Cambodia – Siem Reap

2010 January  —–

The Cambodian people were liberated by the Vietnamese on January 7, 1979 – we had visited the sacred monuments on the anniversary date.  That night in Siam Reap, as we were settling down for the night, we heard fireworks and looked out our 4^th floor window for an unobstructed view of the light show. We turned out the bedroom light so as to see them more brightly.  As we sat in the dark room and watched the fireworks, we realized what a surreal day it had been.  Just that morning we were at the prison and Killing Fields.  We walked next to the mass graves, we looked at row upon row of nameless victims and shuddered to think that just an hour before we were possibly inches away from that person’s skull in that mountain of skulls housed in the monument; and now we witness the joy and hope of a country where 50% of the people are under 16 years of age.  The guide told us that until 1991 the people did not smile.  They did not have hope of a future because just a few years prior they had no guarantee of a tomorrow.  Their king returned in 1991, now the people have hope again, hence they smile and have fireworks; but they do not forget.

While the rest of the world may be suffering from a recession, Cambodia is building, building, building.  We went through street after street of new buildings being built, shops upon shops of building supplies and manufacturing.  Considering they were practically thrown back into the Stone Age during the Khmer Rouge regime, they are doing a damn fine job of making up for lost time.  Again, it was the people who impressed us the most.  This is where the likes of Tom Hopkins learned the finer skills of marketing and selling.  There were people selling all kinds of things, in the most opportune places.  At the temples, during the heat of the day, they sold cold drinks, hats, scarves, tour books and t-shirts.  When we went to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise, they were selling hot coffee, tea or chocolate, as well as chairs to sit upon.  Ingenious. Go to where the tourists are, know what they need / want and supply it. 

There are kids selling everything from paper birds to history books.  One 16 year old girl we met while having lunch wanted us to buy a book, to which we said no.  After asking where we were from, she said “If I tell you the name of your prime minister, the 10 provinces, and their capitals, will you buy a book from me?”  Without further adieu, she rattled all this off, plus the population, plus a bunch of other information about Canada that made our mouths drop.  She knew more than most Canadian kids. She spoke 6 languages and had aspirations of being a business woman.  We bought 2 books from her about the Pol Pot regime.  She said her Uncle and Grandmother died from starvation during that time.  They don’t know where her grandmother is buried.  EVERYONE we met had a story to tell about how the regime affected their life.    It was like reciting a history lesson – my parents died of sickness due to starvation when I was 5, my uncle raised me…..  But they didn’t seem to mope over it.  Amazing people….!!!

We were sad that we hadn’t planned a longer time in Cambodia.  If we did not have a plane ticket back to Thailand already purchased, we would have stayed much longer.  Apparently the beaches in the south of Cambodia match those in Thailand and are MUCH cheaper!!

 In Siam Reap we stayed at a beautiful guesthouse (Popular Guesthouse) that had a great restaurant and also supplied us with a tuktuk driver to take us to all the temples.  Angkor Wat is not that far, but we also travelled to some really outlying ones 34 and 15 Km away, which were absolutely worth it.  We had our step-o-meter with us and we averaged 15 miles a day touring these temples.  Considering these temples are mostly falling down, those steps were not what we would call a Sunday stroll.  Up and down, up and down, in and over stones and passageways.  At the end of every day we would partake in a massage at a great little massage place just up the street from the guesthouse.  $5 for an hour massage – oh the indulgences we partake in……LOL

We flew into Ko Samui, spent one night, and then jumped the ferry to Ko Toa.  After the simple life of Cambodia, to arrive at the highly touristy Ko Samui was a rude shock to the senses.  The abundance of traffic, the jostling tourists, the inflated prices (mostly American prices on Ko Samui), the noise – we were glad we were only spending one night.  One small grace was that the Moonlight Guesthouse was a good 10 minute walk from the main street, hence a bit quieter.  The owner put us onto a quaint little restaurant that had great food at half the price of those we saw further into the main street.  

We got to Ko Tao in mid-afternoon and went straight to Simple Life Divers, where Irene wants to do some diving.  The fellow there told us to try the guesthouse just up the way from him.  We booked into the Wind Resort Guesthouse which is a mere 2 minute walk from the beach.  It is on a side alley from the main beach area, so nice and quiet.  They have a restaurant and bar on the beach, where we watched the most beautiful sunset while having a mojito and a beer, and listening to Buddha Bar (or was it Cafe del Mar).  We’ve only been here a few hours and are in love with it already.