Cambodia

Hello from Ko Samui, one of the Thai islands but for now we will update you on our week's trip to Cambodia.
We forgot to mention in our last entry that we actually went through part of the Cu Chi tunnels. I did 60 metres and got sick of it but Bourkie battled on and did the 90m. Im actually glad I got out after 60 cause it got much narrower after that. It was fairly well lit up but at times people moving forward blocked the light and you just had to go with it. I actually didn't have to get down on my hands and knees, I kind of shuffled along on my haunches but Bourkie got down and dirty!
Even though they had it ventilated but we were still hot coming out. They told us that they moved only so far(I cant remember) before having a look out boy to ensure everything was safe before moving on. What I couldn't understand was how they knew where they were going as there are turn offs in the tunnel but they aren't exactly signposted!
Anyway, getting back to Cambodia. We arrived in Phnom Penh in the early afternoon. It actually didnt take that long to get from Saigon.

We met a tuktuk driver with good English who drove us past the Independence Monument and the Royal Palace before taking us to some fine establishment along side the river.

After that we needed to get money out and we usually have the policy of getting money out of a bank's ATM rather than one on the street and aren't we glad we stuck by it.

Bourkie's card got swallowed. Gladly we didn't panic cause we knew we had to get it back. There was a number on the machine but all they could say was wait until the bank opens on Monday and you will get it back. My fear was that there were security men outside who said that they didn't have keys to the machine but I thought they would wait til we were gone and get it out, yes, this is a typical Clare thought.

We still had to get money out so I chanced it and it worked, thank god. Surprisingly all we could get out was US dollars and they were all 50's!Since we were a little traumatised after that we had a beer and several games of Connect 4.

Bourkie got to watch Arsenal V Aston Villa that night so that took his mind off the card. We were overjoyed that we had both Star Movies and True Sports- a tv addicts dream!

The following day was definitely the most sombre of the trip and we warn you that the photos could be a little upsetting.

We got a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Killing Fields(Choeung Ek) and to the Genocide Museum(known as S21). The killing fields are where the Khmer Rouge under the rule of Pol Pot killed over 20,000 people. At the beginning they were bringing 300 people here a day but couldn't keep up with that pace and started to kill people on the way and dump their bodies on the side of the road instead.

When we reached the Killing Fields it didn't look like there was much there except for a large monument built for the victims. As we walked closer we realised that this 4 storey building was filled with some of the victims skulls. We took off our sandals and walked inside. There were 15 or more levels of skulls, divided by the victims ages and some of their clothes on the bottom level.

After this distressing sight we made our way outside again where there were wooden information signs stuck in certain positions. Each one told of the areas where parts of the atrocities took place. As we walked further in we could see a series of mass graves.Its really hard to think that there are over 400 people in such a small area-see picture below.

As we walked between the mass graves we noticed that there were bones sticking up out of the ground. We realised then that only a small portion of the area had been dug up and the bones buried properly. The rest were still sitting where they had been for over 30 years. We heard later that in the Buddhist religion they believe that bones should not be moved from where originally buried. There is also victims' clothing coming out of the ground in alot of places which can also be seen in the photo here.

There was a tree there where the children were killed against and a pit next to it. Here is a photo of another such tree which used to have a loudspeaker attached with music playing to hide the noise being made. There was also clothes coming out of the ground by the tree here.

After this, we really couldn't take anymore and headed back to the tuktuk. But there was worse to come at the Genocide Museum in the form of pictures. The Genocide Museum(Tuol Sleng) was a school situated in the city which became a prison run by the Khmer Rouge between 1975-1979. The name given to the school was Tuol Sleng- a very apt name since in Cambodian this means "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill".

From 1975 to 1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng (some estimates suggest a number as high as 20,000, though the real number is unknown). The prisoners were selected from all around the country, and usually were former Khmer Rouge members and soldiers, accused of betraying the party or revolution.Pol Pot became so paranoid that he just started to kill anyone that was seen as rising within the army's ranks.

When the Vietnamese invaded the country in 1979 they only found 12 survivors in the prison. The first rooms were taken up with photographs of the victims. The Khmer Rouge were meticulous in keeping records on each prisoner which meant a photo when they arrived and taking a biography of their lives until that point. There were people from every age group and some of the younger children smiled, oblivious to their fate. There were no photos however of the foreigners that were brought here. These were usually reporters who were trying to report on the war in Vietnam that had spilled into Cambodia.

Next there were three floors of larger torture rooms with the beds still remaining where you could see the blood that spilled from the victims still on the floor. On the wall hung a photograph depicting the victim as they were found shackled to the bed dead. We could only take two floors of this and thought this was the end of the tour. We made our way across the courtyard to other rooms with more photographs except these showed the people in death. Bourkie warned me not to look at some of these as they showed people after being shot dead, tortured with chemicals and other impliments. In the next building were rooms divided into cells. There were very rough walls built into sections in the room, none of these reaching the ceiling and only took one person each. They were about 2 feet wide by 4 feet long and were intended to stop any communication between people and keep them ignorant as to what was happening. This was a hard 2 hours spent and we needed a change of subject matter so we made our way to the National Museum.

Anyway the Palace was closed at 11 and we reached there about 10:45 and we had to catch a bus before it opened again so we missed it. So instead we took a photo from outside!

After this we made our way to the bus to Siem Reap which took 5 hours. The bus dropped us off about 5 km away from the town and we got a tuk tuk in with another girl called Sally. After we got accommodation we explored the town with Sally and had a couple of beers. We were commenting on how we thought that Australia would be very boring after S.E. Asia when an Australian asked to join us and was interested in where we would be going in Oz. Had he not heard us talking previously, obviously not cause he harped on about how great Australia was going to be. All I could ask was is there any mosies there? He replied no but I remain to be convinced!

We spent most of the night trying to decide how much of Angkor Wat and the other Wats we would see. A one day pass was $20 and a three day was $40 which is really expensive since our room was only $7. We ideally wanted to do 2 days but the tuk tuks were about $15 a day. We made the hard decision of cycling for 2 days. The next morning we got up a little too late to do the bigger circuit of temples suggested so we ventured to do just Angkor Wat , Angkor Thom with some other small ones.

The cycle was pleasant as it wasn't too hot but we still kept a steady pace.

There is a moat which is about a kilometre long around the Angkor Wat.

We then reached a ruined library just inside the main gates.

To give you an idea here are some photos of Angkor Wat as its difficult to describe its full glory.

After Angkor Wat we headed to Angkor Thom which is older than Angkor Wat and therefore more in ruins.

Again, I think the photos describe it best. Im sure if you are really interested in the history you will wiki it!

The picture we are showing is of the gate into Angkor Thom.

This picture is the main entrance of Angkor Thom- the temple is called Bayon.Angkor Thom is a collection of ancient temples.

and the next is a close up of the god(Lokesvara) that is depicted all over the temple.

The next temple in the series of Angkor Thom temples is Phimeanakas- thought this photo was cool with the monks! There was a really steep climb up to this by steps about 50 metres. Bourkie ventured up the steps that have been there for centuries and falling away, I however, found the ones made about 5 years ago!

The next temple we visited was Ta Keo.

Our last temple of that day was Ta Phrom which was our favourite despite the crowds of Japanese and French tourists there making it almost impossible to take photos!

By this stage it was getting dark so we set out on the road back to Siem Reap. It was about a 12km cycle, but unfortunately we asked a young local for directions and he sent us the most round about way which doubled our journey. And to top it off he tried to race us back even though his bike was falling apart. I started to get angry with him cause he was going right up on my back wheel. He made the mistake of trying to do the same with Bourkie but Bourkie gave him an almighty fright by veering into him, that he quickly dropped back and didn't race us anymore! At the end of day 1 in Siem Reap we had cycled over 40 km and just went to meet Sally for dinner before collapsing into bed to prepare ourselves for the following day.

The following day wasn't as hot, thank god. We did the large circuit of temples. By this stage our camera was full and we didn't get a chance to burn our photos onto a CD so we dont have any photos. Though at this stage Im sure you have gotten a good idea of what the temples looked like!

The following morning we jumped on a bus to go over the border to Thailand. We knew that we would have to change buses at the border but that was the least of our problems. We were picked up in a vintage mid-sized bus- well not much bigger than a minibus. We started to get surprised when the bus stopped several times to pick up more and more people. We were used to getting picked up, then dropped off to get a larger bus to make our journey. About 40 minutes into our trek and 20 people squeezed into the bus we realised that his boneshaker was taking us to the border. I was in agony cause my knees were completely squashed and got really bad cramps. Fortunately Bourkie's knee was okay.The worst part was that there wasn't actually a road to the border just a potholed dirt track. We literally bounced our way to the border. I actually managed to get some sleep, dont ask me how!

We got to the border around midday, just as the sun was at its hottest and had to stand with our bags on our backs for 20 minutes. After 5 I give up and put it on the ground.

When we got through the exit part of Cambodia and the entry part of Thailand we sat and waited for the next bus. This bus was fortunately alot nicer and suddenly there is a three lane highway on the Thai side. It was great to be back!

We were dropped at the Khao San Road, the backpacker district. It was really weird to be on a street with so many flashing lights, people trying to sell you trinkets and loud music. It's so Westernised compared to Cambodia.

We'll leave you here at Bangkok and pick up on our travels to the South of Bangkok and the islands.

Until then enjoy your last hours at work before the Christmas holidays!