was so out of it he was happily paying the extortionate office fees, which meant we were off the hook without a struggle.
The bus over the Friendship Bridge was 15 baht each and the taxi journey from the Laos border to Vientiane was 150 baht between three of us. The visa (30 days) cost $30.
The border crossing was amazingly smooth and hassle free!
Laos is so different from Thailand and Cambodia, the people are so laid back you have to hassle them….not the other way around! Our ‘go it alone’ theory paid off as we managed to save 1000 baht (20 pounds) which on a traveling budget is money well saved!
Having caught the bus from Namsom to Nong Khai, we were greeted with the usual line of tuk-tuk drivers. We explained that we wanted to be taken to the Friendship Bridge and after a huge smile he was please to take us! Having seen this sort of smile before I immediately knew not to trust him ;o)!
He took us to an office along with a French guy that looked like he had had a life time on Tiger Beer, with the hum of stale cigarette smoke and booze, sitting next to him on a squashed tuk-tuk was not a pleasant experience. The office we were taken to was a tour operator offering us Visa’s for Laos and transportation all the way to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The catch was they wanted 400 baht (8 pounds each), to travel just a few miles! I smiled politely looked at Jonny and Elliott, took out the Lonely Planet and explained that if we went our own way it would be a lot cheaper. After a short discussion we all agreed, I was a little concerned that the tuk-tuk driver would refuse to take us as he would not be making a commission, just a few baht for the tuk-tuk ride. However, fortunately for us the French guy was so out of it he was happily paying the extortionate office fees, which meant we were off the hook without a struggle.
The bus over the Friendship Bridge was 15 baht each and the taxi journey from the Laos border to Vientiane was 150 baht between three of us. The visa (30 days) cost $30.
The border crossing was amazingly smooth and hassle free!
Laos is so different from Thailand and Cambodia, the people are so laid back you have to hassle them….not the other way around! Our ‘go it alone’ theory paid off as we managed to save 1000 baht (20 pounds) which on a traveling budget is money well saved!
Namsom Continued…
Monday 22nd February
Having explored the little town of Namsom Joy and David decided to take us to Phu Phrabat Historical Park, which was only a one hour drive from Namsom (still on the boundary of the Udon Thani Province).
Thought to have been affected by the ice age by moving icebergs, thought to have crashed to the ground, Phu Phrabat has some very interesting stone formations. This strange but beautiful forest was inhabited around2,500-3,00 years ago by prehistoric man. Paintings of animals, men, geometric shapes and the palms of hands can still be seen in the sheltered rock formations today!
On the 3 hour walk around the tranquil park the mosquitoes decided to try some falang blood and happily feasted on me all the way round. After about 30 minutes I became dizzy and nauseous, for some reason I began having a reaction to these particular black and white striped mosquitoes.
The next day was spent in bed with a fever, I had some relief in the fact that I was taking malaria tablets, but still this doesn’t make you full proof! Fortunately it only lasted a few days, but it took weeks for the bites to go down! After realizing I was particularly allergic to the mosquitoes in Namsom we decided to make a move as soon as I was feeling well enough.
Originally the plan was to spend our last day with David and Joy in Nong Khai (the border town to Laos) and check out the markets at friendship bridge before we said our goodbyes and continued on with our travels. However, the night before we were going to leave my uncle told us that we had to ‘get bus’. Unfortunately many years of being married to his Thai wife has digressed his level of English and ability to communicate! After asking several questions and receiving very limited answers he told us that he would cook us breakfast and take us to the bus station in Namsom in the morning, from there we could catch a mini bus to a dual carriage way, then wait for a bus that is signed for Nong Khai. Eventually I found out that the reason why they could not spend the day with us was because they had to take some veg from their farm to the market.
Well, we managed to follow all the instructions and after a nerve-racking 1 hour wait by the side of a busy main road, sure enough we managed to flag down a bus going to Nong Khai.
I was a little disappointed having made such an effort to travel to North Thailand to see my uncle, that he was unable to spend our last day together. But as fate would have it Laos turned out to be a happy accident, as flying from Thailand to Hanoi in Vietnam, cost wise, was not an option, so we decided to travel through Laos overland.
Having explored the little town of Namsom Joy and David decided to take us to Phu Phrabat Historical Park, which was only a one hour drive from Namsom (still on the boundary of the Udon Thani Province).
Thought to have been affected by the ice age by moving icebergs, thought to have crashed to the ground, Phu Phrabat has some very interesting stone formations. This strange but beautiful forest was inhabited around2,500-3,00 years ago by prehistoric man. Paintings of animals, men, geometric shapes and the palms of hands can still be seen in the sheltered rock formations today!
On the 3 hour walk around the tranquil park the mosquitoes decided to try some falang blood and happily feasted on me all the way round. After about 30 minutes I became dizzy and nauseous, for some reason I began having a reaction to these particular black and white striped mosquitoes.
The next day was spent in bed with a fever, I had some relief in the fact that I was taking malaria tablets, but still this doesn’t make you full proof! Fortunately it only lasted a few days, but it took weeks for the bites to go down! After realizing I was particularly allergic to the mosquitoes in Namsom we decided to make a move as soon as I was feeling well enough.
Originally the plan was to spend our last day with David and Joy in Nong Khai (the border town to Laos) and check out the markets at friendship bridge before we said our goodbyes and continued on with our travels. However, the night before we were going to leave my uncle told us that we had to ‘get bus’. Unfortunately many years of being married to his Thai wife has digressed his level of English and ability to communicate! After asking several questions and receiving very limited answers he told us that he would cook us breakfast and take us to the bus station in Namsom in the morning, from there we could catch a mini bus to a dual carriage way, then wait for a bus that is signed for Nong Khai. Eventually I found out that the reason why they could not spend the day with us was because they had to take some veg from their farm to the market.
Well, we managed to follow all the instructions and after a nerve-racking 1 hour wait by the side of a busy main road, sure enough we managed to flag down a bus going to Nong Khai.
I was a little disappointed having made such an effort to travel to North Thailand to see my uncle, that he was unable to spend our last day together. But as fate would have it Laos turned out to be a happy accident, as flying from Thailand to Hanoi in Vietnam, cost wise, was not an option, so we decided to travel through Laos overland.
Namsom, Thailand
20th -23rd February 2010
Namsom is a small town, I guess probably the same size/population as Perranporth in Cornwall. There are market stalls with fresh fruit and veg as well as other little shops selling all sorts; electronics, dog grooming supplies, cleaning products, as well as the normal hair salons, massage parlors, it almost has everything except major supermarkets or shopping malls, giving the town a wonderful sense of community.
Joy spent the second day introducing me to her sisters and brother that all live on the same quite rural road, which is just a short 5 minute drive from the town. One of Joy’s sisters has set up a noodle stall just next door to David and Joy’s which has proved very popular, in the short time that I was there it was very busy! On the other side of David and Joy’s, her brother has a steel fabrication business. It really was amazing to watch on this particular day an ornate metal gate presumably for someone’s drive way come out of a tiny, quite humble work station! Just a little further on is another of Joy’s sisters, who is a dress maker and teacher. I was welcomed in and Joy’s sister fixed one of my tops that was too big for me.
After Joy had finished introducing me to her family we jumped onto her moped and she took me just a short distance away, behind the row of houses and down a further dirt track where Joy and David have just established their farm. Although they have only just set the farm up in the last 10 months, I was very impressed with what they had achieved. At a guess I would say it was about 5 acres. Half the space is dedicated to dragon fruit, which apparently will be the most profitable once established. The rest of the farm has many vegetables and herbs, including spring onions and coriander…my favourite!
The town is small and friendly, with only a few falang (foreigners) that have also married Thai women, no white women though I was the only one, which turned a few heads to say the least! It was great to be in such a ‘off the beaten track’ setting, especially after being in Bangkok.
Namsom is a small town, I guess probably the same size/population as Perranporth in Cornwall. There are market stalls with fresh fruit and veg as well as other little shops selling all sorts; electronics, dog grooming supplies, cleaning products, as well as the normal hair salons, massage parlors, it almost has everything except major supermarkets or shopping malls, giving the town a wonderful sense of community.
Joy spent the second day introducing me to her sisters and brother that all live on the same quite rural road, which is just a short 5 minute drive from the town. One of Joy’s sisters has set up a noodle stall just next door to David and Joy’s which has proved very popular, in the short time that I was there it was very busy! On the other side of David and Joy’s, her brother has a steel fabrication business. It really was amazing to watch on this particular day an ornate metal gate presumably for someone’s drive way come out of a tiny, quite humble work station! Just a little further on is another of Joy’s sisters, who is a dress maker and teacher. I was welcomed in and Joy’s sister fixed one of my tops that was too big for me.
After Joy had finished introducing me to her family we jumped onto her moped and she took me just a short distance away, behind the row of houses and down a further dirt track where Joy and David have just established their farm. Although they have only just set the farm up in the last 10 months, I was very impressed with what they had achieved. At a guess I would say it was about 5 acres. Half the space is dedicated to dragon fruit, which apparently will be the most profitable once established. The rest of the farm has many vegetables and herbs, including spring onions and coriander…my favourite!
The town is small and friendly, with only a few falang (foreigners) that have also married Thai women, no white women though I was the only one, which turned a few heads to say the least! It was great to be in such a ‘off the beaten track’ setting, especially after being in Bangkok.
Bangkok to Udon Thani, Thailand
19th February 2010
For just 10 pounds each (500 baht) we got a train from Bangkok to Udon Thani that took 10 hours. Although the train wasn’t ‘state of the art’, it was clean, spacious and comfortable. Probably our best overland journey taken so far!
From Udon Thani my uncle David, his wife Joy and their son Andrew (7hrs old), met us at the train station. We were all quite relieved when they suggested we stay one night in udon Thani and travel to Namsom the next day.
(Udon Thani boomed on the back of the Vietnam War, with US air bases opening up nearby. Although they are all closed today the city is still thriving with shops and markets, however, having said that I can’t think of any reason why tourists would visit this city!)
We managed to stay up until midnight to see in mine and my uncles birthday with a celebratory drink ( I was born on his 18th birthday), and to celebrate the immense journey we had undertaken in such a short period of time!
After a reasonably early start and an English breakfast in an Irish pub! We hit the shops in Udon Thani. Jonny finally decided to give up on his sandals and buy some new ones, after several attempts to try and get them repaired along our travels…the funniest memory being Sihanouk Ville in Cambodia when he paid a guy $10 to basically burn his shoes in an attempt to fix them :o)!
After we had finished shoe shopping we stopped off at Tesco Lotus…yep they are everywhere, so that David and Joy could stock up on a few supplies. After that we hit the road to make the 1.5 hour journey to Namsom.
For just 10 pounds each (500 baht) we got a train from Bangkok to Udon Thani that took 10 hours. Although the train wasn’t ‘state of the art’, it was clean, spacious and comfortable. Probably our best overland journey taken so far!
From Udon Thani my uncle David, his wife Joy and their son Andrew (7hrs old), met us at the train station. We were all quite relieved when they suggested we stay one night in udon Thani and travel to Namsom the next day.
(Udon Thani boomed on the back of the Vietnam War, with US air bases opening up nearby. Although they are all closed today the city is still thriving with shops and markets, however, having said that I can’t think of any reason why tourists would visit this city!)
We managed to stay up until midnight to see in mine and my uncles birthday with a celebratory drink ( I was born on his 18th birthday), and to celebrate the immense journey we had undertaken in such a short period of time!
After a reasonably early start and an English breakfast in an Irish pub! We hit the shops in Udon Thani. Jonny finally decided to give up on his sandals and buy some new ones, after several attempts to try and get them repaired along our travels…the funniest memory being Sihanouk Ville in Cambodia when he paid a guy $10 to basically burn his shoes in an attempt to fix them :o)!
After we had finished shoe shopping we stopped off at Tesco Lotus…yep they are everywhere, so that David and Joy could stock up on a few supplies. After that we hit the road to make the 1.5 hour journey to Namsom.
Siem Reap to Bangkok
18th February 2010
Having explored Siem Reap on our final day we had shopped around to ensure we got the best deal on transport to Bangkok. For just $7 each we could take a bus all the way to the city.
We left Cambodia at 8am and after an extremely tight squeeze everyone managed to get on with their luggage stored at the front of the bus. We arrived at the Poipet (Thai/Cambodian) border at about 1pm after stopping for some lunch on route.
Immigration was slow but painless, no hassle at all! Such a peaceful border crossing compared to the Krong Koh Kong border just a few weeks ago! Once we had made it through immigration we simply walked with our ‘organised’ guide to the next bus on the Thai side…again hassle free!
The journey was long, taking approximately 10 hours, not 7hrs as predicted by the Cambodians!
The bus dropped us off at a familiar area of Bangkok near Koh San Road, so we walked a short distance to find a guesthouse near the Orchid Villa where we originally stayed when we first arrived. Bangkok seemed to be even busier than before, many guesthouses were full, probably because of the Chinese New Year.
The next day we got up bright and early ready to get a ‘metered taxi’ to Hualamphong Station to catch a train to the North of Thailand at 8.20am.
Having explored Siem Reap on our final day we had shopped around to ensure we got the best deal on transport to Bangkok. For just $7 each we could take a bus all the way to the city.
We left Cambodia at 8am and after an extremely tight squeeze everyone managed to get on with their luggage stored at the front of the bus. We arrived at the Poipet (Thai/Cambodian) border at about 1pm after stopping for some lunch on route.
Immigration was slow but painless, no hassle at all! Such a peaceful border crossing compared to the Krong Koh Kong border just a few weeks ago! Once we had made it through immigration we simply walked with our ‘organised’ guide to the next bus on the Thai side…again hassle free!
The journey was long, taking approximately 10 hours, not 7hrs as predicted by the Cambodians!
The bus dropped us off at a familiar area of Bangkok near Koh San Road, so we walked a short distance to find a guesthouse near the Orchid Villa where we originally stayed when we first arrived. Bangkok seemed to be even busier than before, many guesthouses were full, probably because of the Chinese New Year.
The next day we got up bright and early ready to get a ‘metered taxi’ to Hualamphong Station to catch a train to the North of Thailand at 8.20am.
Angkor Wat , Cambodia
14th-18th February, 2010
Angkor Wat (the city pagoda), was not only the grandest of all the Khmer temples, it was also a city in its own right, built during the reign of Suryavarman II, in the fist half of the 12th century. The outer limits of Angkor Wat are set by its broad moat, faced in laterite and sandstone, including this, the total area is almost 200 hectares – a rectangle of 1.5km E-W by 1.3km N-S, the largest temple at Angkor.
Within the 82 hectares of the outer enclosure, the temple itself stands in the middle on a terrace measuring 332x258m, nearly 9 hectares. The remaining 9/10ths of the area was taken up with the city, including the royal palace, although no trace remains (thought to have been built in light materials).
Siem Reap is the perfect base to explore Angkor Wat and the other 32 temples of Angkor. For just $15 (for the three of us), we hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day. On top of this cost we also bought a pass at the official Angkor Wat ticket office. The choices were either a one day, 3 day or one week ticket, we decided to go for the 3 day pass which cost $40 each.
The old abandoned city of Angkor is absolutely huge. The Angkor region, bordering ‘The Great Lake’, had a valuable supply of water, fish and fertile soil, which is thought to have been settled since Neolithic times, as stone tools and ceramics have been found in this location (Freeman & Jacques, 2009).
The size of the city is vast and hiring a tuk-tuk driver to explore was a good move! The two tours sign posted within the city are for the traditional ‘petit circuit’ and the ‘grand circuit’. So with the help of our tuk-tuk driver we planned out a pretty good itinerary starting with Angkor Wat. Other than the obvious my favourite temple within the city was the Temple of Bayon, which has a mass of faces that are actually towers, that create a stone mountain of ascending peaks. Originally there were 49 towers but today only 37 are standing. Most are carved with four faces on each cardinal point but sometimes there are only two or three. The temple is not only complex in structure but it’s meaning too, having passed through different religious phases from Pantheon of Gods, Hindu worship and Buddhism.
Angkor Wat (the city pagoda), was not only the grandest of all the Khmer temples, it was also a city in its own right, built during the reign of Suryavarman II, in the fist half of the 12th century. The outer limits of Angkor Wat are set by its broad moat, faced in laterite and sandstone, including this, the total area is almost 200 hectares – a rectangle of 1.5km E-W by 1.3km N-S, the largest temple at Angkor.
Within the 82 hectares of the outer enclosure, the temple itself stands in the middle on a terrace measuring 332x258m, nearly 9 hectares. The remaining 9/10ths of the area was taken up with the city, including the royal palace, although no trace remains (thought to have been built in light materials).
Siem Reap is the perfect base to explore Angkor Wat and the other 32 temples of Angkor. For just $15 (for the three of us), we hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day. On top of this cost we also bought a pass at the official Angkor Wat ticket office. The choices were either a one day, 3 day or one week ticket, we decided to go for the 3 day pass which cost $40 each.
The old abandoned city of Angkor is absolutely huge. The Angkor region, bordering ‘The Great Lake’, had a valuable supply of water, fish and fertile soil, which is thought to have been settled since Neolithic times, as stone tools and ceramics have been found in this location (Freeman & Jacques, 2009).
The size of the city is vast and hiring a tuk-tuk driver to explore was a good move! The two tours sign posted within the city are for the traditional ‘petit circuit’ and the ‘grand circuit’. So with the help of our tuk-tuk driver we planned out a pretty good itinerary starting with Angkor Wat. Other than the obvious my favourite temple within the city was the Temple of Bayon, which has a mass of faces that are actually towers, that create a stone mountain of ascending peaks. Originally there were 49 towers but today only 37 are standing. Most are carved with four faces on each cardinal point but sometimes there are only two or three. The temple is not only complex in structure but it’s meaning too, having passed through different religious phases from Pantheon of Gods, Hindu worship and Buddhism.
Friday 5 March 2010
Siem Reap
14th -18th February
Having arrived at Siem Reap bus station at 6pm we took a short tuk-tuk ride into town. We asked the driver to drop us off at Hotel 89 but unfortunately it was full so we stayed at Smilies Guesthouse just down the road. Although the accommodation and restaurant were good unfortunately to the left of the guest house was Siem Reap’s Red Light District! So going out alone at might was a big No No! But as I had two strapping lads next to me I felt pretty safe, oh and then there were Jonny and Elliott…(just joking).
The town itself is the perfect location for exploring Angkor Wat and other surrounding temples. As it stands Siem Reap is a charming town with rural qualities, such as old French shop-houses, tree-lined boulevards and a winding river. However, it has the potential to turn into the Costa del Sol of South East Asia! The gold rush is apparently still unabated and mass tourism has hit this town…so BIG changes are inevitably on the horizon.
However, the time that we spent there was great, plenty of market stall shops, one shopping mall (that had hardly anything in it!) and Pub Street, a road shut off from the traffic where you can get a great meal, watch some traditional Khmer dancing and even get a fish massage! A kind of Khao San road, but not as big.
After a few drinks and a good hearty meal we decided to stop off at a local mini mart for a bottle of water before heading back to the guesthouse. As we approached the shop a young girl grabbed hold of my arm begging me to buy her some powered milk. The town was packed, I turned to Jonny and Elliott and they looked just as bewildered as I did. She followed us into the shop and pointed to the powered milk. It didn’t feel right but on the spot I couldn’t work out whether it was right or wrong. So we bought the little girl a $5 tin of powered milk. When we got back to the hotel, Jonny and I googled ‘powered milk scam’ to see what we could find.
It turns out that the shop are usually in on the deal. A so called ‘desperate mother’ holding her baby begs tourists for powered milk, and the shop increases their prices. It is then sold back to the shop, with apparently little going back to the ‘so called mothers’.
The poverty in Cambodia at times can be overwhelming. If you are not being harassed by children selling crafts, postcards or other nick-nacks, it’s adults selling other goods such as painting, books, scarf’s etc. Then there are the beggars, some genuine, such as mine victims, others perhaps not but who really knows!
All you do know is that you cannot afford to give to everyone so you are perplexed by feelings of helplessness, guilt and exhaustion from continually being harassed, having said that the best form of begging, if you like, are the mine victims that play music. They do not harass you, they simply have a sign that explains that they need your help but would like to keep their dignity, so if you like their music then feel free to donate or buy a CD. I think for all of us the mine victims are the most harrowing, both adults and children who are still suffering the affects and after affects of years of war. Also the mothers lining the streets of Phnom Pehn, sleeping on the streets with their children begging for your help.
There are so many NGOs in this country I lost count. Aid is reaching this country but begging is still a lucrative way of earning money, particularly when teachers for example are on less than $2 a day! So I can’t really see an ending to the begging in the near future, unless the government is prepared to do something about it, which is highly unlikely.
If you have managed to cope with the poverty of Cambodia then you will be highly rewarded by their prize possession, the eighth wonder of the world…Angkor Wat!
Having arrived at Siem Reap bus station at 6pm we took a short tuk-tuk ride into town. We asked the driver to drop us off at Hotel 89 but unfortunately it was full so we stayed at Smilies Guesthouse just down the road. Although the accommodation and restaurant were good unfortunately to the left of the guest house was Siem Reap’s Red Light District! So going out alone at might was a big No No! But as I had two strapping lads next to me I felt pretty safe, oh and then there were Jonny and Elliott…(just joking).
The town itself is the perfect location for exploring Angkor Wat and other surrounding temples. As it stands Siem Reap is a charming town with rural qualities, such as old French shop-houses, tree-lined boulevards and a winding river. However, it has the potential to turn into the Costa del Sol of South East Asia! The gold rush is apparently still unabated and mass tourism has hit this town…so BIG changes are inevitably on the horizon.
However, the time that we spent there was great, plenty of market stall shops, one shopping mall (that had hardly anything in it!) and Pub Street, a road shut off from the traffic where you can get a great meal, watch some traditional Khmer dancing and even get a fish massage! A kind of Khao San road, but not as big.
After a few drinks and a good hearty meal we decided to stop off at a local mini mart for a bottle of water before heading back to the guesthouse. As we approached the shop a young girl grabbed hold of my arm begging me to buy her some powered milk. The town was packed, I turned to Jonny and Elliott and they looked just as bewildered as I did. She followed us into the shop and pointed to the powered milk. It didn’t feel right but on the spot I couldn’t work out whether it was right or wrong. So we bought the little girl a $5 tin of powered milk. When we got back to the hotel, Jonny and I googled ‘powered milk scam’ to see what we could find.
It turns out that the shop are usually in on the deal. A so called ‘desperate mother’ holding her baby begs tourists for powered milk, and the shop increases their prices. It is then sold back to the shop, with apparently little going back to the ‘so called mothers’.
The poverty in Cambodia at times can be overwhelming. If you are not being harassed by children selling crafts, postcards or other nick-nacks, it’s adults selling other goods such as painting, books, scarf’s etc. Then there are the beggars, some genuine, such as mine victims, others perhaps not but who really knows!
All you do know is that you cannot afford to give to everyone so you are perplexed by feelings of helplessness, guilt and exhaustion from continually being harassed, having said that the best form of begging, if you like, are the mine victims that play music. They do not harass you, they simply have a sign that explains that they need your help but would like to keep their dignity, so if you like their music then feel free to donate or buy a CD. I think for all of us the mine victims are the most harrowing, both adults and children who are still suffering the affects and after affects of years of war. Also the mothers lining the streets of Phnom Pehn, sleeping on the streets with their children begging for your help.
There are so many NGOs in this country I lost count. Aid is reaching this country but begging is still a lucrative way of earning money, particularly when teachers for example are on less than $2 a day! So I can’t really see an ending to the begging in the near future, unless the government is prepared to do something about it, which is highly unlikely.
If you have managed to cope with the poverty of Cambodia then you will be highly rewarded by their prize possession, the eighth wonder of the world…Angkor Wat!
Wednesday 3 March 2010
Phnom Pehn
Phnom Pehn
Saturday 13th Feb
Today the evidence of the criminal regime is on display for both Cambodian’s and international visitors to see, making the crimes of the KR public, playing a crucial role in preventing any new Pol Pot’s from merging.
The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek is approximately 14km southwest of central Phnom Pehn. A huge stupa (religious monument) dominates the centre, serving as a memorial to the mean women and children who were executed. The Khmer Rouge killed children to prevent any backlash or revenge from family members.
Inside the stupa are almost 9,000 human skulls found during the excavations in the 1980s, along with rags and clothing. The fields themselves still have human bone and clothing poking up from the churned up ground. The fields today are peaceful and well kept, with trees dominating the area.
An experience I will never forget, nor will I ever understand.
Pol Pot died under home arrest before he faced prosecution.
After spending the afternoon in Phnom Pehn we were all ready to move on to see the lighter side of Cambodia…Angkor Wat! We purchased our $8 bus tickets at a nearby tour operator and left at 12pm to arrive at Siem Reap for 6pm.
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