Cambodia

More photos--I've gotta play catch up!
Nick, Bryan and me at the Full Moon Party. Notice the paint is still on our arms--this was right after we got there, before it rained and washed all the paint away!
Lord and I, after the Full Moon Party had died down a bit. This was around 08:00? Somehow the paint on my face was the only paint that survived the night.

Feeding a monkey on Monkey Beach! Koh Phi Phi.

Some of the infamous Thai "lady-boys" strutting their stuff in Phuket. ....is it weird that I'm jealous of their bodies??? I mean, minus the fake boobs.........

Pat & I on the beach in Phuket our first night in town. Gorgeous sunsets, night after night.

Pat and I at the crazy Rasta Bar in Phuket. It's hidden at the back of a soi (side street) and completely covered in neon paint, lit entirely by black lights. Really friendly people, very relaxed, and a great escape from the mania that is Phuket! But you do have to pass by a lot of dodgy bars and strip clubs to get there!
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So, I think that yesterday I stopped after Koh Phangan... (at least I hope so, or else there is going to be some repeat information about Phnom Penh now!)

After my overnight bus, I flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia where I met up with my buddy Jon, from AU way back when. I hadn't seen him in at least two years so it was great to see him and catch up a bit. He's living there for the summer, working with an NGO which deals with peace and conflict resolution, so they've got plenty to work with in Cambodia. It's such a tragedy that a great country like Cambodia was subject to such terrible violence and the people here, who are so incredibly friendly and welcoming and helpful, were victims of genocide for so many years. The country is still in repair 10 years after the violence ended and, although there is still much to be done to repair the spirits and lives of the Cambodian people, there is much promise here--thanks to the people like Jon who are working so hard and dedicating their time and efforts to healing the country and its people.

So Jon showed me around a lot of Phnom Penh, acting as a de facto guide while I was there. He took me to Wat Phnom, which was really cool with wild monkeys running around. There were heaps of relentless young children selling water and food and other small items. It is so hard to say no to them, they're so cute, but it's impossible to buy something from everyone who approaches you, so you get used to saying a stern "no" pretty quickly. But we stuck around for a while, watching the monkeys who were playing with an old, ragged piece cloth that was once part of a monk's robe. One had it grasped tightly in his mouth and would walk by this one bush where other monkeys were hiding and, as he passed, they would dart out of the bush and take off after him, trying to steal the orange rag from him. Rediculously entertaining for both monkeys and humans (i.e. Hallie Baker!).

After Wat Phnom, Jon and I went to the National Museum. It was a quick trip through the museum, but I was able to see some really beautiful, old figures and statues and stone carvings. I also recognized some of the stories that were depicted, which I learnt about in my first year at AU when I was taking a course on Eastern religions. It was cool to have previous knowledge to help me understand what I was looking at!

After the museum we grabbed lunch at a place I had read about, The Bodhi Tree, which had some really amazing food. (My Lonely Planet guide lists Phnom Penh as one of the "culinary capitals" of SE Asia and, wow, it's hard to find a place that doesn't have great food! But, really, that seems to be the case for Siem Reap, too!) Bodhi Tree was right across the street from Tuol Seng, which was once a school which the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison during the Genocide from the 1970s until 1998 (or '99?) . This prison is where many Cambodians were kept, most of whom were later transferred to the Killing Fields to be executed. Although it is now a museum I, unfortunately, did not have time to go in. But Jon told me that The Bodhi Tree was once part of the prison, which was sobering in and of itself.

After lunch Jon had to go into work--it was his birthday, so he had the day off which was so lucky for me!, but his boss wanted to give him a present--so I went on to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda on my own. It was a really beautiful complex, where the royal family still resides. The Silver Pagoda was pretty cool: the floor is made entirely of silver, and there is a huge Baccarat-crystal Buddha, as well as a solid gold, life-size Buddha. My favourite part of the Royal Palace, though, was a small, somewhat-hidden sanctuary. It was right in the midst of everything else, but didn't look like anything too special. It was up some stairs and at the top of this tiny stone hill was a temple and many Buddha images, surrounded by trees. It was really peaceful and beautiful. And, apparently, I showed up on a great day because there were very few people around--50, at most.

I met up with Jon again that night and we went out with one of his friends to Happy Herb Pizza to celebrate his birthday. Now, this isn't just a regular pizza place... the name suggests exactly why it is such a popular destination. Marijuana is used as an ingredient in many Khmer dishes, and this particular restaurant capitalizes on the legal loophole which allows it to be ingested with food. I had been told about it by a friend who visited Phnom Penh a few years ago and, although that's not really my scene, when Jon said he wanted to go there for his birthday I was all-in.

The next morning, I woke up early to go to the Killing Fields before I had to catch a bus that afternoon for Siem Reap. It was suggested that, if I had to choose between the Killing Fields and Tuol Seng, that I should see the former. I don't even know how to describe what it was like being there. It was such a beautiful place; it was hard to imagine such terrible acts of genocide taking place there, but the massive stupa which rose above the trees and was filled with skulls which had been exhumed from the mass graves and the mass graves which were filled with the victim's bodies not too long ago made it impossible to ignore what had taken place.

Needless to say, Phnom Penh was not the most uplifting part of my trip, although I enjoyed it immensely and am so glad to have seen everything that I was able to see on such a short visit. It's important to acknowledge the history of the places you visit and, for that reason, I am glad to have seen the Killing Fields.

I ran back to my hotel to grab my things and get to the bus which would be taking me to Siem Reap. The trip was about 6 hours, but it wasn't too bad. I started Barack Obama's autobiography "Dreams from My Father" and was able to make quite a dent in it by the time I had reached Siem Reap. I had booked myself a hotel right in the middle of town. It's great: my room has A/C and a fan, two big beds (though I only booked a room with one bed??), cable TV (which I'm using to catch up on world news that I've been so out of touch with since going to Aussie--I love CNN!), and hot showers. Although I always find it a little weird when the shower is in the bathroom--no separation between toilet and shower... a little odd, but no complaints really! It's called Shadows of Angkor and, if any of you ever make it to Siem Reap on a budget, I highly recommend this spot! It's a 30 second walk from the old markets, on the river, and a block from Pub Street and heaps of great restaurants and shops and spas! (Oh, and only a 15 min moto ride to Angkor Wat! :) ) My moto driver who brought my to the hotel from the bus station is so nice. His name is Win and when he dropped me off he asked if I wanted to hire him to take me to/from the temples. I agreed and when I tried to pay him for the ride to my hotel he said it would be for free.

My first night in town I really just took it easy and went to bed early. I woke up the next morning to grab brekkie and meet Win outside my hotel by 9. I checked out heaps of temples--my favourites have (*): Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som(*), East Mebon, Pre Rup, and I watched the sunset from Banteay Kdei. Ta Som was really amazing, as most of the damage to the structure had been done by nature itself, with trees growing through the stones. It was a bit of a pre-cursor to the more famous Ta Prohm. It was really amazing to see such old structures and, while watching the sunset over the treeline I was able to see Angkor Wat behind me in the distance. Better yet, while taking a photo of Angkor Wat, I noticed a bright rainbow and was able to snap a few photos of that before anyone else seemed to take notice (if one was watching the sunset, the rainbow would have been behind you). It was really beautiful and, at one point, I even started to cry a bit!

Again I didn't do much at night because I had to wake up this morning at 4:30 to make it to Angkor Wat in time to see the sun rise over the temple. It was really amazing and, thanks to a woman who was living in my hotel in Phnom Penh, I was told to bring some food with me to the temple because after the sun rises most people grab brekkie from a nearby restaurant before exploring the temple at Angkor. This was great advice; just as the woman had said, the crowds died off for a while and the temple was so empty, it felt like I had the entire place to myself! About two hours after I entered the gate, I came out--just as heaps of people were getting back from breakfast, ready to explore. I also happened to walk out and witness one of the funniest things I've seen since I've been here.

Angkor Wat is the busiest temple and there are heaps of tourists and merchants and moto drivers and policemen/park police.... and monkeys. One of the monkeys had managed to pilfer a knife off of someone--I assume one of the merchants who was selling fruit?--and was now running around with the knife clenched between its teeth, like a pirate. I wouldn't have noticed it, as it was on the opposite side of the walkway, but there were also about 4 or 5 of these Cambodian park police chasing after it. When one of them wielded an umbrella, the monkey started to shriek a high-pitched scream which actually sounded like a very unhappy baby. Anyway, there was a game of cat-and-mouse going on between these Cambodian men with their umbrella and this singular monkey armed with a knife. I left before man or monkey won, but I think it was a pretty even match, seeing as a knife can undoubtedly do more harm than an umbrella....

I headed back to my hotel to recharge my camera and to take a nap before going back out in the afternoon. I also managed to fit in an amaaazing massage this afternoon, and I did a bit of shopping at the Old Markets, grabbing the things I had in mind. I met back up with Win and he took me out to see Ta Prohm, which was breath-taking. My dad and Meredith had told me that was their favourite temple when they were here last year, so I had pretty high expectations which were exceeded once I finally got there. I was walking around a bit aimlessly, totally in awe of the structures around me, when one of the park police grabbed my attention and began to show me all the most important parts of Ta Prohm and explain the significance of some of the Apsaras (depictions of religious stories on the walls of the temple). Dad had told me to go to Ta Prohm early because it is one of the stars of Angkor, but I went against his advice.... it wasn't bad, though. It was pretty rainy so there was not much of a crowd. In fact, right when I got there, the rain really started coming down and most people left so, again, I managed to feel like I had the temple to myself, more-or-less. (I guess I chose a good weekend to visit?!) I spent a good chunk of time in Ta Prohm before moving on, exploring the dark corridors.

I next went to Ta Keo and sat up on the top of the temple-mountain for about 20 minutes, watching the sun begin to set and writing a postcard to my mom and sisters :). It was really beautiful up there and I only saw about 4 other people, which was nice. It was so quiet and peaceful... so high above the bustle of everything on the ground. It was a pretty tedious climb so, I guess with the rain, people were worried about the stone stairs being slippery and decided to avoid Ta Keo until it was a bit more dry? Regardless, it made it really peaceful up there with so few tourists.

On my way back to the hotel I ended up stopping at one more structure--the Phimeanakas. I read a sign which explained what it was, but I am still somewhat unsure what its purpose was way-back-when. Regardless, it was really cool. There were some structures which supported the staircase--like a banister, but different--and, upon closer examination, I realized that they were elephant trunks, with the elephants' heads and tusks at the top. Pretty interesting architecture!

After checking out the Phimeanakas, I hopped into the moto and again made a detour when we saw monkeys on the side of the road. They were climbing on top of a stopped car, and one was even jumping up and trying to climb into one lady's purse... probably thinking she had bananas in there. I hopped out of the moto to have a closer look and a little girl offered me a bunch of bananas (about 8 bananas?) for $1. As a water buffalo (slowly) crossed the street, the monkeys started screeching and running around, grabbing up their babies, as if the buffalo was on a mission to trample them... clearly not the case. But I walked after them and offered them these bananas: a mom came up first, with her baby (a teenie little guy--so cute!) and tried the banana before handing it to her baby and reaching to me for another. Then a big dude came up and started grabbing them out of my hand. I pulled them back and he just opened his mouth really big... not too threatening but, being that I wasn't in the mood to get attacked by a monkey, I really quickly tore one off the bunch and threw it at the big guy. Then a little one--not a baby but def not full grown, either--came up and started to grab the bananas again. I had enough to keep them busy for about five minutes. It was pretty cool--they were literally holding my hands!

I decided to go by a place I had read about--the Singing Tree Cafe--for dinner. It's a mostly vegetarian Khmer restaurant that gives all of its profits to helping educate street children. A very respectable cause, what with the poverty around town. The food was delicious and I ended up staying for a dance performance by the Independent Disabled Dance Troupe. It told the story of a man who was unexpectedly handicapped when he walked on a landmine--a familiar story in the life of Cambodians: following their brutal civil war, Cambodia now has one of the largest number of active land mines in the world. Anyway, the story explained how he was reintegrated to the community. The performance was called "Life is Struggle, Life is Hope" and was told entirely through song and dance. It was really touching and, when they asked for donations at the end, I decided to give them $10 which is worth a lot more to any Cambodian than it is worth to me....

Anyway, that brings me to now. I've officially spent far too much time on the internet and am now headed out to see the night markets! Tomorrow is my last day at the temples and I've still got the whole of Angkor Thom to see (it's enormous and will probably take all morning)! I also plan on watching the sunset at Angkor Wat... I planned on doing that tonight but it was too rainy this evening, so I'm hoping the weather will permit tomorrow night!