Part 2: The Kingdom of Cambodia

Going over in Vietnam ended with us cutting out days in Cambodia. Upon arrival, we were to meet Pablo who had just arrived a few days ago. It’s hard to communicate without cellphones. 

We were supposed to meet at an Ultimate Frisbee pickup at a school but on the way there with another expat we decided to turn back since it was raining very hard and we imagined it had probably been cancelled. Due to lack of internet we found out late that Pablo was going, and by the time we told him we weren’t he had no internet or way of knowing. We decided to walk through town (we were in Phnom Penh) to his hostel to see if he was there. He wasn’t and the hostel was full so we went to another one nearby and told him where we were. Turns out the pickup wasn’t cancelled and Pablo ended up playing Frisbee in hiking boots with a bunch of strangers, and a few hours later made it back to our hostel. When he came in he was welcomed by the smell of weed. I thought the hostel smelled funny, but when we came back out of our room the owner, some staff and guests were smoking away in the lobby. We knew there would be a lot of pot in Cambodia but didn’t expect it to be that casual. Well that was my first experience around weed, which was really just a bunch of people with droopy red eyes laying around, occasionally giggling. There was also an old German who had a few redbulls and would spontaneously break into dance. We stayed at that hostel for 3 nights and every night there were people smoking weed in the lobby. It was even on the drink menu.

Phnom Penh doesn’t have much more than temples and museums. It’s worth it to stay a day there just for the museums though. Cambodia is an extremely poor country, not just in the countryside. It makes Guatemala seem very developed. The reason for this lies in its tragic history. We went to two museums, The Killing Fiends and S-21. The killing fields had a great audio tour and although I’m still no expert on the topic, it helped understand what happened in Cambodia only some 30-40 years ago. The Killing Fields is one of the many mass graves around the country where the Khmer Rouge brought people they deemed traitors or enemies to be killed. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed with alternative, barbaric methods, almost all of them Cambodian, because it was too expensive to use guns. Children were spun around and smashed against trees, men’s throats were slit with the sharp edge of sugar palm leaves. Farming tools were used to beat people to death. A stupa in the middle of the museum houses a tower of a few hundred skulls that were recovered from some of the mass graves. All of this is being narrated to you by a local over an audio tour device, and it’s deeply moving. At the end he wishes we learned something from this story not only for the sake of Cambodia, but ours as well as it can still happen again.

What is most shocking about this story is the massacre wasn’t between races, as is usually the case, but it was one of Khmer killing Khmer. Pol Pot had radical ideals and they required killing everyone who was not on his side. Due to his opposition to education, school was forbidden and most of Cambodia’s educated people were killed. This is one of the main reasons Cambodia is so poor today.

Moving on, our next stop was Siem Reap. It’s a bit of a party town though it has some nice markets, but the reason to go here was for the temples of Angkor just out of town. Various sources told us that a day was not enough, three is recommended to see everything. Thus we shelled out the 40$ for a 3-day ticket. Our first day we left at 5am on a tuk-tuk to catch the sunrise over Angkor Watt. The rainy season didn’t provide the right weather but we did get the chance to roam around while other people stood outside by the “lake” (it was just a pond) waiting.

When you hire a tuk-tuk they drive you to each temple on two different circuits you can choose from since they are far apart. After Angkor Watt we moved to Bayon which is arguably the most awesome site. The feeling is majestic as you roam around the top floor among the giant stone heads. Next there is Ta Prohm in which you will hear the name “Tomb Raider” being thrown around a lot since part of one of the films was shot there. Ta Prohm is a large walled complex in which many of the stone structures have been overgrown by gigantic trees. I didn’t take many photos since it was packed with tourists but even so it’s epic. Makes you want to run around and dodge traps like you’re Indiana Jones.

The first day we did the short circuit and were done by midday. By then we had pretty much seen all the awesome temples. The subsequent days we went back on bicycles, There’s a dozen or so other temples, but they are all very similar and some rather small, so once you see one or two you’ve pretty much seen them all. But it does do for a nice bike ride and keeps you busy for the day so…

This used to be the King's bathtub (swimming pool?) Now it's this guy's moto wash...

Back in Siem Reap, the markets sold a lot of nice things but what stood out the most were the paintings. Like paintings in Antigua, most stands sold the exact same paintings, very few if no original work, but the skill was outstanding. Some better than others but most were still amazing. They depicted sunsets over the temples, monks walking in the forest, and elephants among the ruins. The greatest thing about Cambodian markets is that they are so easy to haggle with. I suck at haggling, and have pretty much never gotten a deal but in Cambodia they drop their prices very fast. I was close to buying a traditional violin (but decided not to since I didn’t want to lug it around for a month). Initial price was 60$ but it dropped to 30$ without much effort. Later another man started at 30$ and dropped it to 10$. In the end if they don’t give you the price you want just walk away and you will most likely get it. Siem Reap also has really cheap massages. One place was owned by a restaurant next door and if you ate there you got a 20% discount off your massage. The place was full so we had a cocktail while we waited. The cocktail was 1$. The massage was 4$ after the discount. Basically, free cocktail. There were other cheaper places but I’d feel uneasy paying 1$ for a massage. This one road had a lot of places with cheap massages and people aggressively trying to usher you in, including many ladyboys. No thanks. They also sold insects to eat on that road. Yes please. I had tried crickets and maggots in Thailand but here they had much bigger bounty. Tarantulas and water beetles (according to one source they were water beetles but not totally sure what they were). Tarantulas kind of taste like chicken one the top half, probably because they were fried, but the bottom half is more like fish guts. You know that blackish brown stuff near the gills? It’s kinda like that. Still alright though, I could snack on some tarantulas over a movie. Water beetles were not so nice. You need to remove the top cover and wings, but the shell is hard like a large prawn, feels very much the same too. Pablo and Keat even had light allergic reactions, they also happen to be allergic to shrimp. The inside was just a brown mush with some light green eggs. It was an experience but I would pass if somebody offered it to me again. Only slightly better was our dinner, barbequed crocodile. It’s kind of like smelly fish mixed with smelly pork. Needed a lot of chili sauce to mask the flavor.

The last thing about Cambodia is all the drugs and prostitution. We knew they were there, and common, but it was much more common and open that we thought. You don’t have to seek it out, it comes to you. Many tuk-tuk drivers at night will come up to you asking “Marihuana?” “You want cocaine?” “Hey you, you wanna get highhhhhh?” and they are very persistent even after you say no. One guy came up to me asking if I wanted a tuk-tuk ride. I said no. “Ok. 50$” (Note: dollars are accepted everywhere in Cambodia even though the official currency is the riel. ATM’s usually give USD as well)

“What? 50$ for what?” No tuk-tuk ride is that long.
“Bum-Bum!” (This is the term for prostitutes. It is the same in Vietnam and Laos)
“What? No!”
“It very cheap! Pretty girls!”
“But I don’t want any!”
“Vietnamese girl and Cambodia girl!”

He followed me an entire block. We eventually told him we were going to get dinner first and then come back so he’d leave us alone.

After the temples Keat headed to another town and I spent a couple more days in Siem Reap with Pablo. Didn’t really do much, just ate fruit, read, and hung out with people in the evening. I then went to a town called Kratie, while Pablo headed to Thailand, but there wasn’t much to do there since it was the rainy season and most of the trails were flooded. All I did was go see river dolphins with a Spanish guy I met on the bus. The next day I decided to take a break to not spend money so I pretty much did nothing. Next was a long and painful minivan ride to Laos.