Cambodia: Battamberg

Battamberg turned out to be a nice enough town in and of itself but what really made the place special was the incredibly beautiful temple nearby. I spent my first day there exploring the town, enjoying the food at the local gecko bar and hiring a bicycle to mozy around the surrounding countryside.

While navigating pleasant countryside lanes I came across a group a group of Cambodians that were chilling out, drinking and enjoying snacks and although we couldn't understand a word of what the other party was saying we were able to actually have a rather enjoyable afternoon.

I cycled back and took a tuk tuk to the town's spectacular local temples. They were set high on a nearby hill and as I climbed the many steps up to the top I got to enjoy a spectacular view over the town and the surrounding plains. Hoping down the steps I walked over to my main reason for visiting the site, for as the sun began to set a cavern high in the cliff face began to release a swarm of bats.

What started as a trickle soon became a flood as  thousands of winged bodies took to the evening skies. I watched them until the sun began to slip below the horizon, then I took the waiting tuk tuk back to town. As night fell I hung out and drank in a local bar as I enjoyed the company of my fellow backpackers. 

Cambodia: The floating villages of Kampong Lounge

 After my adventure in Siem Reap I needed some time to relax so I travelled by boat to the city of Battamberg (i'll talk more on that later). We travelled by boat down the Mekong River, one of the largest lakes in South East Asia. We past brightly coloured house boats filled with people trading, washing, fishing and relaxing.

I took a bus to the nearby floating village of Kampong Lounge and after arriving by motor bike I was soon traversing the waters of the lake. The houses were ingeniously set up to be homes, businesses and fully floating boats. My overnight home turned out to be a mixture of hotel, barbers and local store. It was also the home to many dogs and two deeply mischievous Macques.

Now as reinforced by my time at Cat Tien I had come to the conclusion that monkeys should not be kept as pets and these little bastards confirmed this suspicion by proceeding to steal my glasses (and get aggressive when I made to get them back). After some bribery involving banana however we managed to successfully retrieve them. Even though they didn't look that badly treated it was still heart breaking to see them put on such short chains, unable to get the exercise they needed (or probably even the correct diet that would be good for them).

I spend my day relaxing, reading, people watching and taking a tour of the lake that took me past a rather impressive floating cathedral and allowed me the opportunity to stop to take tea with a group of wedding guest waiting for a service.

By night I sat out on the prow of the house and watched the lake become a sea of lights, floating serenely in the night.

Cambodia: Prasat Preah Vihear

After life in the hectic city I decided that a trip into the unknown would be just the thing to get my travel juices flowing. I therefore set my sights on the far flung mountain top temple of Prasat Preah Vihear.

This beautiful ruin is set on a disputed region high on the border of Thailand and getting there proved to be by turns fun, frustrating and and adventure in its own right. At first I thought my journey would be relatively simple, I booked a bus from Phonm Penh directly to Preah Vihear, only to discover that this was the name of another close by town and that I would need to make another journey to get near to the mountain top temple in question.

Still the town I stopped in over night was lovely, with great food and some lovely surrounding countryside. So much so that I decided to stop and relax there for a night. Well rested I head off the next day for a military town right ext to the temple. I took what I felt was a rather overpriced moto up to the temple itself and was soon glad I had made the effort. The temple ruins were large, beautiful, peaceful and relatively quiet (I was the only white person there). The views over the nearby plains were also absolutely stunning. After exploring decaying stone hallways, overgrown wats and pocket marked causeways I found to my delight that large areas of the temple were still being actively used as places of worship, complete with buddhist monks and colourfully wrapped statues.

The best was saved for last however as just underneath an overhang which showed off the view to its best extend I found a shrine complete with people meditating inside. After leaving an offering of incense I joined in and let the serene and intensely spiritual atmosphere of the place drift over me.

I left refreshed and ready for the next leg of my journey, Ankor wat.

Phnom Penh part 2: temples and buddhas

I decided to spend the next day or two exploring the beautiful temples of Phnom Penh. I was not disappointed as everywhere I went there were clouds of sweet smelling incense, beautiful golden statues and lovingly crafted pagodas.

My first stop was a centrally placed Wat located near my hostel. I was greeted with a steep white stone spire, crowds of people praying, singing and making offerings and a mulititude of beautifully crafted gold buddhas. After sitting to absorb the calming atmosphere of the place, I carried on wandering the streets of Phnom Penh.

My next stop was the beautiful royal palace grounds, filled with ornate buildings, michivious Macques and possibly one of the grumpiest guards I've had the pleasure of meeting in all of Asia. The most impressive building was saved for last, The Silver Pagoda more then lived up to its name (the floor tiles are all made of solid silver) and collectively it contained more wealth and diamonds then i'm ever likely to see again in my lifetime.

I finished my evening in Phnom Penh socialising and enjoying the sights of the city, all the while playing games of spot (and avoid) the prositute den.

Overall Phnom Penh proved to be a city filled with wonder, beauty, horror and an extrodinary history that I won't soon forget.

Phnom phen part 1: The killing fields and S21

There are two things that the lonely planet first mentions on the back of their guide to Cambodia "First ascend into heaven with the sights of Ankor Wat, then decend into the hell of the Khmer Rouge"

Now I found this immediately distasteful, it was as if one of the two things that should immediately define Cambodia as a country is the brutal acts committed by these cruel despots. Its therefore important for me to say before writing this piece that Cambodia is a beautiful and vibrant country, filled with beautiful sights and incredible people. So while it is important to recognize the massacre committed by the Rouge. It is equally important to understand that the country should not be defined by their acts but by the beauty and spirit of a country that has not been broken by these horrific acts.

Now my first impressions of Phnom Phen was of a busy, vibrant city. Filled with sprawling markets, beautiful pagodas, tasty street food and great places to eat. The street food of Cambodia was one that equaled that of Thailand or Vietnam.

It was thus refreshed that I prepared myself to go and see the Killing Fieldings and the torture site of S21. I arrived at a peaceful field whose serene atmosphere belied the history of the place. I was provided with a audio tour set and started my walk around the site. It was then that the true horrors of the place was unveiled, stories of horrific slaughter of men, woman and children where related. All of these were set to the 'inspirational' anthem of the Khmer Rouge, it helped to cover the screams of desperation and despair and allowed the Rouge to continue their insane pogrom.

However against all this horror were moments of hope and inspiration as stories of heroic sacrifice, acts of remembrance by the Cambodian people and my follow tourists and spiritual acts performed by Buddhist monks emerged.

It was a draining experience and by the end I was not sure I wanted to carry on to S21, the former school that had acted as the Khmer Rouge's torture and interrogation centre. I chose not to hire a guide as I wanted to spare myself the additional emotional gantlet of learning the history of that place.

Instead I wandered past pictures of body after body, face after face and finally forced confession after forced confession.

I was left with one powerful impression, that we should beware anyone that would turn our follow man into just objects to be uprooted and destroyed. After all when we treat others like objects how can we expect to keep hold of our own humanity.

It was an important monument for me to witness but afterwards I was ready to move on, eager to see what was blindingly obvious. That this country had much more for me to behold then just the shadows of death and despair.

Kampot

I had been recovering nicely from a stomach bug (or so I thought) when I left Koh Rong. Unfortunately for me it turned out the bug wasn't finished with me and it struck just as I arrived the beautiful town of Kampot.

This lovely river side town was unfortunately where I spent much of my time groaning inside my hotel room. An end was in sight for my bug however and on my last few days I managed to rent a bicycle to take around town.

The place was beautiful, filled as it was with picturesque stilted houses, indoor markets filled with metal workers, a lovely stretch of river and beautiful french building that were slowing edging their way into slightly decay.

The ride I took into the back village of thatched houses, red dust roads and friendly locals was definitely the highlight of my time there.

Cambodia: Koh Rong island

After arriving in Cambodia I decided I desperately needed the beach and so after spending one night in Phnom Penh I jumped on the nearest bus and boat heading to Koh Rong Island. I arrived and was immediately greeted with white sand beaches and crystal clear blue waters.

Life on the island was attractively laid back and I spent most days trekking to and then lazing on some of the best beaches I have had the pleasure of experiencing while traveling. At night I would explore the island's many restaurants and clubs.

The Island was also home to some amazing wildlife including monkeys, many kind of fish as well as some snakes. The best though was saved for when I took a late night snorkel tour of the island's luminous plankton. With each wave of my arms it was like swimming through an ocean of glittering stars.

About four nights in I managed to contract a stomach bug that had been going around the island and was pretty much confined to my dorms for the next three days. After I had recovered though I decided it was time to head out to pastures new.

Sadly though this beautiful island is under the threat of serious development, many parts of the island have been brought up by Chinese developers who are planning to extensively develop the island (including building an airport). These types of developments rarely end well for the ecosystems of islands like this and it would be sad to see this island go the same way.