We departed Siem Reap on April 9th since Songkran (Thai New Year) was fast approaching and the traffic would have been unbearable. Since Cambodia also has their New Year at the same time it would have meant that we would have been stranded in Siem Reap until atleast April 15th and that probably would have gotten old quickly. So we bit the bullet and left early. We figured that since we had our Thai visas already arranged that this border crossing would be a piece of cake. However, we didn't factor in the incredibly long lines and the very inefficient workers. Getting to Bangkok from Siem Reap took about 10 hours and atleast 2-3 hours of that were spent at the border, either waiting to go through or waiting for the next bus (we had to switch buses after going through the border) to show up.
One nice thing, the bus dropped us off near the backpacker area in Bangkok so we weren't stranded in the middle of nowhere like we'd been in Hanoi. At this point it was about 7:30 pm and we had to make some quick decisions. First stop was an ATM to get some baht and then next we went to a travel agent to ask about buses to Khon Kaen. The first place we walked into they were really bitchy so we went to the next place where they were much more pleasant. It seemed that we would have to find our way to the Northern bus terminal and take our chances if we wanted a night bus to Khon Kaen. It was pretty nerve wracking considering that this is the biggest holiday of the year and everyone goes to their home towns for it. We were nervous that everything would be booked up and we'd be stranded in Bangkok.
We flagged a taxi and negotiated a price (I wanted the meter but we didn't have time to find a cab driver who would go for that) and before we knew it we were at the bus terminal- along with about a million Thai people. Crap. The taxi driver advised us to go to the second floor to purchase a bus ticket to Khon Kaen. It took a bit of wandering around and looking confused before someone helped us find the right window. We got a ticket for the 9:30pm bus and even had time to chow down on some dinner at the food court.
The bus ride... Well, it was hellish. We were stuck in upright seats next to the bathroom, which had a door that was hard to close so everyone was constantly slamming it. Our location also meant that we weren't able to recline our seats but the people in front of us could and did so we had barely any space. Oh, and we were in this section that had a giant TV blaring some sort of Thai comedy show ALL NIGHT. Okay, they did shut off the video portion at 2 am but they kept the audio on until 4 am. They had told us we would arrive in Khon Kaen at 6 am but we actually got there at 5 am so we had to call and wake up Matt's Mom and get them to pick us up earlier than planned. It was pretty wild but we made it mostly in one piece (Matt somehow managed to cut the crap out of one of his toes so he was bleeding all over the place). I think the Amazing Race would be a piece of cake after that trip!
Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cambodia. Show all posts
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Siem Reap and Angkor Wat
From our guesthouse in Phnom Penh we were able to book a cheap bus ($4 US) to Siem Reap and arranged to stay at one of their sister guesthouses there. When we arrived there were tuk tuk drivers everywhere vying for our business but we were supposed to get picked up by the guesthouse for free. As it turned out, most of the tuk tuk drivers were willing to take us to any destination for free. Why would they do this? Simple, if they do you a favor then you will more than likely hire them to go to Angkor (or any other place) the following day. Clever. So if you go to Siem Reap, keep this in mind.
We stayed at the Hello Paradise guesthouse, which was nice enough. We were able to haggle a large room (had 3 single beds and a private bathroom) for $6/night. It's a little bit out of the way but Siem Reap isn't that big and this guesthouse provided free tuk tuks to the market/pub street. Even so, getting there would have only cost $1. Like I said, the town itself isn't that large.
When we arrived at our guesthouse Matt, Sarah and I arranged to see Angkor the following morning. We paid $5/person without haggling. We probably could have haggled but the guy was going to be driving us around all day so we didn't feel it was necessary. He picked us up at 5 am and drove us out to the place to buy our day passes. I was surprised when the lady told us to smile- they printed out a pass with our picture on it. Cool keepsake. Then we hopped back into the tuk tuk and continued on to Angkor Wat and Thom to watch the sunrise. Our driver, Hok, told us we could take as long as we wanted since we had hired him for the day.
Unfortunately the day was a bit grey so the sunrise wasn't spectacular but Angkor is pretty darn impressive. There are different kinds of passes you can buy- one day ($20), three day ($40) or one week (not sure the cost). I'd heard from people that you MUST buy the three day one because it's so huge and fabulous and one day isn't enough. Maybe I'm totally uncultured but one day was plenty for me. I mean, they were gorgeous and impressive but there is only so many stone temples I can look at and take pictures of. I was definitely satisfied with our one day trip and would have been overwhelmed if we'd gone back for two more days. (We also were rushing a bit through Cambodia to get back to Thailand for Songkran so that came into play too.)
As you can see, I took A LOT of pictures. I especially loved Bayon with the huge stone faces and Ta Prohm with it's giant, twisting trees growing through the stone. While we were exploring Angkor Wat it begin to pour and so we had to scramble to take cover. Some little girls came running through the rain to sell ponchos and so we scooped up a couple and continued on our way.
It was a fabulous day- we packed some sandwiches and snacks for lunch and treated ourselves to an ice cream (yes, there was a random ice cream truck out there) part way through the day. One thing that wasn't thrilling about the temples are all the people trying to sell you stuff, in particular, all the children. They swarm you and follow you as long as they can with their bracelets, postcards, flutes and other wares. It got a bit tiring and we felt bad for all these kids selling instead of going to school. At one point we starting pointing to other tourists and telling the kids that they had lots of money in an attempt to get some peace. One clever girl replied, "Okay! But if they no buy then YOU buy!". Hahah.
In summary, Angkor Wat is an amazing place, must see, but I think one day is sufficient unless you're really hardcore. We were tired out and finished by about 2pm (which sounds early but we left at 5am so that was 9 hours of touring around Angkor). I really wanted to see the Landmine Museum but alas, there wasn't enough time. If I ever end up back in Siem Reap I will make a point to go there since it's supposed to be really awesome.
Besides Angkor, we spent a bit of time in the market and on pub street. Lots of good restaurants and many have $0.50 draft beer. I recommend trying the fish or chicken amok- really yummy! Cambodia definitely has a lot to offer and it would have been nice to stay a little longer, but maybe if I had more money. It gets a bit expensive considering everything is in US dollars (even the ATMs dispense US dollars). I'm glad I was able to experience it and now I'm reading a book by a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. It's called "First They Killed My Father" and it's a quality read and helps put Cambodia in perspective.
We stayed at the Hello Paradise guesthouse, which was nice enough. We were able to haggle a large room (had 3 single beds and a private bathroom) for $6/night. It's a little bit out of the way but Siem Reap isn't that big and this guesthouse provided free tuk tuks to the market/pub street. Even so, getting there would have only cost $1. Like I said, the town itself isn't that large.
When we arrived at our guesthouse Matt, Sarah and I arranged to see Angkor the following morning. We paid $5/person without haggling. We probably could have haggled but the guy was going to be driving us around all day so we didn't feel it was necessary. He picked us up at 5 am and drove us out to the place to buy our day passes. I was surprised when the lady told us to smile- they printed out a pass with our picture on it. Cool keepsake. Then we hopped back into the tuk tuk and continued on to Angkor Wat and Thom to watch the sunrise. Our driver, Hok, told us we could take as long as we wanted since we had hired him for the day.
Unfortunately the day was a bit grey so the sunrise wasn't spectacular but Angkor is pretty darn impressive. There are different kinds of passes you can buy- one day ($20), three day ($40) or one week (not sure the cost). I'd heard from people that you MUST buy the three day one because it's so huge and fabulous and one day isn't enough. Maybe I'm totally uncultured but one day was plenty for me. I mean, they were gorgeous and impressive but there is only so many stone temples I can look at and take pictures of. I was definitely satisfied with our one day trip and would have been overwhelmed if we'd gone back for two more days. (We also were rushing a bit through Cambodia to get back to Thailand for Songkran so that came into play too.)
As you can see, I took A LOT of pictures. I especially loved Bayon with the huge stone faces and Ta Prohm with it's giant, twisting trees growing through the stone. While we were exploring Angkor Wat it begin to pour and so we had to scramble to take cover. Some little girls came running through the rain to sell ponchos and so we scooped up a couple and continued on our way.
It was a fabulous day- we packed some sandwiches and snacks for lunch and treated ourselves to an ice cream (yes, there was a random ice cream truck out there) part way through the day. One thing that wasn't thrilling about the temples are all the people trying to sell you stuff, in particular, all the children. They swarm you and follow you as long as they can with their bracelets, postcards, flutes and other wares. It got a bit tiring and we felt bad for all these kids selling instead of going to school. At one point we starting pointing to other tourists and telling the kids that they had lots of money in an attempt to get some peace. One clever girl replied, "Okay! But if they no buy then YOU buy!". Hahah.In summary, Angkor Wat is an amazing place, must see, but I think one day is sufficient unless you're really hardcore. We were tired out and finished by about 2pm (which sounds early but we left at 5am so that was 9 hours of touring around Angkor). I really wanted to see the Landmine Museum but alas, there wasn't enough time. If I ever end up back in Siem Reap I will make a point to go there since it's supposed to be really awesome.
Besides Angkor, we spent a bit of time in the market and on pub street. Lots of good restaurants and many have $0.50 draft beer. I recommend trying the fish or chicken amok- really yummy! Cambodia definitely has a lot to offer and it would have been nice to stay a little longer, but maybe if I had more money. It gets a bit expensive considering everything is in US dollars (even the ATMs dispense US dollars). I'm glad I was able to experience it and now I'm reading a book by a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. It's called "First They Killed My Father" and it's a quality read and helps put Cambodia in perspective.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tasty!
I tried lotus seeds for the first time when I was in Cambodia. You can see people selling them all over the place (as well as lots of more recognizable fruits and veggies). They are a bit cumbersome to get into but are pretty tasty if you have the patience. They reminded me of fresh peas. Yum! Don't they look like alien lily pads?
Around Phnom Penh
I'm going to try and lighten things up a little. Phnom Penh is a lovely city and while it may be a bit expensive (by SE Asia standards) it does have a lot of great places to eat and plenty to see. We didn't go to the Royal Palace but we did walk by it a lot and the riverside. After spending our day at the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng we decided to try a restaurant that helps street kids with education and job training. It was called Friends and is located near the National Museum. We paid North American prices but since it was going to a good cause (the school they have funded is next door to the restaurant even) we decided to splurge. Oh, and the food was incredible. I think it may have been the best meal I've had on this trip. If you have a little bit of money to spend I would really recommend trying this place.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng
We arrived in Phnom Penh and having made a new friend (Sarah from the UK) on the bus, the three of us decided to grab a tuk tuk to a nearby guesthouse. We also realized that we were interested in seeing a lot of the same sites so we arranged to have the same driver come and pick us up the next day and take us to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. We stayed at the Okay Guesthouse and it was a nice enough place with friendly staff and a good location (right by the palace and National Museum). The food was also really tasty and they had a clever way of keeping track of what you bought and they let you pay for everything when you leave.
A bit of a warning, this is going to be a depressing/sad entry. Most of the places we went to in Cambodia had to do with the Khmer Rouge genocide. If you haven't seen the movie "The Killing Fields", I recommend it. Very horrible and dark things occured in this country and even though the people are recovering, you can still sense it everywhere you go. At least I could.
I didn't take a lot of pictures at Choeung Ek (Killing Fields) but I have to say, it was an experience to walk through, see the memorial filled with bones and skulls and to occasionally stumble and realize that you tripped over a piece of clothing or a bit of bone poking out of the ground. I was also conflicted by the children and men lingering around the outskirts begging for money. On one hand, they are probably suffering and living in poverty, but on the other it felt like they were just exploiting the pain and tragedy of their country to make an extra dollar. I suppose I would probably be doing the same thing if I were them though... Although I should add that Cambodia chose to privatize this site and basically sold it to a Japanese company in 2005. Anyway, it's a chilling place to visit and a must see if you want to know the real horrors of war and genocide.
Next we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. I wasn't familiar with this place before I visited Phnom Penh but I would really recommend visiting it. It also hasn't been privatized. Tuol Sleng used to be a high school but during the Khmer Rouge regime it was transformed into Security Prison 21 (S-21). Apparently they show a film at 10 am and 3 pm but we unfortunately weren't able to see it. It was tough walking through and looking at the former classrooms that had been turned into tiny cells and torture chambers. Some rooms were filled with pictures of some of the many victims, while others contained only rusty beds and blood stains on the floor.
I can't even imagine the devastation, fear and loss that has been suffered in this country. It was as if they were blasted back into the Stone Age. During the Khmer Rouge occupation millions of people were murdered (starting with anyone who was educated) and they even did away with currency (they burned all the money) which basically meant that if you wanted to eat you needed to work for them on their rice farms, etc.
One of the most interesting sections in the museum was created by a foreign (I think he was from Sweden?) activist who had belonged to a group sympathizing with the Khmer Rouge during the late 70s. He and some of his colleagues actually entered Cambodia during the peak of the murders and were hosted by the Khmer Rouge. Today the man thoroughly apologizes for supporting the Khmer Rouge and the museum displays his photographs that were taken on that trip with commentary. It's interesting to think that these people were there and they didn't notice anything sinister occurring or if they did they were able to deny it and turn their heads the other way.
Again, I didn't take a lot of pictures but you can find a few more over here.
A bit of a warning, this is going to be a depressing/sad entry. Most of the places we went to in Cambodia had to do with the Khmer Rouge genocide. If you haven't seen the movie "The Killing Fields", I recommend it. Very horrible and dark things occured in this country and even though the people are recovering, you can still sense it everywhere you go. At least I could.
I didn't take a lot of pictures at Choeung Ek (Killing Fields) but I have to say, it was an experience to walk through, see the memorial filled with bones and skulls and to occasionally stumble and realize that you tripped over a piece of clothing or a bit of bone poking out of the ground. I was also conflicted by the children and men lingering around the outskirts begging for money. On one hand, they are probably suffering and living in poverty, but on the other it felt like they were just exploiting the pain and tragedy of their country to make an extra dollar. I suppose I would probably be doing the same thing if I were them though... Although I should add that Cambodia chose to privatize this site and basically sold it to a Japanese company in 2005. Anyway, it's a chilling place to visit and a must see if you want to know the real horrors of war and genocide.
Next we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. I wasn't familiar with this place before I visited Phnom Penh but I would really recommend visiting it. It also hasn't been privatized. Tuol Sleng used to be a high school but during the Khmer Rouge regime it was transformed into Security Prison 21 (S-21). Apparently they show a film at 10 am and 3 pm but we unfortunately weren't able to see it. It was tough walking through and looking at the former classrooms that had been turned into tiny cells and torture chambers. Some rooms were filled with pictures of some of the many victims, while others contained only rusty beds and blood stains on the floor.
I can't even imagine the devastation, fear and loss that has been suffered in this country. It was as if they were blasted back into the Stone Age. During the Khmer Rouge occupation millions of people were murdered (starting with anyone who was educated) and they even did away with currency (they burned all the money) which basically meant that if you wanted to eat you needed to work for them on their rice farms, etc.
One of the most interesting sections in the museum was created by a foreign (I think he was from Sweden?) activist who had belonged to a group sympathizing with the Khmer Rouge during the late 70s. He and some of his colleagues actually entered Cambodia during the peak of the murders and were hosted by the Khmer Rouge. Today the man thoroughly apologizes for supporting the Khmer Rouge and the museum displays his photographs that were taken on that trip with commentary. It's interesting to think that these people were there and they didn't notice anything sinister occurring or if they did they were able to deny it and turn their heads the other way.Again, I didn't take a lot of pictures but you can find a few more over here.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Get Your Visas Ahead of Time
This is something I have learned on this trip. Don't be lazy. If you can get all your visas before you go, do it. Yes, even if it's supposed to be simple and they are giving them out like hotcakes at the border. Every border crossing we had was a headache in one way or another and it would have been lessened if we'd had our visas already set up.
For example, going from Saigon to Phnom Penh. A visa is supposed to cost $20 US but when we were on the bus they informed us that they charge $25 US so that they can speed us through the border. We were annoyed but didn't want to be left behind by our bus, like we were when we went to Laos and got our visa on arrival there. Then it turned out that at the ghetto border crossing (aka mountain hovel) where we came into Vietnam they had failed to give us a departure card. In most other countries this would have been no biggie. Just fill out another one, right? However, they are sticky in Vietnam and these cards are stamped on arrival to show where you entered the country. The bus guy said that they usually don't care if people lost them but it was our lucky day because they cared. So we had to stand there nervously and eventually they let us through but we had to bribe them. So there goes an extra $3 US/person. Getting into Cambodia cost us $16 US more than it should have. It was annoying and a little nerve wracking. Yes travelers, get your visas before your trip!
For example, going from Saigon to Phnom Penh. A visa is supposed to cost $20 US but when we were on the bus they informed us that they charge $25 US so that they can speed us through the border. We were annoyed but didn't want to be left behind by our bus, like we were when we went to Laos and got our visa on arrival there. Then it turned out that at the ghetto border crossing (aka mountain hovel) where we came into Vietnam they had failed to give us a departure card. In most other countries this would have been no biggie. Just fill out another one, right? However, they are sticky in Vietnam and these cards are stamped on arrival to show where you entered the country. The bus guy said that they usually don't care if people lost them but it was our lucky day because they cared. So we had to stand there nervously and eventually they let us through but we had to bribe them. So there goes an extra $3 US/person. Getting into Cambodia cost us $16 US more than it should have. It was annoying and a little nerve wracking. Yes travelers, get your visas before your trip!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Off to Cambodia
We're leaving on the 8 am bus tomorrow for Phnom Phen so it's hard to say when I will be updating again. I tried to finish my blogs about Vietnam but unfortunately time has run out and I haven't been able to talk about Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). I will do that as soon as I can so I guess everyone has something to look forward to. ^^ Cross your fingers that we don't experience any trouble at the border. There's been lots of warnings about crooked Cambodian border guards. Hopefully all will go well and we should be in Cambodia around 2:30pm! Cheers until then!
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