Feb 23, 2005 - The tragedy of Cambodia (Phnom Penh)

WARNING: THIS ENTRY CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES!!! (written by Karen) We call this section "The Tragedy of Cambodia," because Phnom Penh was where we learned the most about Cambodia's modern history of foreign and civil wars that have killed millions of people and left an ongoing legacy of extreme poverty. Before travelling to Cambodia, my only exposure to recent Cambodian history was via the Hollywood movie The Killing Fields (which is based on a true story, and actually gives a fairly accurate portrayal of events). What I remembered from...

Feb 20, 2005 - Cambodia - The Killing Fields

After visiting the lovely Royal Palace we then went to see the genocide museum which was used by the Kumar Rouge to interrogate and torture victims until they agreed they were against the Pol Pot regime. Most were educated people and their entire families were killed with them (including new born babies!!). Once they agreed (12 hours torture a day!!!) that they were guilty of something, the soldiers could then bring them to the fields and they were buried alive sometimes, beheaded or if they were lucky they were killed first. The torture...

Feb 17, 2005 - Phnom Penh again

From Battambang we returned back to Phnom Penh for a couple of days before heading down to visit the towns on Cambodia's coast. We rented a motorbike so we could take in some of the sights surrounding Phnom Penh and managed to cover close to 100 km...nothing like a wrong turn to send you on a Cambodian exploration mission! Our wrong turn sent us deep into in a garment manufacturing park - over the past 10 years, the garment manufacturing industry has become a key component of Cambodia's economy with nearly 300,000 workers employed in...

Feb 16, 2005 - "Furry Eight-Legged Eating"

With a twirl here and a step there, the five waitresses moved in perfect unison to the cacophonous sounds belting from the high-tech karaoke machine. While their dancing caught our attention, it was their voices radiating through the North Korean restaurant that caused chop sticks to drop. Next it was the folding paper hand fans - they were wielded with such voracity that they opened each and every time with a strident 'CRACK'. Andrew and I were clearly amused and captivated. And their smiles? They would have done any synchronized swimming...

Feb 14, 2005 - Waan Dollaaaaah Mistaaaaah ...

I'd done it, I'd started moving again and it was great ... the first day everything went so smoothly I thought I was dreaming. I'd jump off one bus and the connection was either there or minutes away ... now this was more like it :-) I still didn't manage to make the border into Cambodia from Thailand that night but I was ready for more, then the next day everything went into 'go slow' mode. At the border we waited in queues of people who were melting in the sun, then once across the moto drivers start "where you go?, I take you, you want...

Feb 12, 2005 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Once we finally made it too Cambodia the roads and scenery changed dramatically. Cambodia is much less developed then Vietnam and the Cambodian roads when paved are full of potholes. While the houses in Vietnam are tall concrete structures the Cambodian countryside consisting mainly of rice fields and palm trees is dotted with thatched huts on stilts - concrete building are few and far between. After a bumpy 4 hour ride from the border to Phnom Penh we located a nice guesthouse (Tat Guesthouse) and spent the evening relaxing in hammocks on...

Feb 6, 2005 - Putonghua in Phenom Penh

Putonghua is the chinese word for Mandarin. And guess what is the 3rd largest spoken and learned language in Cambodia? heh heh. That's right, i got in some good practice in this charming and astonishing capital city. Lily, thanks for intro'ing me to Sokmeng, he was a great guide and what's more, a friend, during my 3 or 4 days there. I stayed at this guy's house which is in the "Little Vietnam" part of downtown Phenom Penh, and from there you could see the poverty and wealth of the city flow and weave within one another: a beautiful...

Jan 29, 2005 - back to Phnom Penh

by shared minibus with 24 people! and chicken... (traveling in Cambodia off the main routes is always an adventure) Midway the minibus had a technical problem, an hour later the problem was solved in a garage nearby and we continued our journey to the capital...

Jan 28, 2005 - Welcome to Cambodia

We've now arrived in Cambodia, having started our visit in the capital, Phnom Penh. So far, Cambodia is appearing to be a very poor country, and considering its history, I'm not surprised. I have to give a little history lesson, just to set the country in context! In 1970, the Vietnamese war spilled over into Cambodia, and as various elements of the government began fighting for control of the country, the Cambodia people were pulled into civil war. In 1975, the government was defeated by the Khmer Rouge (a party with communist roots) and...

Jan 26, 2005 - Banh Mi, Tour Giuides, Bus rides and Two legged sharks

Cambodia- The land of dust, pollution, mangy dogs and temples. We left Vietnam after a pretty good night in Ho Chi Minh city on the piss for a farewell to our Vietnamese tour guide. So off to the border we went for the crossing into Cambodia. Our tour guide took the plunge and did a little bribing of the border guards so we all got through rather fast. We walked through a veritable no mans land until we got to the Cambodian side. Immigration was a walk in the park and I can see Australian fruit inspectors going mental over how easy we...

Jan 21, 2005 - Phnom Penh 2

zarcik, a w zasadzie anegdotka: ilu mieszkancow kambodzy (kambodzan?) miesci sie w samochodzie typu kombi? odp: 14, 4 z przodu, po 5 na tylnym siedzeniu i w bagazniku (liczylem dwa razy). (kiedys w paryzu zdemaskowaly mnie trampki, jak sadze. tu wszyscy chodza w sandalach jednak plecaki alpinusa zdradzaja polakow ;))

Jan 20, 2005 - Phnom Penh

Another Express-Experience! Left Battambang at 8 am by Express bus, an hour later the bus broke down, we waited outside in the shadow for more than 4 hours till a new bus arrived from Phnom Penh. During that time I had the chance to talk to several locals - I was the only foreigner on the bus. There was one interesting guy, who works for a sub organisation of UNICEF, taking care of all the landmine victims and educating the kids about landmines as well as about HIV, which became for Cambodians a major problem. A very nice family insisted...