Last week Saly and I set off on our journey to Cambodia. We were really excited for this trip, but even so, Cambodia completely exceeded every expectation I had. Along with exceeding my expectations, the trip also tested and taught me a lot. I have never been so hot in my life, not to mention unable to escape the sweltering heat. In the end we were exhausted but so glad that we went to Cambodia.
We had to fly in a sort of round about trip through KL first as it was cheaper, so it made for a long day of traveling beginning at 4AM. When we finally got to Phnom Penh we were tired so just grabbed dinner, dropped our backpacks off at our hostel, and snooped around the city a bit. I really liked the capital. The people were really wonderful. Most of them speak English, making it easy to communicate, and get around. There was a lot of poverty in Cambodia and it was not uncommon to see things like men sleeping on hammocks hanging off their tuk tuk bikes in the streets. It was so crazy to see that they use those bikes for a bed, transportation, and to make a living all in one. The children there played in the streets with the sand from construction sites, tossed around birdies, didn't wear shoes, and begged tourists to send them to school. One even talked Sally (she is such a sucker) into buying them baby formula for their baby brother he was holding. Five yards down there was another kid doing the same thing. Clearly it was a scam. All in all though, they were all so friendly and wanted to take pictures with the tourists--but only for a hefty price of a dollar.
We woke up early the next day and rounded up a tuk tuk for the entire day to take us around to all of the sites in Phnom Penh. We went to Tuol Sleng genocide museum or S21. It was an old high school that during the Khmer Rouge Regime of Pol Pot was turned into a torturous holding area for men, women, children, and babies until they were taken to the "killing fields" to be executed and thrown into early graves. We also visited the killing fields and various memorials around the city. It was an awful thing to see, but very enlightening. Just walking through those places it was both unsettling and creepy that one person can turn his followers into killing monsters. It was unbelievable that people were capable of such atrocities. Needless to say, we weren't really laughing and smiling all day.
At the end of the tour, we just went to an air-conditioned coffee shop, got a smoothie, and sat down to relax our minds and legs. The food in Cambodia was amazing. Lots of curry (I am learning to make it so I can bring it home!) and veggies. Yummy! My favorite was yellow curry and coconut milk chicken with vegetables. Luckily, neither Saly nor I got sick while we were in Cambodia, while most of our friends who have been there have gotten quite ill.
The second night in Phnom Penh Saly and I were eating in our hostel for dinner. There was no one in the restaurant so we didn't think anything about putting our wallets on the table right in front of us, in fact we thought it was the safest place. A man came in selling newspapers and waving them in everyone's faces. Next thing we know my wallet is gone (credit card, id, money, and all..thank goodness no passport!) as well as our hostel owner's cell phone. I was able to take care of everything without any trouble, but it was just crazy how fast it happened. I didn't want to ruin the rest of our trip with a bad taste in my mouth though, so I took it as a learning experience. Saly, being the great girlfriend she is lent me money for the rest of the trip and we budgeted hard core. In the end, everything was fine, and I'm sure that man needed the money more than I did.
After a couple of days in the capital Saly and I took a 6 hour bus to Siem Reap, another big city in Cambodia. When we got to Siem Reap we hired a tuk tuk for the next day and then got started on our tour of the city right away by going to Angkor Wat to watch the sunset. This was one of the many temples in Siem Reap, built in the mid 12th century! It was so amazing to walk through places with that much history! The next day we started early--really early, and watched the sunrise at Angkor Wat. There are two things everyone should do in Siem Reap and that is watch the sunset and sunrise at the temples.
We also visited three more temples that day--Angkor Thom, Bayon, and Ta Prohm. They were all so much fun! Saly and I, in all of our sweatiness, climbed, hiked, ran, jumped, and played through the MASSIVE temples and ruins. The artwork in each one was breathtaking not to mention the architecture and enormity of them. Bayon was my favorite with lots of maze-like halls and steep stairs to climb up. We were like seven year olds, really. Bayon also has cool faces all over the temple that made it fun to look at too. We had a blast but after leaving the hostel that morning at 4:45AM, and trekking through all of the temples in the INCREDIBLE heat, we were ready to go home at like 3. 10 hours though, not bad.
When we got back to the hostel we grabbed some curry and a fanta (pretty standard for the two of us) for late lunch. While we were eating, a German guy came and asked us if we wanted to save some money and go with them to the floating village that night. We wanted to go, but we were planning on going the next day. With our limited budget, though, we couldn't turn down the group rate, so we packed up, despite our exhaustion. It ended up being two families, one German, one crazy-haired Lebanese girl, and one annoying earthy Brit. After a long and bumpy ride through the village area of Siem Reap, we made it to the floating village. As the name suggests, this village was made totally of houses that were essentially boat houses. They had everything they needed on the water from gas stations, to pig sties, to mini-marts. It was really incredible to see, but Saly and I also felt bad because we were tramping through their neighborhood on our motor boats full of tourists staring at these people like animals. It felt a little weird but was eye-opening. I even saw a woman showering in that dreadfully dirty, smelly, lake water. After such a long day, we came home and slept. The next day we woke up and went to a couple of markets to shop and just hang out. We donated some clothes to children there. It was such a nice trip, but we were tired by the end of it, and ready to get back to home base--Singapore.
Cambodia was, to say the least, a culture shock and unlike anywhere else I've been in Asia. It was still pretty touristic, yet somehow unaffected. It was really neat to see, and one of my favorite trips I've taken so far. It was also really nice to travel with Saly. She got a little more than she bargained for I think when she asked about my family one night, haha, but we really got a lot closer on this trip I think. She has helped me through my mom's surgery, missing home, she's seen me cry, and made me laugh. She is not only an amazing travel buddy (she's the one with the map and guidebook all the time) but also a great friend. I am so glad that I have met her, and really hope that we continue this friendship after exchange. I've already asked her to make a page for me for my birthday! To a truly inspiring girl, I owe Saly much more than the $150 that she lent me in Cambod. :)
Until next time.
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