For those of you who don’t know in 1975-1979 the Khmer Rouge murdered in a mass genocide between 1.7-2.5 MILLION Cambodian people. The population at the time was around 8 million. They buried them in mass graves outside of the current capital of Phenom Phen. This is now what is known as the killing fields. The Khmer Rouge targeted citizens who did not fit the ideals of the Khmer Rouge regime including people with an education, musicians, artists, Buddhists, Christians, doctors, lawyers, as well as women and children. It was a horrific tragedy we could not help but think about while visiting this country. We ponder, how can a country thrive and grow if they have eliminated the smartest and most artistic citizens. It was 20% of their country. Most all current Khmers people we met have been affected in some way by the tragedies of the Khmer Rouge. Here is a link to more information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields
We found some very interesting facts about the history of Cambodia. Until 1994 it was illegal in Cambodia to learn or to speak English. After 1994 everyone wanted to learn English because it was previously forbidding and the way to communicate with new tourists from around the world. People speak English very well for having only been allowed to practice it for 17 years.
Something we noticed unique to Cambodia was the people here listen to their own Khmer musicians. Most bars and restaurants we were in were not playing classic western hits but old time Khmer music and Khmer/western infused music. From a conversation with a Cambodian resident on the beach, we learned in 1974 all music heard was of Khmer traditional. Then in North Cambodia some people got a radio station playing western music that was intended for the American troops in Vietnam. This TOTALLY changed their music and gave them a Khmer/western combination. This was something totally new and great for the Khmer people. It would change the sound of Khmer music forever. During the time of the Khmer Rouge and the mass killings almost all the musicians were murdered and all their music was destroyed. We have to imagine this was highly inspirational music in the hard times of war and oppression for the Cambodian people. There are a few groups bringing back and playing the music of the 1970’s in Cambodia. They are doing quite well. This is by far the most unique and interesting music history of any country we have been to.
Here are some links to two classic Cambodian artists if you would like to check them out.
Sinn Sisamouth (died in 1975 but considered to be “The Cambodian Elvis”)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQt9Qan_zsg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXPuITCyyg
Dengue Fever (a current group playing traditional Cambodian Music but with Western influence)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcdgLclFWOU
Cambodia is more raw and unaffected by the western world then any country we had been to. We really liked that about it. It is the only country where we have been to without a Mcdonalds or other western restaurants. We really hope they stay a free country but never forget their roots in their deep and dark history.
Cambodia has a really intense feeling to it. You can sense it as soon as you cross the border from Thailand. Between both of us we have visited over 25 different country’s and we agreed this was one of the most confusing and bizarre border crossings. We would not say it was dangerous but very unusual. It started with us getting dropped off by a mini van full of people. We happened to be the only westerners on bus. They dropped us off in front of the alleged “Visa Office”. After grabbing our bags a few men in suits come up and say “Hello sir, right this way for your visa”. We were forewarned the Thai might try to get you to buy a visa on their side of the boarder so immediately we knew it was a scam. Both of us pretend not to speak English and walked ourselves to the Cambodia boarder. From our research prior to getting there we found out these “Outside visa agency’s” will get you an actual Cambodian visa but you pay double versus walking 500 meters to the actual border.
After some confusion we arrived at the official Cambodia side and filled out our Visa forms. Even the actual Cambodia Border officers would ask for kick backs of $5 to make your Visa “express” (Express doesn’t exist). Luckily we didn’t get asked and made it all the way through without much hassle. In line we met another couple of backpackers (newlyweds) named Paula and David from London. We started talking and decided to pay the extra $3 each to take a private cab for the two hour ride to Siem Reap. They had just been to Vietnam and Laos so they had tons of advice to share on places they had been . We soon realized these two would be our buddy’s for the next few days. We ended up spending most of our meals and days together.
We checked into a really nice resort/ hotel called Lotus Lodge. It was on the edge of town but had had a pool, delicious affordable restaurant/bar, and nice rooms for $16. We spent the next two days exploring the town of Siem Reap (city outside the temple Angkor Wat) and laying by the pool. Siem Reap was a tourist trap type town with lots of beggars and most people trying to make money off the tourist. It was hard to trust people because you couldn’t tell if they were being genuinely nice or trying to rip you off. Cambodians in Siem Reap have seen many tourists over the past ten years so they defiantly know what they can do to make a few extra bucks. On our second day there we hopped on a Tuk Tuk (Motorcycle with two seats in the back, picture below) for a tour of Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. We did not know much about the temple of Angkor Wat but we learned lots of information from our tour guide. He was an amazing man.
Here are a few quick facts on Angkor Wat.
-Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century and it was never abandoned (unlike most other ruins from its time)
-Angor Wat temple is 10km by square10km and contains dozens temples.
-Angkor was originally Hindu religion (derived from India) and now is Buddhist. There was a portion of time where the Hindu took back over the temple. They cut all of the heads off the hundreds of Buddha statues and defaced all the Buddhist art work. It is still occupied by Buddhist monks today.
If you are interested in more about Angkor Wat check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
We took a 7 hour tour and climbed and explored over 10 giant temples. After each temple we would get back to our Tuk Tuk to go to the next site our driver “Srapon”. He would have a cold bottle of water and a cold hand towels to wipe the dripping sweat off our faces. It was hot and we both just sweat constantly. As a woman you cant show your shoulders in most of the temples and you have to have your knees covered. This made the climbs even hotter. We drank more water than we could have imagined. Srapon would give us a 10 min history of each temple before we visited them in perfect English. Most tuk tuk drivers don’t share information and most don’t even speak English. At the end we decided to give Srapon $22 instead of the agreed to $15. We were so pleased with his service. We decided this was the type of behavior a Cambodian person should be rewarded for. He learned English, learned about his peoples history and tons of information of Angkor Wat. He worked hard to get where he is. It felt great to give our money to a hard working person instead of a beggar on the street grabbing at your body and not giving up. We slept really well that night and embarked on our journey south the next day.
We spent one night in the capitol of Cambodia, Phenom Penn. This is a really chaotic city like New York or London. We were a bit intimidated and took the first bus to the coastal town of Sihanoukville. Looking back on it we should have spent a couple days exploring the former French city. It took us a few long bus rides to get there. You can always multiply the time they tell you for your arrival by 2. We arrived in Sihanoukville, a happening beach town with fresh seafood and 50 cent beers everywhere.
We knew this would just be a port city to get to the untouched Island of Koh Rong (25 km off the coast) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh_Rong .
We soon found the Island of Koh Rong only had 5 bungalow resorts with VERY basic rooms. The islands resorts weren’t more than three years old. Very new for a paradise place like this. We checked all of them and because it was high season every one was booked. Instead of making a reservation as suggested by the boat company we just went there crossing our fingers and hoping somewhere would have a room. We took a two and a half hour boat ride going about 8kmp. Slowest boat ever. We shared the boat with many divers who were making a pit stop on Koh Rong before their day out in the gulf. Upon arrival we were amazed with how big the Island was. It is 81KM around. We were also stunned by how little tourism and people in general there were here. Koh Rong has a population of 1,100 people without tourists. We arrived to our bungalow of choice called “Paradise Bungalows” and asked if there was room. All the bungalows on Koh Rong are very basic as the Island does not have electricity or a main sewage system. The bungalows only get electricity (run by generator) from 6pm - 10pm. We were told they were totally booked up for the next two days but to wait until 1pm to see if anyone didn’t show up for their reservation. After waiting until 1 we found they did have a shared bathroom bungalow for us for the first night but the second night they had nothing available. The owner a very nice German man, assured us that if we could not find any other accommodation they would make sure to take care of us and not leave us sleeping on the beach. Because of the lack of bungalows we ended up sleeping in the dinning room (which is a huge open air bungalow) with the full staff.
We were about 14 people total. They made us an amazing comfortable bed on the floor. They all slept on the lounge areas around the tables. The vibe on the island is to eat in a comfortable position with lots of pillows and even doze off for a nap after your meal. Our stay with the staff was actually quite amazing, very comfortable, and gave us a new respect from the staff. They were quite surprised we would be staying with them. We spent our days on Koh Rong doing day hikes and finding desolate beaches. We enjoyed walking to other remote bungalows and trying their restaurant. We did a hour and a half jungle hike which involved using some ropes to climb up rocks. It was quite intense at points. We ended up at one of the most amazing beaches either of us had ever seen. The craziest part about the island is the picturesque beaches are full of sandflees. They bite you and really are annoying. It made it hard for us to lay on the beach. We did it one day but after you realize how many bites you have and how the itching is annoying you think again. It was a part of the experience the beautiful pictures don’t tell you.
Another interesting fact about Koh Rong is there was a tv show being filmed while we were there. The show is a French version of survivor. At the beach one day we were able to watch them do a challenge and see the helicopter filming from above. It was quite neat until they asked us to move down the beach a little so we wouldn’t be in the view of the camera. There was a small restaurant at the remote resort called “Broken Heart Bungalow”. We swam in the crystal clear water and then split Phad Thai at their little restaurant. We both consider ourselves very good at relaxing but we agreed this island allowed us to reach a whole new level of simple and amazing relaxation. Some days our whole day would consist of a hammock, a book, the sound of the waves, and eating great authentic food. It will honestly be what we think of when we think of “our happy place”. Here our some photo's of our happy place
At our resort Paradise Bungalows there was a baby Monkey. He was rescued by a couple who were taking him to an animal sanctuary. Many of the local jungle people set up traps and eat the monkeys they catch. The couple was taking the one month old baby as well as a 4 month old female who got trapped and barely escaped. She had a broken arm and lost an eye. The couple who was helping them was feeding her antibiotics and the week they had been there she was making incredible progress. It was really cute that we got to play with the baby money. His name was Charlie (for Charles Darwin) and would just hang out in the restaurant. He was constantly getting into trouble. He would eat anything he could and just be so curious about everything. He actually ate one of our playing cards when we were in the middle of a game. Like a kid he would play for an hour or so and then fall asleep in someone’s lap.
We spent 5 days and 4 nights on the Island and left being a little sad but very excited about the rest of our trip.
We returned to Sinoukville after a traitorous two and a half boat ride back. We picked the worse day to travel back because the sea’s were very rough. There were people getting sick all over the boat. Waves were splashing over the edge and we were all soaked. We both had taken some medicine to help calm us down. The boat is very low to the water so a small wave can soak everyone. When we got back to Sinoukville we stayed in a nice bungalow near the pier. One side of the pier is very loud and partying all day. The other side has nice cheap bungalows and a chill quite atmosphere. The seafood here was quite amazing. We shared some Cambodian lobster. They spice them full of flavor. They are really only big enough to eat the tail. But still they are good. The women walk around with them on their head and when you order them they clean them and put citrus and pepper spice on them. It was quite delicious. We spent the whole day getting 50 cent beers and enjoying every minute we could on the beach. Needless to say the next morning we were feeling all the fun we had.
From Sinoukville we took a mini bus to a small town called Kampot. This is not really on the tourist loop but it was on our route to the Vietnam boarder. We got there on a mini bus and decided to see what this little town on the river was all about. It was at one point run by the French so you could see some of the French architecture here. We ate at an amazing bakery/breakfast place owned by a Canadian. He was teaching his Cambodian wife how to bake and make many western pastries. They didn’t have any western style cookies or brownie type sweets in Cambodia. They had been only open a month and they are on the road to success. There cookies and cakes were amazing. They are the first bakery in Cambodia to make cheesecake. You can’t get the ingredients there so they altered the recipe. We got to taste the first one they ever made and it was so marvelous. With not much more to explore we decided to keep on trekking and the following day we took a tuk tuk to the town of Kep.
Kep is a small beach town on the Gulf of Thailand. It was again a very small town with about 20 resorts. Some on the beach and some in the mountain of the jungle. Its really neat terrain here. The jungle runs straight up to the beach. We walked to the crab market and had crab Amok. This is a traditional Cambodian dish that had amazing flavors. It was so good we had our Valentines day dinner here both ordering the Amok. Our second night in Kep we splurged for Valentines day and got a nice French run resort with beautiful bungalows and wonderful pool. It was more in the mountains so as you look around all you see if palm trees and lush greenery. We took out their “free bikes” which ended up breaking in the first ten minutes of riding them. We hid them in a field and trecked ourselves to see the other areas of the beach. We walked along the boardwalk and got to admire locals who very seldom see tourists. Many times we have come across kids who yell “Hello” to us as they ride by. They are so cute and both of us give an enthusiastic “Hello” back to them. They get so eager to say an English word and get a reaction back.
We are now sitting in Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon) Vietnam and really excited to explore the War museum and see what Vietnam has to offer. We are having such a amazing time its hard to find a few hours to write the blog and upload it, but we will try to blog again soon. Much love to our wonderful family and friends.
HK
