Bob & Janette's Travel Adventures

Our Flight details:

 Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur AirAsiaX Flt D72703

Depart Tues 27May08 0855hrs arrive KLIA-LCCT Tues 27May08 1525hrs

 Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh AirAsia Flt AK852

Depart Wed 28May08 1515hrs arrive Phnom Penh Wed 28May08 1605hrs

 Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur AirAsia Flt AK847

Depart Wed 11Jun08 0835hrs arrive KLIA-LCCT Wed 11Juny08 1605hrs

Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast AirAsiaX Flt D72702

Depart Wed 11Jun08 2140hrs arrive Gold Coast Thu 12Jun08 0740hrs

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Getting there.

Our trip to Cambodia was once again utilising very cheap airfares thanks to AirAsiaX routing through Kuala Lumpur.  As our arrival time in KL was mid afternoon we caught the AA Skybus (RM9 each way) into Sentral Station and then a short cab ride to Chinatown for the evening.    Some fantastic Malaysian food and a good night's sleep later saw us back on the morning Skybus bus to LCCT.

 

Phnom Penh

 We arrived at the capitol, Phnom Penh on time and after obtaining our Cambodia visas we  were quickly through immigration and tackling the touts all after our taxi fare into town.  We settled on a Tuk Tuk which is quite different to the Thai variety.  In Cambodia a Tuk Tuk consists of a motorbike pulling a quaint little carriage.  They are the preferred mode of transport for short trips around town.

This trip we pre-booked our accommodation and were pleasantly surprised with the Billabong Hotel (US$45 per nite), in particular it's sparkling salt water swimming pool.  It was a blessing to come in from the heat of an afternoon and take a relaxing plunge in the pool.

 The next morning we started our depressing, but necessary, tours of the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields.  It was hard to believe that the atrocities only occurred a little over 30 years ago. 

•     Toul Sleng Genocide Museum     To get a perspective of the horror that Cambodian's suffered under Pol Pot we visited the Genocide Museum.   In 1975 the Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot's security forces and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). It soon became the largest centre of detention and torture in the country. Between 1975 and 1978 more than 17,000 people held at S-21 were taken to the extermination camp at Choeung Ek.
  
  As the Khmer Rouge "revolution" reached even greater heights of insanity, it began devouring it's own children. Generations of torturers and executioners who worked there were in turn killed by those who took their places.  A visit to S-21 is a very depressing but informative experience but it helps to put a perspective on life.
  

•     The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek   Between 1975 and 1978 about 17,000 men, women, children, and infants (including 9 Westerners) who had been detained and tortured at S-21 were transported to the extermination camp of Choeung Ek. They were often bludgeoned to death to avoid wasting precious bullets.
  

  Stupa at the Killing Fields

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  The remains of 8985 people, many old who were bound and blindfolded, were exhumed in 1980 from mass graves in this one-time longan orchard; 43 of the 129 communal graves there have been left untouched.  Fragments of human bone and bits of cloth are scattered around the disinterred pits. More than 8,000 skulls arranged by sex and age, are visible behind the clear glass panels of the Memorial Stupa, which was erected in 1988.

•     Royal Palace    With an afternoon to spare we made a quick trip through the Royal Palace.  Beautiful manicured gardens, buildings with solid silver floors; what a difference to all the poverty and filth on the streets.

  No trip to Phnom Penh would be complete without enjoying happy hour (or two) at Raffles Le Royal Hotel.  An absolutely beautiful grand building set the scene for several "happy" hours at the Elephant Bar sipping cocktails and listening to the piano.  What a way to round off a few days of the first leg of our holidays.

Sihanoukville   (232Klm from Phnom Penh)

 Early next morning we boarded our bus for a 4 hour trip to Cambodia's premier beach resort of Sihanoukville or Kompong Som as it is also known.  On arrival we grabbed a tuk tuk to our hotel.  Unfortunately it turned out a little disappointing so the next morning we moved to a charming villa  called Deva Raja (US$22 per nite).  For the first few days we were the only guests at Deva Raja and with 5 staff we were truly looked after.

Sihanoukville is a sleepy little town on the south coast of Cambodia and one day will become the Phuket of Cambodia.  If you are travelling this way make it soon before it happens.  Our time here was mainly spent relaxing on the beach or tripping around town on Honda Dreams.  Evenings were particularly enjoyably spent sitting on the beach, eating BBQ'd seafood and sipping cocktails.

For a side trip from Sihanoukville we both hired "Dreams" and rode the 300k round trip to Kampot and Kep.  The first leg of the trip was via Highway 4, and on more than one occasion we had to exit the highway rather abruptly to give way to speeding busses and trucks that wanted our piece of the road.

Sunburned and saddle sore we reached Kep mid afternoon and after a brief ride around town decided to head back to Kampot.  We stayed at a beautiful boutique place overlooking the river called RikiTikiTavi (US$25 per nite).  Next morning before heading back to Sihanoukville we rode around town however my "navigator" who was in the lead at the time took a wrong turn down a one way street.  Two of Cambodia's finest stopped us and discussed our riding skills, lack of licence, no registration, no helmet or mirrors.  Now normally those offences back home would have us walking to work for the next 12 months, but after some talking, smiling and more talking we managed to negotiate the fines down to one US dollar each. 

We gassed up the bikes and made our way safely back to Sihanoukville, not before being run off the road another few times on Highway 4.  After another few relaxing rest days on the beach it was time to get our bus back to Phnom Penh

Bus trip - Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

Most bus journeys in Cambodia are "special"  bus trip gets a special mention.  The road out of Phnom Penh seems like a back street but is actually the main highway and surprisingly narrow for buses and trucks to navigate.  After a little while things settle down and we start to enjoy the trip.

We soon spot a crowd of people on the side of the road as the bus slows down.  Nothing more than a "DB" on the side of the river bank.  If you don't know what a "DB" is then you need to watch more CSI on TV.  Turns out there was a murder the previous night.  At least they could have put a blanket over the poor bloke.

 

30 minutes down the highway road and just in front of the bus 2 pushbikes and a motorbike collide.  Bodies flying through the air immediately in front of the bus and all the driver could do was swerve to miss them.  We are in Cambodia so apparently there was no need to stop and offer any assistance.

 

Siem Reap

In Siem Reap we stayed at the Day Inn (US$55 per nite including a full buffet breakfast).  Once again it was a welcomed relief from Cambodia's mid day heat to be able to cool off in the swimming pool.

Late that afternoon we headed out to pick up our temple passes for the next few days.  We opted for a 3 day pass (US$40 each) and if purchased after 4.30pm you get to see the temples and sunset that day for free.

There is little we can say about the temples except go and see them!!  They are absolutely awe-inspiring to say the least.  We thought we were here to see Angkor Wat but soon learnt that there are many temples and Bayon (immediately behind Angkor) and Ta Prohm (Tomb Raider fame) are just spectacular.

Each day we headed out to the Temples in our Tuk Tuk for a few hours of sight-seeing and then back to the pool to cool off, before heading back out in the afternoon. 

 

 Our evenings, naturally were spent exploring all the cafe's in and around Pub Street.  One place that we really liked was the "Dead Fish Tower", complete with a live crocodile pit in the bar.   I guess that is one way of making sure everyone pays their bill.  One evening we found ourselves chatting to someone who is the neighbour of a good friend of ours.  It just goes to show what a small world we live in.

 

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