Back to the Land of Smiles

This is the point in the story where I was meant to be writing a post describing the life changing experience I had over the past five weeks in two so different Southeast Asian countries. Instead, you can expect that post in three more weeks when I get one more country under my belt! That’s right, I haven’t had enough and I’m headed back in for more. After a rushed goodbye at the Bangkok airport I headed back into Thailand for my third 13 hour trip to or from Koh Tao, where I’ve spent nine days diving, exploring, and blissing out before Mark and I head out on an extended visa run to Malaysia. Though I had never expected to set foot there on this trip, we quickly sketched out a rough plan for our too short 12 day trip. We’re going to start in the metropolis capital of Kuala Lumpur, where Mark will renew his Thai visa, then head to the Cameron Highlands for some hiking and other adventures, and round out the trip with more diving and beach bumming on the Perhentian islands.

Reunited at Lotus Bar

the lovely Louise

flatmates

As for this second stint in Koh Tao, I’m caught between having nothing to say and being able to fill a book. The lack of bloggable material comes from each day running together like a perfect island movie montage, a blur of days spent diving and discovering new beaches and nights spent swinging in hammocks and making too many new friends drinking far too many buckets. Nine days goes by so quickly and before you know it we’re leaving and making plans for my last night on the island before our ferry departs at 9pm. Of course it wouldn’t be a day in the life of Mark and Alex if something didn’t go comically wrong, and as we’re strolling down the main drag that day around 2pm, I casually glance at one of the tour agency’s time tables and my stomach drops as I realize our boat leaves in two hours! I’ve made the journey three times at this point and Mark countless more and so I don’t know how it didn’t occur to us that the we could not depart at 9pm and arrive at 4am for a 12 hour journey. I blame heat stroke. In any case, I had two hours to pack up my life for the past 5 weeks and to say goodbye to the friends I had made, nothing could have ever been enough but the quick hug hanging off the side of the motorbike really didn’t cut it. In any case, we were soon on a ferry headed away from the place that I had grown to love so dearly, and the sadness was eased only by great adventure ahead of us. I love Koh Tao and I know that I will be back, but this, this was my saddest goodbye.

my favorite rock.

Cambodia Roundup

Cambodian Wedding Party

What I Did: 4 nights in Siem Reap, 3 nights in Phnom Penh, 3 nights in Kep

Overall:

I was curious about visiting a country to recently coming out of such a brutal war but the residual effects I saw were small, money notes were very clean and new, as all the currency had been destroyed during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. Everyone had cell phones, as land lines had also been destroyed. My experience was nothing but positive and I feel grateful to have been in the right place at the right time and been able to experience a country at such an interesting time in its history.

Angkor Wat is a given; you should go see it, sooner rather than later. There’s not much to say that hasn’t been said before, it’s a wonder and no matter how jaded you are and how many churches and monuments you’ve been to I think you’ll be at least a teeny bit breathless at the thought of this city being built so many lifetimes ago.

Phnom Penh was what I needed. Siem Reap itself was an unnatural clash of raw ancient ruins and a tourist town popped up to support the masses coming to see them. It didn’t feel real. But if in Siem Reap, tourists were the main event, in Phnom Penh, we were mere bystanders. Not unwelcome, not a cause for fussing, just another element in a living, breathing, vibrant city.

Kep was the sleepiest town I’ve ever seen and one of my favorite parts of the trip. I was a bit jaded coming off Thailand’s beaches and while these can’ compare I think its worthwhile to see Cambodia’s coastline.

Getting around: Its roughly five hours between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh and Phnom Penh and Kep. We took busses for both routes. Just be aware these are not the busses of North America or even Thailand, there are no bathrooms, cracked windshields, relentless Khmer pop music videos and an even more relentless horn honking driver. Bring noise cancelling headphones, an empty bladder and a sense of humor.

Food: I’m probably one of the world’s most unqualified people to rate a country’s food, as I think getting cheese pizza with little green things sprinkled on it is adventurous. With that said I did not find much of the Cambodian food to be very appealing, though my Dad raved about the fresh crab in Kep. I mostly stuck to Thai and Western food.

People: Every Khmer person we encountered was courteous and kind to a fault, slightly reserved (though that could be the language barrier) and smiling. Cambodians are often described as resilient, and its easy to see why.

Good to know: Don’t take reil out of the country; it can’t be exchanged. Do some sort of reading about the country’s history, it will make everything so much more real. Don’t come expecting a cushy trip, and I say that despite obviously having a higher budget than I did in other countries. Go.

Moto-mounted police force

Final Night in Cambodia

The Sailing Club

Our final night in Kep, we treated ourselves to dinner at the Sailing Club, the restaurant at Knai Bang Chatt, a bizarrely placed luxury hotel on Conde Nast Traveler’s Hot List, in the middle of sleepy Kep, where rooms start at over $100 a night. The restaurant is set right on the water and wouldn’t be out of place in Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Cape Cod. While the hotel seems ridiculously overpriced and not as fun as the many treehouse-style accommodations on offer (like where we stayed!) I definitely recommend the restaurant as the food and drinks are wonderful and you can’t beat the sunset view.

Good question!

All in all I couldn’t be happier we visited Kep. Its still somewhat off the radar, and definitely is if you venture beyond the small town itself. While a part of me would like the place to stay pristine and untouched by western tourism, it would be a hard secret to keep and with the way tourism is currently exploding in Cambodia we might be one of the last waves of travelers who got to see this part of the coast in its current state. As someone who often laments the end of the explorative “Golden Age of Travel” (whiny and pessimistic post about this coming soon), it was a comfort to know there are still places that exist in the world where a blonde haired westerner is a novelty, at least for now. Go while it still is!

Sunset

Photoshop free

Toddler Goat Herders

A typical modern Cambodian

In a country with one of the biggest sightseeing draws of them all, Angkor Wat, some of my favorite moments involved seeing not much at all. On our final day in Kep we hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to a pepper plantation and then to a mysterious white sand “secret” beach. So secret it wasn’t on a map or in any guidebook other than a local tourism leaflet, but we’re always up for adventure.

Cambodian gas station

The pepper plantations are the areas claim to fame, and supposedly there was a time when no fine restaurant in France would be without the famed Kampot pepper. Today its sold in gift shops all over the country, though we paid a fraction of the price by going straight to the source and buying in bulk (guess what’s going in your Christmas stocking, family and friends!). It was a lazy and mildly interesting stop where we wandered around the plants and walked into the owners hut to make the sale, while chickens and puppies ran around our feet. Our driver then told us through beginners English and sigh language that only a few years ago, the mountains we were standing below hid ex Khmer Rouge members. We asked if the people were scared, and if it had been dangerous, and he just shrugged, either not understanding or simply finished with the conversation.

Fields of pepper

Some helpers

And then we were off to the secret beach. As we got further and further away from the small bit of modern influences in Kep, the world went back in time. The occasional motorbike gave way to bicycles and ox carts. Food stalls and cell phone stands gave way to rice paddies and more rice paddies.

Every residence we passed, children ran out front, squealing, “Hello, goodbye!,” looking pleased with their mastery of English greetings and their spotting of a blonde haired foreigner. While we were clearly witnessing what any world organization would deem poverty, everyone looked content as they went about their daily routine.

When we did arrive at the beach, we had a kind of funny “are we in the right location?” kind of moment as we stepped through a few peoples garbage strewn properties to find a seaweed covered beach. “Not so good this time” our driver concluded, picking up some seaweed in case we were unclear as to why. We decided to have a little walk up the beach to give our behinds a rest from bumpy unpaved roads. As we walked we saw in the distance a heard of goats approaching. As they got closer we saw they were attended by two young boys, armed with empty 2 liter soda bottles, I suppose in case one of the goats got out of line. The younger boy was very shy and at first ran and hid behind a tree though they eventually warmed up to us and without a word of shared language I was able to take pictures of both of them and show them their image, and judging from their reactions it may have been the first time. They were a million miles from the children we met in Angkor. So while we didn’t get any swimming or sunning in, the secret beach and the glimpse into a slower way of life was one of the greatest moments of my travels thus far.

Our new friends

Our "secret" beach

Beach Cows and Guard Pigs

Labeled as "Ko Tunsay" on map

Luckily I didn’t drag my Dad all the way to the coast for just a lackluster beach. Just a short boat ride off the coast lies the island of Ko Tonsay, a seriously underdeveloped and rustic island with clear water and calm surf. Its possible to stay the night for in a beachfront villa for the bargain price of $5, but the lack of electricity kept this in the day trip category for those of us who just cant get over the luxury of flush toilets and bedside lamps.

Wow! Toilet Paper!

I had read that its possible to hike around the island in about three hours, so we thought we’d feel it out before getting too settled on the beach. The undefined trail had us feeling like we were in an episode of Lost, and when the trail turned into what appeared to be the front yard of one of the seven families on the island, protected by a very menacing guard pig, we were waved through by the smiling residents. This must be a daily occurrence for these people, but they didn’t seem affected in the least. Once again it seems the idea of personal property and privacy, of the differentiation between private and public space, is not a top priority for Cambodians.

The guard pig!

Where the walk brought us...

When we finally turned around and retreated, we spent the rest of the day reading in the hammock (me), eating fresh crab from the sea (Dad) and enjoying the sun and the beach (both), interrupted only by the occasional beach cow. Just a typical day on a Cambodian beach.

It is the Gulf of Thailand after all...

Back to the Beach in Cambodia

Downtown Kep

When planning our two weeks in Cambodia, I knew it was only fair to my Dad to get some beach in there. While spoiled me had spent the past three weeks on a tropical island, my father was flying in from landlocked Albany, New York and was dying for some quality sand time. My research indicated few options for beach bumming in Southern Cambodia, the main ones being Sihanoukville, Kampot and Kep. Turned out Kampot had no beach and Sihanoukville, while I had heard great things about it, was a bit of a party town. So I settled on sleepy Kep, described by my travel bible Travelfish as “former playground of the French and Cambodian elite.” Emphasis on the former. However, part of the charm is the dilapidated and crumbling mansions and the ghost town feel. Kep gave me glimpse of life untouched by western culture- one of the most “authentic” experiences of my entire trip.

One of Kep's crumbling mansions

Interested?

While there isn’t much to do in Kep, it’s a pleasant and walkable town. The only beach in Kep itself is a narrow strip of brown sand far from the postcard perfect beaches on the other side of the Gulf of Thailand. It’s main landmark is a large mermaid statue appearantly constructing in honor of the Cambodian fishmerman’s wives left behind waiting. While guidebooks claim the beach is unappealing for swimming, the Cambodians who frequent the place must disagree. As one of only a handful of westerners, we couldn’t resist jumping in either and I think it was pretty pleasant. The Cambodians are very modest in dress and even swim in oversized tshirts and pants and I felt slightly uncomfortable in a bikini. Note to self: Next time, pack wetsuit.

Kep Beach

Kep's biggest attraction....

Bus Ride Torture and Sightseeing Whirlwinds

We arrived in Phnom Penh after a murderous 5 hour bus ride that helped me appreciate, among other things, the endurance of my bladder and the importance of noise cancelling headphones. Between the nonstop honking and the en route “entertainment,” I nearly jumped through the cracked windshield and hitched a ride on a motorcycle, the only other vehicles on the road. Its hard to explain with words but believe me, water boarding may become obsolete when the true intelligence gathering potential of Khmer pop videos is discovered by the CIA.

A quick tuk tuk ride to our hotel and all was forgotten. I was super excited for Blue Lime hotel and it did not disappoint. After an afternoon of settling in and lazing by the pool we spent the evening walking around the riverfront, having dinner, and enjoying the buzz that comes along with a developing nation’s capital city. Our first full day was packed with so many sights I had to check the date stamps on my photos to be sure we actually did so much in one day. We started out with Lonely Planet’s recommended walking tour of the city, much to the chagrin of the unrelenting tuk tuk drivers who were hoping we would make it a riding tour of the city. We started out at Wat Phnom, a somewhat unattractive cement structure redeemed by the lively microcosm of activity going on around it. Elephant rides were offered, manicures were given on park benches, men played makeshift games of hackeysack under shaded pagodas, believers made offerings at an alter, land mine victims asked for offerings of change, and women sold bags of chips out of a hat on their heads. It was perfect.

A big ugly Wat...

...and its awesome surroundings

When we were able to tear ourselves from the spectacle we breezed past the American embassy, inconspicuously plastered with the flag, and arrived at Psar Thmei, the Central Market, another hub of activity. The whole experience was like stepping back in time, and I think in this case pictures are better than words:

Psar Thmei

The meat market inside

Our next stop highlighted the rapid change going on in Phnom Penh, and Cambodia at large. From the sweaty, bustling market we walked to a modern shopping mall complete with fast food and escalators. We rode to the top floor where there was an observation deck and a roller rink and watched young Khmers skate in circles around portraits of Mickey Mouse.

After a refreshing pool and lunch break we set off for what I like to call the School Field Trip portion of our sightseeing- the National Museum followed by The Royal Palace and The Silver Pagoda. Both are very small and can be seen in under an hour. The most interesting part of the Museum was the building itself which is built around a beautiful courtyard. One guidebook actually warned not to go to the Royal Palace on Sundays as it is the traditional day for Cambodians to go and pay respects. While it was crowded, I really enjoyed being one of the only tourists in a sea of local faces, a total change from Bangkok’s more architecturally impressive Grand Palace. We ended up the day celebrating the Fourth of July eating burgers at the Freebird Grill surrounded by expats and toasting to a fantastic day in my new favorite Southeast Asian city.

Shoulders covered despite the heat!

Travel Notes: Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

Downtown Siem Reap at night

Siem Reap is the city closest to Angkor Wat. It is a boom town. With peace in Cambodia and the demand to visit these ruins at an all time high, new hotels, restaurants and internet cafes are mushrooming. They are rising all over and are shoulder to shoulder with shanties that house most locals. We arrived during a bit of an off period as the rainy season is gearing up so it is a buyers paradise. The locals are vying for our business and you can’t walk anywhere without being offered tuk tuk rides, water, postcards, or simply begged for money.

Outskirts of town

So there is still a flavor of being in a third world country but it is fading before our eyes. They are enamored with tourists, especially Americans so much that US currency is accepted everywhere, above even the Cambodian Riel. It really seems to irk the Europeans and Australians to have to convert their currency to dollars. The Riel cannot be exchanged once you leave the country so foreigners avoid it. The ATM even dispenses US dollars. How convenient.

Tips:

1) Be prepared for the children

One of the first things you will notice is the little people acting like adults. They are used to shill water, postcards, scarves and other trinkets and are posted at the entrance to every ruin. They are adorable and cute but your reaction soon turns to depression and sadness that they are being used this way and then annoying when you are asked for the 27th time in a hour “You want cold water one dolla???” In town it is just as bad as I found out when a boy whacked me with one of his crutched when I did not respond to his request for reil.

Lying in wait

But you will mostly encounter the “temple kids” They are very eager to engage in conversation, most will ask where you are from and when we said New York she said “Albany!” She also told us there were 300 million people in the US and that Washington DC was the capital. She told us she went to school in the morning and could speak seven languages and then proceeded to count to ten in all seven for us. At Angkor Wat one little boy asked if if we knew his father. And who would that be? Barack Obama. While it is quite depressing that these children on the other side of planet earth likely know more about America’s geography than most students from Arkansaw, its even more saddening when you realize that they are taught these facts in school for the purpose of assisting them in sales at the ruins.

My humble advice is be kind, have conversations, smile freely but follow the advice of the involved organizations in the area and try not to buy from kids so hopefully eventually the facts learned in school will be used for a nobler cause then selling postcard packs to tourists.

Break time

2. Decide about a guide

We decided to forgo an official guide, and instead I relied on my Dad’s encyclopedic memorization of Lonely Planet’s Angkor Encounter guide to give me the backstory. If you aren’t a big reader or traveling with your own built in history buff, I would probably recommend a guide to get the historical background and significance of what you see. I’m sure we still missed out on something things going the DIY route, but it was made up for in the ability to go our own pace.

Our driver Savuth

3. Don’t get templed out

I did some research before we arrived to figure out what temples I wanted to spend my time seeing. Its worth it to look into it yourself a bit and not just go along for the standard tour, since you will have your own driver anyway. And there is more to Siem Reap then temples (well, some) so take in some of that. We were a bit too lazy to peel ourselves from the pool but if I ever return I plan to take in the Tonle Sap river and other attractions. One thing we really enjoyed was the Apsara dancing at the Dead Fish Towers. Enjoy!

(Parts of this post are abridged from an email by my Dad. Yup, I’m a plagiariser with a blog.)

Apsara dancing show at Dead Fish Towers

Tomb Raiders Day III

On our third and final day at Angkor we slept in a bit and checked out the final three temples on my list at a leisurely pace. We started at Neak Pean, a tiny but totally unique site that once functioned as an island temple with fountains and pools and animal sculptures- oh my! Like all the temples, it served an important function and the waters here were thought to have healing properties. The central structure sits in the midst of a lotus pattern of eight pools. I had heard the place was most photogenic in the wet season when the pools are full, but when we got there it was totally dried up. I didn’t mind, it meant we got to get up close and personal with the animal head water spouts at the center of the pools.

Neak Pean

Preah Kahn was our next stop, and in comparison to Neak Pean it was a big one. It is a huge complex with tons of spots to explore and even its own little visitors hut full of informative displays, of which my father read every. single. word.

Preah Kahn

Preah Kahn carvings

This would have been a memorable stop on its own, but it was made even better by the interactions we had with two Cambodians who shockingly were not trying to sell us something. Well technically one of them was but he didn’t assault us with anything so I considered him more of a soft sell as compared to most. We almost walked right by the quiet young man sitting in a corner sketching with a pile of drawings already next to him. As an artist who barely made it through foundation drawing I was impressed and tried to peek to take a look. He was a bit shy but showed us his work. We asked if they were for sale and he eagerly nodded and quoted a price so low we bought three. We didn’t catch him name so I guess we’re out of luck if he ever makes it big on the international art scene.

enterprising artist at Preah Kahn

Our next encounter was with a very adorable young boy about the age of this kids I nanny for at home. He gave me a fright while lurking around behind some columns but I soon recognized the international language of hide-and-go-seek and played along. After a while of running around and shrieking laugher he came out and sat down and spoke some halting English to us. He told us he went to school in the afternoons and could count to ten in four languages. When I asked if I could take his picture, he flashed the peace sign. Oh boy.

the hide-and-seeker

Our last stop on our Angkor itinerary was Ta Som, a small complex somewhat similar to Ta Prohm. I had one reason for wanting to see Ta Som: the promise of a photographic doorway being overtaken by an overgrown tree. It was quite the site and a great note to end on. With that we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon of pool lounging before our early departure the next day to Phnom Penh!

the famous Ta Som doorway

Ta Som

kids playing at Ta Som

Tomb Raiders Day II

Banteay Srei

We started off our second day by making the journey out to Banteay Srei, a small and out of the way temple redeemed by its intricate and plentiful carvings. It’s name translates to “citidel of women” and with its small size, pink sandstone construction and ornate designs you can see why. It was a  beautiful place to wander around in the morning.

Banteay Srei carvings

On the way back we stopped off at the small Landmine Museum. I almost wanted to skip this but I’m so glad we didn’t.  The place was started by a man who was a child soldier of the Khmer Rouge, laying mines all over the country. Now, as an adult, he has dedicated his life to removing the very mines he himself may have lay as a child, having no idea what devastation they would bring. The staff of 17 assists in deactivating mines and keeping up the museum, as well a housing 20 children, most of them victims of mine explosions. One only has to walk around the streets of any city in Cambodia and see the breathtaking number of amputees begging to grasp the enormity of this problem. The entire enterprise is run on a budget of $3930 a year. Its sobering to imagine how quickly that kind of money is spent at home on fancy dinners and designer shoes. We had a quiet ride back to the main complex.

The Landmine Museum - note the chicken

This band of amputees demonstrate the horrible landmine problem

In the afternoon we visited three temples, Pre Rup, Bantei Kdei and my favorite temple, Ta Prohm. I hadn’t been too concerned with visiting Pre Rup, but between the very few other tourists and the sheer size it is impressive. Bantei Kdei is similar to Ta Prohm but in my opinion inferior, and I would say skip it all together if not for the very beautiful views next door at Srah Srang, a beautiful baray. In the dry season you can even see the remains of an island temple in the middle of the lake!

Pre Rup

Srah Srang

Ta Prohm has been left in very much the same condition it was found, the jungle swallowing back up the ruins with trees growing from out of doorways and roots pushing over pedestals. It has intentionally been left partially unrestored, allowing you to imagine how it would feel to be the one discovering the “lost” city of Angkor (give or take a few hundred tourists). Thanks to the movie Tomb Raider, this is what people picture when they picture overgrown temples in the Cambodian jungle, and visitors will not be disappointed. A total must see.

Writing postcards at Ta Prohm

A similar shot was in the National Geographic spread- fancy!

Ta Prohm

It took 20 minutes of waiting for people to move to get this shot