Sihanoukville and Otres Beach

We took a 9.30am, 4 hour bus to Shianoukville the next morning. This is Cambodia’s seaside beach town. As we alighted the bus, as usual we were hassled by tuk tuk drivers. It’s hard to make a decision when there are 15 of guys looking to give you a lift. So the jist of  the deals they had on offer were ‘$6 for a taxi or $1 per person for a moto’. There were 4 of us (Neil and Katie too) so we enquired about ‘Moto’, is it a tuk tuk? Nope, it’s a Cambodian with a motor bike, who puts your 15kg pack in between the handle bars and himself and you on the back. It was actually quite fun, not too fast and smoother than being on the back of a scooter with Dave, ha ha…just kidding.

We stayed the night in a dingy ‘mozzie infested’ cheap room and left the next day for Otres beach. Otres beach is a bit hard to get too, but not really when you see the result. It’s a tuk tuk ride down a bumpy dirt road and before you know it you’re in paradise - a deserted blue beach scattered with islands, clean water, beachside huts, warm water and clean sand. The developers (Hilton, Hyatt, Westin) have not yet made an appearance thank god. Till then huts on the sand, electricity via generators and more or less isolation is still possible here. No more than 4 people can be seen swimming at once, there are no shops, just small beachfront guesthouses offering food, the odd boat is anchored close to shore and fishermen can still be seen casting nets from aqua longboats. What’s on the downside you ask? Not much, we used an outside toilet shed/shower, our abode was a grass hut with a less than comfy bed (makeshift slats built by an old Czech battler) but it was hard to complain as we virtually had a private beach and our bungalow oozed Cambodian charm.

Our humble hut

Views from our bedroom (Katie and Amelia sunbaking)

Dave getting a $5 hour massage

Sunset on Otres Beach

Dave trying renovation (trying to remove the slats from the bed)

A regular lunch spot

But being fussy western pain is the arses, we moved after 3 days to even greener pastures (next door) to the Golden Sunset which boats individual open grass roof bungalows, with bamboo blinds for walls, ultra comfy beds, power points and clean bathrooms. It costs just $10 to stay, that’s $5.00 per person, so we implore you to visit Otres Beach before the beachside shacks make room for the 5 star monsters because lets face it it‘s only a matter of time.

Our new beach hut

Believe it or not, Otres beach offers other pastimes apart from snoozing, reading, sunbathing, swimming and losing the concept of time, these include are Kayaking and snorkeling. So we hired a two person Kayak and only 1 paddle - for Dave. We headed towards a rather small but idyllic looking private island, anchored and dropped into the water for some reef snorkeling. The variety of coral and underwater plant life was amazing, the fish were plentiful and colorful too. After a couple of dives each Dave paddled east (this is a guess) towards home via a rocky outcrop for another spot of snorkeling, then we glided home with the current back to our abode.

Kayaking 

Dear Diary,

Last night it rained and we haven’t seen rain in Asia since we arrived on the 5th of February (shocking I know)… and it ‘s still raining this morning. It’s kind of nice as it’s a little bit cooler (we used a doona last night) and it sort of reminds us of home, except that the beach is still warm but perhaps a darker aqua, the man in the hut  next door still smoked his spliff at 7am and we still don’t have jobs.
Xo

After deciding to take an unexpected 2 weeks on the beach, we have had to cut our tour of the towns Kampot and Kep down to a night each, before returning to Phnom Pehn and boarder crossing to Vietnam. It has been delightful finding a place to overstay our itinerary, but Vietnam calls and our Visa here is quickly running out. We’ll stop rubbing out beach stay in your face and get back on a crowded hot bus and sleep in a stinky room for you all soon enough.

Enjoying a balmy evening

Phnom Pehn - a broken heart

Took a rather empty bus from Battembang towards Phnom Pehn, excited to have 2 chairs to sprawl across each. Half way there, at least 45 local Cambodian’s boarded the bus, there were perhaps 25 seats remaining. So they had a discussion for about 20 mins amongst themselves and then placed themselves in the aisle, standing up next to the loo, 3 to a seat etc. They smiled at us and laughed at our astonishment.  By the time we go to the outskirts of the city the bus was at least 40 degrees (window’s had been opened destroying any chance the a/c had) so we were all happy to get off.

We had heard less than glowing reports about the capital but we were pleasantly surprised to find a rather beautiful city with lush gardens, French architecture and an incredible view of the vast Mekong. We were taken to the OKAY guesthouse by our funny Tuk Tuk driver speaking fluent English. The next morning he picked us up again to take us to the Killing fields, approx 15kms out of town. The tuk tuk ride took us through the city and out to where the buildings stopped and the paddocks re emerged again, it was apparent that Phnom Pehn is a HUGE city.

We arrived, paid $2 and went into the museum that told us the story of the KR and Pol Pot, among many things we learnt that most people who were killed here came directly in trucks from the S21 and many other prisons from around the country.  We then walked out to see what is part of a tragic history - the killing fields themselves. On the trail out, we were faced with the Stupa that was erected in the 90’s to hold the remains of those who had been exhumed in a more respectful manner, keeping in mind that many many mass graves still remain. The path then took us behind the Stupa to a field that has lots of craters, each bearing as a reminder of an exhumed mass grave. As you walk along the many winding little tracks, there is a heavy eerie feeling. After a while the feeling could be explained - by the bones you see at the surface of the ground in every direction you look. There are still many remains that are yet to be exhumed and they are literally just under your feet on the track that you walk. White brittle splinters that emerge from through from the earth belong to those who were murdered here by the Khmer Rouge genocide. It’s hard to fathom it only ended just 32 years ago.

 The Stupa at the killing fields

Inside, the remains of those who were exhumed

Craters, on the killing fields

Remains showing through the earth

Reminders of the atrocities, including bones

If that wasn’t sad enough, our next stop was the S21 Prison which was once a school and still shows the resemblance of a happy place for kids to learn with the monkey bars still in tact. But mostly it was just a horror story. There are four formidable buildings, each three stories. The first had been converted into a museum of pictures. The KR documented, photographed and obtained confessions from every prisoner that went through it’s doors. The KR also intended to kill each and every one of these people and succeeded almost 100%. Unbelievably there were only 7 survivors from the estimated 15000 that went through its doors and only 3 willing to talk about it. Today the ‘mugshot’ like photos of each person is a visual reminder of the masses of gentle innocent people that were subjected to horror. 

 The outside of S21

The next two buildings still had the remains of what was used to torture or imprison, metal beds, shackles, farm tools, hastily made holding cells complete with chains etc. Each room had a photo of how it was found by Vietnamese Journalists once the KR had been overthrown (they were drawn to the hidden school by the smell of the dead), usually a prisoner  tortured to death, shackled to a metal bed. Most rooms still bore blood stains. I think the one thing you we took away from the experience was the sheer brutality of the KR, they didn’t execute the innocent, they tortured or subjected them to a harrowing interrogation and a painful death. After 2 hours, we returned back to the guesthouse somber. These sorts of things don’t creep under skin all at once, it‘s a slow process of sadness and dull heartache for the Cambodian people today and those who suffered then.

Dave viewing photos of prisoners who had died during their interrogations/torture

Examples of the photos of each prisoner as they entered, taken by the KR as part of their extensive documentation

A photo taken by the Vietnamese journalists who the found the prison after the collapse of the KR

The same bed today...

We paid $5 the next day to use a hotel pool, a lovely old French establishment called the Pavilion. We were to see the Royal Palace beforehand, but with an asking price of $6 each we opted for the pool and took pictures of the Palace from the outside. The hotel we relaxed at was just $50 a night, it’s amazing the value you can get in Asia. However out budget in closer to $10 where you have to request toilet paper - boohoo :) After a full day of relaxation we were ready to move on. 

Dave, in and around Phnom Pehn

Swimming at the Pavilion Hotel

Battembang - with a bang

PICTURES FINALLY UPDATED!! PHNOM PEHN coming up soon.....

From Siem Reap, we took a speedy bus to the town of Battembang, a interesting stop off before Phnom Pehn. As we got off the bus we were ambushed by desperate tuk tuk drivers asking us to go to their commissioned guest houses. We found a driver that had the guest house we wanted to stay at, on his list. He was so grateful and his story was very sad about  the very little work available. As much as we’re aware of sob story’s told tourists, this one felt real and truly sad. We booked him for the next day to take us to the three hotspots in the area - the killing cave, the reservoir and the bamboo train.

 On our way there..melon anyone?

Tuk Tuk ride

 A line of little cows...

The killing cave was used by the Khmer Rouge as one of the many places to kill and then dump bodies. It is at the top of a cliff, which we trekked up in 40 degree heat, with many temples, monks and people pointing us in vague directions towards the cave. We found some artwork depicting the atrocities and made our way down …It was eerie and cold in the cave, where we lit incense and gave an offering. There were 2 cages of bones that had been removed from the cave, a very sad and tragic site…

 The Killing cave artwork before we entered 

Inside the cave

Dave giving an offering

Please look away if you're faint hearted, or broken hearted by what happened here...

exiting from the cave...

At the top of the cliff visiting the temples

Our next destination was a reservoir that our driver recommended to us which was a good 26km out of town. The ride was hot and dusty but very interesting as we got to see some of the real Cambodia. We were so hot and ready for a swim by the time we arrived so the reservoir was a site for sore eyes  and interestingly already full of locals (construction workers, kids, families, men washing etc) cooling off. As the only westerners for miles, we were a hilarious site to be seen  - with local men even splashing us while we tried not to slip over. 

Can you spot Dave?

Neil and Dave getting into reservoir..

Getting splashed by locals!

Cooling off

The water was heavenly!

Relaxing after a hard day swimming..

Next stop was the bamboo train, where you pay $3 per person to be taken on a “train” made from a flat bamboo board, propped on 2 axles with a portable motor. A 16 year old kid then takes you for a ride down the actual train tracks, giving way ( to give way is to take your “train” off the tracks, and wait for the other to pass, then place your “train” back onto the tracks) to other bamboo trains which have more people on board, or an ACTUAL train. These kids go FAST and it’s like a roller coaster with no dips but scarier as you might actually derail. To be fair, the kid knew the tracks well and slowed down every time a piece was missing from the tracks (and replaced by a chock of wood).

Getting our train onto the tracks

Our view of the ride ahead

Our Whippersnapper train driver..

Battembang was a really lovely town, with a hint of the old world French architecture. It gave us time to meet more Cambodians, who are not 100% geared toward tourists - kids still wave and smile at you here. This was hard for us because every time we meet a new Tuk Tuk driver or Guest house owner, they were magic - yet there is sadness behind them as they struggle to make a living and provide for their families. Most Cambodians are cheeky and smiling (even when they are giving you the hard sell they can’t help but laugh) and for a nation that is still rebuilding financially and educationally from it’s desolation by the KR, they are amazing communicators. I have heard more Cambodians speak French and German, let alone wonderful English, compared to Thailand where tourist have invaded for years.