The third stop on my tour of southeast Asia was Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Siem Reap was different from Phnom Penh in a number of ways.
First it was much smaller. It was also much more tourist oriented, which is to be expected when your the main gateway to the Angkor Archeological Park. Hundreds if not thousands of tourists must descend on Siem Reap each week in order to catch a glimpse of these nearly 1000 year old marvels.
My first day in Siem Reap began by taking the boat from Phnom Penh. It took about 5 hours and was comfortable enough but after two days of intense heat and little sleap I wasn't feeling the best. So I checked in, took a shower and had a nap before heading out for a little stroll in the evening.
My second day took me out to the Angkor Archeological Park. The first stop and perhaps the most impressive was Angkor Wat. Simply amazing. Blazing heat and 5 temples took their toll. My third day was spent in bed ill. Thankfully I had an AC room by that point. What a difference that makes.
The third day was spent taking in another 5 temple complexes. All were much smaller than the Angkor Wat complex and so it made for a nice day.
The evenings in Siem Reap seem to revolve around Pub Street. Two blocks of restaurants which are all generally packed with tourists. There are massage shops everywhere and a couple of nice markets selling everything from silver to silk.
There were three things that made my stay in Siem Reap better than Phnom Penh. First was the guesthouse where I stayed. Nice, clean rooms with hot water and AC are a God send especially after a long day in the heat. The owner was a nice guy willing to help with anything. Second were the attractions. Exploring the Angkor complexes was harder physically given the number and heat, but they were much less draining than the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison. Third was a nice tuk-tuk driver that was knowledgeable and very helpful. He made exploring the park quite easy.
Never having made a trip like this before I'm learning a bit about myself as a traveler. One of the main things I've learned is that I a clean private room with AC, a TV and hot water. There are cheaper options about (one person told me about a place for $1 a night) but the extra cost is worth it for me. Not that $10 to $15 a night is expensive.
Cambodia as a whole was interesting. Meeting people who seemingly didn't know what the Killing Fields were blew my mind. I would have thought that the people there would be resentful of the west for part we played in helping to subject them to genocide. Perhaps there is some of that lingering in the background; somewhere. But in general the people seem to be too busy living their lives to get caught up in the recriminations of the past.
Next: part 4 - Luang Prabang
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Part 2: Phnom Penh
Man it's hot!
I mean it's bloody friggin' hot!
After having spent the previous five days in Hanoi, where the temperature hovered around 15C, arriving in Phnom Penh and its 33C heat was a real kick to the system.
After having had my camera stolen, the subsequent dent in the budget led me to pick a place because it was cheap. Big mistake.
Don't get me wrong, the people were very helpful and friendly but the concrete room with no hot water left a lot to be desired. Sure it had a fan but when the night time temperature only drops to a cool 25C it does little to help with the sleep. As such I spent two rather restless nights in Phnom Penh.
I was never my intention to stay long in Phnom Penh. I mostly only went there to see the Killing Fields. As such my impressions of the city will be brief.
The day I got into town I walked for an hour in the afternoon heat in order to save a few bucks and to find the Tuel Sleng museum; once known as S21. Tuel Sleng was once a high school, but when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came to power they transformed the school into a prison of unspeakable terror and torment. Walking around what were once classrooms it was impossible to be emotionally detached. All of the photos of children, the cells, the barbed wire, and the skulls took a real toll.
That night I went for a walk along the river and ended having about an hour long conversation with a Cambodian University student. He kept talking about how happy he was to be able to speak English with someone. It was a nice change of pace from all of the other times when your constantly being implored to buy this or that or to find out if you want some drugs or a prostitute.
It was during this time that I recognized the problem with traveling alone; at least from my perspective. Traveling by yourself frees you to do what you want, when you want and how you want. For me though the problem begins when the sun goes down. I'm not a partier, so hitting up the clubs holds no appeal for me. Its that time between dinner and bed that can make you feel lonely.
On my second day in Phnom Penh, I decided I would rent a scooter. Great idea I thought. It only cost $4 for a day and would save on a lot of tuk-tuk costs and provide for a nice ride out to the Killing Fields. That lasted all of about a half hour. Before I even left the city I was pulled over by the police who claimed that it was illegal for me to drive in Cambodia without a Cambodian drivers license. The normal course of action was for them to take me jail and for me to pay a $100 fine. After a little of this show, the lead cop called me over to him and said that if I paid the $100 to him I could avoid the jail. After a couple minutes of me trying to convince him that I didn't have $100 on me, he took what money I had and told me to get lost.
My $4 scooter was costing me $27.
So according to my guide book, to get to Cheung Ek (the Killing Fields) you needed to take the main road heading south out of town. It said that it was about 15km south of the city. Well after driving for a good amount of time and having gone through a town and a village I was pulled over by more police. I'm sure you can figure out what was going through my mind at this point. Fortunately these police were helpful and politely told me that I had gone too far the wrong way. That I should go back to the town and follow route 2.
So I go back to the town, get onto route 2 and follow it for what seems like a dozen kilometres without any success. I stop and ask someone for directions. They can't speak English. So I ride back to town ask at one gas station. They don't know what Cheung Ek is. So I go to a different gas station. They too don't know what Cheung Ek is. At this point I'm flabbergasted. How could these people not know of one of the main sites of atrocity in their nation? Luckily someone came into the gas station who did and they were able to provide me with a map.
So off I set again and after another 30 - 45 minutes I finally found it.
The centre-piece of the site is a huge stuppa filled with skulls dug up from the graves that had been uncovered. Many of the original buildings had been torn down. A number of the graves that had been excavated were fenced off and had signs telling you about what had been found there. One of the more gruesome remainders of the Khmer regime was a tree that they used to smash the skulls of children against.
When it came time to leave Phnom Penh, I can't say that I was unhappy to leave. I think that I will always remember Phnom Penh as a depressing place due entirely to the fact that much of my time there was spent confronting the evidence of genocide.
Next: part 3 - Siem Reap.
I mean it's bloody friggin' hot!
After having spent the previous five days in Hanoi, where the temperature hovered around 15C, arriving in Phnom Penh and its 33C heat was a real kick to the system.
After having had my camera stolen, the subsequent dent in the budget led me to pick a place because it was cheap. Big mistake.
Don't get me wrong, the people were very helpful and friendly but the concrete room with no hot water left a lot to be desired. Sure it had a fan but when the night time temperature only drops to a cool 25C it does little to help with the sleep. As such I spent two rather restless nights in Phnom Penh.
I was never my intention to stay long in Phnom Penh. I mostly only went there to see the Killing Fields. As such my impressions of the city will be brief.
The day I got into town I walked for an hour in the afternoon heat in order to save a few bucks and to find the Tuel Sleng museum; once known as S21. Tuel Sleng was once a high school, but when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge came to power they transformed the school into a prison of unspeakable terror and torment. Walking around what were once classrooms it was impossible to be emotionally detached. All of the photos of children, the cells, the barbed wire, and the skulls took a real toll.
That night I went for a walk along the river and ended having about an hour long conversation with a Cambodian University student. He kept talking about how happy he was to be able to speak English with someone. It was a nice change of pace from all of the other times when your constantly being implored to buy this or that or to find out if you want some drugs or a prostitute.
It was during this time that I recognized the problem with traveling alone; at least from my perspective. Traveling by yourself frees you to do what you want, when you want and how you want. For me though the problem begins when the sun goes down. I'm not a partier, so hitting up the clubs holds no appeal for me. Its that time between dinner and bed that can make you feel lonely.
On my second day in Phnom Penh, I decided I would rent a scooter. Great idea I thought. It only cost $4 for a day and would save on a lot of tuk-tuk costs and provide for a nice ride out to the Killing Fields. That lasted all of about a half hour. Before I even left the city I was pulled over by the police who claimed that it was illegal for me to drive in Cambodia without a Cambodian drivers license. The normal course of action was for them to take me jail and for me to pay a $100 fine. After a little of this show, the lead cop called me over to him and said that if I paid the $100 to him I could avoid the jail. After a couple minutes of me trying to convince him that I didn't have $100 on me, he took what money I had and told me to get lost.
My $4 scooter was costing me $27.
So according to my guide book, to get to Cheung Ek (the Killing Fields) you needed to take the main road heading south out of town. It said that it was about 15km south of the city. Well after driving for a good amount of time and having gone through a town and a village I was pulled over by more police. I'm sure you can figure out what was going through my mind at this point. Fortunately these police were helpful and politely told me that I had gone too far the wrong way. That I should go back to the town and follow route 2.
So I go back to the town, get onto route 2 and follow it for what seems like a dozen kilometres without any success. I stop and ask someone for directions. They can't speak English. So I ride back to town ask at one gas station. They don't know what Cheung Ek is. So I go to a different gas station. They too don't know what Cheung Ek is. At this point I'm flabbergasted. How could these people not know of one of the main sites of atrocity in their nation? Luckily someone came into the gas station who did and they were able to provide me with a map.
So off I set again and after another 30 - 45 minutes I finally found it.
The centre-piece of the site is a huge stuppa filled with skulls dug up from the graves that had been uncovered. Many of the original buildings had been torn down. A number of the graves that had been excavated were fenced off and had signs telling you about what had been found there. One of the more gruesome remainders of the Khmer regime was a tree that they used to smash the skulls of children against.
When it came time to leave Phnom Penh, I can't say that I was unhappy to leave. I think that I will always remember Phnom Penh as a depressing place due entirely to the fact that much of my time there was spent confronting the evidence of genocide.
Next: part 3 - Siem Reap.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Part 1: Hanoi
If you read my previous post you already know that I'm on a 4 week trip through south east Asia. My first stop was Hanoi, Vietnam.
When I arrived it was wet and overcast. It would stay that way for the full 5 nights I was there. I stayed four of those nights in the Old Quarter of Hanoi; just to the north of Hoan Kiem Lake. My first impressions of the city were that it was dirty, crowded and insane. There was garbage in the streets (in fact I watched as at the end of the day businesses would sweep all their garbage into the gutter; it would later be picked up), people pissing in the streets and various other things.
My impression of the people is incomplete as all of those I met were either serving me, or trying to get me to buy something from them. I even had one guy follow me for 4 blocks trying to get me to take a ride on his motorbike (scooter actually and a popular form of taxi in the congested city). I had to duck into a restaurant so that he would leave, but in fact he still hung around for about 2-3 minutes seeing if I'd come back out.
In all I saw the Army Museum, the Ho Chi Minh Museum, the downed B-52, the Hanoi Hilton and a performance of water puppets. All of this was in the city.
For 2 days - 1 night, I took a boat cruise through Ha Long Bay. It was spectacular. The sun never shone but it wasn't hot and the boat was wonderful. Some the best food I've ever eaten was on that boat; all fresh seafood (and I'm not a fan of seafood) that was incedibly delicious. We toured through the bay, were taken to a floating fishing village and then to one of the many caves that dot the more than 1000 islands.
My impression of the city changed a bit as the days went by. I couldn't help but think of the city as being akin to a medieval city struggling with change. Hanoi even more so. Its hard to lay aside our western notions of modernity and right and wrong. It constantly shades how we (or at least me) see the world around us.
When I first got there I was unconsciously making comparisons between Hanoi and other western capitals; it paled in comparison. It was easy to forget that they had only been without war for the past 30 years. It was easy to forget that as early as 70 years ago they were wearing loin cloths and living in tribal villages. The west forced them modernize at the barrel of a gun and continuous wars that stretch as far back as the 1890s ending only in 1979 with their defeat of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Given this reality (?) its hard to judge the city and people of Hanoi (and perhaps Vietnam as a whole) harshly. They weren't given the opportunity to enter the "modern world" or interact with the western world on their own terms. Given this I'm actually surprised at how congenial and friendly the people of Vietnam were to westerns who come parading through their streets looking for cheap goods, cheap thrills or even worse. Sure one could argue that they are only that way in order to get money from us, but aren't we to blame for that?
A side note: During the tour of Ha Long we went to a floating fishing village. It was essentially a fish farm. Each house had an area that had a net and in that net they raised various fish. They would go out and actively fish the waters of Ha Long, using what they caught to eat, to supplement their farm stocks or to feed to their fish. This was a small village containing approximately 55 families. One of the highlights for me was seeing their school. It was explained to us that the school only goes up to grade 5, and that the children only go half days (morning or afternoon). The teachers lived on the main land and would boat out to the school a week at a time. We were told that the school was limited in this way as it was determined that the children really didn't need any more education considering the fact that they would live and most likely die in that village. One doesn't need calculus to raise fish. It was easy to look down your nose at such an attitude but it is the wrong reaction. Its really not all that different than the way we were even a hundred years ago. In fact the classroom was a huge improvement as only 7-10 years ago none of the people who grew up in that village ever went to school.
The one down side to my Hanoi experience was that my camera got stolen. I had just gotten back from my overnight cruise through Ha Long Bay and thought I'd grab a bite to eat. I took my camera with me to look over the pictures and videos that I had taken up to that point. I set it down and allowed my mind to wander. I lost track of it. When it was time to go, my camera was gone. An expensive lesson to be sure, but the real cost is in the loss of the pictures.
Next: Part 2 - Phnom Penh
When I arrived it was wet and overcast. It would stay that way for the full 5 nights I was there. I stayed four of those nights in the Old Quarter of Hanoi; just to the north of Hoan Kiem Lake. My first impressions of the city were that it was dirty, crowded and insane. There was garbage in the streets (in fact I watched as at the end of the day businesses would sweep all their garbage into the gutter; it would later be picked up), people pissing in the streets and various other things.
My impression of the people is incomplete as all of those I met were either serving me, or trying to get me to buy something from them. I even had one guy follow me for 4 blocks trying to get me to take a ride on his motorbike (scooter actually and a popular form of taxi in the congested city). I had to duck into a restaurant so that he would leave, but in fact he still hung around for about 2-3 minutes seeing if I'd come back out.
In all I saw the Army Museum, the Ho Chi Minh Museum, the downed B-52, the Hanoi Hilton and a performance of water puppets. All of this was in the city.
For 2 days - 1 night, I took a boat cruise through Ha Long Bay. It was spectacular. The sun never shone but it wasn't hot and the boat was wonderful. Some the best food I've ever eaten was on that boat; all fresh seafood (and I'm not a fan of seafood) that was incedibly delicious. We toured through the bay, were taken to a floating fishing village and then to one of the many caves that dot the more than 1000 islands.
My impression of the city changed a bit as the days went by. I couldn't help but think of the city as being akin to a medieval city struggling with change. Hanoi even more so. Its hard to lay aside our western notions of modernity and right and wrong. It constantly shades how we (or at least me) see the world around us.
When I first got there I was unconsciously making comparisons between Hanoi and other western capitals; it paled in comparison. It was easy to forget that they had only been without war for the past 30 years. It was easy to forget that as early as 70 years ago they were wearing loin cloths and living in tribal villages. The west forced them modernize at the barrel of a gun and continuous wars that stretch as far back as the 1890s ending only in 1979 with their defeat of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
Given this reality (?) its hard to judge the city and people of Hanoi (and perhaps Vietnam as a whole) harshly. They weren't given the opportunity to enter the "modern world" or interact with the western world on their own terms. Given this I'm actually surprised at how congenial and friendly the people of Vietnam were to westerns who come parading through their streets looking for cheap goods, cheap thrills or even worse. Sure one could argue that they are only that way in order to get money from us, but aren't we to blame for that?
A side note: During the tour of Ha Long we went to a floating fishing village. It was essentially a fish farm. Each house had an area that had a net and in that net they raised various fish. They would go out and actively fish the waters of Ha Long, using what they caught to eat, to supplement their farm stocks or to feed to their fish. This was a small village containing approximately 55 families. One of the highlights for me was seeing their school. It was explained to us that the school only goes up to grade 5, and that the children only go half days (morning or afternoon). The teachers lived on the main land and would boat out to the school a week at a time. We were told that the school was limited in this way as it was determined that the children really didn't need any more education considering the fact that they would live and most likely die in that village. One doesn't need calculus to raise fish. It was easy to look down your nose at such an attitude but it is the wrong reaction. Its really not all that different than the way we were even a hundred years ago. In fact the classroom was a huge improvement as only 7-10 years ago none of the people who grew up in that village ever went to school.
The one down side to my Hanoi experience was that my camera got stolen. I had just gotten back from my overnight cruise through Ha Long Bay and thought I'd grab a bite to eat. I took my camera with me to look over the pictures and videos that I had taken up to that point. I set it down and allowed my mind to wander. I lost track of it. When it was time to go, my camera was gone. An expensive lesson to be sure, but the real cost is in the loss of the pictures.
Next: Part 2 - Phnom Penh
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