Halloween in Cambodia

Alright, it's time to crank the jealousy-o-meter up a notch.
Here's how I spent my Halloween. Muahahah...

After departing yesterday from our hotel in Phnom Penh at the crack of dawn, wading through the throning crowds of touts selling english language newspapers, sunglasses, watches, and friendship bracelets (they're not even my friends!) we arrived in laid back beachy Sihanoukville, so named after King Sihanouk. (I think he was the one that liberated Cambodia from French rule, only to screw it up by creating the Khmer Rouge... for some reason Cambodians still like the guy.)

It's a crass touristy place without much hint of tradition. But then, there probably isn't much to be had. The place was built as a sea port 50 years ago and has only in recent years become a tourist place. To give you a hint: As I type this I'm listening to some bad techno music being pumped out by a nearby bar called Pim's and looking straight at a place called "Happy Massage" which is partially obscured by a Tuk-Tuk bearing an ad for Angelo's Greek Specialty BBQ, Taverna & Sports Bar. Sigh...

But anyways, on to the jealousy thing.
Today, being halloween but not actually having any impact on what I did, a bunch of us rented out a boat to tour the nearby Bamboo Islands. And after an exciting entry into the boat (had to wade out to get to it) and a couple downpours (but hey! at least we were wearing our bathing suits!) the weather broke into brilliant sunshine just as we landed on a beautiful tropical island for lunch. Lunch was a local curry (Amok), a fabulous baked fish, fresh salad, and a baguette. And then followed up with a fruit plate full of juicy pinapple and sweet mini bananas. Jealous yet? No? Alright then, continuing on!

Next we took a romp through the jungle. Yes, I did say jungle I'm glad you asked. Beautiful lush dense chittering alive jungle. And other than a bit of foolishness on my part (forgot my sandles on the boat and waded into the jungle barefoot) it was looovely. Though I must say they do grow some mighty huge centipedes here. They're like huge round black jelly worms. But, and I think this goes without saying, less tasty.

After that... yes it keeps going. Now hush, I'm on a roll. After that we broke through the trees into an increadible broad sweeping beach. Sand like golden brown sugar. (But again, less tasty) Blue green waves curling and splooshing onto the shore with puffs of salty spray. And the best part? Completely and utterly devoid of people. That's right, it was just us and some of those weird long necked chickens they've got here. Heaven!

But if that wasn't good enough we hopped back in the boats and headed for another island for some snorkling. Now here I'll admit there was a bit of a downer... The current was so strong it was a real effort to get back to the boat. But while the sights down under the water weren't as fabulous as say Thailand or Mexico, it was still neat to see all the fishes darting in and out between the strange sea grasses and coral.

Then we finally headed out on the long ride back to Sihanoukville. I threw my feet over the edge of the boat (traditional brightly painted Cambodian boat of awesomeness!) to be tickled by the sea spray. I had the sun in front of me, partially hidden by swirling clouds left over from the storms and tossing it's golden rays onto the sparkling sea. It was lovely. And somewhere between gazing out over the twinkling waters of the Bay of Thailand, staring at my sandy toes, and wondering if the local ladies shoreside who constantly harass me for a pedicure might have a point, I found a curious sense of tranquility. The gentle splashing of the water against the boat. The rolling waves. The sun. The sand. Over the last couple days I had been feeling bit disappointed with Cambodia. Too touristy, too commercial, no spirituality, no soul. But here, not in the temples as I'd expected, I found a wonderful sense of bliss. Time was nothing. It was just me, the sun, and the waves.

So. That ladies and gentlemen is how I spent my Halloween. Jealous? ;)

The Killing Fields

This one needed a post of it's own.

The Killing Fields of Cambodia.
I knew it had to be done. You cannot take the glories of Ankor Wat without acknowledging the Khmer Rouge. But it didn't make the duty any easier.

We started at Tuol Sleng, the former Khmer Rouge S-21 prison. This is where they detained and tortured thousands of Cambodians before taking them to the killing fields. Almost immediately upon arriving you could tell that this former school had become something altogether more horrible. The crumbling buildings were left bare, barbed wire exposed and tiles stained. The concrete walls pockmarked with chips from the assorted implements used on those detained here. These rooms are bare now. But the iron bedframe remains, shackle in place, and the metal bullet cartridge used as a toilet laid bare for all to see. With each progressing room I felt the unease, the unimagineable horror creeping up my skin and clawing at my stomach.

Our guide began to relate the methods and the questions asked of the detainees. And throughout it all she drove home the pointlessness of it all. They wanted nothing more than addresses and family history. And like so many torturers throughout history, they wanted confessions. But it was never made clear specifically what they wanted confessed. To them, there was no right answer. Only "the enemy of the revolution". And for them that was enough reason to commit such crimes.

In another building were the methodically collected portraits of the prisoners. Many of whom were Khmer Rouge themselves, for they didn't even trust their own people. The most heart wrenching of these portraits was of a mother and her newborn son sitting in the chair reserved for interrogations and pictures. She is crying, eyes filled with horror. Our guide said she had faithfully served the regime and in the end had her entire family killed before her eyes.

Later we headed on to one of the nearest killing fields to Phnom Penh. And this one hurt, but it a very different way. The fields themselves are quite idyllic. Green grassy meadows with flittering butterflies and lazy bees. All the more shocking them when you see the stupa containing over 8000 human skulls. And again when you look down at the ground and see that your feet are resting on the exposed bones of someone brutally killed long ago. Auschwitz was painful and a shock, but there is something primal about physically coming into contact with those nameless many dumped in these mass graves.

The day was sad for us all, but there was still more to see in this city and with our last day here we plodded on. It was somewhere in the bright golden splendor of the Royal Palace, bejeweled in silver and graceful curving sculpture that I realized that you cannot take the good without the bad. And that somehow, knowing the horror that is so entwined in this country somehow makes the beautiful things all that more precious and meaningful. And that both, in equal measure, are the essence of Cambodia.

Swollen ankles and one dollar bills

No idea what this country is doing to my ankles. But I basically don't have them anymore. Terrifying truly! Probably just water retention but come on! Cut a girl a break. :P

Our bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh was pretty wild. Tearing down a rural highway (ie: dirt road) at breakneck speed, throwing traffic laws to the wind. I figure he must have been going 120-130 km/h. Which makes me wonder what the heck the 40 posted as the speed limit was supposed to be for.

But I loved that bus. It had a TV that played Mr. Bean, Cambodian kareoke, and some Hong Kong kung fu flick I've never heard off, but which amused us greatly with our impromtu translations. We figured it was actually a love story between the two male protagonists!

Phnom Penh is absolute crazy! This city is massive and chaotic. Blows my mind to think that 60% of the population is under 30. 60%! And it seems like they're all in this city. Somehow doesn't seem to have the rep that Bangkok does, but it isn't hard to see where it's getting it's inspiration.

In other musings: This country seems to run on $1 US bills. I'm not kidding. You go to the ATM and it spits out US cash. Cambodian riel are only used as change. (4000 riel = 1 US dollar, so 2000 riel = 50 cents etc). But everything costs somewhere between 50 cents and 4 dollars. Sooo... the dollar is the thing. Least it makes it easy to budget!

"Let's get the Tuk Tuk out of here..."

Whew... ok. Where to begin.

Well, the beginning I suppose. Met up with my tour crew and our lovely tour leader Cat. After some shared dining and an early to bed, we got up and ran away at 7am. (Ugh... jet lag...) And then it was the long and only mildly totureous bus ride to the Cambodia border. The weather was iffy and kept tossing buckets of rain at us. But it wasn't until we'd ditched our bags (lovely porter kid trekked them across the border for us) and were making the hike into Cambodia that it really began to pour.

Now let me pause a moment here to describe the rain in this neck of the woods. In Vancouver we're used the rain. Long months of slow brain numbing rain that muffles everything in dreary blanket of grey. But here... here the rain thinks it's a Mai Thai kick boxer and he's doing his darnedest to get you to the ground. There was no 'Oh let's just duck under this umbrella or poncho'. No no no silly girl, you'll be blasted with water at fire hose like pressures and forced to wade through newborn rivers that were dry streets only moments before. Oh yes... and THEN you have to have a 4 hour drive in wet clothes along an erroded and frankly already potholed dirt road.

Let me stop you there dear reader. I am by no means complaining... well, maybe a little. But here's the thing: I loved every minute of it. I cackled like a witch on laughing gas while the downpour was in progress. Hyenas would have been put to shame. It was so much fun!

And a wet backside aside, the Cambodian country is beautiful. Endless fields of brilliant verdant green rice fields broken up by solitary trees, alone in their seas of green. This made all the more spectacular with the god rays and tumultuous clouds left as after effects of the heavy rain.

We arrived in Siem Reap late in the day. Just long enough to have dinner together and sample some of the local Cambodia foodstuffs before heading to bed. (I had a lovely soup-curry called Amok, which is a local awesomeness.)

The morning came blindingly early. 4:30am to be precise. But this we had been told was necessary for our goal for that morning. Sunrise at Ankor Wat. Oh. My. God. Absolutely beautiful. Then after returning to our hotel for breakfast (Guh... still not used to having fried rice for breakfast... least the mango was to die for!) We headed to Ankor Thom and were treated to the restored beauty of the Bayon. Named by the french because of the banyon trees they found festooning the temple tops. Lovely... tho I did find myself unexpectedly wrangled into lighting inscense and praying before Shiva. But oh the embarassment! Not only did I not have the slightest clue what to do, but my damn inscense wouldn't light! So there I was stuck on my knees trying to get out of the way of the real hindu worshippers and I couldn't get my darn stick to ignite. I ended up sticking the thing in the sand pot anyways. Oh well... hopefully Shiva won't mind, I did have the best intentions! Yes... angering a god of destruction would be bad... I don't need none of that.

From there we headed to Ta Phrom. Site of the filming of the first Tomb Raider movie and I'm sure many other more relevant historical ongoings that our tour guide neglected to mention. However, the beauty of Ta Phrom lies in stark contrast to the Bayon. Ta Phrom is being eaten by the jungle and is being left that way. I guess the idea is to show you how the temples were found in their raw jungle state.

The end of the temple tour brought us back to Ankor Wat. But we were pretty fried, so we just shambled our way around the temple and tried not to fall down the impossibly steep stairs.

After a blessedly cold shower (God it's hot here!), we romped outside and straight into another downpour! However, this time we hopped on a bunch of Tuk Tuks and were treated to their hectic and crazy driving around the town. Keep in mind the heavy downpour. Funny stuff, I laughed my head off. Especially when I had to put up my umbrella to sheild myself from the torrents.

Now we're headed to get foot massages. Beause well... I can't think of a reason other that it'll be fabulous!

Bangkok Baby

I am in Bangkok. No. Let me repeat that again. I... Am... In... Bangkok. BANGKOK!

I'm also being charged a fortune for internet, so this will be brief.

Mostly got here smoothly, but had a minor encounter with a foe called "headwind". This dastardly fellow caused my plane to be delayed by over an hour and as a consequence I missed my connecting flight to Bangkok. Oh woe you say after momentarily forgetting I just told you I've arrived safe and sound. Yes, the lovely ladies at Hong Kong airport managed to wrangle me a new flight. Not as nice but it did the job.

Taxi cab driver didn't speak a lick of english, but ended up putting on "Take it Easy". Guess I looked a bit freaked. :)

Will meet up with my tour peeps soon. Absolutely no idea when I'll post again. Ah vagueness...

It's Aliiiiive!

Igor! Quickily! More electricity... Yes, yes that's it! Now adjust the lightning rods to 107 degrees... I said 107 you halfwit! Not 9! ... Better. Good... yes. Yes! Lightning! YES!

IT'S ALIIIIVE!


That's right, my blog lives again. Nothing like a bit of a hiatus. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that. But the reality is this a rediculously effective way of keeping in touch and letting my peoples know where I'm at when travelling.

So yes that means I'm travelling again!

It's a bit funny looking back at my last post almost 2 years ago. Especially the last line. "Southeast Asia anyone?" I'm not entirely sure what cosmic alignment allowed me that piece of futuristic insight, but I am in fact heading to Southeas Asia. Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam to be specific.

I'm losing a bit of my backpacker cred by taking a tour. But damnit I'm a busy working woman and having someone else worry about the details sounds pretty darn good to me. I'm thinking it'll be like my tour through Morocco. Except in someplace pretty far removed from Morocco. Buddhist Temples instead of Mosques. Cham instead of Berber. Markets... well, actually the markets will be pretty similar. More toasted bugs for eating and less pet chameleons. Less camel meat on the whole.

Now I just need to figure out what to pack!