Disclamers are awesome!
You! Loyal Reader! Yes, you!
As you (or your RSS reader) may have noticed, I’ve got a new post up, chronicling the first day of my recent trip to Cambodia and Vietnam, or In-do-chi-na as they say back in the day. Based on demand (not really), and more importantly my ability to keep my restless bum at my Mac for an extended amount of time, there is a possibility that the rest of my trip diary will be written, and the entire caboodle put online posthaste.
I must apologise in advance for the run-on sentences, repeated patterns and glaring inconsistencies in tense. However, in my defence this was meant to be merely a personal recording of the inside-my-head; a smattering of spurious thoughts triggered by going through the respective photos in my iPhoto album. Not only of the what, but the why, the who and the huh…?, basically everything that my mind went through at that specific moment in time, seen through the warm fuzzy embrace of hindsight. A diary, in other words. Also, writing about the past in the present tense is confusing lah.
With that in mind, please enjoy the rest of the diary as and when it appears. Do feel free to ask me about the trip when you see me in person, and I’ll be happy to oblige with much enthusiasm and appropriate gesticulations (offer me a beer first for best results).
Cambodia + Vietnam Trip Diary Day One
0600-0705: Singapore to Siem Reap via Jetstar. While waiting at the departure lounge I observe a group of ‘welfare tourists’ excitedly waiting to embark on their noble adventure.
Light drizzle when I touch down. Get picked up around 0730 by Hotel tuk-tuk. Arrive at Skyway Hotel around 0830, meet Meng, the owner of the hotel, who corresponded with me via email. Consider taking the morning to get used to my new surroundings.
Room is big, relatively clean but sort of smells of socks. Fridge is the same temperature whether plugged in or not. Great, 2 beds! One for dirty me, one for after-shower me. Bit worried that one of the windows can’t be locked, but trusts that nobody’s going to bother climbing up to the 3rd floor to steal my worn backpack.
0930: Changed my mind. Decide not to waste time, and head out straight away. I’ve got a whole day ahead of me! Thought about heading down to the Tourist Information/ Tour Guide association spot down National Road No. 6 to get some maps. Think about taking it easy at the temples today, and hiring a proper tour guide for the whole of the 2nd day.
On the way out, the driver who picked me up approaches me in the lobby and asks if I’m heading out to the temples. His name is Mao, and we shake hands. I’m a little wary, but I let him make his pitch. Apparently the Angkor complex comprises the ‘small circuit’ and the ‘big circuit’, and for USD12 he’d bring me around the small circuit today. Having read my book beforehand, I ask about the Rolous group; that would be USD12 as well. He settles on my offer of USD18 for 2 days without hesitation. I need to work on my bargaining.
0950: We’re on our way! The streets are dustier than I’d imagined, and traffic’s pretty crazy on the major roads (though nothing compared to those in Vietnam, as I would find out). He asks what I want to do first. ‘Food. Cambodian food.’ I reply. I suggest eating somewhere nearby first, then heading down to Angkor, but he recommends otherwise, as it’d be easier to find a place near the temples, then take our time getting around once we get there. I have no protests. On the way, I catch glimpes of lakes, temple fronts, and other tourist laden tuk-tuks leaving us in the dust (Mao’s not the fastest driver.) We stop to get my 3-day pass for USD40. It’s got my photo on it!
1030: Food. Cambodian food. I think the name was ‘Khymer Family Restaurant’. I’m the only person there. Strange to be in a place so obviously meant for tourists, with no tourists around at all. I order an omelette and cheese sandwich, expecting it to be a cheese omelette sandwich. Instead, I get a warm baguette, a (fluffy!) onion omelette, and a cube of la vache qui rit cheese. My can of orange juice is made in Singapore. Hmm.
1100: We’re ready to head off. Mao’s taken out some food, and walks me across the road to the lakeside to check out the kids fishing for some of the smallest fish I’ve ever seen. I ask if they use the smaller fish as bait. They don’t. They use them for soup!
1110: Ta Prohm. On arrival, I’m accosted by an army of peddlers, selling everything from drinks to postcards to sarongs. I turn everyone down with a smile, and a promise of ‘next time I’ll buy OK?’ Everyone’s friendly but very persistent.
It takes a walk along a dirt path lined on both sides with lush forest to get to the temple itself. On the way I see the first of many ‘landmine victims bands’, a group of amputees who play traditional Cambodian tunes in exchange for donations. From Wikitravel: Built during the time of king Jayavarman VII and is best known as the temple where trees have been left intertwined with the stonework, much as it was uncovered from the jungle. It might be considered in a state of disrepair but there is a strange beauty in the marvelous strangler fig trees which provide a stunning display of the embrace between nature and the human handiwork. This is one of the most popular temples after Angkor Wat and the Bayon because of the beautiful combinations of wood and stone. Apparently they filmed parts of Tomb Raider here. Shame about the renovations going on though; having said that, it’s a good insight into the works that go into preserving these 1000 year old structures from civilizations past.
1157: It’s ‘Next Time’, and now I have to buy something. High on the success of my USD18 from USD24 tour bargain, I try again with the mineral water girl. She wants a dollar a bottle; I ask for 3 for 50c, and only if they’re ice cold. She agrees, and heads off with a big smile on her face. Wondering again about these ‘bargains’ I’ve become such a master at, I hand a bottle to Mao and we head off to Temple no. 2.
1205: Arrive at Ta Keo. An incomplete, largely undecorated temple built by Jayavarman V. Mao advises me to ‘be careful’ climbing the stairs, and I soon see why. The steps one has to climb to scale the temple are steep and narrow, such that you’d have to take many a step sideways. I regret not leaving my bag in the tuk-tuk. Getting to the top, my palms and elbows are covered in dirt, and I in sweat. At the top, I get distracted by a local who asks in perfect English if I want to see bats. Naturally, I do. He proceeds to give me a suspiciously detailed explanation of the bats’ origin, and also of the stone that the temple is composed of. In closing, he tells me that he’s a poor student who can’t afford school fees, and would I be so kind as to give him some money to pay his teacher. I tell him off for not having prepared me sooner, and send him on his way with 50c.
1230: We stop by a collapsed bridge that caused a detour in the river on its collapse. Not much else to say here, just check out the pictures.
1245: There are 5 gates into the Angkor complex, one for each cardinal direction as well as the Victory gate. I forget which one we stopped at, but it’s the one that the army and the King took when they went a-strolling. There’s a giant face on top! First of many, first of many…
12.54: Elephant Terrace. Didn’t stay long, took a picture with the elephant statues for the sis. Also saw a bunch of smaller temples surrounding this area, 9 in total, apparently for each of the princesses of way back when.
1305: The Bayon, or: the One with all the Faces. Truly majestic design.
1340: The Big One, Angkor Wat. Yes it really is that huge. There’s some local food fair on the left as I head in. Met a really clever kid here who tried to sell me drinks and stuff. Promised to remember me on the way out.
1415: Still in AW. Remarkably, walking along the corridors that comprise the borders of the temple, I feel like I’m the only person in the entire sprawling complex.
1520: Finally done. Amazingly, yet not surprisingly, the boy comes running to me saying that he remembers me as the one from Singapore (must have been my Shiny & Arty tee). I needed some small change anyway, so I bought two cokes in exchange for change for ten dollars. Before leaving he promises to study hard and get a good job when he grows up.
1530: Ooh a treehouse! The result of a Japanese-Cambodian collaboration, it’s a massive 7-storey high construction. Some of the steps are alarmingly shaky, but no harm done, so yeah whatever. At the top, Mao and I discuss what to do next: go back to the hotel and bum around, or head to the Tong Le Sap to check out the floating village.
1700: I opt for the latter. We stop by the hotel for a driver change over, Mao has to start work at the hotel, so here’s Mao Sr. Nice chap, but doesn’t speak a lick of English. This should be fun.
On the Tong Le Sap, I find that tickets aren’t cheap, and they charge a ridiculous additional premium for the ‘sunset’ cruise, i.e. all boats that set off from 1730 onwards, despite the obvious lack of tourist traffic.
1705: Hey I’ve got the whole boat to myself! The crew to passenger ratio is 2:1, and we get to know each other quickly. The more experienced of the two spoke halting English, but we got to discussing two of the finer things in life: beer and football. I say ‘more experienced’ as he had to keep running to the helm to take over the wheel, so as to prevent us crashing into other boats. That was worrying.
1740: There are peddlers EVERYWHERE. Even out in the middle of the biggest lake in Asia. A middle-aged guy rows his boat laden with iced drinks up to ours, and his 5 year old boy climbs aboard to ask for my business.
1750: We arrive at the crocodile farm/ fishery. It’s very kelong-ly, and smells of tourist trapness. On the rooftop, I meet the younger brother of my boat driver, who proceeds to tell me about school and their daily life. Enlightening stuff. In the distance, foreboding layers of grey angry clouds threaten. I’m starting to feel very glad I didn’t opt for the sunset cruise.
1805: The storm’s hit us full scale, and the 2 of us scramble to lower the rain shutters around the boat. I’m not keen to visit the floating school, but it’s apparently part of the tour, so here we go.
1807: Oh wait not yet, I apparently need to buy some gifts for the school from the stationery bookshop right next to the school. This reeks of bullshit. A pack of exercise books for USD20? Seriously? They’ve got a floating full-size basketball court though, which is nothing but awesome.
1830: We arrive back onto dry land, but Mao Sr. is nowhere to be found. All the tuk-tuk drivers try to give me a hand, and we finally find out that he’s gone to look for me at the secondary dock, as the sudden storm had thrown a lot of the arriving boats into chaos, with regard to their docking locations. On the way back to the hotel I take a much needed nap, cocooned within the welcoming warm embrace of the carriage. The rain continues to batter the world outside.
1930: Back at the hotel, slightly soaked but none worse for wear. Mao’s serving food in the hotel café. As the rain doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, I decide to take it easy and eat here tonight.
2030: After a fantastically warm shower, I head down for grilled pork on rice, and an iced Coke. My order of fried vegetables on the side somehow gets interpreted as fried rice instead though. While waiting for the food I set about updating Live Messenger on the hotel’s computer.
2130: I settle in for what would turn out to be my one and only early night of the entire trip. Decide to catch an episode of Big Bang on the iPod, before turning in with the comforting familiar sounds of Channel Newsasia in the background, and the storm raging outside my un-lockable window. This could be a good trip.
