Lovely evening in KL

It's a lovely evening in KL. I basically spent most of today getting here.

By the time I flew in, then got the bus/train combo from KLIA to KL Sentral for RM12 and then the light rail and then changed tubes and then found my hotel... well, let's just say I went for a late lunch/dinner in Chinatown and am now spending an exciting evening with a cup of herbal tea.

There's a lovely view of the KL tower from my hotel room and the window actually opens so I'm enjoying the sunset and just chilling out. Off to Melaka tomorrow.

Villages floating on the water's edge

For some reason I had a slow start this morning. Can't imagine why. Breakfast was a very small piece of toast and tea. Couldn't manage more for some reason. Then I waved goodbye to everyone and headed off on a tour of the floating villages of Tonle Sap Lake.

Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in south-east Asia. According to Wikipedia, the Tonle Sap is unusual for two reasons: its flow changes direction twice a year, and the portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons.

The floating villages I saw are from Vietnamese and Cham communities and were certainly interesting but not mind blowing. A nice half day outing on a day when I was feeling particularly low. You know, for no particular reason.

Photos: Floating Villages

And that's it for Cambodia. Farewell. I now have just over a week on the Peninsula by myself before joining a three-week Intrepid tour of Borneo. Can't wait. Just give me an hour to two, 'kay....

Excuse me a moment... I'll be in this little room...

Here's a picture of a Cambodian rice field while you're waiting...

There's a word for today and the word is "urgh"

There was a point last night between the beer, white wine, red wine, cocktails, seven courses of food, fish eating my feet, and everyone deciding it was a really good idea to jump in the pool fully clothed at 1am, when my stomach decided it had had enough. Just enough. Enough of the alcohol, rich food, and general excess of this very very comfortable trip.

The group has been particularly party prone and tonight's farewell was the icing on the cake. Chocolate cake.With knee deep icing, icecream and chocolate sauce. The kind of cake that makes you wake up at 5:30am and go "urgh". And then spend two hours in the toilet. That kind of cake. That kind of farewell. That kind of tour.

Farewell everyone. It's been amazing.

Landmines, genocide and humanity

It was still early when we left the Lady Temple so on the way back we stopped at the strangely-inspirational Cambodian Landmine museum. The Landmine Museum was founded by ex-child soldier Aki Ra as a way to tell the world about the horrors landmines had inflicted on his native Cambodia. It's also dedicated to highlighting the difference individuals can make in a time of war and genocide. Aki Ra has not only remved more than 1000 land mines, he has also set up the museum as a shelter and school for children damaged by mines or with other disabilities.

Paul and I went in (USD10) while the others took advantage of the free hammocks.

STOP!

HAMMOCK TIME!

You know it was inevitable.

The museum was small but oddly uplifting if anything about landmines can be. By focussing on the things people have done to make the situation better it was more a tribute to common humanity and decency in the face of horror. It's highly recommended.

Hammock time

One thing I love about Cambodia is the hammock rest stops scattered along roads. These are gratis and are available for drivers to rest if they need to.

But, because one night in a bar in Phnom Penh we actually had MC Hammer's 'You Can't Touch This', certain people (i.e. me) have started to yell, whenever we see one of these hammock bays,

"STOP! Hammock time!"

I crack myself up.

Tomb Raider and the Lady

Ta Prohm is described often as ethereal and atmospheric. It is certainly one of the most beautiful temples we've visited (and the most iconic - the so-called Crocodile Tree is almost the image of Angkor). Unfortunately, since Angelina Jolie filmed some of Tomb Raider here, it's crawling with tourists even at 7:30 in the morning. We went here straight after sunrise at Angkor Wat and couldn't believe how busy it was even when it was supposed to be 'quiet'.

Still, even a busload of Koreans couldn't ruin the atmosphere of this amazing temple.

Photos: Ta Prohm or the Tomb Raider temple

Finally, and already struggling with the heat and crowds, we headed to Banteay Srei or the 'Lady Temple'.

Much hyperbole surrounds the Hindu temple of Banteay Srei (dedicated to Shiva). The 'Jewel in the Crown of Angkor', it has none of the grandeur of Angkor War or Thom or the atmosphere of Ta Prohm. It is very small and ornate and, unfortunately, heaving with tourists. Honestly, you could barely move let alone appreciate the temple's beauty and artistry. I don't have any decent photos as a result.

Photos: Banteay Sri or the Lady Temple

Angkor Wat at dawn

Photos: Angkor Wat at dawn and sunrise

Temples! Temples! Temples!

So, it's time to finally move on to why we're all here in Siem Reap. Temples!The Cambodian kings of old strove to outdo each other by building bigger and better temples and religious complexes. So, here we have Angkor: the crumbling remnants of the ancient Khmer empire. Much reconstruction has been done on the site by necessity; it was 'lost' to the jungle for centuries before being 'discovered' (in the best traditions of Western hubris) by the French in the 1860s. 'Discovered' even though there were monks living here at the time.

Our first stop this morning was to get our three day pass (USD40) and then on to Angkor Wat itself. My first impression of the temple complex of course was that it was simply huge. And as I sit here struggling to even start explaining the history, significant, architecture, and layout of Angkor Wat - possibly the largest religious building in the world - I realise I can't. At least not on a blog. Perhaps a book? The History of Angkor Wat and Ankor Thom in fifteen installments? Ok, twenty.

Photo: Dave in front of Angkor Wat's moat

Angkor Wat is, among other things, facing west. This has caused archaeologists some grief as west is the direction of death and most other temples face east. It's also surrounded by a man-made moat and is extensive. It was built by Suryavarman II (1112 - 52). Trying to keep up with the kings of Khmer is almost impossible, particularly when all of them have the word 'varman' in their name. It means 'armour' or 'protector'.

Photos: Angkor Wat complex

After Angkor Wat, we moved to the nearby fortified city of Angkor Thom built by Jayavarman VII. In particular, we stopped at the Bayon Temple with the 'Happy Buddhas'. At least that's what our guide told us about the 216 smiling faces on the towers throughout the temple. My guidebook tells it differently but I think I prefer to a smiling symbol of serenity and enlightenment to the supercilious benevolence of a king.

Photos: Faces of the Bayon Temple

Of course, Dave needed another photo so with the help of Jola, here's LRD at Angkor Thom.

 

Photo: LRD with Jola at Angkor Thom

 Lunch was another charity restaurant who managed to give us a nice feed despite the fact Siem Reap was having one of its power outages.

Finally, we spent the afternoon at Preh Khan or the Temple of the Sacred Sword. It seems embarrassing to describe this as "yet another temple" but we'd already seen Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom so...

One thing I will say is that the Khmer empire was originally Hindu and then converted to Buddhism. This means the older temples are Hindu and the later ones Buddhist. What I didn't know was that the empire did briefly convert back to Hinduism and temples like this one are a blend of both religions.

After all those temples and it being truly "bloody hot", we went back to the hotel and slipped into the pool to cool off. Then we had dinner in 'Pub Street' in all its gaudy, loud backpacker glory and had an early night. Sunrise over Angkor Wat tomorrow morning. Yay!

We defeated Thailand. Eventually.

The name 'Siem Reap' actually means 'Defeat of Thailand'. While this tells you something about the base city for the amazing Angkor Wat and Thom temple complexes, the fact it has a street called 'Pub Street' identified by a giant neon sign that says 'Pub Street' says more. If you think tourism has yet to touch Cambodia - go to Siem Reap and find out that you're very very wrong.

Photo: Pub Street at night

I had been looking forward to Siem Reap for a variety of reasons. Temples, of course. First and foremost.

Although our tour was ending, it was ending in a four star hotel in which I'd booked in for an extra night. On the surface, Casa Angkor is quite nice. But, not only did they put me in a twin room, it was dank, dark and filled with mosquitos. The air conditioner doesn't work properly, it's extremely hot and of course I can't open the window because of the aforementioned mosquitos. As it is, I had to put on a DEET-based insect repellent before going to bed. The buffet breakfast was cold and there was no wifi in the rooms. Four nights here won't be the fun relaxing end to the tour I was hoping for.

Now that I've got my whinging out of the way... next post we're off to Angkor Wat!

Apsara is Cambodian for...

The Temple Bar in Siem Reap offers ordinary food served cold, poor service and a fun and free traditional dance demonstration. We headed straight out here to have dinner and watch the show after arriving in Siem Reap today.

After a hair of the dog, of course. That tarantula wine packs a punch. So do the three gin and tonics two beers and three margaritas (woops). As usual, I blame Dave.

Photos: Apsara dancers at the Temple Bar

The dancing was loads of fun but not completely professional. One of the male dancers kept whacking one of the female dancers during the dance. After shooting him a number of dirty looks, she finally started retaliating and, by the end of the performance, they were outright attacking each other during the dance. It was, without a doubt, completely hilarious. But obviously amateur.





English lessons and tarantulas

It had been a long and emotional day and everyone was glad to get out and do something uplifting and positive.
One of the local Intrepid tour leaders gives English lessons to poor local kids who can't afford private tuition. We went to his home to give the kids an 'English lesson' and have a home-cooked traditional meal.

The 'English lessons' basically involved us having a chat to the kids; a process that was truncated when they discovered I had Angry Birds on my iPhone. Kids in Asia love their Angry Birds.

Photo: Learning English after school 

Photo: Nothing can compete with Angry Birds

We then had a great traditional meal, some 'Cambodian cocktails' (rice wine and Coke) and Tarantula wine.

Photos: Impressive local spread

They had some dead tarantulas stored in the fridge as well and Paul had great fun pretending he was being attacked.

Photo: Jo with a tarantula

Photo: Paul having far too much fun with his tarantula

Little Red Dave gets through today. 4 million others didn't.

Today we visited Tuol Sleng genocide museum and the Killing Fields.

I've done separate, if somewhat sparse, entries on this.

After that morning, I think all of us were just about ready to drink ourselves into oblivion. Instead, we ate some great local food (including Amok) at Ramdeng; a local charity restaurant that trains homeless people to cook and serve. The food was excellent and they also had a gift shop where I paid USD10 for a diary of recycled paper with a cover of recycled car tyres. They're made by local women to get money to send their kids to school.

Have I mentioned yet that the Cambodians use US dollars? If something is less than $1 they give you change in Riels but otherwise it's USD all the way.

Jo and I went for a walk after lunch to find the impressive Central Market. We failed. We suck.

So instead I went to the not-quite-well-catalogued National Museum. Good collection but the curating needs some work.

About 3pm I walked back to the hotel and collapsed from the heat - after walking up seven flights of stairs because the lifts were broken. It was, as Jo put it later, a real 'Mad Dogs and Englishman' moment,

And then it was time for dinner - but that's another post.

The Killing Fields: Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre

"In proportion to its population, Cambodia underwent a human catastrophe unparalleled in this century. Out of a 1970 population of probably near 7,100,000¹ Cambodia probably lost slightly less than 4,000,000 people to war, rebellion, man-made famine, genocide, politicide, and mass murder. The vast majority, almost 3,300,000 men, women, and children (including 35,000 foreigners), were murdered within the years 1970 to 1980 by successive governments and guerrilla groups. Most of these, a likely near 2,400,000, were murdered by the communist Khmer Rouge."

Rummel, R.J. Statistics Of Cambodian Democide: Estimates, Calculations, And Sources

After overthrowing the Khmer Republic regime during 1975-1979, Ultra communist Khmer Rouge Regime (UCKRR) converted Choeung Ek commune into the most cruel and barbaric killing field on earth. Choeung Ek killing field was the second most important part of the larger Security Prison called S-21 center which included the detention, torture and interrogation center (Toul Sleng Prison), the first main headquarters.

Choeung Ek website

Photo: The beautiful site of cruelty

Photo: This tree was used to smash babies heads in

Photo: Please don't walk on the mass graves

Photo: Some respect at last in the memorial stupa

Tuol Sleng

Words are insufficient. This is all you need to know.

Tuol Sleng genocide museum

Perspectives on Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is a city more of the past than the future. Opening up slowly to the world, it's attracted those who gravitate toward poverty - NGOs, charities, paedophiles and backpackers - but is also taking steps to modernise.

I can't say I liked Phnom Penh. There's something of the frontier town about it and the prostitution, homelessness, drug use and poverty is obvious. But there is also beauty. If you look for it.

Photos: Phnom Penh from my hotel room 

Photo: Streets of Phnom Penh

Photos: Phnom Penh esplanade

Happy Room

Of all the euphemisms for a toilet in the world, the Vietnamese 'happy room' has to be my favourite.

While in Vietnam, you can hear frequent cries of "there's the happy room", "please go to the happy room before we leave" and, my personal favourite when stopping at a petrol station to use the squat toilet:

"That is not a very happy room."

Little Red Dave goes to Phnom Penh

Another early morning as we set off for the Cambodian border via the Cu Chi tunnels. These tunnels were used by the Viet Cong to hide and move around secretly while fighting the US. They're extensive, narrow, dark and conditions inside them were difficult.

Photo: Jo in the entrance to one of the Cu Chi tunnels

Photo: Edith inside the Cu Chi tunnels

Photo: Paul in the Cu Chi tunnels

On the one hand, the tunnel complex is an interesting insight into guerilla tactics during the Vietnam War. The local people were suffering terrible bombing and deforestation campaigns by the US and were defending themselves, their families and their homes.

One the other hand, the tunnel complex is a militaristic celebration of violence and war (the word 'atrocity'  apparently only applies to something the other guy does) and it left quite a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall, I was quite disappointed.

After we left the tunnels, we continued our bus trip to Bavet where we walked across the border; a quick and easy affair (at least for us). Now, I'm not suggesting that Jay bribed them. Let's just say that: at least at the Laos border they gave us a receipt.

We reached Phnom Penh in the late afternoon, dumped our bags at our hotel, grabbed a few drinks at the FCC rooftop bar and then had a fantastic meal of local curry, Amok, frog stirfry and Australian wine. When all around you fails and nothing makes sense anymore, you'll always know that Australian wine will be there for you.

Photo: Sunset in Phnom Penh from the FCC (bad boys club) rooftop bar