Cambodia

Having been away from the truck for the duration of our travels in Vietnam everybody was looking forward to reuniting with their home for the last 5 months. It was a nice change to be using trains and air-conditioned buses for a while but home is where the mess is, and the fruit somebody forgot to throw out two weeks ago... which strangely to this date nobody has owned up to. But after a spring clean for the back of the truck, everybody was settled in once more.

We spend only 6 nights in Cambodia and will be looking into extending our itinerary for next year as it is a country with so much to offer. One of the most advanced civilisations on the planet a couple of thousand years ago, Pol Pot and his merry men dragged the entire country down kicking and screaming in only 2 years and 8 months. Taking the country back to year 0, ridding the people of pesky ideas such as science or technology, medical doctors and even machinery were just some of his initiatives. They removed all the tyres from all the cars (except of course for his) and made them into shoes so the peasants could work the fields, as was true and right, for only the uneducated were pure and absolutely no threat to Pol Pot’s political regime. Well that’s my take on it, read the books they will amaze and horrify you and all this was going on only 30-odd years ago while the world politely looked the other way.


We had 3 nights in Phnom Penh, the capital city on the edge of the Tonle Sap River.

If you are going to do one thing in this town it is a visit to the Killing fields and S-21 Museum. During the Pol Pot regime anybody who was seen as a threat was taken to one of the many killing fields or prisons around the country, tortured, made to reveal anybody else who may be a threat and then killed. S-21 which was an old high school (before school was banned) was used as a detention centre for high profile prisoners, scientist or ex members of government and the like. Entire families were incarcerated, young and old and made to reveal friends and other family members before finally being sent to the killing fields. The killing fields, of which there are many around Cambodia, were a series of mass graves. It’s not a happy tour to do, but the grainy black and white photos that line the wall in their thousands take you to the other side of the human psyche, the place that is so dark we dare not glance around us, but hopefully if you have seen this little picture of true horror it would be harder for something like this to go unnoticed again. Our local guide helped us put in it all into perspective.


A local perspective - the guide at the S-21 museum:

Harrowing images:

The killing fields:

There are a lot of not-so-depressing sides to the city, promoting cafe culture is big on the list as Cambodia becomes more cosmopolitan, but the best place to catch the mood for this town is down on the river front at the FCC. The Foreign Correspondents Club has played a major part through nearly all the troubles and was a place journalist met to swap stories. Now a very trendy bar with great river views we all met up on the 3rd night for cocktails.  “Odyssey Blues” were shaken up as we announced the winners of the blog competition...

And the winners are...  Paul’s and Monica’s blog came first and last or last and first but either way were the only two up to date. Louise’s blog was close in the running with her humorous account of Bamberg now only 4 months and a couple of weeks back, while Amy tried to fool the judges with a snappy shot of Vietnam. Tee and Le have only just had their blog linked; we suspect foul play from the CIA. Paul and David will be enjoying a couple of dives in Malaysia on the Odyssey account while Monica will spend a day at the local beauty salon pampering herself back to perfection. Thanks for all your effort guys; a lot of people have been enjoying the read.

Another fun thing to do is go for a bit of a shoot up. The army offers up the opportunity to fire numerous guns all in the name of a good cause and at paper targets, good fun for a couple of minutes, I think Louise may be a natural...

So after the antics of the capital we head for Battambang, a sleepy little place slightly off the tourist track. The main reason we headed this way was to make another boat trip possible. These countries have had rivers for years and highways only recently and as such the rivers form a major part of the infrastructure and introduce us to a different way of life. The boat left early the next morning taking some 6 hours to get to Siem Reap, passing through floating villages and jungle. Everybody who went seemed to really enjoy the experience, with the floating pig sties being nearly as big on Denis’ list as the logistics of on-board pool table was on Paul’s.

Siem Reap has moved on leaps and bounds in the last little while, the gate way to the incredible Angkor Wat complex of temples it is rapidly becoming a tourist mecca. We were happily staying just outside of town at a rather posh lodge, only a five minute transfer from the centre but quite and idyllic as you floated around the pool or enjoyed drinks at the bar. With a restaurant serving up yummy food it was a hard push to leave but the bright lights lured most of us for a drink and a party or bit of an explore in the backpacker vibey centre.


A bit of rain... 

But Angkor Wat is what we came here for. Not the most popular decision ever made by the Odyssey crew, we sent the group off to see sunrise at the temples followed by a tour of the surrounding Wats. Rated as one of the best sunrises in the world I’m sure it would have been if it was not pouring with rain and only a dull grey glow slowly lighting up the still incredible ruins. Anyway, the group managed to bribe the tuk-tuk drivers to bring them back for the buffet breakfast. After filling up on eggs and ham they all headed back out to finish the tour which everybody who was still talking to me seemed to have enjoyed.

What Angkor Wat would look like if the sun had been shining...

Sunrise over a slightly soggy Angkor Wat: 

The incredible temples:

Three nights in Siem Reap gave the group a day for the temples and then another to explore the town. We also gave the truck the biggest clean since the start of the trip kindly helped by the friendly staff at our lodge. Everything was shiny and new once more and we were ready to hit the road.

Next to Thailand, Lady Boys, Ping Pong, Tigers, Graffiti and the Odysseyers finally getting their big TV break…

Vietnam

Cher arrived with the group in Hue, a big city on the edge of the Perfume River with loads of history to keep you entertained as it was the DMZ or demilitarized zone after much fighting during the Vietnam War. The war is not forgotten in this part of the world, and constant reminders pop up, whether it be a deformed person begging in the street or one of the many museums reflecting on the tough times this country endured.



My favourite take on the Vietnam war was offered up by our local guide in Cambodia, “When America fought with China in Vietnam”, which just leaves you with the feeling that the years of heart ache and trouble these people have lived through was a result of them being the pawns in a worldwide chess game that ended in stale mate. But the people who have seen hard times and still live with many consequences are happy; happy to be alive and happy to be free.


With only 2 nights in Hue, the biggest attraction is the citadel. Most the group had a wander around until the heat of the day had them peeling off back to the hotel to enjoy some aircon and ready themselves for the afternoon. Laos has good infrastructure but Vietnam is leaps and bounds ahead and the bright lights of the shops had nearly everybody parting with a bit of cash. Vietnam is also a country of tailors, custom made clothes are cheap as chips, and although we would be heading to Hoi An next which is the mother of all tailor towns, a few people could just not help but be measured up for that little black dress they had been missing since packing their backpack back in April.

The only way to travel!

A thumbs up from the locals:

After a bit of a wild night at the DMZ bar a slightly worse for wear group arrived at the idyllic sea side town of Hoi An. Hoi An is touristy but nice, a perfect beach stretches for miles just on the edge of town with sun loungers and parasols to relax on or jet skis to get the heart pounding all available on the beach. But first, back to the clothes. Every second shop in this town is a tailor, they make lovely clothes to your shape and size for pennies, as most people were down to a couple of well worn t- shirts and slightly grubby shorts this was the perfect place to stock up on a couple of skirts, tops or whatever you so fancy. To be fair, most of the lads still look like we dragged them through Central Asia behind the truck, but most of the girls are looking rather flash in their new attire.

From Hoi An we head for Nha Trang, but as we hadn’t had the greatest experiences there last year we decided to try something a little bit different. A private beach 60km north of the busy city is a place called Jungle Beach. Built by a crazy Canadian he has created his version of paradise. All construction is from bamboo and palm fronds, you check in to your idyllic beach hut, each one nestled in the jungle so as not to notice the other, they feed you three meals a day, which was an incredible selection seafood salad veg and meats. The beach is wide and sandy, the beach umbrellas are moved every so often by the staff to keep you and your belongings in just the right amount of shade, there are boats to paddle and li-los to float on, fresh fruit is served mid afternoon, they bring it to you. Moving from your hammock to the beach to the restaurant is pretty much all you have to worry about, and the entire place is wi-fi so you can keep up with the world that disappears into an “who cares” haze around you. Bloody brilliant. We had only 3 nights there but some folks have spent more than a month and you can see why.

Tim, catching up on some of the huge amount of admin and organisation that goes into an epic journey like this!

Beach huts:

Stunning beaches, blue skies and sun loungers...  just about perfect!

For those who find all this lazing about too much, you can follow the lead of Denis and Dave and just dig a really big hole in the beach and bury yourself or you can go trekking up into the hills and jungle behind to find the troops of monkeys swinging from tree to tree.

In the evenings the shallow water lends itself to an evening swim with the incredible phosphorescence illuminating your limbs as you move, the bonfire on the beach is the perfect place to relax and chat with fellow travellers as the stars appear above.


Leaving such a paradise is difficult, and on the morning of departure we had to force most people back onto the bus before heading for the complete other side of the coin, Ho Chi Minh City.


Saigon as it is called by nearly everybody is a crazy but cool place. Busy 24/7 you can but marvel at the throngs of scooters zooming around the town. To cross a road in this part of the world you just walk, there is no gap in the traffic, you maintain a steady pace and everybody just weaves around you, nerve-racking at first, but the little green man has been made nearly redundant in this city.

Motorcycle mahem in Saigon:

Having three nights here you have to plan your time, just wandering the streets you could take up an entire day, but here is so much to see and do.


One group of us headed off down to the Cu Chi tunnels, this was a strategic area during the Vietnam War and the Vietcong dug an incredible 200km of tunnels in a quite a small area. We had a half day trip with the opportunity to clamber down some of the bigger tunnels and see some of the ingenious if not hideous traps the locals used on the unfortunate GI’s. Our guide gave us a good run down of it all not leaving out any of the gory details. Then a boat trip up the Saigon River until we joined the mighty Mekong once more. Approaching a city as large as this from the water gives you a great new perspective.

Going:

Going:

Gone!

Remnants of the jungle warfare:

Onto the river:

It's not all about the war...

Bowling, Saigon-style!

The War Remnants Museum is another must see, depressing as it is, and told from the other side it brings home the realities of an ugly war. Most folks made the effort to go and take a look, not a happy experience but one well worth the effort.


Unfortunately must-see but not-so-happy experiences were to be a bit of a trend as we headed for Cambodia and its very recent grizzly history.