Siem Reap to Sihanoukville

We hired a driver to take us through Cambodia, only an 8 hour drive from North to South, passing amazing scenery along the way; monks wandering streets collecting alms for the poor, slaughtered animals being taken to local markets and rural village life scattered in a jungle landscape along the Tonle Sap and Mekong Rivers. We drove through Phnom Penh, at the convergence on the two rivers, with no plans to stop and sightsee. Neither of us had much interest in seeing S-21 and the mass graves within the Killing Fields, the stories are chilling enough.

We arrived in Sihanoukville, a beach town along the undeveloped southern coast and found a place to stay on Serendipity Beach. The crescent shaped beach is lined with restaurants and bars and the atmosphere is extremely relaxed due to the lawlessness of the area. We found our spot on the beach with comfortable beach chairs, good music and friendly staff and spent the next 6 days not moving much. During the day, people stop by to sell just about anything; manicures, massages, jewelry, sarongs, fruits/vegetables, drinks, meats, fish, etc. You literally don’t need to move from your beach chair as the entire market comes to you. The kids are especially hard to say no to but will usually just sit down hang out once they know you aren’t going to buy anything.

The week went by rather fast and we were flying back to Thailand on March 14th to meet Matt’s Mom.

Floating Villages

We spent our last couple of days in Siem Reap going to the floating villages and floating forest. The floating villages are a sight to see, to get there you take a local boat which slowly takes you down the river, passing children on their way to school, men fishing in waist deep water and tending to alligator traps. The floating villages are separated into three sections; the Muslims, Vietnamese and Khmers, although it’s almost impossible to see any differences. All of the homes/boats are the same with a handful of schools and temples/mosques scattered around the lake. Life for the people living on the lake is very primitive, everyone using the natural resources to survive. Most homes have bamboo cages with pigs, chickens, fish (mostly bottom feeders), and alligators. All of which are used for food while the alligator skin is used to sell back to the markets in Siem Reap. Mostly, fish is sun dried with salt and other seasonings as a preservative. The fish can last for months without rotting; needless to say the process has a strong odor. Tonle Sap Lake is pretty eerie, there is absolutely no visibility and an abundance of alligators and snakes.

The second day we went to the floating forest which is similar to the floating villages but on a different section of the lake. During monsoon season, the rivers rise and flow over the banks allowing you to take a small boat through the forest which seems to be floating. There aren’t many tourists at the floating forest, probably due to the long process of getting there. You take a tuk-tuk about 15 km outside of Siem Reap down dirt roads and passing by rural villages. You then need to hop on the back of a motorcycle for the rest of the journey as the dirt roads are in bad shape and cars/tuk-tuks cannot pass over them.

The motorcycle ride was longer than expected, about 20 minutes and down eroded paths, sand beds and at one point a flooded out section of road (where Matt’s motorcycle went down). It was an interesting ride to say the least! When we reached the river we watched our boat pull up, the driver shoveling out buckets of water before letting us on.

Life here is much like that of the floating villages,On this side of the river, you see stilt villages built to withstand flooding during the monsoon season. very primitive. After our tour, we went back to Siem Reap with one day left to do absolutely nothing. We’ve seen so much in such a short period of time, we’re both exhausted.

We’ve moved on to Sihoukaville, a beach town along the coast and about an 8 hours drive through the middle of Cambodia, where we’ll relax until going to Phnom Phen to fly back to Thailand.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

We arrived in Siem Reap in the early afternoon, stepped off the plane onto the tarmac and completed a short visa process to enter the country. We pulled money out of the ATM and it was strange to see US dollars again. The official currency in Cambodia is Riel but since so much US currency was put into the country after the war, it’s used for everything. Siem Reap is a beautiful place with friendly people and a great atmosphere. Although Matt was here last year, this is my first time in Cambodia and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. So far this place has surpassed all expectations and I find myself not wanting to leave.

Since we arrived early, we had some time to walk around the local markets, such a colorful place with fruits, vegetables, meats, clothes, jewelry, crafts, etc. We are staying in the heart of the old market at Molly Malone’s, which has a great restaurant and an Irish pub downstairs. We’ve met some fascinating people sitting down at the pub with incredible stories. We met an American doctor who has been providing care for people in Cambodia for next to nothing in the rural villages, trying to setup an ambitious telemedicine project to provide better care. Cambodia has a tragic and recent history, in 1969 it was bombed and invaded by US and Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam conflict during which time there were between 4-6,000,000 landmines laid, most of which are only found today when someone steps on one. So far only 90 sq km of the country has been cleared leaving over 3,000 sq km left so it’s important not to stray even a few steps from a path or main road. You see so many people with no limbs and it breaks your heart, especially when you see the children. One of the things immediately noticed when coming here is the almost non-existence of anyone over the age of 50. During the Pol Pot regime, one-fifth of the population was tortured to death or executed (mainly those who were educated, spoke other languages, or even wore glasses). Between 1975 and 1979 over 2 million out of 11 million Cambodians died as a direct result of the Khmer Rouge and almost everyone you meet will have suffered directly or indirectly as a result. Today over 40% of the population is under the age of 15 which is a depressing statistic considering their education system is extremely poor. Cambodians are a happy and proud culture though who live for today rather than tomorrow, understandably considering their horrifying past.

Cambodia’s pride and joy are the Angkor Temples, built between the 9th and 13th centuries, there are 1000’s of temples scattered in the country-side. We spent 3 days touring the Angkor Temples, which are truly awe-inspiring. We visited many temples over the course of a few days but our favorites were Ta Prohm, Bayon and of course, Angkor Wat. Many of the Angkor Temples have long standing preservation projects but officials wanted to leave at least one temple in Angkor as it was, as an example of the “natural state”. They chose Ta Prohm and it is one of the most beautiful sites in Angkor. The temple contains a maze of narrow corridors and crumbling stonework, which is literally being pulled down to the ground by massive trees growing overtop and endless roots coiling around the stones. The Bayon has 216 massive faces and elaborate carvings of over 11,000 figures inside depicting life in 12th century Cambodia. Angkor Wat is simply amazing; no other words to describe it. It is the largest religious building in the world and it’s spectacular.

While seeing the Angkor Temples was an amazing experience, we are both a little “temped out” and relaxing back at our guesthouse. Next will be the floating forest and villages.