Siem Reap got old pretty quickly. The constant harassment from tuk-tuk drivers and beggar children really wears you down, so when we heard about the overnight bus to the quiet coastal town of Sihanoukville, we jumped at the chance to escape this big tourist trap. After a day of touring Angkor Wat, we caught the 8pm bus and rode through the night down to the southern coast of Cambodia, arriving just before dawn. We checked into a guesthouse that was practically on the beach. Because it was the rainy season, we had a lot of bargaining power, and I ended up paying just $5.00 for a fan room with cable T.V. and two queen beds all to myself. It's necessary to bargain in this region--it's just the way things are done--but I have to say, I'll never really get the hang of it. Although I was on a tight budget, I never felt comfortable driving a hard bargain, knowing that I was so much better off than these folks. I'd start to feel sorry for the seller, so whenever possible, I let the guys handle the price-setting.
After settling in, we spent the morning walking on the beach, which was really clean and peaceful, with just a few vacationing Cambodian families and even fewer foreigners. After lunch, we rode rented motorbikes ($5/day) to a waterfall not too far from town. We rented the bikes from our guesthouse, and when we asked about the enforcement of traffic laws, the guy told us that in the unlikely event that we got pulled over, we could just slip the cop some "tea money." Gotta love Asia! (Hm...it's probably unwise of me to post this on the Internet, considering that I'll be taking the Bar in two years...)
The roads in Sihanoukville were long and straight, perfect for riding motorbikes. When I rode in Thailand, I was driving on steep mountain roads with hairpin curves, so I usually went no more than 40 km/hr, but here, we could go over 100 km/hr! In order to get to the waterfall, we had to go off-road for about 15 km, which made for a thrilling ride. I felt like such a daredevil--not at all like the risk-averse, speed limit-abiding law student I was back home! :)
Here's a shot of the landscape as we rode...simply stunning. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of us on our bikes, but I'll post some if I can get some of the ones that the guys took.
The waterfall. It was bigger than I had expected, a really beautiful place! It was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Cambodia!
We couldn't resist taking a dip--the water felt lovely!
These girls followed us down the slippery rocks into the water while balancing their wares on their heads! (Note: What's up with the pajama outfit? I saw so many Cambodian women sporting them!)
I was so impressed by their gracefulness that I decided to buy some snacks from them. They were sweet, although they tried to overcharge us--business is business, I guess!
She asked for 3000 riel (~$0.75), although it said 5 baht (~$0.15) on the bag, as Kerry was quick to point out. That's why she's laughing. We settled on 2 bags for $1.00.
The smaller of the two waterfalls.
Crazy Kerry decided that he wanted to go through the waterfall.
When I saw that he had made it safely made it to the other side, I decided to do it, too! So fun!
In the evening, we had dinner at nice little second-floor, open-air restaurant, where I tried shark for the first time--it was unexciting, just a dense fish, really. We topped off the night with some drinks at one of the many bars on the beach. We lounged in circle sofa chairs, with the ocean literally at our feet and soft candlelight to set the mood. It was the perfect ending to an adventure-filled day.
Phnom Penh
After spending the night in Sihanoukville, we backtracked to the capital city, Phnom Penh. I went with low expectations, after hearing about the filth, crowding, and awful traffic. The traffic is pretty crazy--it seems like there are no rules whatsoever!--and much of the city is desperately poor, but there are definitely signs of economic development and growth, especially in the touristy riverfront area where we stayed. And while the tuk-tuk drivers were pretty aggressive, they were generally good-natured and merry.
Our first night in town, we went in search of a restaurant along the riverfront. We turned down what looked like a pretty happening street and chose a place called Sizzlers. But when the hostess opened the tinted door, it became immediately obvious that this was a prostitute bar. The night was still young, so there were no customers in the dimly lit interior, just a lot of heavily made up, scantily clad girls sitting around. Of course, my first instinct was to turn around and walk away, at which point we noticed that the surrounding establishments had names like "69" and "Pussy Cat." Duh. But then, curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to go back to Sizzlers. Kerry and Trevor made up a code word for me in case I felt uncomfortable and wanted to leave--I think it was something like "banana float." Heh. Inside, we ordered some drinks. Most of the girls kept their distance because I was there, but one girl, Lele, came and sat down next to me. She was half-Viet, half-Chinese, and she had been living in Cambodia for over 8 years, with no intention of returning to Vietnam, where she had grown up. Surely the standard of living in Vietnam is better than that of Cambodia. When I asked why she didn't want to go back, she said it was because her father was Chinese, which I didn't quite understand. Maybe there are racial tensions? Anyway, she was really cool, and the four of us played a couple games of pool before we headed out to a club that Lele recommended to us. I was impressed by how nice the club was. It was a large, modern venue with an elaborate stage. Perched on stools at high, round tables, we watched Cambodian singers and back dancers perform, and waiters brought us our drinks. Later, the dance floor opened up, and we had fun dancing with Cambodian teenagers. It's always interesting for me to see how the young people play and interact. Unfortunately, I had to check my camera at the entrance, so no pictures of the night.
The next day, Friday, we visited the Killing Fields of Choeung-Ek, 17 km south of Phnom Penh, where tens of thousands of Cambodians were violently executed by Khmer Rouge forces under the totalitarian communist rule of Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979.
This Buddhist stupa was erected as a memorial for the victims. It's filled with the skulls of the dead, which were unearthed from nearby mass graves.
Then we headed back into town to Tuol Sleng, a former high school that was converted into a prison during Pol Pot's rule. Inside its walls were large boards displaying photos of the thousands of prisoners who were tortured and killed here. For reasons unknown to me, the Khmer Rouge soldiers took great pains to document the faces and biographies of all of their victims. Death was all around us, almost a tangible presence, as we walked the corridors.
Prisoners were strung upside down to these gallows by their arms, and their heads were dipped into vats filled with water below as a means of torture.
One of the suffocatingly small prison cells.
While I was glad that I had the opportunity to visit Cambodia, I was nevertheless eager to return to Thailand. I booked a flight out of Phnom Penh back to Bangkok the same afternoon. I hired a motorbike to take me to the airport. On the way, a tire blew out, so the driver stopped on the side of the road to have it patched. This is the wife and son of the repairman. The little boy was swinging wildly from the hammock, completely carefree, completely unaware of the filth around him. The woman was so kind; she brought a chair out to the sidewalk for me to sit on during the few minutes it took to patch the tire. I asked to take a picture of the boy, but it was really the woman I wanted to capture.
It was a sobering last day in Cambodia. In order to achieve its agrarian utopia--a nation of poor, uneducated peasants--the Khmer Rouge systematically executed at least 200,000 people, and millions more died from disease and starvation during its four-year reign. How does a nation recover from such suffering? How can it possibly begin to rebuild? It's been 30 years since the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and while the Cambodian people are quick to smile, quick to laugh, the country has not yet emerged from the shadow of its dark past. If you visit South Korea today, it's hard to believe that there was a civil war less than 60 years ago. I wonder what the next 30 years hold for Cambodia...
