Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Chapter's end
The six-hour-long bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was tough, but considering the US$6 per person ticket price, not unbearable.
We arrived at Siem Reap's bus station just past 4pm and were swarmed by overeager tuk-tuk drivers the instant the doors to our bus swung open. The claustrophobic mess of travellers, tuk-tuk drivers and random touts made it near impossible for us to collect our luggage from the bus, so we resigned ourselves eventually to waiting for the crowd to subside before picking our battered backpacks up and out from the dust.
Our 'bargain copy' of the Lonely Planet Cambodia (purchased on the streets of Bangkok) was less than helpful in navigating the city centre. Fortunately, the tourist mecca of Siem Reap is awash with English-language signage and once we located the vibrant Bar Street, finding accommodation was a breeze.
We chose to spend three nights at the very comfortable Molly Malone's, an Irish themed guesthouse-cum-bar where US$45 per night bought us an air-conditioned room with a hot-water shower, mini-bar, wi-fi access and a beautiful four-poster bed.
Even in the midst of first world comforts, however, Cambodian street food is still Cambodian street food. Jim's stomach was quick to take issue with his penchant for cold, milky fruitshakes, making its dissatisfaction known with a long, painful night in the bathroom.
Thankfully, the issue resolved itself after one day's rest and we were able to take off on a day-long tour of the famed Angkor ruins on our third day in Siem Reap.
A UNESCO Heritage site, Angkor once served as the capital of the ancient and powerful Khmer empire. The site comprises more than one thousand Buddhist and Hindu temples, including Angkor Wat which is widely considered Cambodia's greatest national treasure.
With the help of a nearby tour agency, we hired a tuk-tuk driver and English-speaking tour guide for a total of US$40 for the day. Our 26-year-old guide (whose name eludes me) very enthusiastically guided us from sight to sight and was so eager to share his impressive knowledge of Khmer history that we had to tell him to slow down after visiting our very first temple, Bayon, for fear of being 'templed out'.
We were feeling rather intimidated by the masses of pushy tourists at Angkor Thom and Bayon but things improved as the day progressed. Thanks to an unconventionally early lunch break, we were able to do most of our sightseeing while other tourists filed into the restaurants, so visiting Angkor Wat and the 'Tomb Raider temple', Ta Prohm, was very enjoyable indeed.
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh the next morning on yet another uncomfortable yet irresistibly cheap bus ride. Once in the modern-day Cambodian capital, we were reunited with Joel and Viren and spent the final night of our South East Asian trip at lakeside bars, preparing ourselves for the journey home and beyond.
We arrived at Siem Reap's bus station just past 4pm and were swarmed by overeager tuk-tuk drivers the instant the doors to our bus swung open. The claustrophobic mess of travellers, tuk-tuk drivers and random touts made it near impossible for us to collect our luggage from the bus, so we resigned ourselves eventually to waiting for the crowd to subside before picking our battered backpacks up and out from the dust.
Our 'bargain copy' of the Lonely Planet Cambodia (purchased on the streets of Bangkok) was less than helpful in navigating the city centre. Fortunately, the tourist mecca of Siem Reap is awash with English-language signage and once we located the vibrant Bar Street, finding accommodation was a breeze.
We chose to spend three nights at the very comfortable Molly Malone's, an Irish themed guesthouse-cum-bar where US$45 per night bought us an air-conditioned room with a hot-water shower, mini-bar, wi-fi access and a beautiful four-poster bed.
Even in the midst of first world comforts, however, Cambodian street food is still Cambodian street food. Jim's stomach was quick to take issue with his penchant for cold, milky fruitshakes, making its dissatisfaction known with a long, painful night in the bathroom.
Thankfully, the issue resolved itself after one day's rest and we were able to take off on a day-long tour of the famed Angkor ruins on our third day in Siem Reap.
A UNESCO Heritage site, Angkor once served as the capital of the ancient and powerful Khmer empire. The site comprises more than one thousand Buddhist and Hindu temples, including Angkor Wat which is widely considered Cambodia's greatest national treasure.
With the help of a nearby tour agency, we hired a tuk-tuk driver and English-speaking tour guide for a total of US$40 for the day. Our 26-year-old guide (whose name eludes me) very enthusiastically guided us from sight to sight and was so eager to share his impressive knowledge of Khmer history that we had to tell him to slow down after visiting our very first temple, Bayon, for fear of being 'templed out'.
We were feeling rather intimidated by the masses of pushy tourists at Angkor Thom and Bayon but things improved as the day progressed. Thanks to an unconventionally early lunch break, we were able to do most of our sightseeing while other tourists filed into the restaurants, so visiting Angkor Wat and the 'Tomb Raider temple', Ta Prohm, was very enjoyable indeed.
We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh the next morning on yet another uncomfortable yet irresistibly cheap bus ride. Once in the modern-day Cambodian capital, we were reunited with Joel and Viren and spent the final night of our South East Asian trip at lakeside bars, preparing ourselves for the journey home and beyond.
Labels: Cambodia
Friday, January 9, 2009
And all our yesterdays pave the way
Each day I spend in Phnom Penh is another blow to what’s left of my soul. Ravaged by war, genocide, and more recently, an infestation of morally perverse sex and drug tourists, Cambodia’s capital city is a painful example of resilience during the darkest of days.
Max, Jim and I arrived in Phnom Penh on January 4, just three days before the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the fall of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime.
Although most, if not all, surviving Cambodians consider liberation from the regime a victory, the January 7 celebration currently is a source of much controversy. The current political power, CPP, seems to have hijacked the celebration to further its own agenda. Meanwhile, the opposing Funicipec and Sam Raimsy parties argue that true peace did not come to Cambodia until the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on October 23, 1979.
My own political ignorance aside, Cambodian politics seems to be a horrid tangle of corruption, defamation and greed. Corruption seems to pervade so deep into local law enforcement that theoretically illegal drugs including marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and opium are openly sold on the streets, and even in the form of ‘happy’ pizzas and shakes in backpacker-oriented restaurants that line the Boeng Kak lakeside.
I am normally a strong supporter of legalising and regulating sex and drug industries, as I believe that regulation ultimately is beneficial to public health and safety. Sadly, in Cambodia, these industries exist in a legal ‘grey area’ that provides all the cons and none of the pros of the throbbing, thriving night.
One night, a misunderstanding between a tuk-tuk driver and ourselves led us to a thinly veiled karaoke-brothel. As we made our hurried escape, we passed a papasan with his flock of scantily clad girls, many of whom looked barely -- if even -- in their teens.
Another evening, Max, Jim and I happened to be seated just a little too close to a working girl, her much older client, and her client’s twenty-something year-old male friend. I was horrified at the explicit, vulgar memoirs that she so generously (and loudly) shared with the group, and even more horrified by the fact that she’d brought her young daughter with her.
It pains me to overhear young male backpackers speaking with older sex workers about $2.50 sex with ‘very young’ girls. It worries me to see bright local boys no older than twelve hawking marijuana. And it fills me with an overwhelming rage when I read the ridiculous graffiti strewn up by selectively sighted backpackers on cafe walls; graffiti that denounces Western capitalist chains like 7-11 as destroyers of ‘exotic’ South East Asia, while saying nothing at all of the sex and drugs being bought and sold in those very cafes and on the streets.
We left Phnom Penh on January 8, with Max flying back to Australia via Kuala Lumpur, and Jim and I heading westwards, overland, to Siem Reap and the ancient ruins of Angkor. Here’s to the hope that the ancient temples revive in me some pride in mankind...
Max, Jim and I arrived in Phnom Penh on January 4, just three days before the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the fall of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime.
Although most, if not all, surviving Cambodians consider liberation from the regime a victory, the January 7 celebration currently is a source of much controversy. The current political power, CPP, seems to have hijacked the celebration to further its own agenda. Meanwhile, the opposing Funicipec and Sam Raimsy parties argue that true peace did not come to Cambodia until the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on October 23, 1979.
My own political ignorance aside, Cambodian politics seems to be a horrid tangle of corruption, defamation and greed. Corruption seems to pervade so deep into local law enforcement that theoretically illegal drugs including marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and opium are openly sold on the streets, and even in the form of ‘happy’ pizzas and shakes in backpacker-oriented restaurants that line the Boeng Kak lakeside.
I am normally a strong supporter of legalising and regulating sex and drug industries, as I believe that regulation ultimately is beneficial to public health and safety. Sadly, in Cambodia, these industries exist in a legal ‘grey area’ that provides all the cons and none of the pros of the throbbing, thriving night.
One night, a misunderstanding between a tuk-tuk driver and ourselves led us to a thinly veiled karaoke-brothel. As we made our hurried escape, we passed a papasan with his flock of scantily clad girls, many of whom looked barely -- if even -- in their teens.
Another evening, Max, Jim and I happened to be seated just a little too close to a working girl, her much older client, and her client’s twenty-something year-old male friend. I was horrified at the explicit, vulgar memoirs that she so generously (and loudly) shared with the group, and even more horrified by the fact that she’d brought her young daughter with her.
It pains me to overhear young male backpackers speaking with older sex workers about $2.50 sex with ‘very young’ girls. It worries me to see bright local boys no older than twelve hawking marijuana. And it fills me with an overwhelming rage when I read the ridiculous graffiti strewn up by selectively sighted backpackers on cafe walls; graffiti that denounces Western capitalist chains like 7-11 as destroyers of ‘exotic’ South East Asia, while saying nothing at all of the sex and drugs being bought and sold in those very cafes and on the streets.
We left Phnom Penh on January 8, with Max flying back to Australia via Kuala Lumpur, and Jim and I heading westwards, overland, to Siem Reap and the ancient ruins of Angkor. Here’s to the hope that the ancient temples revive in me some pride in mankind...
Labels: Cambodia
Friday, January 2, 2009
Mosquito bait
With only Jim and myself to work with, the 24-hour journey from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Trat to Koh Chang was a breeze. I found our third-class, overnight train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok particularly impressive as the THB 611 (AUD$27) fare included dinner, breakfast, clean blankets, and relatively comfortable seats.
Reaching the city of Bangkok came as somewhat of a shock to me, and I struggled to reacquaint myself with the big city trappings of functional public transport, LED-advertising, and girls wearing short skirts for the sake of fashion, and fashion alone.
So rejuvenated was I by our fleeting glimpse of the first world that we decided to spend a couple of nights at the few upmarket resorts on Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach. We stayed first at the refreshing Siam Beach Resort, where THB 3600 (AUD$150) bought us a room with a balcony overlooking the resort’s swimming pool and the beach beyond. The resort was pleasant although renovations to our room seemed rather unfinished and staff was ill equipped to cope with the high volume of holidaymakers.
Siam Beach was fully booked on the night of the 29th, so Jim and I put on our packs and walked, barefoot along the beach, to the nearby Bhumiyama Resort and Spa. Although we couldn’t quite see the beach from our new balcony, the room was much better furnished. I derived much joy from having piped hot water to the shower and bath, instead of the usual flimsy, low-pressure electric water heaters that prevail at cheaper guesthouses and Siam Beach Resort.
Koh Chang is Thailand’s second-largest island and is located on the country’s East coast, about 300 kilometres from Bangkok. Although it is home to only 5,500 people, the island receives more than 650,000 visitors each year. An estimated two-thirds of visitors to Koh Chang are locals. Among foreigners, Koh Chang is seen as somewhat of an ‘alternative’ destination, as most tourists tend to prefer better known islands like Koh Samui and Phuket.
Lonely Beach, or Hat Tha Nam Beach, is the most backpacker-oriented of the four major beaches on Koh Chang’s West coast. Only four resorts, including Siam Beach, Nature Beach, Bhumiyana and Siam Huts, occupy beachfront premises, while numerous other guesthouses, restaurants and tattoo parlours are located on a leafy peninsula some 500 metres from the beach.
Like the mainland provincial capital, Trat, transport in Koh Chang is dominated by a tuk-tuk cartel that charges exorbitant ‘fixed’ prices for short journeys. It is far cheaper to rent jeeps, or scooters for THB 250 per day. However, as we were told by a Brisbane motorcross racer who had lived on the island for a year, the combination of difficult, hilly terrain and drunken, inexperienced motorists makes for the harrowing statistic of 48 accidents per day.
December 30 was the day we put our fancy pants away, moving to the backpacker-oriented Sunflower Huts to meet Joel, Mik, Viren and Malaysia-based Cheong for our long-anticipated New Years reunion. My next couple of days and nights were spent sunbathing in the mornings and afternoons, and drinking with sand between my toes at the lively Nature Beach Resort after sunset.
On December 31, 2008, we celebrated the end of a most excellent year. Aided by buckets of vodka and juice and a ridiculous egomaniacal drinking game that Jim started, we danced on the beach amid primally satisfying fire twirling displays, and shared a New Years kiss as fireworks signalled the beginning of 2009.
The next few days were largely uneventful; we ate, we slept, we drank on the beach, until January 2, when Joel and Viren left for Siem Reap in Cambodia and Mik, Cheong, Jim and I headed back west to Bangkok to meet Max and await our flight to Phnom Penh.
Reaching the city of Bangkok came as somewhat of a shock to me, and I struggled to reacquaint myself with the big city trappings of functional public transport, LED-advertising, and girls wearing short skirts for the sake of fashion, and fashion alone.
So rejuvenated was I by our fleeting glimpse of the first world that we decided to spend a couple of nights at the few upmarket resorts on Koh Chang’s Lonely Beach. We stayed first at the refreshing Siam Beach Resort, where THB 3600 (AUD$150) bought us a room with a balcony overlooking the resort’s swimming pool and the beach beyond. The resort was pleasant although renovations to our room seemed rather unfinished and staff was ill equipped to cope with the high volume of holidaymakers.
Siam Beach was fully booked on the night of the 29th, so Jim and I put on our packs and walked, barefoot along the beach, to the nearby Bhumiyama Resort and Spa. Although we couldn’t quite see the beach from our new balcony, the room was much better furnished. I derived much joy from having piped hot water to the shower and bath, instead of the usual flimsy, low-pressure electric water heaters that prevail at cheaper guesthouses and Siam Beach Resort.
Koh Chang is Thailand’s second-largest island and is located on the country’s East coast, about 300 kilometres from Bangkok. Although it is home to only 5,500 people, the island receives more than 650,000 visitors each year. An estimated two-thirds of visitors to Koh Chang are locals. Among foreigners, Koh Chang is seen as somewhat of an ‘alternative’ destination, as most tourists tend to prefer better known islands like Koh Samui and Phuket.
Lonely Beach, or Hat Tha Nam Beach, is the most backpacker-oriented of the four major beaches on Koh Chang’s West coast. Only four resorts, including Siam Beach, Nature Beach, Bhumiyana and Siam Huts, occupy beachfront premises, while numerous other guesthouses, restaurants and tattoo parlours are located on a leafy peninsula some 500 metres from the beach.
Like the mainland provincial capital, Trat, transport in Koh Chang is dominated by a tuk-tuk cartel that charges exorbitant ‘fixed’ prices for short journeys. It is far cheaper to rent jeeps, or scooters for THB 250 per day. However, as we were told by a Brisbane motorcross racer who had lived on the island for a year, the combination of difficult, hilly terrain and drunken, inexperienced motorists makes for the harrowing statistic of 48 accidents per day.
December 30 was the day we put our fancy pants away, moving to the backpacker-oriented Sunflower Huts to meet Joel, Mik, Viren and Malaysia-based Cheong for our long-anticipated New Years reunion. My next couple of days and nights were spent sunbathing in the mornings and afternoons, and drinking with sand between my toes at the lively Nature Beach Resort after sunset.
On December 31, 2008, we celebrated the end of a most excellent year. Aided by buckets of vodka and juice and a ridiculous egomaniacal drinking game that Jim started, we danced on the beach amid primally satisfying fire twirling displays, and shared a New Years kiss as fireworks signalled the beginning of 2009.
The next few days were largely uneventful; we ate, we slept, we drank on the beach, until January 2, when Joel and Viren left for Siem Reap in Cambodia and Mik, Cheong, Jim and I headed back west to Bangkok to meet Max and await our flight to Phnom Penh.
Labels: Thailand
