Sights and Sounds in Cambodia
Since I’ve already posted a quick entry on the main cycling experiences in Cambodia, I thought another update on what I’ve seen and done off the bike was due. I’ve seen some amazing historical architecture in Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples as well as some difficult reminders of an all too recent conflict from which the country continues to try to move on. In terms of the sounds, I’ll not miss the incessant car horns for one, but expect that I’ll occasionally miss children shouting “hello” or “foreigner” at me - even if it was tiresome at times! ( I know that must sound terribly insensitive, but when you’re on crappy roads, exhausted and in a foul mood it’s sometimes hard to match the enthusiasm! )
Phnom Pehn; a city you could be forgiven for thinking was a standard Asian city, unless you go and see the killing fields First off, I loved Phnom Pehn, and could easily have spent more time exploring the multitude of small winding market streets, playing chicken with moto drivers and drinking 30p happy hour beers on the riverfront. Although its the capital, it didnt have the impersonal, dauntingly large characteristics that can put off tourists with limited time to explore - I felt like I had a decent grasp of the city within a few days. I can’t imagine anyone saying that about Bangkok or London!
It’s fair to say I wasn’t expecting to appreciate pp for much more than being a gateway to exploring the history of the civil war. In the city itself, the Genocide Museum (Tuol Sleng) and about 20km out of town, the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek), are what I was - perverse as it sounds - looking forward to the most. Before leaving London, I was given a copy of a book "First they killed my Father" , a first hand account of life under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, which had me wiping my eyes cursing the amount of, ahem, dust on the underground these days as I read it on the way to work. Without this, Id have known little about the whole episode - and would not have taken nearly as much from visiting the above sites. Both are highly emotional, tastefully presented, tranquil places which provide a good place for reflection and contemplation - but make sure you gather yourself before leaving again because as soon as you step back into the city, you’ll have the same tuk-tuk drivers hollering for your business and trying to sell you all sorts of drugs and/or female services. It’s good that local people are moving on from the past, but I found it difficult to suddenly be back in the normal world again quite so quickly.
Tuol Sleng was a primary school in the middle of the city, used as a holding camp for any “opposition” - real or imaginary, proven or suspected - to the communist party were interned and beaten into confessions before being sent in their thousands to their fate in the killing fields south of town. Pictures of inmates lining the walls of the displays were particularly emotional - and I was struck by how unphased they all seemed. There were blank faces, confused faces and unwaveringly contemptuous faces in equal numbers - a remarkably final defiance from people who already knew their days were numbered.
Not much needs to be, or can be, said of of killing fields. Hundreds were found all over the country, and the one at Choeung Ek has merely become the symbolic memorial for all victims within Cambodia. A stupa containing bone fragments and skulls forms a nice memorial within the grounds, and a superb audio tape guides your journey through the fields. I found that I could cope with seeing bones and teeth in the open graves, and thousands of skulls in the stupa, but the stories narrated on the audio guide got me - there’s something infinitely more personal when someone tells you that they still spend every day of their lives trying to rebuild themselves and their nation from the ongoing problems which genocide causes. Again, pull yourself together before you go back outside, because your driver (who waits for you) will still be as cheery as ever and up for a chat on the drive back to town! As with a lot of these things, the more you know about it before you go, the more you get out of it. Sadly, this era is not taught very well at schools in the Uk (could well have something to do with the western influence/ negligence in the whole thing - did you know secret US bombing campaigns disguised as part of the war in Northern Vietnam established a groundswell of support for the Khmer Rouge, and has made Cambodia probably the most bombed country in the world..?!) but well worth dipping into a few online articles!
Angkor What?! A series of ancient Buddhist/Hindu temples in the north west of Cambodia, built around 1,000 years ago and for centuries lost to the jungle, is now the central attraction in Siem Reap and draws thousands of visitors every week. At $20 for a day ticket it’s not cheap, and whilst I initially justified it with “well, I can’t come here and not go!”, it exceeded my expectations and I even paid for a second ticket the following day to have more of a poke around some of the lesser-visited outlying temples.
I found that every guesthouse and man-on-the-street offered a different package of transport and guides, usually around $35-$50 on top of the entrance ticket, but you’d have no idea who would turn up and if they’d be a good guide or not. I took to t’internet and googled it, and found more than a few highly rated, seemingly reputable companies and individuals and after a few emails had secured an air con minivan, a driver and a guide for the day for just $13. Goes to show a little shopping around can pay off!
The tour was pretty much as I’d expected. The guide knew his stuff but we seemed to follow a well trodden path around 4 or 5 of the most famous temples on the “inner loop”, pointing out interesting features and intricacies which, when the Chinese Nikon-wielding tour groups had moved, you could see. Queuing to take photos kissing the Buddha and standing in the Lara Croft temple were part of the pain which is inevitable with attractions like this, and something you just have to get on with I guess.
I don’t want it to seem like I didnt enjoy the day, I did. I learned a lot about the architecture of the temples, the significance of dragons and snakes and as appreciation for the original building and restoration work. I also knew that the outer loop had a number of other temples which were far less often visited and would provide a better opportunity for quiet times, a pic nic and to read a book (think I’m into #14 at the moment) in a shady spot somewhere among the Buddha’s.
So it was that the following day, i got up when my alarm sounded at 445 to head to the park for sunrise. I got downstairs and bumped into a couple of Northern Irish lads I’d had a beer with the previous night who were just returning from their night out. They’d done the sunrise and were in a rush to tell me it was rubbish and they wouldn’t do it again… excellent - cheers guys! Still, I’d done the hard part so clambered onto my bike for the 20minute bleary eyes spin to the park where I parted with another $20 and took my place among the hundreds of others waiting to see the sun appear over Angkor Wat - the largest temple - from a spot where you can get a photo also showing its reflection in a Lilly pond. The sun rose, or rather the sky got light (100% clouds!), I took the obligatory photo and returned to town for a humongous breakfast and to fill up on food for the rest of the day. Back in the park, I started off on the bigger loop which would take me about 30km round, seeing 10 or so temples if I stopped everywhere along a nice scenic jungle road. For me, this is a must do - I enjoyed the peacefulness far more, and the freedom to step off the guided tour and have a peek at anything that looks interesting!
How do I get out of this place? Now that I’d spent some time peeking around temples in Siem Reap, it was time to head towards Laos. From studying the map and reading a couple of useful online blogs, there was a back road shortcut which would save me a good few hundred kilometres of travel back toward Phnom Penh before cutting north to the border. A no brainer, right?
Wrong. I managed to travel about 100km along some lovely red dusty back roads, seeing more temple ruins along the way before coming, all of a sudden, to the local swimming pool. Which used to be the road. The red dust disappeared and there were instead children playing about in neck high water, which I couldn’t even push the bike through.. I had no choice but to accept defeat, and return to the old highway, at one point crossing a rickety wooden bridge hastily erected to fill the void through which a river now ran (and for which I was “encouraged” to pay a toll to the waiting builders). An interesting detour, but one that meant I still had another week of cycling rather than 2 days to the border! You’d think that wouldn’t matter too much given that it was a few days out of 4 months, but psychologically it was difficult to readjust and I felt like I was just wasting miles and going nowhere. Did I mention there was a headwind the whole time, and it seemed to be nothing but uphill. Always is when you’re in a bad mood though!
IT’S HAPPENED! Flat tyre number 1. Guess it was bound to happen with these roads; the sidewall of my uber trusty rear Shwalbe Marathon Plus tyre gave up and I’ve had to replace it with my spare one. Hopefully I can go the remaining month and a half without needing another!
well, short and mostly sweet, that was my story of Cambodia. I’d certainly go back, but I’d pick a drier time of year…