BACKRUBS, BEACHES and BORDERS

(KHMER TALES PART 8)

Travel Tales Index - Khmer Tales Index - Laos Pictures - Cambodia Pictures


Anyone who would like to get travelogues direct from me, e-mail me and I will add you to my distribution list. I have no idea when or where the next travelogue will be, just that there will be one. Khmer Tales consisted of 8 parts (including this one). If you are missing a part, let me know and I'll e-mail it to you or you can now find it AND PHOTOS on the web at www.gorillatales.com/KhmerTales.

I would like to do some travel writing for magazines, newspapers, websites etc. Do you know anyone who might be interested in my stories? I would like everyone reading this to let me know what you like about my writing, what you don't like and most importantly, how you think I might improve. Any and all comments, suggestions, complaints, questions etc. are welcome. Please e-mail me.

Pictures and a route map can be found at www.gorillatales.com/KhmerTales.

Here's the final part of this travelogue.

1/30 - 2/4 Phnom Penh.

It's time to leave Kampong Thom and head to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh and share taxis are the way to do it. We go to the "bus station" and find out which taxi is leaving next. They stuff 3 people into the front and 4 into the back of a Toyota Camry and take you to the central market in Phnom Penh. Since the fare is only $2.50/person, Lois and I splurge and buy 3 seats in the back so it will be a comfortable ride. Three hours later, we've arrived. Happily, a friend in Takoma Park, MD (Carol) knows some people that live in Phnom Penh (Bob & Evie) and they had invited us to stay with them. Thanks Carol. Thanks Bob & Evie. Bob & Evie opened up their home to us and Bob gave us a perspective on Phnom Penh that we wouldn't have seen without his help.

Of course, finding Bob & Evie's house was a little adventure in itself. We had an address (#58, 53rd St.) and a map, what more could we need? We find 53rd street in Phnom Penh and start walking along it, looking for number 58. But, of course, the numbers are not in order and they sort of jump up and down with some logic, but not too much. We get to the end of 53rd street and still haven't found their house. Lois walks back up the street to double check and I give Bob a call. It turns out, it just looks like we are at the end of 53rd street. The street seems to dead end at a market, but even though it is blocked off, it actually runs through the market (which isn't on the map). So, we push through the market with our packs, trying not to break or knock over too many items on the way. Once through the market, we easily find Bob & Evie's. They show us our room which has HOT WATER, a BATHTUB, more than one light bulb and air conditioning. Is this the Ritz-Carlton or what?

As we are getting settled, I realize there seems to be a little too much space in my pack. Uh-oh... "Hey, Lois, where are my convertible pants that you washed in Kampong Thom?". "Uh, in the hotel closet where I left them to dry". Having a defeatist attitude, I figure I can always buy another pair of pants. Not Lois. She points out that we have taken all kinds of transportation and on just about every one, the driver was carrying goods for someone who wasn't present. We should be able to arrange for a share taxi driver that covers the Kampong Thom - Phnom Penh route to pick up the pants at the hotel in Kampong Thom and deliver them to us in Phnom Penh. Bob hears this and wants to see if it will really work (so do I) and we go back to where the share taxi dropped us off. Now, we have to communicate to a taxi driver what we want. This is where it gets fun. Of course, anytime we try and do anything in Cambodia, we attract a little crowd that wants to see what's going on. So, a moto driver who speaks a little English finds us and we explain to him what we need. He communicates this to the share taxi driver. We agree on a price of $5, but it seems like the driver isn't too sure about the whole deal and, therefore, neither are we. We get his cell phone number and arrange to call him the following afternoon and pick up the pants. Of course, when Lois calls him, he doesn't really speak English, so he says, "You come here, you come here". Bob drives us over to the share taxi stand and as soon as I get out of the car, the driver comes over with the little bundle he got at the hotel in Kampong Thom. It is a bag labeled "For Mr. Paul in Phnom Penh". Inside are my pants. I'm shocked that this worked, the driver is shocked that he's getting $5 for such an easy job and we're happy all around (meanwhile, Lois is saying "I knew it would work").

In between driving us back and forth to the taxi stand, Bob managed to give us a couple nice tours of Phnom Penh and show us what he likes about the town - It's not too large or crowded, lots of good restaurants, two English language papers, a couple of well stocked English language bookstores, a clean attractive riverside park where people take their families for a stroll, a couple of pretty Wats, a museum that houses a population of over 1 million bats (along with some great Khmer art from Angkor Wat and other sites). We go at about 5:30 PM and wait to see the bats come out as it gets dark. We can hear them making noise, but see no bats. As it gets to be 6:00, then 6:15 and I'm thinking, "this is a bust". But, at about 6:20, bats starts streaming out. They form a black tube about 10 feet in diameter heading toward the river. We watch as bats emerge for around 15 minutes. Not such a bust after all.

We decide to visit Tuol Sleng. This is an infamous site in Cambodia related to Pol Pot's rule. It was a high school that Pol Pot turned into a prison and torture chamber for people judged to be enemies of the state. Being a teacher, having a college education or wearing glasses were all indicators of enemies of the state. Of the 15,000 prisoners that entered, only 7 walked out alive. Most were tortured to death. We walked through the prison and saw the cells and photos of many of the guards and prisoners. It looked like most of the guards were about 13 years old. The horror of this period is something that everyone in Cambodia lives with to this day. Most of the perpetrators have not been brought to justice and some are living privileged lives in Cambodia. The UN had been pushing for the arrest and trial of many of Pol Pot's former associates, but they just announced they are abandoning the process because they believe the corruption and penetration of these people into the current government would prevent them from being brought to justice.

We choose the restaurant Pon Lok for dinner. According to my guide book, it has excellent food and cute looking waitresses. Once we order our food and start eating, we all agree that the food is excellent but all we see are waiters. Then one waitress comes out and pours our drinks. Her job is to keep us drinking beer and keep our glasses full. She's pretty cute, so I give her a smile which she seems to like, but, she still blushs. Of course, this means I have to tease her a little more. To which she responds by massaging my neck with one hand. I immediately straighten up and a minute later am getting a full head, neck and back massage. Bob tells her in Cambodian that Lois is my wife. Soon afterward, one of the waiters offers to give Bob a back massage and another massages Lois. After about 20 minutes of massages, we (really Lois) decide it's time to head out. Of course, I could have stayed all night! That strong handed waitress knew all the spots to hit. So, if you were to ask us our most unusual experience on our trip, I think this is at the top of the list.

After 5 days of the good life in Phnom Penh, we decide to head on to Takeo. Thanks again to Bob & Evie for their hospitality. We check out of the "Ritz-Carlton" and get on a bus for a pleasant (ie. minimal potholes) 2 1/2 hour ride to Takeo. Takeo has a series of canals, some of which were first built in the 4th/5th century AD and the minor temple ruins of Phnom Da from the 9th century. We go to the main canal and are immediately surrounded by 5 boatmen all of whom want to take us out in their boat - for $20. I figure the laws of supply and demand dictate we should be able to get a better price than that and offer $10. Sure enough, one of the guys agrees and off we go. Of course, for that price, we don't have the boat to ourselves, we share it with about 8 other Cambodians who are heading to various destinations on the canals.

It takes about one hour for the boat to reach Phnom Da. The boatman lets us off in a small village and leaves to take the Cambodians to their destination, after which he will come back to pick us up (we hope). We climb up to see Phnom Da. There is a good view of the whole area but the ruins are quite unimpressive. We climb back down and the boatman is nowhere to be seen. This is when one of the great things about travel occurs - a little unexpected serendipitous occasion. We sit at a thatched roof drink/food stand and spend about an hour waiting and watching life in the village. First we see a couple of men fishing with nets. Lois goes over to investigate. They are catching small fish about the size of a sardine. A couple kids have a long stick with a hook at the end and are trying to pick coconuts from tall trees at the water's edge. A farmer guides a hay filled cart pulled by oxen. Someone with two large rice sacks filled with small rice plants is trying to balance them on the back of his bicycle while pedaling. A moto driver with three adult passengers (all four on a 100 CC Honda dream), kicks up some dust as he passes by. Meanwhile, I am eating cubes from a sweet pineapple that I just bought for 15 cents. We see our boat show up and I think how lucky we are he came back an hour late.

From Takeo, we head to Kampot, closer to the Gulf of Thailand. Kampot is obviously experiencing increased tourism. There are a number of new guesthouses in town and many foreigners walking around. We decide to take a walk along the river running through Kampot. In about 15 minutes, we are out of the town and in another 10, we are passing small fishing villages. We recognize the people as being Cham due to the woman's head coverings. As we walk, a small parade of children starts to follow us, growing in numbers the further we walk. They are all practicing every English phrase they ever learned or heard. "hello, hello, hello", "what's your name?", "how are you?", "where are you from?", "goodbye, goodbye". We stop walking and I find some shade and quiet on the side of the road while about 30 children surround Lois. She starts pointing to body parts and saying the English name and the children scream out the corresponding Khmer in unison. Lois tries to repeat what they say (usually, with minimal success). After about 20 minutes playing this game, we start heading back to town and say goodbye to the kids who start yelling "goodbye, goodbye". Meanwhile, they continue following us! As we get closer to Kampot and further from where they live, kids slowly drop out of the parade until we reach the town and they have all abandoned us.

After a few days in Kampot we are on our way to Sihanoukville, our final stop in Cambodia before heading to Thailand and back to the United States. Sihanoukville is right on the Gulf of Thailand and we stay at Serendipity beach. It's an uncrowded, white sand beach about 75 feet wide. Our guesthouse is a 2-3 minute walk from the beach. There are a number of food/drink stands on the beach and each one has a couple of beach umbrellas with chairs underneath. Teenage girls walk up and down the beach trying to sell fresh fruit. One morning, we pick a stand, sit down and have a delicious breakfeast of banana/pineapple pancakes and a cheese, green pepper and onion omelet. We spend the rest of the day sitting there, hopping up for a dip in the water on occasion, reading, buying some mangos and a couple of pineapples from the girls. They peel the fruit, cut it up into bite sized cubes and give it to you in a plastic bag with a couple of skewers. Total for breakfast and the privilege of sitting under the umbrellas: $3. The mangos and pineapples add another $1 to the cost of a near perfect day. We had considered checking out a beach or two in Thailand, but it is so beautiful and relaxing here that we decide to stay at Serendipity until 2/11.

2/11 Unfortunately, it's time to head back to Thailand. We take a 3 1/2 hour boat ride from Sihanoukville to Koh Kong, Cambodia. Then a speedboat for 20 minutes to the border. Passports out, get our exit stamps from Cambodia, walk across the border to Thailand and get our entry stamps and a minibus to Trat, Thailand. Goodbye, Cambodia.

Since Bangkok is 5 hours away and we want to get there during daylight, we spend the night in Trat. We go to the "night market" for dinner. This is where all the locals (and in this case, tourists) go for dinner. It's an open air spot where about 10 vendors set up every evening. There are 50-60 tables and you sit down and order whatever you like. I get some chicken satay for 5 cents per skewer. The sauce reminds me of a Mexican mole but with chopped up peanuts. It's sweet, hot and yummy at the same time. The thing I noticed about good Thai food is that the sauces have many different spices and you can taste all these different flavors with each mouthful.

After two more days in Bangkok, it's time to head back to the US. We've been home for 3 weeks now and are finally getting adjusted to a significantly different schedule and rhythm. It's quite a transition from traveling to being back home. It takes a while to reestablish your old routines and reconnect with friends. Has the experience changed our lives or us? Not really, but traveling is a continual stream of different experiences and acquaintances. We are now aware of some new cuisines and foods that we will probably incorporate into our diets. We have a greater appreciation of the stability, security and prosperity of our lives in the US. We have an expanded world view and understanding of the impact of war on a country. This is not our first 2 month trip and each time we have a good one, the possibility that there will be another one becomes that much more certain.

Final Notes on Cambodia

Spent 24 days in Cambodia
$853      on food, accomodation & transport
$ 50 on local crafts
$ 20 to replace stolen Camera - glad I didn't buy that digital one...
$145 on medical care
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$1068 total expenditure in 24 days.


Grand Totals
$ 747      27 days in Laos
$1068 24 days in Cambodia
$ 375 8 days in Thailand
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$2190 total expenditure in 59 days.


Things we miss about traveling Things that are nice about being home
Wearing Tevas and shorts everyday       More than 3 t-shirts to choose from
Being together 24X7 Not being together 24X7
Hot Weather Hot Showers
Eating new, interesting dishes Knowing we'll get what we intended to order
Meeting new people Seeing old friends


THE END OF KHMER TALES



                 


all content is copyright © Paul Schneider, 2002.