Cambodia

Getting from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the bus wasn't exactly plain sailing. We could have sworn our bus driver was doing something or had something illegal on his bus. We swapped buses numerous times at the border, only to get back on the original bus we were on in the first place. Feeling very confused and disgruntled, we tried to settle down on the bus, wondering if we'd be again uprooted. We made friends with a guy called Matt and it seemed he didn't have a clue what was going on either, although all the other Asian passengers didn't seem to bat an eyelid. Just an everyday occurrence on the bus from Vietnam to Cambodia. When we eventually arrived into Phnom Penh, our first impression was how dirty the city was in comparison to everywhere else in Southeast Asia we'd been. There was rotting rubbish littering the streets, the smell a little too much to bear.

We got dropped off in the middle of nowhere, which again seems to be common practise in Asia and were immediately bombarded with locals offering us a tuk tuk. We agreed a price with one man to take us and Matt to our hostel. The guy could literally not find this hostel anywhere, drove around aimlessly and had to strategically ask different locals on the way where to go. It was late at night and we'd had a long journey, all we wanted to do was get to bed! How could he not know where he was going? When we finally found our hostel it was in the main area, we were so confused how he didn't know where the area was! And then he started trying to charge us more than we agreed for the tuk tuk because it was further away than he thought! We were not having any of it however and paid him the amount we agreed to. We spent our first morning in Phnom Penh at S-21, a museum that was once a school that had then been turned into a prison at the time of the genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s. It was once again a truly heartbreaking experience but so eye opening, as with everything else we'd learned throughout our travels in Southeast Asia. Again prior to coming to Cambodia, we knew nothing or very little off the horrific history this little country had suffered and endured. We learned a lot in S-21 about how innocent people were sent from the cities to go and work in the more rural parts of the country. The people had then been sent to the prison, unaware of any crimes they'd committed. A lot of the victims admitted to crimes they'd not committed purely so they would stop being beaten and tortured. Out of the thousands of innocent people that endured the horrific beatings and inhumane treatment at S-21, only seven people survived the starvation, torture and brutality. Seven people made it out alive to tell the tale out of all those thousands. My first thoughts were how could these evil killers commit such awful acts upon their own people, upon Cambodians. The innocent victims were all captured and locked up in the terrible S-21 because they were seen to have certain skills and abilities that the Khmer Rouge, the leaders of this shocking cult, did not agree with and wanted to basically exterminate anyone with such skills. The Khmer Rouge locked away all these bodies in hideous conditions, where a small mouthful of rice was often the daily meal. It was truly harrowing walking around the old prison and a chilling silence fell over me as I tried to picture the awful things that had once occurred here. Some of the rooms were left exactly as they were when the prisoners were found. Blood still remained stained on the dusty floor. The museum now contains hundreds of photographs of the victims all lined up on the walls. It's so hard to believe that a nation can do this to their own people and all that remains of these innocent lives, is a chilling photograph showing fear and uncertainty in their eyes. One of my other thoughts was why did so many people adhere to the Khmer Rouge's evil doings? We'd learned that anyone who stood up to the Khmer Rouge or didn't agree with their ideals, were destined to be tortured or killed, and some of the people who were directly involved in the killing did so for fear of their own lives. Some of them were falsely promised food and wealth if they took part in the hideous regime. The whole thing was very corrupt and we were left feeling somewhat speechless after our haunting visit. The shocking revelations were not to end there for us, as that afternoon we visited the killing fields, where we listened to an audio tour about what went on there not that long ago. It was so heartbreaking and again rendered me into a stunned silence. The people from the prison were finally, after all that hideous torture, brought to the fields, where they were led to believe better things were coming for them. In actual fact they were subjected to yet more brutal beatings and finally they were murdered and buried in mass graves. It was just so sad listening to the information and the stories on the audio tape. I walked around this chilling and harrowing field feeling stunned once again at a nation's ability to subject so much pain and suffering on its own people. The things that happened in the very place I stood were too horrific to comprehend. Mass graves full of men, women, babies and children, all innocent lives taken for no reason. And the fact that this was just ONE of the thousands of mass graves all over the country sickened me to the stomach. Over three million Cambodians were killed to the Khmer Rouge, and you can just see how prominent and raw it is throughout the country. Again another heartbreaking and eye opening visit, where I learned many things I never knew a thing about. It's crazy to think all this stuff has happened in our world and yet we know nothing about it, and learn nothing about it at school. It's like we're shielded from this sort of thing. But as heartbreaking and upsetting as it was, I think it's important to learn of the terrible things people go through, to widen your knowledge and make you appreciate the life you have. After our long, emotional and draining day, we had an early night and got the bus to our next destination the next day, Sihnoukville. We were told it would take twelve hours so when we'd arrived after only four or five, we were very pleasantly surprised. When we'd checked in and settled in, we of course headed straight to the beach. Now we were used to being harassed throughout Asia, it's just part of the package, but Sihnoukville took it to a whole new level. Every few seconds, people would be bugging you to buy something on the beach, or asking you if you wanted a manicure or pedicure. It started to get beyond a joke and rather irritating. We retreated off the beach and sat having some lunch in a beach bar. As soon as we'd had enough of our food, some young Cambodian boys asked us if they could finish our rice. They shovelled the food in so quickly and were gone. It really struck me as we'd never come across people asking for your leftover food before, and it made me realise how much poorer Cambodia was and how hungry those boys must have been. To get away from the endless stream of people begging and selling stuff, we went for a walk along the beach. A couple of young boys came up to Stef and started chatting normally. They then gave her a hug, which she didn't return as she was so paranoid about her bag, obviously where it had been stolen in Ho Chi Minh. It was obvious their trick was to get you to put your arms round them, thereby taking your arm off your bag so they can easily snatch it and run off. Luckily Stef was only too aware and held onto her bag tightly. A Cambodian woman nearby had seen the whole thing and told us to beware of those boys. She obviously knew what they were up to, too. We couldn't stand to be on the beach any longer, so s

pent the afternoon in a cafe away from it all. I'd ordered an English Breakfast Tea, and the guy brought me out a full English Breakfast. Was quite funny actually!

We decided we didn't want to spend another day at the beach, getting harassed so we booked a day trip to the island, Koh Rong, the next day, so we could enjoy the sunshine and not be harassed every two minute.

We spent the day on the sun deck of the boat, ready for a serious session of sun worshipping. We stopped somewhere for a while, jumped off the boat and did some snorkelling, although the water was so murky you couldn't actually see anything. It was lush to jump off the boat and swim in the sea though. After some more sunbathing, we soon stopped off on an island for some lunch. The island was absolutely beautiful, the sand was pure white and the ocean crystal clear. It looked like an unspoiled paradise and it was so remote, it was as though no one really knew it was there. There was a massive tree house on the beach, it looked so amazing. We had some fish and rice (standard) for lunch, and got back on the boat. Soon after getting back onboard, it started pouring it down with rain (standard), so we all escaped downstairs to take cover. So much for our day of sun worshipping! We got to Koh Rong shortly afterwards where it was still chucking it down. It was so annoying, and since the beach was the main thing to do on the island, and we only had such a short space of time, we just went and sat in a bar and drank tea (standard). It was a bit of a shame about the weather but it was still a lovely island and so beautiful so at least we can say we've been there, even if it was raining. After a short little visit, we got back on the boat and headed back to Sihnoukville. We grabbed some Mexican food when we got back and got the bus to our final destination, Siem Reap. When we were on the bus to Siem Reap, we saw Christina from the Koh Phangan/Koh Tao group randomly. It was nice to bump into her and catch up on her adventures. Our first day in Siem Reap was spent waiting to check in, drinking tea and napping. Standard. We ventured out for dinner in the evening but we didn't really do a lot. As I said before we were just desperate for our flight to Australia. We were so exhausted of sightseeing and cramming activities into our days and all we wanted to do was chill out.

We did however get up at five the next morning to see the famous Angkor Wat at sunrise. Angkor Wat is apparently considered to be the eighth wonder of the world and although the sunrise was non existent that morning, it was still truly beautiful to see. I thought we were all 'templed out' but this was no normal temple! It was amazing and so huge, we had to get our tuk tuk driver to take us to each section of temples. It was amazing to think these works of art were constructed so many years ago, with no machinery or modern technology, just pure skill and hard workmanship.

We had an afternoon of chilling out and a lovely Pilates class in the hostel and later that evening we went to check out the night market. We had dinner in a little street BBQ place, which was absolutely amazing. The food was delicious. We noticed some young children going through the bins to get leftover food, before being shooed away by the restaurant staff. It was shocking and so sad to realise these people are that poor that they need to raid the bins for their evening meal. It made me think how much we waste food and take it for granted. We didn't do a whole lot in Siem Reap to be honest but it seemed like a buzzing lively place. I definitely preferred to it Phnom Penh anyway as it didn't seem quite as smelly or dirty. After our evening at the night market and our delicious dinner, we went home and packed, ready for our flight to Bangkok the next day. As I said we'd had enough and just couldn't wait to get to Australia, so we got a flight instead of a bus. We could face any more buses! Maybe we didn't see or do as much in Cambodia as we should have done, but we still learned so much. The genocide in this country is still so prominent and it's scary to think that many of the civilians would have been alive at the time, as it really wasn't that long ago. It's scary to think if they themselves weren't alive at the time, their parents or grandparents would have suffered or lost their lives to such a hideous regime. And yet the children play on the street and the locals get on with their lives and try and make a better future. It's so amazing and humbling to think a country has been through such an unbelievable amount of grief, and we may never know half the amount of what they've been through. It makes me thankful for the country I live in and for the upbringing I've had. It makes me realise my problems are insignificant compared to what others have been through. It makes me realise life is too short to worry about silly things when others have been through so much worse. That's what's so amazing about visiting all these amazing countries, is their ability to make you appreciate what you've got and to be thankful for everything and everyone in your life.