Killing Fields and Royal Palace

We could not visit Phnom Pehn without a trip to the Killing Fields. Alyssa wasn't particularly thrilled to go since she found it a bit morbid, but Jessica and I both felt that it was a part of history that deserved to be remembered and the people who died there should be honored. We hired our own tuk tuk to take us out there for the day which ended up being cheaper than the tours run by the hostel and we could leave whenever we were ready to go.
The Killing Fields are made up of a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately following the end of the Cambodian Civil War (1970–1975). Analysis of 20,000 mass grave sites show roughly 1,400,000 victims of execution. Estimates of the total number of deaths resulting from Khmer Rouge policies (including disease and starvation) indicate up to 2.5 million out of a 1975 population of roughly 8 million people in Cambodia were killed. In 1979, communist Vietnam invaded and toppled the Khmer Rouge regime.
The leader of the Khmer Rouge regime, Pol Pot, is sometimes described as "the Hitler of Cambodia" due to his genocidal beliefs. The regime arrested and eventually executed almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government or with foreign governments. They also targeted anyone who had an education or worked within the city. Pol Pot's dream was to "purify" Cambodian society of capitalism, Western culture, religion and all foreign influences. He wanted to turn Cambodia into an isolated and totally self-sufficient communist state.
The country's entire population was forced to relocate to the agricultural labor camps, the so-called "killing fields". Inmates lived in primitive conditions and former city residents were subjected to unending political indoctrination and brainwashing. Children were encouraged to spy on adults, including their parents. Crimes punishable by death include not working hard enough, complaining about living conditions, collecting or stealing food for personal consumption, wearing jewelry, engaging in sexual relations, grieving over the loss of relatives or friends and expressing religious sentiments.
We each had an audio guide to listen to, so as we walked through the grounds we were able to follow a guided tour about each spot. All of the buildings that used to be at the site had been destroyed once the camp was liberated so there were signs describing what each of the buildings that had been there was used for.
They would bring people in trucks to the site to be exectuted. Most of them were killed right away but as the numbers of people increased, they kept a storage shed to hold people in over night until they could be killed. They would use what ever tools they had at their disposal to kill people including shovels and hatchets- they did not use bullets because that would have been too costly. Often, they even use branches of the palm trees which had razor sharp edges to slit people's throats.

The tree shown below was a particularly disturbing site. They used to beat babies against the tree in order to kill them, often with their mothers watching. When the site was discovered, they found tons of blood and brain matter covering the tree next to a mass grave full of babies.

As I walked around the site and listened to the personal accounts of people who had been tortured and survived, I couldn't help but cry. It was so sad to see and hear the horrible things that people can do to each other. It is crazy to think that this happened just 40 years ago and that it could so easily happen again.

The last stop on the tour was a Buddhist stupa monument that the Cambodian government had built to house the bones of the people that were removed from the mass graves. There were 13 floors of bones, that had been separated tagged and preserved. It was a very sad thing to go and see but I was glad that we did because it really helped me understand the Cambodian people and culture much better.

Once we got back into town, we headed to a restaurant called "Karma" for lunch. Jessica had turned me on to jasmine tea and so I had an iced jasmine tea that was unbelievably refreshing. Jessica wanted to tour the royal palace which was right next door, but it was closed for lunch until 2:00pm, so we hung out wasting time until then.

On our walk to the Royal Palace, we stopped at Ouna Lom Pagoda which was a nice, small pagoda nearby. It seems there are always beautiful temples and pagodas around, you just need to look to find them.

We have been to many temples by now, so we knew you needed to have your shoulders and knees covered to be able to enter. What was new was that the palace would not allow you to enter if you were wearing a scarf or shawl to cover your shoulders. Unfortunately, Alyssa had brought her scarf as a covering so she couldn't go in since she was wearing a tank top underneath. Jessica and I went in anyways since Jessica really wanted to see it and we were properly dressed. The buildings and grounds were all really beautiful. There was a temple filled with gold (you're not allowed to take pictures in there) and tons of rooms holding the jewels and sacred artifacts of the royal family. We walked through the grounds for about an hour before meeting up with Alyssa back outside. She said that many other people had been turned away from entering, even people who had paid for a tour.

We decided to head back to the street along the river to have a beer before returning to the hostel. I ordered us a pitcher to split and we sat chatting with some other travelers who were sitting at the tables near us. We were sad that it was our last night with our sister.

We headed back to the hostel so that we could order a taxi to take Jessica to the airport and wait for our ride to pick us up and take us to the bus station for our night bus. We had dinner at the restaurant downstairs which had some great local dishes for us to try. As we waited, a cat decided to curl up next to Alyssa which was funny to Jessica and I because Alyssa hates cats.

It was very sad to say goodbye to Jessica and I couldn't help but cry. Her time with us had gone by way too fast and I wished she was going with us to Thailand. We hired her a reliable tuk tuk to drive her the 45 minutes to the airport and said our goodbyes. About five minutes later, our tuk tuk arrived for us. As we drove through town, I tried to take pictures of the beautifully illuminated buildings but we were never quite still enough to get a picture that would do them justice.

When we arrived at the bus station, it was very confusing what bus we were supposed to take. We finally understood that our bus had not yet arrived and we were to wait on the curb for it to show up. As we waited, we made friends with another traveller whose tuk tuk pickup had never come to get him so he had missed his bus and was waiting for a later one. We talked to him about his travels as we wondered where our bus was as it was way behind schedule. Finally, it arrived and we piled in with our bags.
This bus was entirely different than any other bus we'd ever been on. It was a sleeper bus, which meant instead of seats, there was a flat bed with a 45 degree incline part for your upper back. This might have been an ok seat for someone who was 5'3" but for someone who is almost 6' tall, it was a nightmare. We were in the very front, bottom row so I thought our saving grace was going to be the fact that there was a small storage space in front of us where we could keep our purses and small bags and that I could extend my legs up into. But unfortunately, once the bus was full they decided to sell the storage space as additional beds. To our disbelief, they put some from mats down (that part of the floor was two levels so those people slept on uneven ground) and squeezed three women in the space. There was no way for them to sit up and them being there meant that the people in the top bunk couldn't get down. We were in shock by all of this and were now crammed into our small space with all of our bags. We resolved to just deal with it since we really had no other option.

We left the station over an hour late and after a few hours of travel, we had to use the bathroom but we couldn't quite figure out where the bathroom was located. We looked in the back and couldn't find it, so Alyssa went to the front to ask the bus attendant. He couldn't seem to understand what she was saying but finally said something to the driver in Cambodian and the bus pulled over. That's when I understood...THERE WAS NO BATHROOM ON THE BUS! We had pulled over and they expected us to pee on the side of the road next to the bus. Alyssa was horrified. To be honest, at this point nothing phases me so I coaxed her into it, knowing that there were no other options and we hadn't way of knowing how long we'd be trapped in there. A few other women got off and did the same, which made us feel a little better. But the snickering of the men in the front of the bus who could clearly see our naked asses since we were basked in the light of the bus, I could have done without.
Back on the bus, I tried my best not to be horrified by our situation. I watched one of my tv shows on my ipad and then listened to music to distract me. There would be no sleep since I was incredibly uncomfortable and basically smashed into a tiny space. The most annoying thing was that our ride was increased by a few hours because the driver kept stopping every ten minutes to conduct secret, shady business. They were clearly hauling things for other people and would pick up other local passengers as we drove. We left the freeway and were taking country back roads to meet up with their business associates. At one point, two men got onto the bus and sat in the aisle right next to me. I already had no space, but this guy was basically falling on top of me. That's when I realized that the constant touching was part of their plan to rob us. I had tucked all of our bags underneath us and covered them with a blanket but he was still pretending to sleep and letting his arm fall so that he could try to get it under the blanket. We told him to get off of me and he reluctantly moved forward a little. There was no way he could get into our stuff since it was all locked up but I still watched him like a hawk. Next, I saw him pretending to fall asleep on top of the back pack of one of the girls who was sleeping in the storage space. Her bag did not have a lock and as soon as I saw him unzipping the pocket, I turned my flashlight on him. He shot me a look of hatred but backed off when he saw the look of hatred reflected in my face. They got off at the next stop, probably because they realized they weren't going to be able to steal anything on that journey.
We suffered the rest of the night in relative silence. We made a few stops for people to pee on the side of the road and thankfully one legitimate stop with an actual bathroom when the driver needed to eat. I was happy in some ways that they were conducting so much business because it kept our driver awake. I had read any reviews about the night buses in Cambodia and they are notoriously dangerous because of the driver falling asleep at the wheel.

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Bus to Phnom Penh

We woke up at 8:00am so that we would have time to pack, eat breakfast and be ready for our bus pickup at 8:45am. Luckily they were a little bit late picking us up so we were down in the lobby ready and waiting when they arrived. Jessica and Alyssa had both purchased some of the local style pants and decided to wear them for the bus ride.

The bus ride to Phnom Penh was seven hours and since we had done that exact drive on our way to Siem Reap from Vietnam, we knew what to expect. Jessica and Alyssa tried to sleep on the bus, while I was trying to get some things done (upload pictures, write emails, etc).
When we arrived in Siem Reap, we checked into the "Mad Monkey" hostel. They showed us to our room on the fourth floor. It is always a challenge to climb flights of stairs with our heavy bags, but these stairs were particularly thin and slippery. When we got to the third floor, we had to pass through the bar to another staircase. It basically looked like we were in a loft room above the bar which I was adamantly going to object to if that was the case. Luckily, they had added an entire floor on above the bar, so we were pretty far back from it and the noise didn't disturb us. We dropped off our bags and went down to the bar to enjoy the free beer that the hostel provided us for staying with them. It was a nice bar with a good view of the surrounding city.

Since it was Jessica's last night in Cambodia, we decided we should have authentic Cambodian food for dinner. We looked up reviews for a place called "Sovanna" that was supposed to have great Khmer BBQ. One of the guys who worked at the hostel gave us directions so we were able to find it on foot. We did get many warnings against taking our purses with us however- apparently motorcycle thieves are always driving by snatching women's purses off their arms.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were confused on how to order. Six women representing different beer companies barraged us and tried to get us to order their beer. We were overwhelmed so we ordered no beer, despite the fact that we wanted one. Our waiter finally called over someone who spoke English so that they could explain some of the dishes to us and help us order beer in a calmer manner. We got a few different dishes so we could try a variety, but unfortunately we didn't like anything them. We were disappointed but glad that at least now we knew we didn't like the traditional food.

Since we were so disappointed with dinner, we took a tuk tuk down to the waterfront street in search of dessert. We perused the different stores before settling on Dairy Queen because then, we would at least know what we were getting. We each got a blizzard and ate it while we watched the traffic passing by in front of the river.

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Inner circle of Angkor

We woke up eager to explore the famous temples in the inner circle of Angkor. Simen and Olaf were not going to join us because we had decided to rent bikes and ride them to the temples instead of renting a tuk tuk again (they didn't seem too keen on exercise).
We began the day at Angkor Wat, which is by far the most famous temple in the area. It is so well known because it is huge and extremely well preserved. Angkor Wat was first a Hindu, then subsequently, a Buddhist temple complex and is the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaivism tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple in Angkor, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag and is definitely a huge draw for tourists.

After leaving Angkor Wat, we toured the rest of the temples within the inner circle. It was almost unbearably hot outside, so as we rode around we made sure to stay hydrated. Even still, there were a few times when I just wanted to take a break- I hate heat with humidity! One of my favorite temples was called "Bayon". It was covered in faces which I found really interesting although it creeped out Alyssa and Jessica.

Ta Prohm was the temple where they filmed the movie "Tomb Raider". That temple would have been really beautiful as it had strangler trees covering it which gave it a really old world feel, but there were so many tourists there it was hard to take it all in. I was always being side swiped by a Chinese tourist or pushed out of the way for a picture.

We had planned to return back to town before sunset, but we didn't quite plan accordingly and it got dark as we rode home. Jessica and I had lights on our bikes so we were able to get back to town no problem. Swerving through traffic was crazy as ever but I still found it kind of fun.
We ventured back down pub street once we got back in search of a good restaurant. We decided that've would take a break from local cuisine and get some Italian food. Jessica and I split a delicious caprese salad and chicken, walnut, gorgonzola pasta- yum!

After dinner, Jessica and I decided we had to try one of the "magic sticks". They basically injected soft serve ice cream into these these weird curved cones that tasted like cereal. It wasn't bad but I'm not sure id get it again.

We couldn't let Jessica go home with out getting a pedicure from "Dr. Fish"! These fish eat the dead skin off of your feet, leaving them smooth and clean. Thee was one tank with small fish and one tank with big fish, so Jessica and I opted for big fish while Alyssa took the little ones. I could not stop laughing/screaming! It was so hilarious feeling! You do get used to it after a while and after twenty minutes I had both feet fully submerged. They don't quite get your feet as smooth as a pumice stone but hey, they're fish!

We walked around a bit more, shopping for trinkets we had no use for before heading back to the hostel.

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Outer circle of Angkor

I woke up because Alyssa and Jessica were both awake and trying to be quiet but that never works. I was sad to find out that it was only 7:45am. We lounged around for a while and then headed up to breakfast. It was a big buffet breakfast but strangely none of the food was kept warm. Even still, we were just happy to have unlimited coffee and the breakfast was served on the top floor of the hostel which had tons of windows to view the city. I was also put into a good mood by the fact that they were playing country music...so strange but very welcome! Alyssa had been in contact with two Sweedish guys we had met on the bus the night before (Olaf and Simen...yes, that is how his name is spelled) and they had invited us to join them for the day touring the outer circle of Angkor temples. We agreed since it was extremely convenient that they had already set everything up for us. They had managed to get an awesome six person tuk tuk complete with a stereo system that we could hook up to our iPod. As we cruised through the streets of Siem Reap, we were blasting 90's American music and all the locals were turning to see what the ruckus was about.

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over 400 km2, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. There are two circles within Ankor Wat that are popular to tour, commonly known as the inner and outer circles. We decided since we had gotten a later start, that we would begin with the outer circle. The outer circle had some of the lesser known and less popular temples, mainly because they were smaller and not as preserved. There were tons of ruins to see and explore. It was no problem to touch things or walk around any of the temples in the outer circle which surprised me a little. We had a lot of fun putting our heads on all of the headless statues that can be found throughout the grounds. Our driver had mapped out exactly where we should go throughout the day and would drop us off at each temple and wait for us to finish walking around. It was amazing how intricate the carvings and details within the temples were. It was a shame that so much of them were destroyed over the years.

We stopped for lunch at one of the restaurant areas within the park. They all served the same sorts of dishes so it was really just a matter of choosing the right price. I tried some chicken curry which was absolutely delicious and had tons of vegetables in it.

We then continued our temple tour. There were so many of them that it would take forever to describe them all, but it was definitely a cool feeling to see these ancient temples. You could really get a sense for how different their lives and culture must have been. It was hard to get fully engrossed in the temples though as you were constantly being hassled by people selling things. I completely understand that they are just trying to make a living but sometimes I just want to look at a temple, not buy a scarf I have no use for.

We stayed to watch the sunset from the top of one of the temples which has a huge tourist draw, but unfortunately there were a ton of clouds and trees in the way so it didn't look like much. By the time we got back it was dark and we needed to shower and find some dinner. We headed to a restaurant that had gotten good reviews and since it was owned by an Australian, had some more Westernized dishes on the menu. Olaf and Simen met us there and we had a nice dinner. I even splurged for the Atlantic salmon because some basic fish just sounded so good. After dinner, we headed to pub street which is a lively section of town with tons of bars, restaurants and shops.

We walked around for a while browsing through stores. Jessica really wanted some of the hippie style pants that are all the rage in Southeast Asia, so she spent a lot of time pricing them from different venues. After a while, we decided to stop in this cute little bar we had spotted to get a drink. I was intrigued by the "Rose and Lemongrass martini" but when I ordered it, the waiter said I couldn't handle it. At first this made me laugh but then I believed him and so I ordered the "China White" instead which had jasmine tea syrup and lychee with gin and cinzano bianco. I do not normally like gin but the drink sounded unique so I thought I'd give it a shot. Simen ended up ordering the other martini so I got to try both. The rose martini was way to strong to drink and I hated the gin in the other one so I left my drink unfinished.

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Bus to Seam Riep

I had not been excited to take the 7:00am bus to Siem Riep since it was New Year's Day and I thought it would be good to sleep in. However it was the only option besides flying and flying was MUCH more expensive. I also felt bad that Jessica would have to spend 12 hours on a bus during her vacation, but she generally likes to be thrifty and seemed ok with it. The first bus was completely blinged out with so much embellishment we couldn't believe it. There wasn't even any rhyme or reason to it- butterfly stickers, diamond studs, tassels, you name it! The bus was completely full of people and Alyssa had opted to sit in the back of the bus instead of with us so that she could have a window seat. Jessica and I sat near the front of the bus so we had a good view of everything going on. There was a tour group on the bus that had hired an Australian man who was living in Cambodia to be their tour guide, so we also took advantage of his knowledge when we had questions about what to do.
We stopped to cross the border from Vietnam to Cambodia about two hours into the trip. The border crossing was really easy since we had filled out all of the forms and given our passports to the bus attendant ahead of time. All we needed to do was pass through the line so that they could scan our finger prints and match our face to our passport picture and we were done. We then stopped just down the road to get some early lunch. Luckily they would still accept Vietnamese Dong since we were so close to the border which was good because we hadn't switched to Cambodian Riels yet. We got some delicious beef pho and then got back on the road. Jessica took a sleeping pill so she was able to sleep through a lot of the ride.

We arrived in Phnom Penh after seven hours where we needed to change buses for the second half of the journey. They didn't have any food in the bus terminal or the surrounding area, but they did have a coffee shop that offered smoothies. I wanted a banana strawberry smoothie but the girl said I could not have one fruit so I opted for a banana smoothie. I quickly found out that the reason she didn't want to make the strawberry smoothie was because the "banana smoothie" consisted of ice and apple juice. I had watched her make it so I knew exactly what was in it but I asked her "banana smoothie?" to which she said "yes". I could tell due to her lack of English and really lack of caring that I would not win the battle and since it was the only thing around and I had been battling some motion sickness on the bus, I paid the $2.50 USD (insanely high price!) for the damn apple ice.

We got into our second bus where we were all able to sit together and powered through the additional seven hour ride. We stopped at one point about two hours outside of Siem Reap to get some dinner. Since we weren't sure what our food options would be when we arrived into town, we ordered some noodles since it was the only thing on the menu. They were fine but after a while you get sick of eating so many carbs! When we arrived in Siem Reap, it was dark outside and much colder than it had been in Vietnam. We had pre-ordered a tuk tuk to take us to our Thurnbury Hotel, so we piled all of our bags inside and were on our way.

The area of town we were staying in was very nice. We had been worried when the bus pulled into town that everything looked like slums but the area where our hostel was located was very upscale and obviously touristy. We had a spacious three bed room and quickly showered and got into bed since we were exhausted from our day of travel.

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