Cambodia Part 2: Culinary and Cultural Delights

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

We started our second day in Cambodia with a great deal more drama than our first. We stepped out of out guesthouse just after 5 am to catch sunrise at Angkor Wat. Tony (from last night's ride) was nowhere in sight so we found another tuk tuk driver and began negotiating a price with him for the day. Just as we were getting into his tuk tuk, another driver came up to us claiming to be Tony's friend. He demanded that we get in the tuk tuk with him, even though he was not willing to discuss price with us until we were already at the park. We flat out refused, and after a good deal of yelling and a number of violent expletive-filled threats, we convinced our new tuk-tuk driver to hit the road, leaving Tony's friend in the dust. We had barely made it onto the main road when we saw this lunatic driver racing up behind us. He continued to shower us, and our driver, with colourful language until we neared the city edge at which point he backed off, and presumably headed back into town to pick up another group of tourists. We later learned that he had in fact come all the way back to the park and harassed Paul, our new driver, while we were exploring the temples.
We apologized profusely for all of the confusion and vowed never to "commit" to a tuk-tuk driver again.
The confusion and anger of the early morning faded as soon as we stepped inside the Angkor Wat complex. We found ourselves among a small group of dedicated, coffee-toting tourists strategically positioned across the pond from the famous Wat where we watched in awe as the first rays of sun rose from the horizon, flooding the temple complex with an ephemeral morning light.

Taking in the early morning splendor of Angkor Wat

 

 

 

 

The Courtyard surrounding Angkor Wat

The ancient faces of Angkor Thom

With the tone peacefully set for the rest of the morning, we made our way through the rest of the temples- the highlights being of course Angkor Wat itself, Angkor Thom with it's many imposing faces and the overgrown, Indiana Jones-esque remains of Ta Prohm, perhaps best known for its appearance in the movie Tomb Raider.  Each temple shared similar characteristics, but there were also noticeable differences between some of the temples built at different times.  As we walked through, we were greeted by smiling monks offering prayers and incense to light for good luck.  Kora had suggested that we take off early from the main Angkor Wat temple to avoid the hoards of tourists, and we were pleasantly surprised once again to find ourselves free to explore in relative isolation.  The quiet undoubtedly contributed to the serenity of the experience.

The morning sun casting its rays through archways at Angkor Thom

The Jungley ruins of Ta Prohm

 

Lighting incense in one of the Wats

Banteay Srei

On the recommendation of our tuk tuk driver, we also made our way out to Banteay Srei, a 10^th century temple dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. The temple itself was not especially impressive compared to the others, but it gave us a chance to drive farther afield through rural Cambodia and we took the opportunity to stop in at the Landmine Museum along the way. 

 The landmine museum was opened under the efforts primarily of one incredible man, Aki Ra, a former Khmer soldier who fought alongside and against the Khmer Rouge and is now dedicated to ridding Cambodia of landmines and UXOs (unexploded ordnances). Although Aki Ra has personally deactivated more than 50,000 landmines and is to be named one of CNNs 10 Hero's of 2010, the sad truth is that his hard work has only begun to scratch the surface in Cambodia's efforts to be rid of landmines and UXOs. As a result of 60,000 carpet bombings by the US during the Vietnam war and the many many years of fighting under the Khmer Rouge, it is estimated that there are still between 5 and 6 MILLION landmines and UXOs plaguing the Country's beautiful countryside.

A deactivated landmine on display at the Museum

The one positive note of this visit is that the Cambodia Landmine Museum Relief Fund has garnered a great deal of international recognition and support (particularly from Canada) and in addition to deactivating thousands of mines each year, this NGO also provides shelter, support and education to children affected by landmines. When I get home to Hong Kong I will be making a small donation to the Fund and hope that readers will do the same!

After a full day we went to Angkor Palm for a big group dinner and found ourselves in gastronomic delight. The Cambodian curries were among the best I have ever had (beating out Royal Angkor, my longtime favourite Khmer food out of Kingston, ON) and we were also introduced to two incredibly tasty local dishes: Fish Amok, and Beef Loc Lac. We were so impressed by the food that we signed up for a Cambodian cooking class at Paul and Dave's hotel for the next night.

Sous Chefs extraordinaire!!!

Fresh, soon-to-be-curry vegetables

Feeling slightly templed-out by day three, we decided to switch up our pace a bit and explore some of Cambodia's other attractions. Our first stop was the firing range. Joel and I took a ride far out into the countryside and after a quick exchange of $50USD we had our pick of AK47s, Uzies, M-16s, M-60s, Bazookas, Rocket launchers, and a plethora of other sub-machine guns and weapons that made my head spin ever so slightly.










At the suggestion of the range operator (aka the guy who was casually smoking closest to the guns, and therefore seemed to be in charge) I opted for the M-16- a gun “good for lady”. Firing it was a blast (no pun intended) and my shots connected surprisingly close to the targets in the cross-hairs thanks to the very mild kickback and amazing accuracy of the gun. Joel chose a much more manly gun, the AK47, which exploded thunderously and sprayed fire as the bullets flew through the bunker toward the target. I was sprayed with a couple shells as I videoed him shooting and now have a tiny AK burn mark on my knee cap as a souvenir from this trip!

AK Stud

Target practice

Hardcore Biker Gang hits the Mean Streets of Siem Reap

Having had my adrenaline kick for the day, we decided to take it down a notch and rented bikes for the rest of the afternoon. We explored the other end of town before heading out down an incredibly rural path toward the floating village. Sadly, we found that the conditions of the communities along the way were very different than the conditions in the villages inside Angkor Park. On the outskirts of Siem Reap dilapidated huts ran in rows along a dirty river which carried a sickening amount of floating garbage from the city and presumably, since there was no evidence of any sewage system, also human waste and agricultural run-off. Nevertheless, children waded through these waters, bathing, playing and collecting tin cans and anything else that looked like it might be of value. The conditions improved slightly as we made our way farther away from the city centre and we once again began to marvel at the beauty of the flooded rice paddies which extended from the road straight into the horizon.

Shacks line the muddy waters of this river across from the main road

Longboats meander through the flooded villages

Cambodian Yacht

We rolled back into town just ahead of a few ominous black rainclouds and made it to Madame Butterfly for dinner just in time for a torrential downpour. By the time we had finished a fantastic meal and more than a few bottles of white wine, the tropical rains had transformed Siem Reap into Venice and we had to literally wade down Temple Street to get to Temple Bar. Once we were inside, we warmed ourselves with pitchers of cheap beverages and danced the night away until we were finally tired enough to brave the flood once more.

I returned to the hotel and slept soundly my last night in Siem Reap. I really hope that I will find myself back in Cambodia sooner rather than later, maybe to volunteer before returning to Canada, or maybe just to experience more of what the incredible Khmer culture has to offer!

Cambodia Part 1: Temple Tigers

 

How to fuel up on the road less traveled

Have now been on the unpaved Southeast Asian road for almost 3 weeks and in true backpacker form I have shirked all "real world" responsibilities (assuming the reader buys the argument that I had any of these to begin with) and replaced them with an unwavering dedication to cotton pants, leather bracelets, beaded satchels and night market tank-tops.

Unfortunately, my relapse into the backpacker cultural abyss (first episode in Europe, 2008) has caused me to fall behind on my blogging, but fear not loyal reader, there are benefits to sporadic posting. While two weeks of overnight travel and "shoilets" (combined shower/Toilet enclosures requiring rubber flipflops and tolerance of damp tissue paper) have wreaked a mild degree of havoc on my outward appearance, it has also filled my mind with cobwebs so thick that I couldn't recall the mundane details of day to day life on the road even if I tried, so the next few posts will be filled with just the highlights (read: gross exaggerations), as I see them, of my adventures thus far. Enjoy!

Temple Tigers: aka Kelly, Me, Kora and Joel

 On October 7th, after two and a half twenty-five hour days in Hong Kong, I had regained just enough muscle strength and post-Borneo cognizance to repack my bag with clean underwear, cash and a well-worn passport and boarded a plane to Bangkok. With reading break less than a week away and considerably less on our academic plates than back at home, it hadn't been difficult to persuade a sizable group of Canadian exchange students (the best and brightest in the future of the legal profession no doubt)to skip a couple school weeks straddling our officially sanctioned holidays so we arrived in Thailand with a bang.

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Crossing into Cambodia at Poipet

One of our friends, Paul, had scouted out tickets to Boys Noize, a couple DJs who were spinning electronic beats at club 808. We sipped a couple casual redbull vodkas, headed to the club, yadda yadda yadda, and arrived at the Cambodian boarder just before noon on the 8th ("just the highlights"). We made our way sleepily though the midday heat, past the stray dogs and dsty Coca Cola bottles to the visa office, and after getting our passports stamped we hired a taxi to take us to Siem Reap.

True to travel guide warnings, we made it about 3/4 of the way into town before our taxi driver got "lost" and suggested we hop out (in the middle of nowhere in the scorching sun) and find our own way to the hotel. We refused to budge from his car and after a few misunderstood words exchanged in stern tones, we were pased off to a tuk-tuk driver named Tony who had a slightly stronger command of the English language and apparently a much better sense of direction. Before long, Tony had dropped us off at Mandalay Inn (highly recommended) and was eagerly negotiating a hire for rides to the Angkor Temples the next day. After much hesitation, we agreed that if he happened to be around at 5am the next morning, and if in fact we hadn't made other plans, we would ride with him (a BIG mistake in hindsight).

After dropping our bags, we wasted no time in hiring a new tuk-tuk driver and headed straight out toward Batenaey Sambre and Pre-Rup for sunset. As we drove through the park, we were all somewhat surprised to find that the thick jungle and excavated temple sites were interrupted by a large number of Khmer villages with numerous farming communities tending to cattle, chickens, sugar palms and rice paddies.

 

Scenic ride out to Banteay Samre

Tending to cattle in the rice paddies

Angry roadside cattle

We arrived at Banteay Samre and found ourselves in total isolation among the thousand year old ruins. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows over the warm stones as we set our eyes on the intricate temple carvings and made our way through the many arches of the Wat. We continued down the road to Pre Rup where we watched the sun melt into the earth, turning the skies bright shades of red and orange. We waited until the jungle palms could be seen only as dark blue silhouettes against the bright horizon and then made our way back into Siem Reap.

Peering through the windows at Banteay Samre

Up the stairs of Pre Rup for sunset

I love sunset clouds

Enjoying the view with friends aka Temple Tigers: Kelly, Joel, Kora and myself

Feeling quite peckish, we made our way to the touristy town centre in search of a good local eatery. We found ourselves at "Viva" a Mexican restaurant just off the main night street and enjoyed some surprisingly palatable enchiladas and nachos. Feeling sufficiently refueled, we wandered toward the night market but opted for a 30 minute foot rub (by the blind, who earn a living this way thanks to one of Cambodia's many charitable NGOs) instead of tacky t-shirts.

Night Market Massage

This kid was cute enough to be the next Maddox Jolie-Pitt
until he relentlessly began demanding milk- a popular scam
believe it or not!

It was on the way back to the hotel that I began to see the ugly scars left behind by nearly 40 years of political oppression, bloody genocide, armed conflict, and civil unrest. Kids who looked as young as 4 made their way quietly between the feet of tourists, armed with plastic bags, stopping on street corners and behind restaurants to beg for money and scour garbage piles for scrap metal and other valuable items. Young women appeared from alley ways with small children and empty bottles in their hands desperately asking for money. Men with leathery faces, hardened by years of armed conflict and demanding physical labour, smoked quietly in corners of local restaurants, deep scars and amputated limbs silently hinting at the unthinkable hardships endured by an entire country for generations and generations. Despite this horrible history, we found the people of Siem Reap to be incredibly friendly and helpful. Whether this warm welcome was the result of increased optimism for the future of Cambodia or of desperation for the powerful tourist dollar is still unclear to me, but I am hopeful that it is the former.

Other sights at Angkor:

Borneo Part 2: Under the Sea and Into the Jungle

WARNING!!! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE A LOT OF PICTURES OF TROPICAL FISH AND CUTE MONKEYS, STOP READING NOW!!! (I couldn't stop uploading)

White Sand Beaches on Sapi Island

DAY 3:

We awoke on Saturday morning anxious to indulge in some much-deserved R&R.  We booked a ferry ride with Borneo Travel and made our way to the islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, 3 kilometers off the coast of Kota Kinabalu.  Our first stop was Sapi Island (Pulau Sapi) a rugged jungle island lined with idyllic white sand beaches and shallow coral reefs.

JUMPING!!!, Kinabalu!

The Boys enjoy some sun, surf and snorkeling

The sapphire-hued waters lapped against the shores as we stripped down to our bathing suits and affixed our snorkel masks firmly onto our faces.  We plunged into the salty sea which was about as warm as bath water and i began to kick my way out toward the coral reefs.  After only a few meters we were surrounded by stunning corals and tropical fish of all different shapes and colours.

Big Clown Fish

kissing angel fish

Parrot fish in the corals

Blue Starfish hugging the corals

After an hour or two, my hands were good and wrinkly so I floated toward land and came face to face with a monster dragon!!!!  Well not quite.  Although Komodo Dragons are permanent residents on Sapi Island, we were told that the four foot visitor we encountered was actually a monitor lizard, a close relative of the famous Komodo.  We were told by our guide that the monitor was not likely dangerous to humans, but they have been known to get vicious when threatened.  Needless to say, after seeing his claws and jaws, we kept a safe distance.

Monitor Lizard comes out for lunch

Beaches on Mamutik Island

Just before noon, we hopped back on our speed boat and made our way to Mamutik Island for a seafood BBQ.  It was quite a delectable spread, featuring everything from fresh crab to tofu to corn on the cob to fried chicken.  Concerned that I would be weighed down my feast, we took a quick walk along the beach before heading back into the water.  We climbed over the rocks on the northeast side of the island to get a better view of the islands and spotted another sizable lizard basking in the hot sun.

Nicole and Jesse explore the reef

It wasn't long before we were all baking as well and so we jumped back into the ocean, our masks and waterproof cameras in hand.  The waters around Mamutik were not quite as clear as around Sapi, but the schools of fish were equally as vibrant, and if possible, more abundant!  I swam until my legs reminded me that they had climbed a mountain the previous day, which coincidentally was not long before our guide indicated that our boat was departing for the mainland.  We hopped on board fully satisfied by our day of sun.

Finding Nemo!!

schools of clownfish

This cover band had mad talent! (the girl in particular)

After our exhausting day of sunbathing, we felt that we needed to unwind and so we sought out a spa for  full body massages and food reflexology.  For about $25 Canadian, we received an hour and a half rubdown and emerged relaxed and tension free.  We had a traditional Malaysian dinner along the waterfront at a place claiming to be "the spot where all the locals eat".  They served fresh squeezed juices and rich flavourful curries along with some delicious vegetable and noodle platters and by the end we were so full that we almost didn't have room for ice cream.  Almost.  We finished the night off with a walk through the local market and a trip to our favourite outdoor bar near our hotel for some sheesha and some live music.

DAY 4:

Crowds at the Sunday Gaya Street Market

We awoke late(ish) on Sunday morning and after breakfast wandered aimlessly through the unimpressive Gaya Street market.  It wasn't a complete waste of time since Nicole and I scored some sweet sarongs for dirt cheap and Mike bought a pendant to send home to his girlfriend.  Mike had to depart at noon so he could make his flight home in time to make Monday classes, but the rest of us still had a full day of exploring left, so we arranged a trip down the Klias River near Beaufort to see Borneo's jungles and wetlands and hopefully catch a glimpse of the strange-looking proboscis monkeys, found only in Borneo.

Making our way down the Klias River

The impressive roots of the Mangrove Tree

We had only been on the boat for a few minutes when the driver directed our attention to a couple tall trees swaying rapidly back and forth.  I looked up just in time to see one female proboscis fling herself from one branch and latch on to a limb fifteen feet below.  We hung around long enough to get some good pictures and then continued down the river.  The waters were muddy and lined with mangrove trees and thick palm branches, and we were advised to keep our hands inside the boat as the river is also home to 15 foot crocodiles.

Female Proboscis Monkey

We spotted many more proboscis monkeys as we made our way down the river and also saw a tree full of Long-tailed Macaques running back and forth along the branches.  By dusk, the silhouettes of monkeys could be seen in a number of the taller trees as we made our way back to the launching site for dinner.  We were lucky enough even to see a couple of male proboscis monkeys with their long, oddly shaped noses that are thought to help the males attract females and ward off intruders with their warning calls.  According to Wikipedia, a common Indonesian nickname for these monkeys is 'monyet belanda', meaning 'Dutch monkey' or 'Orang Belanda', the Indonesian word for 'Dutchman', as Indonesians noticed that large bellies and noses were common features of the  Dutch Colonizers.

Long tailed Macaque

Tree full of monkeys at dusk

We sat down to a rather unappetizing dinner (one of my first disappointing meals this whole trip!!) at the boat launch and then headed back out on the boat to catch a glimpse of the fireflies in the Mangrove trees.  I have to admit to being slighltly skeptical at first about the level of entertainment this extra trip would provide, but the little lightning bugs turned out to be quite a magnificent sight!!  The fireflies sparkled in mangrove trees along the river banks   making the already majestic trees seem positively magical.  It really was like something out of Avatar and we made plenty of references to the "spirit tree".

After conquering the mountains, oceans, rivers, jungles and cities, we said goodbye to Borneo still feeling like we had only just scratched the surface of this awesome island.