Finger-printed and temperature-gauged at the border crossing...then a quick old McBrayne-Cambodian ferry across the Mekong again (this river will continue to be a marvellous theme threading through a large part of the trip) alongside trucks, bikes, carts of all descriptions and whole families on single motor bikes. To Pnohm Penh, the refreshing capital, despite the greater evidence of poverty, delapidation and garbage along the outlying streets and rivers, where in the centre the new hotels and bars mingle happily with the French colonial vestiges and the local Khmer shops and small businesses which abound. We focus on long meandering walks along the riverside and through the back streets stall and markets where everyday life continues apace and visit the Silver Pagoda in the Royal Palace, remarkable for the 5,000 silver tiles that form the floor and the 600 meter long mural of the life and times and legends of the kings and the people that line the monks teaching cloister all round the Pagoda, and the Wat Penh, allegedly commemorating the founding of the city and a place of pilgrimage for Cambodians from far and near. In between, we manage to fit in the best most relaxing fabulous massage ever and a wee drink and snack at the Foreign Correspondents bar overlooking the river to recover......
Next day getting used to new ambience, smells and tastes we head for Siem Reap by bus. Also different is the slower pace and lesser amount of traffic, the even greater courtesy of all drivers who actually stop for pedestrians and the Tuk Tuks here feel absolutely safe to travel in , at least most of the time - see trip to Tonle Sap lake. Grilled aubergine dishes and the famous Amok become treats, so we had to do our second cookery morning to further our knowledge of Cambodian cookery, this time starting at 9 am and cooking a meal for 4 (with Xylon and Wendy from SA) which would have fed 12 - or indeed many more Cambodian families - what a waste. Need to think about this..... (Cambodian food quite distinctive through preponderance of coconut milk, egg and sugar - sometimes all 3 - in main dishes and desserts. Bit of an acquired taste. Average price 2 pounds per meal...)
High point of this visit to Siem Reap, however is Angkor Wat, really a national and religious sanctuary being restored and cared for after neglect under the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975. Our guide, Sam, now a grandfather of 5, worked in a killing fields labour camp for 4 years from age of 16, survived because a good worker, met his wife in the camp and married her 2 months after being released. Formerly a teacher and primary headmaster, he learned English and trained to be a tour guide to double his salary to allow his children to continue school and higher education.
But Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom temple complexes, from the dawn spectacle onwards provided 9 hours of gawping, wonder and astonishment at the engineering skills, the intense years of labour, the heavy sense of history and centuries of prosperity upheaval sacking tragedy and decline after the 15th century, as the once mighty Cambodian empire was overtaken by the rising power of Siam. Afternoon required rest and pondering, before sauntering through the markets, doing a little shopping (our first, apart from the Hoi An tailors, as trying to discipline ourselves to resist buying every beautiful artefact or article of clothing we see!) and having a Dr Fish foot massage/bath. Weird and hilarious!!.
8 December: free day around Siem Reap. After the cookery (above), we had gniger tea in the Butterfly gardens then grabbed a tuk-tuk to take us out of town southwards down dirtroads past rows and rows of small traders and family businesses and homes, all on stilts, alongside Tonle river to Tonle Sap lake and the floating villages (including floating shops, schools, churches and even floating pigsties), extraordinarily nestling together in amongst the tops of the low forests which are virtually submerged during the rainy season (just finished). Relatively poor yet bustling, vigorous, proud and busy fishing and trading communities. We return up the river as the sun begins to set behind the mangrove forests and the schoolchildren row and paddle themselves home from floating school to floating homes, the fishing families prepare and clean the nets, bring in the last anchovies with amazing skill, cook their meals or rock babies to sleep in hammocks strung across the small open rooms. Small children hop from house to boat to house or cavort in tubes, tyres or basins in the river. Unforgettable. See last blog post for some photos.
Hard life in Penang National Reserve....... merited by long trek through tropical rainforest!
Rafflesia flower, during muddy jungle trek, Cameron Highlands - very rare, flowers 10 days only, then dies.
