 |
| Our first taste of a TukTuk |
Thursday, 10th March - Flying from Kuching in Borneo, we were forced to transit for a few hours in the rather luxurious Singapore Airport, before finally arriving in Phnom Penh, Cambodia at about 4pm. Visa – Check, Passport – Check, Damaged Luggage – Check (cheers Silk Air). Leaving the terminal and we were ready to take on our first taste of crazy driving as we took the invitation from a tuk tuk driver to take us to our guesthouse about an hour away. We thought we’d seen some crazy things in Malaysia and Borneo however from 4 people on a moped to 30 people in a people carrier, we had truly arrived in SE Asia.
Obviously along the way the first thing our driver decided to do was to test out his hands free, consisting of shoving his mobile into his helmet whilst buzzing along the bustling evening traffic surrounding Phnom Penh. A few minutes later and we were being offered the menu of things to do and see in and around the city – including the opportunity to fire a gun, throw a grenade and of course bazooka a cow. Having finally beaten the crowds we arrived at our guesthouse where we eagerly waited…and waited… and waited, for the arrival of Soph’s course-mate Sam and her friend Jen, who no more than 3 hours later finally arrived from a delayed bus journey! That evening we nipped to a rather overpriced restaurant, especially considering the food that followed – overcooked and tasteless to say the least, but enjoyed catching up on each others travelling stories!
 |
| Skulls for all to see at the Killing Fields |
The next morning the four of us headed out to what is known as the Killing Fields, a bit of a heart-in-mouth moment as our guide explained how the Khmer Rouge went about their mass slaughtering of innocent Cambodians during the mid to late 1970’s – definitely worth a Wikipedia search when you have the time. From the tower of over 8,000 skulls to the mass grave sites as well as a killing tree – a tree in which the soldiers would sling children against in order to kill them, they did what they could to save bullets. In the afternoon we headed to S21 (or S10 as Sam called it, which kept on confusing our driver), which shows the site in which a former school was used to hold those next in line for the slaughtering. It really was both an upsetting and disturbing experience as the photos of those held (many as young as 3 or 4) in the incredibly tiny cells were there for all to see.
 |
| Faces of those who were tortured at S21 |
 |
| Us outside the Royal Palace |
The following day we spent the morning visiting the Royal Palace before heading on the 6 hour bus journey to Siem Reap – not before mass confusion as we were firstly sent to an office in the middle of Phnom Penh before the company realised we were due to catch a bus from a different location – however we did eventually arrive in Siem Reap where we tucked into a sizzling Khmer BBQ, which included crocodile, snake and kangaroo meat.
For our first full day in Siem Reap the four of us set off on bikes to tour Ankor Wat – an area of land with over 100 ancient temples – an incredible site, infact one of the Seven Man-Made Wonders of the World! During the day we saw quite a number of temples, of which included one that was used for the Tomb Raider film.
 |
| Monks leaving Angkor Wat |
 |
| Soph, Sam and Jen posing on the Angkor Steps |
As for the main temple, we began to sit watching the sunset until a police officer kicked us out, before saying he could show us the best view of it, for a small fee of course – that small fee being $20. Eventually however, we managed to get it for $10 between us all, and having bribed the policeman we did get to just about see sunset having clambered over bits of scaffolding along the way, no need for health and safety in SE Asia I guess. Following a tiring day cycling in 35 degree heat we headed back for an evening along pub street going from bar to bar as we celebrated our birthday a day early as Sam and Jen were off to Bangkok the next day.
A selection of photos from our day at Angkor Wat. Left: The four of us inside the temple from Tomb Raider. Centre: Our rather cool bikes outside another temple. Right: Soph and Sam at sunset
Write off…the only words to describe the next day as we didn’t arise until 2pm – what a great way to start a birthday. Since I in particular hadn’t managed to get a present for Soph we headed to a 5* resort where I treated us to an incredible massage and spa experience.
 |
| Sunrise at Angkor Wat |
The following day we had arranged with a tuc tuc driver to take us to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. However, as time ran on he didn’t arrive so instead our hostel owner woke one of their workers who offered to take us. Alas, the other tuc tuc driver arrived and was not happy when we told him he was too late and we had instead took the one we had awoken (bear in mind it was 5.45am). Watching the sunrise over the main temple was an incredible site and we then spent a few more hours seeing yet more temples, however once templed out we headed back for the day where we packed an prepared for our bus journey the next day to Bangkok.
 |
| Cool photo of our TukTuk from our final day at Angkor Wat |
No comments:
Post a Comment