Phnom Phen and then GOOOD MOOOORNING VIETNAAAAAAAAM

Cambodia –Phnom Phen to Vietnam man

Phnom Phen is a city worth visiting. Ignore the tuk tuk drivers who appeared to be trying out for a new job as a private investigator – trailing us around town for at least two hours while we (to his chargrain, looked for a hotel on foot, ate lunch, drank tea and generally laughed at him. Stupid man seemed to forget that he could possibly make some money off the other 3 million people in the city. The rest of Phnom Phen was busy. Markets, bars, restaurants… hotels by the dozen, and of course the usual white haired (crusty) Caucasians with interest in the culture of the younger generation kept the rest of the Cambodians very busy and us well fed and watered. Street cuisine experts, we can now almost eat whole chillies without crying, fish oil is drunk by the gallon and rice is swallowed by the 1kg sack. (MT)

On arriving in Phnom Penh, something I was particularly excited about following a previously excellent experience in the city, I recommended to all that we must visit the hilarious Walkabout pub. Not the brash Aussie Bar, rather an institution with even less class. Feeling like quite the minority, as we did not have a school age Cambodian chick on our arms and we were not over 50, & balding with a 6 spare tyres, we proceeded to enjoy our Angkor beers, laugh at the scene and bravely gulped down some local concoction in the form of Mekong whisky. Next stop: THE HEART OF DARKNESS. Named loosely after Joseph Conrad’s classic, this place does not disappoint in being full of a bit of gore, lots of mystery & vast amounts of excitement. Gruesome coming mainly in the form of eclectic dancing styles and the unnaturally fluorescent cocktails. This really is a place where East meets West, on the dance floor. It is great fun. But not as appreciated as the bowl of noodles that we slurped down at 2am on the street.
To maximize our short time in the city, we bartered the use of one tuk tuk and a driver for the day. Getting five large people comfortably into a tuk tuk should appear as the next challenge on the Krypton Factor – it is no easy feat. I understand that Mark has recently regained the feeling in his left knee, much to my relief. Due to the relatively recent war in Cambodia, a number of tourist attractions are focused on the topic. We visited the killing fields just outside of Phnom Penh, which certainly emphasized the extent of the atrocity; however, far more informative is the Genocide Museum in the city centre. The old high school was occupied by the Khmer Rouge and turned into a ‘correction facility’ in 1975. In essence, this was the place where people were taken to be interrogated & tortured prior to being sent outside for execution at the killing fields. Shockingly, one executioner could conduct up to 300 killings in one day, the majority of which were executed through a blow to the head (bullets were expensive). Due to the unreliability of this method, many people were buried alive in mass graves.

The museum layout allows you to walk around each room used for torture. Photographs adorn the walls of the victims. In some cases the torture instrument is on the iron bed, along with shackles used for detainment. Some rooms still have the blood stains ingrained in the floor – huge patches which really give an indication of a) how recently this happened and b) the brutality used by the Khmer Rouge. There is a very interesting section explaining the history of the rise & fall of the Khmer Rouge & how the Cambodians are moving forward with their attitudes today. This eerie museum is not for the faint hearted, and while some may believe the photos to be distasteful, I believe it is important to maintain clarity and truth when telling the story. It was a moving two hours & certainly very educational for us all.
In need of some more light hearted relief, we visited the Russian Market and enjoyed pottering around sampling lots of the local snacks, the most delicious of which had to be the group favourite of a potato frittata style spinach and garlic thing – yum scrum! We opted not to buy a whole deep fried pig or bird, complete with its beak – lazily we opted for the street kebabs instead...! (JG)

Having spent 48 hours there, we decided it was high time to get moving once more, and booked a bargain trip inclusive two nights’ accommodation deep into the Mekong Delta- Boats and buses and more food feature strongly in this trip. First stop was the bus stop which took us down another eye opening bus ride to the river further south where we boarded a yellow boat that looked like it might have been designed to carry troops. The engine at the back had to be passed enroute to the “loo” and was any health and safety person’s nightmare... it was pretty amusing- if not a little risky... so like the “loo”, best avoided. Sadly, this meant we had to sit out the front on deck and enjoy the country side and river traffic to the border where we first disembarked for the Cambodians, then once more for the Vietnamese where we changed to another boat. The difference between the landscape use on river and land adjoining is immense between Cambodia and Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, the years of conflict have made Cambodia a desolate space and not overly exciting place, whereas Vietnam was positively buzzing all the way to our hotel. Our tour guide dropped us off at the floating hotel and we spent the afternoon relaxing on board, before crossing the river to sample pretty much everything the street had to offer. This was Chaudoc …. With the onset of the Chinese New Year or Vietnamese Tet festival, the streets are alive and well with a LOT of food. (MT)

Chau Doc to Can Tho

After a 6am wake-up call we were very glad of the coffee/tea served on the floating hotel’s veranda. We still cannot believe how nice this hotel is for a backpacker place! Maybe my standards have just dropped to a worryingly low level?! In the morning we climbed a hill to a temple, which was interesting – heard all about the fat Buddha and made sure we gave his belly a good rub to bring us luck for the rest of the day – he certainly looked like he enjoyed the NY party season! Also visited a fish farm, whereby a family kept fish under their floating house & afterwards visited a village, which was a bit touristy and fake. Got a big boat down the river and we all fell asleep on the deck chairs which was blissfully relaxing. The bus to Can Tho, which is a friendly bustling little place, with life centered on the Mekong again. Mark and I visited the supermarket, which was full of Vietnamese goodies – all very exciting. (JG)

Our travel plans for the next couple of days include a mad rush to Saigon followed by a madder rush to Hong Kong via Hanoi; we have to get there by train before the 25th for the Chinese New Year!! (MT)