As we leave for Vietnam, we're left with the nagging question, 'why have we only spent two weeks here?' Mainly the answer is because of the Chinese New Year in Vietnam, which falls in early February and means we have to start our Vietnam journey now before the country shuts down.
Irrespective, we're definitely leaving with the feeling that we have unfinished business here and will be back one day.
The other feeling we have is one of sympathy. Sympathy for a people who endured the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, who saw their country torn apart but who are at last putting it back together and moving on.
Siem Reap
We started on 3rd Jan in Siem Reap, my wallet stolen within an hour of landing. Not a great start but luckily just cash and no credit cards. We then spent a week in Siem Reap, visiting the amazing Angkor temples, relaxing by the pool, one group family massage which left the kids in fits of laughter and eating some great food (which was much needed after the Philippines).
Siem Reap is probably one of the most touristy places we have been so far. Apparently 50% of all visitors to Cambodia come here and you can sense it. But we loved the city: it's relaxing, easy to walk around, good, cheap food and just has an all round chilled atmosphere. Definitely somewhere we could visit again.
The Angkor Temples are really something special, certainly worth braving the crowds, although it was definitely a surreal morning when we shared an intimate sunrise over Angkor Wat with around another 5,000 tourists!
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| 6am Sunrise! |
Battambang
Our plan after Siem Reap was to visit Battambang, Cambodia's 2nd largest city. So we took a 4 hour bus - ended being 5 hours due to a puncture on the way - across dry, Cambodian countryside, fires burning in the distance as the locals cleared the land for the upcoming rice planting season.
We had travelled to Battambang for a very specific reason. We had arranged with AKD School to volunteer there for a week of teaching English to underprivileged Cambodian children. We arrived on our first day to find out that they had around 7 Israeli volunteers plus the same number of Europeans and so they didn't need us for another 4 days. Adding in the weekend, it would have meant only 2 days of teaching for us. With real heavy hearts, we decided to cut our loses and move on. A real disappointment, we had been looking forward to this for months, the kids would have been part of the classes, it should have been a really special experience.
So instead we took a day for a day tour around the city with Kamnot, the owner of the school, who gave us a brilliant tour of the Battambang killing fields, temples, Bat Caves and local food (Shoshi didn't eat the beetles despite the photo below!). Kamnot was a great guide, giving us some real personal insights into the dark history of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, including how his parents had a forced marriage during that period, having never met before they were forced to marry. Personal and harrowing, but we understood that this was a society that has learned to move on from their horrific past.
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| 2 Million bats in 30 mins! |
So after 3 days in Battambang, we took the 7 hour bus to the capital, Phnom Penh for a planned stay of a couple of nights to see The Killing Fields and sort out our Vietnamese visas.
BOOM!
Noisy, dirty, busy, seedy. All the things we don't really like hit us like a hammer.
We spent the first day visiting the National Museum which wasn't really worth the entry money but was right across from the hotel so was an easy choice. Then we popped into Beit Chabbad for the children to play with the children there and then grabbed some food.
The following day was interesting and sombre. S21 Prison and The Killing Fields. This is Cambodia's Holocaust, the memories are still very real given that it happened in the late 1970s. People of our age were born in the period and sadly many more were killed. No-one really knows how many but estimates range from 1.5m-3m - around 20-30% of the total population at the time.
People had warned us that visiting both places might not be suitable for the kids but, after the last 7 years of following Rangers, they are well used to trauma and so we decided they could handle it. It was a really interesting day, seeing the depths to which humanity can sink. The kids listened, asked questions and ultimately gained some understanding of these terrible events.
As we say in Israel, 'Never Again' but history since 1979 has taught us that we don't seem to learn from the horrors of history.
We finished of our time on Phnom Penh by getting our Vietnamese 3 month visas and a street haircut for Guy.
So after an intense 3 days, we headed off to the south of the country and Kampot.
Kampot
First things first... we'll be back here guaranteed.
Relaxing, interesting, great hotel, meandering river, just an all round great place. The only downside was we only had 3 days to enjoy. We stayed at the amazing Les Manguiers, a wonderfully relaxing resort on the river. Open space, river swimming, games for the kids - it has been the best place we have stayed at so far. We met a lovely Belgian family here, 3 kids of similar ages and despite the language barrier, the kids all had a great time.
We spent our time here swimming, playing table tennis and table football, some learning for the kids, cycling into Kampot and also a day trip to the Le Plantation Pepper Farm, one of the leading pepper producers in the area. Kampot is a world renowned pepper producing area and we spent a few hours eating all shades and strengths of pepper. Plenty of sneezing from the kids, an interesting day out even including the 3 hours spent in the tuk-tuk along the bumpiest road we have experienced in 3 months of travel!
So after 2 weeks in Cambodia, we left for the border crossing to Vietnam, sad to be leaving but excited about the next chapter of our travels.
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