Saturday, November 1, 2014. Tonle Sap Lake Floating Village.

A friend of mine once said, "Judi doesn't go anywhere unless she has already been there." She was referring to my detailed trip planning and yes, I have been on many virtual trips. 

My research for a trip to the floating villages on the Tonle Sap Lake provided me with very mixed reviews. I read everything from, "such a rip off, don't go" to "interesting and educational". As much as I tried to take these reviews with a grain of salt, I kept going back to them and changing my mind with every review I read. 

All that being said, this morning at 8 am we boarded John's tuk tuk and headed for The Tonle Sap and the floating village of Kampong Phluk. Upon arrival at the ticket booth we purchased our tickets. We were told yesterday that they would be $20 each but today they wanted $25 which is a lot by Cambodian standards. We paid it and were ushered aboard a very primitive looking boat. The skipper immediately pushed off, started the engine and headed down the channel that would take us to the village of Kampong Phluk. We cruised around the village, watching people go about their daily lives; fishing, mending nets, cooking, and even rowing to school. 

We arrived at a dock and with pointing gestures, our skipper (who spoke no English) encouraged us to get out. On this dock we were asked to pay again, $7 each for a boat ride through the mangrove forest. This time an older woman, who also spoke no English, rowed us around. Several other boats came up to us to try and get us to buy something, but we politely declined. 

       

    

Eventually we came to another dock where she pointed for us to get off.  I think she wanted us to eat at the restaurant here but we didn't want anything. She then led us up the dock where a girl explained to us that our driver was going to eat. We walked around for a bit, thinking that we were waiting for her, but when we got back to the dock, our driver and her boat were gone! 

A few minutes later, the skipper of our original boat appeared and we climbed in with him. He motored out into the lake to give us a quick look and then turned around and headed back to the dock.

The Tonle Sap is the largest lake in Southeast Asia. It is is unusual for two reasons: its flow changes direction twice a year, and the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons. From November to May, Cambodia's dry season, the Tonlé Sap drains into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. However, when the year's heavy rains begin in June, the Tonlé Sap backs up to form an enormous lake. 

After about 30 minutes we arrived back at our starting point, disembarked and headed back to Siem Reap in our tuk tuk. 

This trip was everything everyone said it was going to be: a bit of a rip off and yet fascinating. 

Friday, October 31, 2014. Laundry and Phare, The Cambodian Circus.

We planned a quiet day today so that we could take care of our laundry, hang out by the pool and spend the evening at Phare, The Cambodian Circus. Taking care of laundry involved walking about 20 meters from the hotel and putting our laundry bag on a scale. Weighing in at 2 kilograms, we were told the cost would be $2.00 and to come back for it at 5 pm. 

     

      

Hanging out at the pool was just as effortless. We staked out a couple of lounge chairs, spread out our towels and rested, read, swam and baked. It was another very hot day in Siem Reap and so a couple of hours was more than enough to spend at the pool. 

A walk downtown took us to neat little cafe where we had lunch. Even though Cambodia is the poorest country in South East Asia, Siem Reap is such a tourist town that there are many good restaurants and hotels. There are also zillions of tuk tuk drivers, all trying to make a living.  As we walked back towards the hotel we were asked many times, "tuk tuk madam?" There were several long canoes and some decorations on the water which I assume are in preparation for the Water Festival which begins next week.

      

We booked John Henry to pick us up at 7 and drive us to Phare. It began as an art school formed 20 years ago by 9 children and their art teacher when they returned home from a refugee camp after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.  A music school and theatre school were next, and finally, the circus school. Today more than 1,200 pupils attend the public school daily and 500 attend the alternative schools.

       

The performed incredible moves while telling a Cambodian folktale. The energy, emotion, enthusiasm and talent displayed by the performers was truly astounding. John Henry, our loyal tuk tuk driver was waiting for us after the performance and delivered us to our hotel.

Thursday, October 30, 2014. Temples, Landmines and Butterflies.

Cambodia is a country of such contrasts. There is much to be sad about here and yet there is a distinct sense of optimism and hope for the future among the Cambodians we have met. Most do not want to talk about the over thirty years of war that they endured, the death of 1/4 of the population at the hands of the Khmer Rouge or the millions of Land mines that still sit in wait for innocent victims. As our guide yesterday put it, "we look ahead."

One of the most fascinating places we visited today was not a spectacular temple, although today's temples were indeed spectacular. 

        

Today's highlight belongs to the Cambodian Landmine Museum. I first heard about this museum from my daughter Joanna who visited Cambodia several years ago. I got the distinct feeling from her that should I ever get to Cambodia this is one place I should visit. I am so glad that I did.

The Cambodian Landmine Museum and Relief Facility was established in 1997 by ex-child soldier Aki Ra. As a child soldier fighting first for the Khmer Rouge and later against the invading Vietnamese, he laid many land mines. After years of fighting he returned to the villages in which he planted thousands of mines and began removing them, by hand, and defusing them with homemade tools.

                        

In 2007 the government ordered Aki Ra’s museum closed. He was allowed to move it to a new location 40 kilometers from Siem Reap, near Banteay Srey Temple, inside the Angkor National Park. A Canadian NGO, the Cambodia Landmine Museum Relief Fund, founded by documentary film producer Richard Fitoussi, raised the money to buy the land and build the Museum. Most of the funding was provided by a movie director from California.

The facility currently houses a 4 gallery museum as well as being the home to 27 children. Originally all the children at the facility were landmine victims.  Today the facility cares for children who suffer from a variety of physical, emotional, and familial difficulties. Some of their stories, told in their own words, are posted on a wall in the museum.

After visiting this sad, yet very optimistic place we headed back towards Siem Reap. Along the way we spotted a Butterfly Centre and decided to stop. For $4.00 we had a great tour around the grounds and saw all the different stages in the life cycle of the butterfly. We took pictures of many beautiful butterflies and flowers before hopping back in the tuk tuk for the ride back to our hotel.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014. Angkor Temples.

    

Today was day one of our Angkor temple tour. Since hiring a guide for at least your first day is highly recommended we asked about a guide at the hotel's tour desk. By the time we finished breakfast a guide was booked for us. We had already made arrangements with last night's tuk tuk driver, John Brown, for an 8 am pickup and so when Kim, our guide arrived we headed out for a day of visiting several of the Angkor temples.

Stretching over some 400 square kilometres, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries, including the largest pre-industrial city in the world. The most famous are the Temple of Angkor Wat Angkor Thom, and the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. Angkor Wat is the largest monument to religion ever built and is truly one of the seven wonders of the world. Kim provided us with lots of historical information and was able to interpret the stories told in the many detailed carvings. In fact, almost every stone has some kind of carving on it.

My description of these temples cannot do them justice. They are simply magnificent, awe inspiring and breath taking.

Even at 9 am it was very hot. By noon the thermometer reached a feel like temperature of 42 and we could feel every degree of it in the direct sunlight. Climbing the steep temple stairs was a chore, but simply not to be missed. Although there were huge crowds at Angkor Thom, by the time we recached Ta Phrom (now referred to as the Tomb Raider) the crowds had thinned out and we were able to explore without pushing through large tour groups. 

                       

Although it was a long, exhausting day, it was most enjoyable. We purchased 3 day passes for the Angkor temples and will explore some of the others on our own over the next few days. A brief, refreshing rain shower greeted us as we left Angkor Wat. However as soon as the rain stopped and the sun came out, the temperature again soared. 

Back at the hotel we treated ourselves to banana spring rolls topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate. After showers, we walked to the market, stopped at a cafe for coffee and walked back to Frangipani Hotel. That's enough for one day.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.

Taking the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is quite an adventure. It took 7 1/2 hours to travel a little over 300 kilometers. The roads are a mess; mostly unpaved with big potholes, many of them filled with water. There were lots of signs that read, "Road Work" but I didn't see anyone working.

I chose the newest, highly recommended Ibis Bus Company. Although it was the most expensive $17.00) it was well worth it for the comfortable seats, air conditioning, movies, water and snacks. We had the front seats and so had a great view, although sometimes it was a little scary to see the driver passing a big truck on a single lane dirt road with oncoming cars, trucks and motorcycles headed straight for us. Thankfully, the condition of the roads kept the speed down.

     

The scenery along the way included small villages, towns, rice fields, cattle and innumerable shanties with small stands out front with produce and coke bottles full of gasoline for sale.

This sign was posted at a rest stop. Many Cambodian children living in the countryside do not attend school.

      

Once at the bus stationing Siem Reap it was easy to get a $2.00 tuk tuk ride to our hotel. Tomorrow we will start exploring the Ankor temples.

Monday, October 27, Phnom Penh, Day 4.

With another day of 41 degree temperatures forecast we were glad that we had booked a boat ride up the Mekong River to visit a silk farm and see some of rural life on the island of Koh Dah (Silk Island). Our tuk tuk driver dropped us off at the dock where our guide led us aboard the boat and happily informed us that we were the only ones booked for the trip. After leaving the dock she immediately served us drinks (we chose water) and a snack. She provided us with lots of information and answered our many questions as we made our way up the Mekong.

Phnom Penh is a city of stark contrasts and no where was it more in evidence than from the water. We motored by clusters of boat people; families who live in extreme poverty and try to eek out a living by fishing were dwarfed by an enormous, soon to open luxury hotel. Our guide told us the people living on the boats are Cham Muslims.

        

      

We also passed a very crowded ferry crossing the river and noticed where the ferry was heading to dock; a muddy looking dirt road sloping towards the water. There were lots of people there waiting to board.

        

   

Our young skipper stopped the vessel at a riverbank, put out a plank and along with our guide, we walked up the bank, through a grove of banana palms and ended up at a silk farm. We were greeted by the owner who showed us the entire process; from worm to silk scarf. Everything is done by hand and natural products such as flowers and tree bark are use to dye the thread. 

          

After being served fruit and water at the silk farm we boarded a horse drawn cart and enjoyed a very bumpy ride through the villages. Children seemed to pop out of nowhere to say "hello" to the foreigners riding on the back of a cart in the 41 degree heat. We stopped at a monastery; home to about 12 monks and the site of many large stupas which serve as crypts for the ashes of those who have died. 

A short walk took us back to the riverbank where we boarded our private vessel for the one hour trip back to the city. What a terrific day!

         

Sunday, October 26, 2014. Phnom Penh, Day 3.

  After a much needed good night's sleep and breakfast by the pool we decided to brave the busy streets of Phnom Penh by walking to our destination; the Royal Palace, home  to His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni and his mother. There is no access to their residence, of course, but visitors may tour the many other buildings on the grounds including The Throne Hall and the Silver Pagoda. The entire floor of the Silver Pagoda is made of 5600 silver tiles. This beautiful building houses gifts to the king, statues of the Buddha in many poses as well as a shining jade Buddha. Our guide provided us with lots of information and answered all of our questions. There was lots of activity on the grounds as staff are preparing for a huge celebration on Thursday to mark the 10th anniversary of the king's coronation.

                               

     

After we left the Palace we headed towards the waterfront. We were accosted by many, many tuk  tuk drivers, offering us various tours and rides to wherever we wanted to go. Beggars and people selling almost anything from sidewalk carts were everywhere. We had to shake our heads and say no thank you every few feet as made our way to Sisowath Quay.

 The heat was almost unbearable at a feel like temperature of about 40. However, it is by walking that one can truly experience life in this city and so we soldiered on, stopping to watch life go by on the riverbank and on the hectic city streets. The smell of city life was evident today; everything from meat cooking on sidewalk carts to the stench of garbage scattered everywhere. We saw Cambodians driving expensive cars as well as very poor Cambodians drying their laundry on the riverbank. 

       

        

      

         

  

We found "Friends" an NGO that works with marginalized youth and their families offering food, shelter, medical care, training and education for over 1,800 vulnerable or abandoned children each day. The organization runs a restaurant and a shop. Since we were not hungry we decided to support the organization by purchasing something in their shop. We left with a couple of t shirts and a bit of bling.

We had to say many more "no thank you's" before we made it back to our hotel where we quickly changed into bathing suits and had a refreshing dip in the pool. 

          

   

After a brief siesta we me out tuk tuk driver outside the gate and off we went to experience Phnom Penh's Night Market. The drive there was slow due to extremely heavy traffic. No one obeys stop signs or traffic rules of any kind.  It is nothing to see five vehicles side by side in a single lane. Bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses and tuk tuks all vie for the same spot. I am amazed that we haven't seen, or been in, an accident. It seems as if the drivers have a certain respect for each other and someone yields at the last second.

      

      

We weaved in and out of the market stalls and did lots of looking, but no buying, until we got to the food area. To purchase food one is handed a small plastic basket and a pair of tongs. You then choose the food you want, pass back the basket and it is prepared on the spot. We chose shrimp, crab and tofu...all on sticks. There are two seating areas: large communal mats spread out on the ground (you must take your shoes off before sitting on the mats) or child size chairs at child size tables. As prices are in riel, there are tons of locals and very little English is spoken, I can assume that this is indeed a market for locals. We finished the market experience by stopping at a stall that sold Korean ice cream. Who knew!

Juan met us at the agreed time and he very skillfully tuk tuk'd us back to our hotel. Another full day in Phnom Penh.