Days 7-8, Vietnam and Cambodia, Jan 2006

Day 7 Thursday 5th. January

We didn’t cycle on this day because we spent all the early part of the day travelling. Firstly, in the coach to the river and then on a speed boat towards Cambodia. It took two hours speeding upstream to reach the Cambodian border where we had to disembark It was all very serious. The atmosphere was charged with officialdom which verged on the comical. Gilbert and Sullivan would have had a field day.

After another 2 hour journey in the speed boat we arrived at Phnom Penh just after mid-day. Immediately, we met our new local guide, Smi, and boarded the new coach to go to The Princess Hotel. A snack lunch was followed by a visit to the Cambodian National Museum of Art which contained many statues and artifacts of Hindu and Buddhist gods. Next we visited the Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The palace in Phnom Penh is still used by the king but at this time he was away in China.

We climbed the hill under which the lady called Penh found the 4 statues of Buddha washed up in the branches of a tree on the shores of the Mekong. According to legend these statues were housed in a special pagoda in the 14th. century and the city of Phnom Penh grew from these humble beginnings.

In the evening we had yet another treat. We went together to a “Friends Restaurant” which is run by street children. What an excellent end this was to a very visually stimulating day.

Sunlight on the river

Riverside village

Day 8 Friday the 6th January 2006
During the years 1975 to 1978, when my children were between 8 and 12 years old, I never dreamed that at the other side of the world 170,000 man , women and children were being murdered because of one man’s paranioa. His name, Pol Pot, sits well with that of Stalin and of Hitler.

This morning we visited The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. The memorial stupe is a huge glass structure filled with the skulls of some of Pol Pot’s victims. Most were brutally slain with the sharp leaf stalks of the sugar palm tree which grow everywhere in this region. Their screams were muffled by loud music played through loud speakers still in situ. No-one was safe. Even Pol Pot’s friends who had “done wrong” were murdered.

Following this visit we cycled thoughtfully to the Tuol Sleung Genocide Museum. This was not a fun day! Formerly this building was a school but it became Pol Pot’s torture centre. It is a very bleak and unforgiving place. We learned that the detainees preferred to throw themselves from the balconies rather than endure the torture. As if that wasn’t enough they were then sent to The Killing Fields to be murdered.

After lunch in the city we needed cheering up so we cycled to a weaving village. The villagers were churning out fashionable headscarves for the local market on homemade wooden looms. The set up was/is very rural and quite charming. The loom sheds had roofs but no walls and chickens really were free range.

On the way “home” many of our group went to a Phnom Penh market but I declined.

In the evening I went with a charming couple from New Zealand for dinner. Debbie,John and myself took a tut-tut to the waterfront.We sat in huge armchairs outside a riverside restaurant and watched the world go by. It felt very colonial. The poor beggars were kept at bay by the hotel security guards. The beggars are a sad part of life in Cambodia.

Skull Stupe

Weaving sheds

 

Days 9 -10, Vietnam and Cambodia, January 2006

Day 9 Saturday 7th. January 2006

We started day 9 with a 2 hour bus ride which included a coffee stop. The scenery was exotically rural. Paddy fields in all stages of growth or resting,wooden houses on stilts, goats, children, cattle, horses, ponies, people cycling or motorcycling and the occasional lorry were all part of a visually stimulating environment. Children, especially were everywhere.

It was on this day that we said goodbye to Smi, our first Cambodian guide. Sue said a few kind and true words about Smi and we were all a little sad. We soon met our new guide who was very knowledgeable about the Cambodian Temple Ruins.

At Koh Kaong we mounted the bikes and cycled leisurely for about 30km. before enjoying lunch together at a Chinese restaurant. After lunch we cycled to the bus which was our mode of transport round today’s temples.The first was a Khumer Temple ruin called Wat Nokor. It is an 11th. century Mahayana Buddist Shrine and it houses a beautifully and brightly painted modern working wat.

We took another bus ride to a smaller but more ancient temple ruin. Here, Moya and I needed the toilet. However, it was extremely smelly and the fellow wanted a US dollar so we decided to hold on.

Kompong Thom, our final stop, was another 70 km. further on. It was dark by the time we arrived at The Sting Sen Royal Garden Hotel and we had a convivial meal in the hotel restaurant before bed.

Smi’s grandmothers grave

Ruth and Smi
Day 10 Sunday 8th. January 2006

We bussed for an hour after breakfast and then cycled 30 km. to the oldest wat, Sambor Prei Kuk Temple, built in the 7th.century . In this century Sambor Prei Kuk Temple was the capital of CAMBODIA. Now this area is forested with around 100 temples scattered about. We continued by bus until we were quite near Siam Reap. From here we cycled to a small town called Roulous to visit an area of 9th.century temples which are among the earliest permanent structures built by the Khumer. We visited 3 temple sites The Bakong, Preah Ko and Lolei all built by Indravarman 1 and his successor Yasvarman. We are growing accustomed to seeing ruins and though I’m sure some folks spend much time in studying them, for me they became a bit similar and by now (nearly 10 months later )they are mostly blended into an impression.

Finally , we continued by bus to the Casa Ankor Hotel in Siam Reap.

 

Days 11-12, Vietnam and Cambodia, January 2006.

Day11 Monday 9th January 2006

The first temple this morning was Banteay Srei. The young guide had plenty to say about it but all I remember was steps everywhere.

Next we cycled to see the ruins that all cinema goers know. Either Pre Rup or Ta Phom was used in Tomb Raider. Here the Stung tree roots wrap themselves around the ruins. It seems as if the seeds have germinated well above ground and the aerial roots have grown down to find the earth. By the time the tree has fully grown the roots are massive. I had lunch with Moya and David.

In the afternoon we visited Angkor Wat. This temple was originally built as a funeral temple for Suryanarman11 in honour of Vishnu. The whole temple system here is a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist. Cambodian Buddhism is not the same as Indian Buddhism. Ankor Wat faces West. I climbed a very steep set of steps and came down again intsantly but gingerly. I was foolish to even attempt it .

To me the best part of this visit was discovering tiny frogs in the lake. They made a noise out of all proportion to their size. They were extremely difficult to see below the water because they were nearly transparent and had green stripes. They were present in their hundreds. To make the croak the expanded their throats like balloons. I suppose the noise was that of air being released under pressure.

In the evening Debbie and Moya had massages and I had dinner with John. Very nice it was too.

Day 12 . Tuesday 10th. January 2006

This was our last cycling day. We cycled from the Hotel Casa Angkor to the 12th. century temple of King Jayavarman v11, reputedly Angkors greatest king. Angkor Thom is a Buddhist temple which is enclosed by a square wall 8 metres high with 5 20 metre tall monumental gates decorated with stone elephant trunks. Originally the moat around the Thom was filled with crocodiles. Tall statues of 54 different gods protected each gate.

The city itself contains another of Angkors gems, The Bayon. We cycled there and marvelled at its maze of corridors and 54 gothic style towers. The central temple has 1200 metres of of the finest bas reliefs depicting scenes of every day life in 12th. century Cambodia. This is where the Group photo was taken.

In the afternoon we took an optional trip into the huge lake, Tonnel Sap, in the middle of Cambodia. It is a fresh water lake with floating villages. Pigs were kept on rafts; there was a floating school, a floating Catholic Church and many floating homes. The boats are moored but have to move as the lake expands to 40,000 sq.km. after the rainy season and contracts to 12,000 sq.km. during the rest of the year. This lake is famous for having more fresh water fish varieties than any other lake in the world. We sailed into the centre of the lake and just floated there. Some little boys in basins came along side from a nearby floating restaurant. They were begging. The weather was perfect . We had taken beer and just relaxed totally in the sun. Mel. and No. are getting closer. Watch this space.

Sue collected a contribution from everyone to thank Laura for being an excellent guide.

Our final meal was at The Khmer Kitchen in Siam Reap.

This trip was for me very memorable. I have memories of all the members of the trip and even if you don’t get a mention I would like to thank you for your company. It was superb.

Love from Joan