We're up bright and early again to get the boat from Chau Doc in Vietnam all the way to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. We know we have to change boats on the border, but only one change, and we should be there by about 2:00pm.
We have a bit of a fight with our last Vietnamese hotel who try to charge us for an extra night, then two bottles of water, and then try and change the exchange rate in their favour. We take no shit these days and they are promptly put in their place. We have a bit of hanging around to do as the rest of the passengers on our boat have booked a trip around the area, but we're just eager to get going so didnt book that too. We speed up the Mekong to the border in an hour, then have a big wait while our little guide pops off to organise about 40 Cambodian visas (he has taken $2 from each of us for the priviledge) then we troop over the border into Cambodia, and onto a boat. We thought we'd booked the fast boat, as did most of the other people, apart from those who booked the slow boat and are quite happy that they did so as we are all on the same craft. 5 mins up the river we have to get out and get the arrival stamp in our passport - fortunately without luggage, and then we are off to Phnom Penh, or actually about 100km outside of Phnom Penh where we have to get off the boat and do the rest by boat. So we've been scammed out of $5 each in Vietnam. B*stards. At least we arent the only ones in the same boat - or bus.
Phnom Penh is a cute city which bears a great deal of French influence - its small enough to wander around on foot, which we do stopping at temples, markets, friendship monument and the Royal Palace which is a huge complex including the golden throne palace (no pictures allowed) and a silver pagoda - silver floor. We're a bit surprised at how expensive it is though - all the prices are quoted in US dollars, as well as in the local currency, Riels, but it does feel a lot more expensive than Vietnam. We watch the sunset from the banks of the Mekong and have enjoyed our time in Phnom Penh, but are ready to move onto Siem Reap where Angkor Wat waits.
We're back on the bus to Siem Reap early on the morning of the 16th. Its a five hour journey, and we are pleased to see our guesthouse's driver waiting for us when the bus pulls in to the bus station. The gates are closed to the rest of the tuk-tuk drivers who are calling through to all the recently arrived travellers (all Westerners, no locals on the bus...) as if they are our biggest fans in the world. Siem Reap reminds us of Luang Prabang - chilled out place whose sole purpose is to serve the hoardes of tourists who pass through en route to Angkor Wat. There are markets selling all of the usual tourist tat, streets of restaurants and bars (even one called Pub Street) and lots of street hawkers "hello laydeee, massage?" Cambodian food isnt a patch on Thai, but we find a decent Khmer curry.
Next morning, we're up early at the Bou Savy guesthouse, which is quite a good place to stay, and off in a tuk tuk to explore Angkor Wat. Its breathtaking - a mind blowing complex of temples, shrines, monuments making up a whole town dating from the 12th Century. It was left in the darkness during most of Cambodia's bloody history while Pol Pot was massacring thousands, and was only re-discovered in the 1850s. This allowed nature to run wild, and there is one temple in particular, Ta Promh where nature has completely taken over, and trees grow out of the temple walls, with their roots growing at will. Its got an other-worldly feel about it - we've never seen anything quite like it. We also really like the Bayon which has dozens of columns all with faces of the king carved on each side. While nature was allowed to roam free for centuries, now there are thousands of tourists roaming the site, which is a bit frustrating, but we're lucky in places to find ourselves alone. Its easy to compare to Petra in scale and wonder, even though it was built 1200 years later, it is still awesome, and has a unique style making it even more interesting.
We climb up to a temple on a hill to watch the sunset in the distance, and enjoy the changing colours of the temples. Its not as stunning as other sunsets we have seen, but still another amazing experience, and up near the top of sites encountered so far. Exhausted, we troop back down the hill to our waiting tuk tuk and back to the guest house. We're excited to be heading into Thailand the next day, even though that involves a 12 hour bus, and so far travel in this region hasnt quite been all that it promised.
Cambodia is an interesting country, with a very dark history, which makes it all the more fascinating. The Southern coast promises much, but we are pressed for time, so its just been a flying visit. We cant get away from the thought that its a bit of an expensive place, but we havent really stood still here long enough to properly get under its skin.
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