Cambodia

Wednesday April 13th ( Nah Trang - Phnom Penh)

Our morning started pretty wonderfully. As we got into Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) we had yet to plan how we were going to make it into Cambodia that day without making any kind of reservations, but were very pleasantly surprised that the travel agent that they dropped us off at offered bus trips to Phnom Penh and that they actually had one leaving in an hour of our arrival into Saigon from Nha Trang. That gave us just enough time to eat breakfast from across the street and hop onto our next bus. This was a huge relief for the two of us and to make the situation even better, it was Cambodian New Year tomorrow and for the next 3 days and they do not offer international buses into Cambodia during these 3 days. We crossed over the border and got snuggled in watching Law and Order, when all of a sudden there was a lot of commotion going on in the bus. It ended up that something was going funky in the engine which was making a ton of smoke seep out. After our driver assured us that this happened pretty often, we were the first people to be sent back in. Luckily there were no other problems. We arrived into Phnom Pehn safe and sound, took a tuk tuk to the Town View hotel and were happily greeted by Jasons parents. It was really nice to see some familiar faces and we were happy that we were taken to the right hotel. We had just enough time to have a shower and we were off again on a walking tour of the tour with Colin and Nicky's tour group. We were pretty happy that everyone was so nice and welcoming of us joining along for a couple days. After a quick stop at a gas station for iced cofffees we were on our way to cover a lot of ground. It was a really hot day with very still air, our first experience of this kind of heat. But it was really nice to see a bit of the town like this except the stinky river. Our tour ended at a temple in the middle of the town, but the actual temple was closed so the highlight was getting to see a few monkeys that were living there. Next we took a tuk tuk to have dinner, something I think both Jason and I needed to boost our energy a little bit. After dinner we took our tuk tuk back to our hotel before realizing that it was only 7pm so we ended up heading back out right to where we just left. We ended our night at the FCC club, having a few drinks before we all called it a night.

-Lisa

Thursday April 14th ( Phnom Phem)

Look who we found!

We woke up early to meet the parentals for breakfast (included none the less :) The tour group was headed to an optional orphanage in the morning and the killing fields in the afternoon. So we decided to do our own thing and check out the town thinking that going to an orphanage and the killing fields in one day would be too much. Turns out that as mentioned by the guide that during the New Years (which seemingly goes forever) all the stores are shut in Phenom Phem and everyone returns to the villages. They weren't joking, pretty much everything was shut so we went back downtown to the tourist section by the river and had coffee and later to a roof top restaurant for pizza to take care of our morning. We met up with the group and headed first to S21 which is what is referred to as a school, even though nobody was taught there. It was phase one of extracting information by torture before the victims were transfered to a killing field. Unfortunately for insurance reasons we weren't allowed on the bus, so the four of us (mom, dad, Lisa and I) followed the bus in a tuk tuk. The later part of the afternoon was spent visiting the actual killing fields which was extremely sad. It was something that we wanted to see but it was very disturbing. In the killing fields after in rains, more bones and clothing are uncovered. You literally walk between mass graves... words can't really explain it :( For the ride home, the rules had been changed and we were allowed on the bus. We stopped in at an orphanage to what we were told is to watch the kids dance (they were out in the morning) but were later coaxed into joining in. The orphanage was nothing like we expected and the kids were extremely happy and full of life, leaving us regretting missing out on the morning tour. With lack of choices, we headed back to restaurant we ate at the night before followed by a few drinks at the same place we went to the night before.

-Jason









Friday April 15 (Phnom Phem - Sihanoukville)

We woke early so we could have one last breakfast with Jasons parents before we part ways again. It was a really great visit and the two of us we so happy that our plans actually worked out so that we could meet up with them. Before we knew it we were on our next bus down south the Sihanoukville. It seems that further south we go, the more unbearable the heat is. I couldn't believe how hot it was when we got out of our bus and into town. I thought I was going to pass out trying to make a decision where we wat to go in the heat. Our tuk tuk driver took us to a bunch of hotels, all completely full because of the new year. It was so frustrating, and as soon as we found one that had a room for us we took it no matter of the cost. It was a cute little bungalow style room with a fan. It's times like these that you really wish you had an air conditioned room. We were pretty tired from the bus and weren't in any hurry to move too quickly so we just lazied around and found this little restaurant that served the biggest portions ever. I had this plate of mashed potatoes that usually feed my entire family at Christmas time and Jason had this massive curry dish and rice. Definitely get your moneys worth at Roses.

-Lisa

Saturday April 16th (Sihanoukville)

Finally being in one place for a few days excited us, we were feeling a little worn down from the buses. We decided that we would spend the entire day on the beach. The entire beach here is one big tourist attraction. Everything is catered towards tourists and people are constantly trying to sell you things. The little kids walk around selling bracelets, the teenage girls walk around balancing about 20lbs of fruit on there head and at a moments notice they'll whip it down and cut up as much fruit as you can eat for a dollar or two and the older ladies walk around offering mani, pedi's, hair removal via 'threading' or massages. It's quite entertaining some of the other ladies carry a bucket of seafood tied to one end of a stick and a small bbq on the other. It's crazy, there are people everywhere, I've never really been on a busy beach like this before. At night time they pull out tables and chairs right where the loungers were and serve dinner and cheap beer under candle light (Angkor Brewery, the official brewery of Cambodia owned by Carlsberg is located here, so you can get draft beer anywhere for next to nothing. After a day which turned into a night on the beach, we were happy to head back to our hotel to finally wash all of the sand off and apply some Aloe!

-Jason





Sunday April 17th (Sihanoukville)

We ended up choosing not to head to one of the islands and just stay in Sihanoukville for the few days that we were here. We had read some reviews online of the bungalows that are on the different islands ad it doesn't seem like anyone had anything nice to say about any of them. Jason wasn't feeling too good (too much time in the sun yesterday) so I had a lot of hanging time by myself because I felt like I was going to pass out if I stayed in the room too long in the middle of the day. I spent some alone time catching up on some of my reading and went to an Israeli restaurant for lunch for the best falafel pita ever. Trying to find things to do by myself really made me appreciate having someone else to travel with.

-Lisa

Monday April 18th (Sihanoukville)

Waking up feeling much better (I streamed a big Game 3 Canucks win starting at 7am), we decided that when in Rome, do as the Roman's do and headed down to the beach to soak up some more sun. As the New Year's ending the beaches were a lot quieter which mean's less tourists for the locals to try and sell their services to. Lisa ended up going back to her Mani/Pedi lady to get her legs threaded and before I knew it I was getting my toe and finger nails tuned up. After constantly being bombarded by kids trying to sell bracelets and food we decided to pull chute in the afternoon. We decided to keep our room for the day so we could freshen up before taking our night bus. I write you from the beach, just counting down until night bus time!

-Jason

Some serious blogging going down hard left. 

Tuesday April 19th ( Siem Reap)

Our night bus last night was a more interesting one than we are used to. We were super late being picked up and once we got to the bus station there was some major confusion as to where we were all supposed to go. There were people going all different places: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Bangkok. Once it was finally figured out that we all were supposed to go on the same bus we hopped on expecting a sleeper bus like in Vietnam (it was the way the guy that booked it described it) but in reality it was just big leather seats that reclined. Once everyone was settled in there was some commotion coming from behind us. Apparently some tourist didn't like the fact that the guy in front of him was reclining his seat and it was hitting his knees. There were some insults being thrown both ways and it took a bus chaperone and an hour for everything to really cool off. After we dropped off passengers in Phnom Penh it really started to rain hard, and I was the lucky one sitting underneath the leaking emergency exit. Took much rain and I was getting furstated and soaked so I moved to a different seat that ended up belonging to someone else. When I told the bus worker what was going on, he grabbed some electricians tape which clearly wouldn't do the trick for the amount of water that was seeping though. Jason being a gentleman offered to sleep on the floor and I take his spot. We were both happy an hour later when the rain finally stopped. Our 6am hotel choice ended up being one of the nicest hotels that we have stayed at during this trip. The hotel only opened in January and everything was brand new in the rooms. There was a huge storm here last night (same one as in the bus) and the power was knocked out for most the day in Siem Reap. We caught up on a little sleep that we missed on the bus and before we knew it our tuk tuk driver was there to take us to the sunset at Angkor Wat. Walking up to one of the temples was pretty tough in the heat and when we got there I think it was a small indication of just how busy it is going to be tomorrow. There were so many people scrambling to get to the top of the temple and no such thing as personal space. Kind of began to remind us of Tikal. Once we had seen the romantic sunset shared with half a million of our closest friends we headed to Pub Street for some dinner. Going to be another early night for us.

-Lisa

Wednesday April 20th (Siem Reap)

We woke up early with hopes of checking out as much of Angkor Wat as we could in one day. We met up with out tuk tuk driver and headed out to the park. We managed to view 6 different temples which were all really impressive. It was extremely hot (about 35) and we were disgustingly sweaty and worn out in what felt like an up hill battle. I'll be honest, that by the end of it they all looked pretty similar. We were able to pick up some souvenirs which we figured were a good deal only to be harassed the rest of the way round by other venders offering to give us a better deals. We headed back down to pub street for some much needed food in the late afternoon as well as a final few Angkor Draft before headed back to our hotel. Our fate is another night bus leaving at 2am to Bangkok and then hopefully if we can arrange a night train down to southern Thailand once we arrive :( All and all a great experience checking out Angkor Wat, a little touristy and very hot. The guide books recommend a minimum 3 days - 1 week... but really, a night and full day was more then enough for us.

-Jason