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Later on we got our compulsory pineapples and mangoes and then headed a few kms away from Angkor Wat to take a ‘hot air balloon’ ride above the city to see the sights. Firstly it was a bit of a fake hot air balloon because it only went up and down and was constantly attached to the ground by a rope, and secondly we picked a bit of a hazy day. Therefore it wasn’t quite as wondrous as I had imagined, but we still managed to have a good look over the Cambodian landscape. Next was a trip to Ta Prohm. This is a temple situated in the middle of a forest where many trees have actually grown on top of and around the ruins. It looks quite magical, as the trees are massive and have such cool roots that look like they are wrapping themselves around the stone to protect it almost.
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Although tired we weren’t finished yet. We managed to only just catch the sun setting over the area from the top of a hill where the temple Banteay Kdei sits. The hill was packed with tourists all with the same idea and we had to push our way to the top. It was pretty although I wish we had had a bit more time!
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That evening we went out to the tourist area of Siem Reap to celebrate xmas with a drink and some nice food. We went to a bar called the Red Piano which was really trendy. I ate a yummy chicken salad and had a tomb raider cocktail- named after Angelina’s movie because she has a house in the area. After the meal we met up with a couple of Australian tourists who had been at Angkor Wat. We had divine ice creams followed by bubble tea! It really had been a quite surreal but cool Christmas!
26th- we were up early again today to take a 2hr tuk tuk ride to a temple called Beng Mealea. This is another temple from the Angkor group. It is situated in a very rural area in another forest. It is very much in ruins due to the Khmer rouge demolishing it less than twenty years ago. It looked like the temple had originally been quite big, and once again the carvings of gods, animals and nature were beautiful. We were one of few people at the temple and so took advantage of the space to roam. We somehow gained two guides who showed us all the best routes to climb and scramble through. They also showed us the best vines to climb and swing from! It was such fun.
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After a few hours in this temple we drove another hour across very dusty and bumpy ‘roads’ to another more popular temple called Banteay Srei. We didn’t have that long in the temple as it was closing but there was enough time to wander round the red stone ruins and be amazed at the clearest carvings and intact architecture I had seen yet. The doorways especially were beautiful.
That evening we were tired and covered in a thick layer of dust but we still managed to head out to the tourist area for a cocktail or two. I also tried fresh spring rolls which were extremely yum.
27th- today was the last day our passes were valid to visit temples. So we managed to squeeze in a few. I was feeling a little ‘templed out’ as some of the ruins did simply look like a pile of rocks at times. First we went to the Bayon which is in the Angkor Thom complex. This was a really cool complex as the towers had been carved into faces and heads which were still very prominent. We were able to climb these towers, and also wander around the maze of corridors. Unfortunately the sun was extremely hot this morning and it hindered my energy levels. Regardless of this I was able to appreciate the beauty of this temple. I was still amazed that hundreds of years ago such designing, building and carving skills existed..JPG)
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-next was a stop at the nearby Baphuon. This will probably be a very impressive sight when the reconstruction is in a more advanced stage. But at the moment, apart from the impressive walkway and staircase to the building site, their isn’t too much to see.
- we also walked to the Phimeanakas which had very steep steps to climb up, and then on to the terrace of elephants. We didn’t spend much time looking round this which was a bit of a shame as the carvings of elephants in the stone did look quite cool, but by now the heat was quite imposing.
- we decided to try and fit in one more temple sight before ending our temple tour. Unfortunately both Meagan and Aleema were sick girlies and so we didn’t spend a lot of time at Preah Khan. But nonetheless I had a chance to explore the small corridors and look at the linga on display.
- that evening both girls slept and rested and so I had a milkshake on the veranda and used the time to phone home.
28th- unfortunately aleema was no better in the morning and so she remained in bed whilst Meagan and I headed out of the city to a silk farm. I didn’t really have any expectations, but the silk farm turned out to be ace. I was completely intrigued in the process of making and silk. I had never given any thought to it before and so I was a little shocked at the effort and tedious work that goes into making such beautiful products as we had seen for sale in the markets. The growing of mulberry, the nurturing of worms, the boiling and extracting of silk from cocoons (2000 cocoons = 1kg silk), the long dying process, the spinning, the setting up of the machines and the actual weaving process which can take months to complete one single scarf or throw. I won’t go into the incy details but I have these photos. It felt good visiting this farm where it was clear that the staff were well trained and looked after. They received a fair wage and appeared to have good working conditions.
I came away feeling educated! But our education didn’t stop there! With a quick shopping spree in the market, we were off to a place near our guesthouse which trained people in carving, painting, metal work and such like. It was managed by Artisans D’angkor, the same group that maintain the silk farm. We got shown silk paintings, lacquer work, stone carving and wood carving. All were fascinating and the accuracy, patience and skill of the workers was phenomenal. It was especially interesting to note that many people with SEN were employed and being trained here. Most of the silk painters we saw were deaf and/or dumb. This is a fantastic way of providing much needed jobs to capable people with certain disabilities, who would otherwise be considered a burden on society.
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That evening Meagan and I had a fun time in an Indian restaurant which had damn good authentic Indian food as it was run by an Indian guy. Yum yum.
29th- this was our last full day in Siem Reap. Luckily Aleema was a little better and so we all went off with our tuk tuk driver (22yr old Manil, the ladies’ man) to a village in the middle of nowhere. We stopped in this village down a bumpy dusty track as we needed to change transport to get to our destination. So we hopped on to motorbikes (with manil accompanying) and we continued along the track which became really bumpy and really dusty! We had scarves covering our heads and faces and I felt like something out of Lawrence of Arabia- only on motorbikes. We all survived the journey and we were dropped at the side of a very low looking fiver where a few pieces of wood were floating on the river. We soon discovered that we were to be boarding one of these pieces of wood as this was to be our mode of transport to the floating village that we wanted visit. It was such a rickety looking boat and I still have no idea how the engine or the mechanics of the boat worked. It looked so thrown together and childlike- and a little worrying..but obviously I survived as I am writing now. We sat down and with a splutter and splash we were away (with Manil as our ‘guide’). We sailed (hahaha) between rows of bushes and trees that were under water. They were pretty narrow bodies of water which was a little concern in the sensible side of alex’s head, seeing as the captain of our cruise liner looked like any random Cambodian from off the street- obviously the cool traveler side was excited about the fear and adventure! It was fun nevertheless at being on a boat in the sunshine and the scenery was great. To begin it felt like we were sailing through fields because the water was so low and all we could see were fields around us. Then the trees and the houses started to appear. The houses were stilted and made of wood mostly. Some had quite complex designs and had floating pig pens, chicken coops and alligator pens! We stopped in one floating village where we were able to disembark because they had a tiny strip of land between houses where we could stand- I hence felt that this was a fake floating village although all of the houses were still technically floating. We were greeted by lots of children of various ages, all intrigued to meet us. I was surprised at the level of some of their English. It was actually a lot better than some of my 14yr old students in japan! Apparently the village has a school which children attend for one half of the day. They live off of fish and rice bought from nearby land where they sell fish in markets..JPG)
After this we got back in the boats to continue on to the flooded forest. Apparently the forest existed before the water and so it is amazing that the trees adapted so well to being drowned by the river. They were quite spindly and scary looking trees, but I thought that they were pretty special too.
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That evening we made the most of our last time in a developed tourist area. We went to a ‘happy’ pizza restaurant and then we went to have massages! 5 dollars for one hour full body massage. I was surprised at the room where we had our massages as it was really quite nice and atmospheric. It was dimly lit, material draped and futons on the floor. There was also soft music playing, but this was drowned out by the landmine victim musicians outside! My massage therapist was a youngish girl who turned out to have the strength of Hulk. She punched, slapped and moved my muscles more than anything. At one point I looked across at Aleema and Meagan next to me and saw Aleema being stretched up in a cobra position, and Meagan with a little Cambodian lady trampling on her back! It was quite funny. Although not relaxing, the massage felt like it did good to my body. I don’t think I have ever been twisted and cracked quite so much!
30th- today shall be known as ‘THE travel day’. We left at 7.30 to get a bus from Siem Reap to Battambang. I had arranged for us to do a homestay with a Cambodian family for two days in a village near Battambang. I was unsure what to expect but I had received good comments about this homestay and so I was excited! However the journey to battambang did not go well. I have never inhaled so much dust on a bus before. Visibility in the bus was actually reduced! And my ass had never taken such a beating. The road was basically non existent but contained holes the size of volcanoes. This 5hrs was unbearable and when we arrived in Battambang, I was tired, hot and very stressed from finding my non waterproof bag had been drenched in water from the kind bus men cooling down the engine. In addition the guy meeting us was nowhere to be seen. I was being miss stressy pants, but all subsided when Sambath eventually appeared. He hadn’t expected us to arrive where we did so he had been waiting elsewhere and then he was searching the city for us! But all was fine now. We clambered on motorbikes with our huge bags in between the drivers’ legs! We then set off through the city and into the countryside on once again very dusty roads. I was being driven by Sambath’s cousin, Meagan was with another random family member and Aleema was with Sambath. We arrived into a very tiny village and to Sambath’s aunt and uncle’s house which is where we would stay for the 2 nights. Well actually I ended up sleeping in the neighbour’s house next door because they didn’t have room for 3!! But I had a big bed, oil lamp and a mosquito net (with only incy holes!!). The house seemed quite large. It was made from wood, leaves and some cement. It had a western toilet fitted as well for us gaijin who come to stay. There was a separate kitchen area and ‘bathroom’ with a huge vat of water. There were two beds and a dining table and chairs underneath the house as it were. This was the ground floor of the house, but there weren’t any walls. Due to the constant hot weather in Cambodia it isn’t necessary for people to sleep inside four walls. Upstairs was an enclosed space with two (kind-of) rooms. I still don’t really understand who exactly was living in this house from Sambath’s family as there appeared to be masses of people coming and going. Family units are huge in Cambodia! After arriving at the house, we dumped our belongings and then went for a walk with sambath around the village. The village was called Tapon. It was a rural village where most of the 300 families who live there are crop farmers that kept livestock. Eat was really interesting to have a local guide explaining in such fantastic English about the village and life in it. He explained about the different purposes the trees and plants had-medicinal, nutritional and architecturally. He told us about the local insects and wildlife too. Apparently people don’t eat their pigs that they keep generally. They use them to make money when they need money quickly by selling them in a market- ‘piggy bank’. The cows are not really eaten either as they are used to work in the fields. Whilst walking we heard the prayer callings from a local mosque. This surprised me as I wasn’t aware of a large cohort of Muslims in the area. But apparently there is quite a good relationship between the Buddhists and the Muslims.
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We saw children searching for ‘morning glory’ in the stream. We saw the monkey bridge that locals use to get from one side of the village to the other because the two halves are separated by water. We visited a family who had a flour mill and saw the machines in action. We saw evidence of the three political parties in Cambodia (CPP- gov controlled-, Funcipenc – king controlled- and Samrancy –opposition to the other 2-) by signs up advertising each. We also saw the stop corruption sign which is a hand print. Stickers of this were posted on trees in the village.
We tried dragon fruit that afternoon which was new to me. It is a pink fruit with white flesh and black seeds inside. It was beautiful and tasty. We also ate the most delicious Cambodian food cooked by Sambath’s wife. We had vegetable curry with a chicken and pineapple salad, which was also accompanied by rice. It was amazing!
That evening I spent time in a hammock being laughed at for my lack of Khmer skills and laughing hysterically at the amazingly cool old toothless lady in the house. She was jibbering away at us in khmer and then laughing with a cackle! It was hilarious! It was really nice seeing families interacting with each other. It seems as though the art of storytelling is alive and well in Cambodia because there is nothing else to do really. It is so wonderful. The fact that we were without running water, electricity and in the company of many an insect was not an issue. I didn’t even think about it. It felt good. I was back to basics with life. The moonlight, the breeze, the chickens scraping their feet in the dust the human interaction.
31st- new year eve
we had a busy day planned with Sambath and his 2 family members who were going to drive us around on their motorbikes, showing us Battambang and the main sights. This was a fantastic opportunity as it is not often that you have your own transport, driver and tour guide. We ended up doing a lot of driving on the most dusty roads in the world ever which was quite tiring and a little stressful.
First we had a delicious breakfast, which was omelete, bread and cheese. We hadn’t been eating breakfast but this was really good. We then set off passing people carrying out their normal chores, harvesting crops, eel hunting in the mud, collecting fruits, preparing food for animals, sweeping, grinding rice to flour and struggling around on motorbikes heavily (and I mean heavily) loaded with an array of goods and crops! We passed many ‘say no to weapons’ ads and ‘say yes to condoms and no to HIV’ ones too which was encouraging. But the signs seemed to be predominantly in the big cities and in English, therefore were they targeting the right people? Apparently family planning is becoming more accessible but it is still not free so obviously isn’t an option for some.
We eventually arrived with an extra coating of dust at the bottom of quite a steep hill. we climbed up in the horrid heat alongside a south African girl. We came to a small temple which was of little color or note worthy features. But this temple is important for other reasons. It was taken over byt the khmer rouge and used to store food and live stock (as they did with most temples). It is also in the caves below the temple that horrific murders took place by the khmer rouge. The walk down to the caves were lined with colourful spirit flags made from various material. Hundreds of professionals had been beaten, stoned, electrocuted, drowned or thrown to their death here. As in Phnom Penh there was a case on display with bones and clothes. These were some of the unidentified victims. It was really gut wrenching once again.
After visiting two sets of these killing caves (the second showed a drop of 40m where people were thrown. If they survived the fall they were then shot until they appeared dead) we climbed higher to visit Wat Sampeo. This was much more traditional with detailed architecture and color. We saw many holy people dressed in complete white and with shaved heads. At the edge of the hill there was an artillery that had not been removed since the blood shed in the 70s. The views were super over a very flat region of Cambodia, although there were some random odd looking mounds popping up. There were a lot of rice fields and agriculture.
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We left the wat and after drinking coconut milk we went to a fruit farm. We spent time walking around the farm, being shown how the crops grow and were maintained. We saw pineapples, mangoes, ladies fingers bananas, bitter nut trees (old ladies chew this apparently), grapefruits, guava and oranges. There were also pigs and chickens on the farm. Sambath likes to bring people here to try and involve foreigners in the lives of local Cambodians. It is a good idea, especially as we got to try loads of yummy fruits straight form the trees.
We also listened to an explanation of how rice wine was made at the farm. We saw different stages of the process which was very interesting. We got to try some of the rice wine. We tried some that had fruit in it. The stuff we tried was only 30% but warmed the throat incredibly and made us feel pretty good! I also got to try 40% stuff which nearly killed me. It was like drinking petrol, which I try to avoid doing. Whilst we ate, drank and talked, Sambath slept in a hammock and the other people were engrossed in boxing on the TV. White man against Cambodian!
Next stop was the ‘bamboo train’. Not quite as we expected…. I imagined harry potter type train made completely of bamboo. Well it was four wheels with a carpet of bamboo on top! We then sat on this, held on to a pole and hoped for the best!! We were at the front with the motor bikes and drivers on the back of the ‘train’ and the driver near the weird looking engine- luckily I only saw the rickety wooden brake after we got off! We rode the train on over grown tracks that were made by the French and were once in good use. Now traveling by train is terrible and very few trains run. Thus bamboo trains are used by locals to transport crops and people and goods. If you happen to meet one whilst on the bamboo train, because the normal train goes sooooo slowly, there is enough time to get off of the train, dismantle it and wait for it to pass! We actually met another train coming in the opposite direction! But we were bigger and more full than them so they had to dismantle! It was really comical! The ride itself was a little hairy!! The bumps in the track and the sprawling vegetation that flung in my face made me a little scared. I also realized mid way through the journey that the nice rug we were sitting on was actually covering holes in the bamboo we were sitting on!!!! Joy to the world. But nevertheless I wont forget the ride!
That evening we stopped off in the local village and spoke to some kids and bought some material. We also bought some beer and fireworks-being new years eve. We drank the beer over a divine dinner of Amok (Cambodian fish curry with coconut sauce, in a banana leaf) and friend aubergine with a pepper sauce it was soooo yummy! We once again enjoyed trying to interact with the kids- I let them listen to my ipod which was funny!
I wasn’t feeling too spritely so I slept from 10.00 till about 11.50pm, when we had planned to let off the fireworks. However when I woke up after being in Meagan and aleemsa bed, I realized the family I was staying with had been wondering where I was and wanted to tuck me into bed and lock the door! This was 3hrs later than they would usually go to sleep. I felt awful and so started getting ready for bed and only managed to quickly see 2 fireworks explode and then went to sleep. I felt really bad…
As this is written in hindsight I will note a few things that sambath said on this day that have stuck with me:
1) if a jack fruit and a coconut fall on your head, which will hurt most?
- the head.
2) How do you put an elephant in the fridge?
- open the door , put it in and close the door,
3) How do you put turkeys in the fridge?
- open door, take out elephant and put them in.
4) Can tell sex of child by looking at mothers face
5) Giving birth is referred to as crossing the water as it is so dangerous
6) Cambodians are interested in foreigners but we are thought of as rich and intelligent.
7) He married when he was 20- had no choice as it was arranged. He felt it was too young. He liked someone else at the time.
8) Police are corrupt because they are paid so little
9) Petrol in bottles by side of road is from Thailand- has no tax
10) People can build houses anywhere in Cambodia, no land laws enforced
11) Youngest child stays in family home when grown up, others have to move out.
12) Orange of monks- intelligence, rich, color of rice which is crucial in Cambodia
13) Old people don’t always trust younger generation due to the khmer rouge and the younger generation being made to join the army and hurt their elders.
14) He had to live in a children’s camp when KR were in power. He could sleep with his mother at night as he was under the age of 10, but in the day he had to go and work on the camp.
15) He got caught stealing corn from the kitchen where his mother worked and he got tied up to a tree for the day for stealing.
16) He stole eggs from the temple where they were stored, but ran so fast to avoid getting caught the eggs that were hidden in his trousers were broken!
17) His brother dies in KR army. Not sure how, they think he may have drowned accidentally.
Although tired we weren’t finished yet. We managed to only just catch the sun setting over the area from the top of a hill where the temple Banteay Kdei sits. The hill was packed with tourists all with the same idea and we had to push our way to the top. It was pretty although I wish we had had a bit more time!
That evening we went out to the tourist area of Siem Reap to celebrate xmas with a drink and some nice food. We went to a bar called the Red Piano which was really trendy. I ate a yummy chicken salad and had a tomb raider cocktail- named after Angelina’s movie because she has a house in the area. After the meal we met up with a couple of Australian tourists who had been at Angkor Wat. We had divine ice creams followed by bubble tea! It really had been a quite surreal but cool Christmas!26th- we were up early again today to take a 2hr tuk tuk ride to a temple called Beng Mealea. This is another temple from the Angkor group. It is situated in a very rural area in another forest. It is very much in ruins due to the Khmer rouge demolishing it less than twenty years ago. It looked like the temple had originally been quite big, and once again the carvings of gods, animals and nature were beautiful. We were one of few people at the temple and so took advantage of the space to roam. We somehow gained two guides who showed us all the best routes to climb and scramble through. They also showed us the best vines to climb and swing from! It was such fun.
After a few hours in this temple we drove another hour across very dusty and bumpy ‘roads’ to another more popular temple called Banteay Srei. We didn’t have that long in the temple as it was closing but there was enough time to wander round the red stone ruins and be amazed at the clearest carvings and intact architecture I had seen yet. The doorways especially were beautiful.That evening we were tired and covered in a thick layer of dust but we still managed to head out to the tourist area for a cocktail or two. I also tried fresh spring rolls which were extremely yum.27th- today was the last day our passes were valid to visit temples. So we managed to squeeze in a few. I was feeling a little ‘templed out’ as some of the ruins did simply look like a pile of rocks at times. First we went to the Bayon which is in the Angkor Thom complex. This was a really cool complex as the towers had been carved into faces and heads which were still very prominent. We were able to climb these towers, and also wander around the maze of corridors. Unfortunately the sun was extremely hot this morning and it hindered my energy levels. Regardless of this I was able to appreciate the beauty of this temple. I was still amazed that hundreds of years ago such designing, building and carving skills existed.
-next was a stop at the nearby Baphuon. This will probably be a very impressive sight when the reconstruction is in a more advanced stage. But at the moment, apart from the impressive walkway and staircase to the building site, their isn’t too much to see.- we also walked to the Phimeanakas which had very steep steps to climb up, and then on to the terrace of elephants. We didn’t spend much time looking round this which was a bit of a shame as the carvings of elephants in the stone did look quite cool, but by now the heat was quite imposing.
- we decided to try and fit in one more temple sight before ending our temple tour. Unfortunately both Meagan and Aleema were sick girlies and so we didn’t spend a lot of time at Preah Khan. But nonetheless I had a chance to explore the small corridors and look at the linga on display.
- that evening both girls slept and rested and so I had a milkshake on the veranda and used the time to phone home.
28th- unfortunately aleema was no better in the morning and so she remained in bed whilst Meagan and I headed out of the city to a silk farm. I didn’t really have any expectations, but the silk farm turned out to be ace. I was completely intrigued in the process of making and silk. I had never given any thought to it before and so I was a little shocked at the effort and tedious work that goes into making such beautiful products as we had seen for sale in the markets. The growing of mulberry, the nurturing of worms, the boiling and extracting of silk from cocoons (2000 cocoons = 1kg silk), the long dying process, the spinning, the setting up of the machines and the actual weaving process which can take months to complete one single scarf or throw. I won’t go into the incy details but I have these photos. It felt good visiting this farm where it was clear that the staff were well trained and looked after. They received a fair wage and appeared to have good working conditions.
I came away feeling educated! But our education didn’t stop there! With a quick shopping spree in the market, we were off to a place near our guesthouse which trained people in carving, painting, metal work and such like. It was managed by Artisans D’angkor, the same group that maintain the silk farm. We got shown silk paintings, lacquer work, stone carving and wood carving. All were fascinating and the accuracy, patience and skill of the workers was phenomenal. It was especially interesting to note that many people with SEN were employed and being trained here. Most of the silk painters we saw were deaf and/or dumb. This is a fantastic way of providing much needed jobs to capable people with certain disabilities, who would otherwise be considered a burden on society.
That evening Meagan and I had a fun time in an Indian restaurant which had damn good authentic Indian food as it was run by an Indian guy. Yum yum.29th- this was our last full day in Siem Reap. Luckily Aleema was a little better and so we all went off with our tuk tuk driver (22yr old Manil, the ladies’ man) to a village in the middle of nowhere. We stopped in this village down a bumpy dusty track as we needed to change transport to get to our destination. So we hopped on to motorbikes (with manil accompanying) and we continued along the track which became really bumpy and really dusty! We had scarves covering our heads and faces and I felt like something out of Lawrence of Arabia- only on motorbikes. We all survived the journey and we were dropped at the side of a very low looking fiver where a few pieces of wood were floating on the river. We soon discovered that we were to be boarding one of these pieces of wood as this was to be our mode of transport to the floating village that we wanted visit. It was such a rickety looking boat and I still have no idea how the engine or the mechanics of the boat worked. It looked so thrown together and childlike- and a little worrying..but obviously I survived as I am writing now. We sat down and with a splutter and splash we were away (with Manil as our ‘guide’). We sailed (hahaha) between rows of bushes and trees that were under water. They were pretty narrow bodies of water which was a little concern in the sensible side of alex’s head, seeing as the captain of our cruise liner looked like any random Cambodian from off the street- obviously the cool traveler side was excited about the fear and adventure! It was fun nevertheless at being on a boat in the sunshine and the scenery was great. To begin it felt like we were sailing through fields because the water was so low and all we could see were fields around us. Then the trees and the houses started to appear. The houses were stilted and made of wood mostly. Some had quite complex designs and had floating pig pens, chicken coops and alligator pens! We stopped in one floating village where we were able to disembark because they had a tiny strip of land between houses where we could stand- I hence felt that this was a fake floating village although all of the houses were still technically floating. We were greeted by lots of children of various ages, all intrigued to meet us. I was surprised at the level of some of their English. It was actually a lot better than some of my 14yr old students in japan! Apparently the village has a school which children attend for one half of the day. They live off of fish and rice bought from nearby land where they sell fish in markets.
After this we got back in the boats to continue on to the flooded forest. Apparently the forest existed before the water and so it is amazing that the trees adapted so well to being drowned by the river. They were quite spindly and scary looking trees, but I thought that they were pretty special too.That evening we made the most of our last time in a developed tourist area. We went to a ‘happy’ pizza restaurant and then we went to have massages! 5 dollars for one hour full body massage. I was surprised at the room where we had our massages as it was really quite nice and atmospheric. It was dimly lit, material draped and futons on the floor. There was also soft music playing, but this was drowned out by the landmine victim musicians outside! My massage therapist was a youngish girl who turned out to have the strength of Hulk. She punched, slapped and moved my muscles more than anything. At one point I looked across at Aleema and Meagan next to me and saw Aleema being stretched up in a cobra position, and Meagan with a little Cambodian lady trampling on her back! It was quite funny. Although not relaxing, the massage felt like it did good to my body. I don’t think I have ever been twisted and cracked quite so much!30th- today shall be known as ‘THE travel day’. We left at 7.30 to get a bus from Siem Reap to Battambang. I had arranged for us to do a homestay with a Cambodian family for two days in a village near Battambang. I was unsure what to expect but I had received good comments about this homestay and so I was excited! However the journey to battambang did not go well. I have never inhaled so much dust on a bus before. Visibility in the bus was actually reduced! And my ass had never taken such a beating. The road was basically non existent but contained holes the size of volcanoes. This 5hrs was unbearable and when we arrived in Battambang, I was tired, hot and very stressed from finding my non waterproof bag had been drenched in water from the kind bus men cooling down the engine. In addition the guy meeting us was nowhere to be seen. I was being miss stressy pants, but all subsided when Sambath eventually appeared. He hadn’t expected us to arrive where we did so he had been waiting elsewhere and then he was searching the city for us! But all was fine now. We clambered on motorbikes with our huge bags in between the drivers’ legs! We then set off through the city and into the countryside on once again very dusty roads. I was being driven by Sambath’s cousin, Meagan was with another random family member and Aleema was with Sambath. We arrived into a very tiny village and to Sambath’s aunt and uncle’s house which is where we would stay for the 2 nights. Well actually I ended up sleeping in the neighbour’s house next door because they didn’t have room for 3!! But I had a big bed, oil lamp and a mosquito net (with only incy holes!!). The house seemed quite large. It was made from wood, leaves and some cement. It had a western toilet fitted as well for us gaijin who come to stay. There was a separate kitchen area and ‘bathroom’ with a huge vat of water. There were two beds and a dining table and chairs underneath the house as it were. This was the ground floor of the house, but there weren’t any walls. Due to the constant hot weather in Cambodia it isn’t necessary for people to sleep inside four walls. Upstairs was an enclosed space with two (kind-of) rooms. I still don’t really understand who exactly was living in this house from Sambath’s family as there appeared to be masses of people coming and going. Family units are huge in Cambodia! After arriving at the house, we dumped our belongings and then went for a walk with sambath around the village. The village was called Tapon. It was a rural village where most of the 300 families who live there are crop farmers that kept livestock. Eat was really interesting to have a local guide explaining in such fantastic English about the village and life in it. He explained about the different purposes the trees and plants had-medicinal, nutritional and architecturally. He told us about the local insects and wildlife too. Apparently people don’t eat their pigs that they keep generally. They use them to make money when they need money quickly by selling them in a market- ‘piggy bank’. The cows are not really eaten either as they are used to work in the fields. Whilst walking we heard the prayer callings from a local mosque. This surprised me as I wasn’t aware of a large cohort of Muslims in the area. But apparently there is quite a good relationship between the Buddhists and the Muslims.
We saw children searching for ‘morning glory’ in the stream. We saw the monkey bridge that locals use to get from one side of the village to the other because the two halves are separated by water. We visited a family who had a flour mill and saw the machines in action. We saw evidence of the three political parties in Cambodia (CPP- gov controlled-, Funcipenc – king controlled- and Samrancy –opposition to the other 2-) by signs up advertising each. We also saw the stop corruption sign which is a hand print. Stickers of this were posted on trees in the village.We tried dragon fruit that afternoon which was new to me. It is a pink fruit with white flesh and black seeds inside. It was beautiful and tasty. We also ate the most delicious Cambodian food cooked by Sambath’s wife. We had vegetable curry with a chicken and pineapple salad, which was also accompanied by rice. It was amazing!
That evening I spent time in a hammock being laughed at for my lack of Khmer skills and laughing hysterically at the amazingly cool old toothless lady in the house. She was jibbering away at us in khmer and then laughing with a cackle! It was hilarious! It was really nice seeing families interacting with each other. It seems as though the art of storytelling is alive and well in Cambodia because there is nothing else to do really. It is so wonderful. The fact that we were without running water, electricity and in the company of many an insect was not an issue. I didn’t even think about it. It felt good. I was back to basics with life. The moonlight, the breeze, the chickens scraping their feet in the dust the human interaction.
31st- new year eve
we had a busy day planned with Sambath and his 2 family members who were going to drive us around on their motorbikes, showing us Battambang and the main sights. This was a fantastic opportunity as it is not often that you have your own transport, driver and tour guide. We ended up doing a lot of driving on the most dusty roads in the world ever which was quite tiring and a little stressful.
First we had a delicious breakfast, which was omelete, bread and cheese. We hadn’t been eating breakfast but this was really good. We then set off passing people carrying out their normal chores, harvesting crops, eel hunting in the mud, collecting fruits, preparing food for animals, sweeping, grinding rice to flour and struggling around on motorbikes heavily (and I mean heavily) loaded with an array of goods and crops! We passed many ‘say no to weapons’ ads and ‘say yes to condoms and no to HIV’ ones too which was encouraging. But the signs seemed to be predominantly in the big cities and in English, therefore were they targeting the right people? Apparently family planning is becoming more accessible but it is still not free so obviously isn’t an option for some.
We eventually arrived with an extra coating of dust at the bottom of quite a steep hill. we climbed up in the horrid heat alongside a south African girl. We came to a small temple which was of little color or note worthy features. But this temple is important for other reasons. It was taken over byt the khmer rouge and used to store food and live stock (as they did with most temples). It is also in the caves below the temple that horrific murders took place by the khmer rouge. The walk down to the caves were lined with colourful spirit flags made from various material. Hundreds of professionals had been beaten, stoned, electrocuted, drowned or thrown to their death here. As in Phnom Penh there was a case on display with bones and clothes. These were some of the unidentified victims. It was really gut wrenching once again.
After visiting two sets of these killing caves (the second showed a drop of 40m where people were thrown. If they survived the fall they were then shot until they appeared dead) we climbed higher to visit Wat Sampeo. This was much more traditional with detailed architecture and color. We saw many holy people dressed in complete white and with shaved heads. At the edge of the hill there was an artillery that had not been removed since the blood shed in the 70s. The views were super over a very flat region of Cambodia, although there were some random odd looking mounds popping up. There were a lot of rice fields and agriculture.
We left the wat and after drinking coconut milk we went to a fruit farm. We spent time walking around the farm, being shown how the crops grow and were maintained. We saw pineapples, mangoes, ladies fingers bananas, bitter nut trees (old ladies chew this apparently), grapefruits, guava and oranges. There were also pigs and chickens on the farm. Sambath likes to bring people here to try and involve foreigners in the lives of local Cambodians. It is a good idea, especially as we got to try loads of yummy fruits straight form the trees.We also listened to an explanation of how rice wine was made at the farm. We saw different stages of the process which was very interesting. We got to try some of the rice wine. We tried some that had fruit in it. The stuff we tried was only 30% but warmed the throat incredibly and made us feel pretty good! I also got to try 40% stuff which nearly killed me. It was like drinking petrol, which I try to avoid doing. Whilst we ate, drank and talked, Sambath slept in a hammock and the other people were engrossed in boxing on the TV. White man against Cambodian!
Next stop was the ‘bamboo train’. Not quite as we expected…. I imagined harry potter type train made completely of bamboo. Well it was four wheels with a carpet of bamboo on top! We then sat on this, held on to a pole and hoped for the best!! We were at the front with the motor bikes and drivers on the back of the ‘train’ and the driver near the weird looking engine- luckily I only saw the rickety wooden brake after we got off! We rode the train on over grown tracks that were made by the French and were once in good use. Now traveling by train is terrible and very few trains run. Thus bamboo trains are used by locals to transport crops and people and goods. If you happen to meet one whilst on the bamboo train, because the normal train goes sooooo slowly, there is enough time to get off of the train, dismantle it and wait for it to pass! We actually met another train coming in the opposite direction! But we were bigger and more full than them so they had to dismantle! It was really comical! The ride itself was a little hairy!! The bumps in the track and the sprawling vegetation that flung in my face made me a little scared. I also realized mid way through the journey that the nice rug we were sitting on was actually covering holes in the bamboo we were sitting on!!!! Joy to the world. But nevertheless I wont forget the ride!
That evening we stopped off in the local village and spoke to some kids and bought some material. We also bought some beer and fireworks-being new years eve. We drank the beer over a divine dinner of Amok (Cambodian fish curry with coconut sauce, in a banana leaf) and friend aubergine with a pepper sauce it was soooo yummy! We once again enjoyed trying to interact with the kids- I let them listen to my ipod which was funny!
I wasn’t feeling too spritely so I slept from 10.00 till about 11.50pm, when we had planned to let off the fireworks. However when I woke up after being in Meagan and aleemsa bed, I realized the family I was staying with had been wondering where I was and wanted to tuck me into bed and lock the door! This was 3hrs later than they would usually go to sleep. I felt awful and so started getting ready for bed and only managed to quickly see 2 fireworks explode and then went to sleep. I felt really bad…
As this is written in hindsight I will note a few things that sambath said on this day that have stuck with me:
1) if a jack fruit and a coconut fall on your head, which will hurt most?
- the head.
2) How do you put an elephant in the fridge?
- open the door , put it in and close the door,
3) How do you put turkeys in the fridge?
- open door, take out elephant and put them in.
4) Can tell sex of child by looking at mothers face
5) Giving birth is referred to as crossing the water as it is so dangerous
6) Cambodians are interested in foreigners but we are thought of as rich and intelligent.
7) He married when he was 20- had no choice as it was arranged. He felt it was too young. He liked someone else at the time.
8) Police are corrupt because they are paid so little
9) Petrol in bottles by side of road is from Thailand- has no tax
10) People can build houses anywhere in Cambodia, no land laws enforced
11) Youngest child stays in family home when grown up, others have to move out.
12) Orange of monks- intelligence, rich, color of rice which is crucial in Cambodia
13) Old people don’t always trust younger generation due to the khmer rouge and the younger generation being made to join the army and hurt their elders.
14) He had to live in a children’s camp when KR were in power. He could sleep with his mother at night as he was under the age of 10, but in the day he had to go and work on the camp.
15) He got caught stealing corn from the kitchen where his mother worked and he got tied up to a tree for the day for stealing.
16) He stole eggs from the temple where they were stored, but ran so fast to avoid getting caught the eggs that were hidden in his trousers were broken!
17) His brother dies in KR army. Not sure how, they think he may have drowned accidentally.
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