Cambodia (Sihanoukville) - Otres Beach

Having already written this blog I feel my second attempt won't be as good so I will apologies now, my blood blogger app seems to have deleted it without publishing it!

We had heard a lot from fellow travellers about how bad and unpleasant Sihanoukville can be but decided we had goals pur own mind up and head to it anyway. We headed to Otres beach instead of going to the main beach and were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. We stayed in a mushroom, literally, which is made form bamboo with a grass roof. The place is basic and exposed to the heat but we luckily had a mosquito net. We didn’t do much other than chillout, read, swim in the big waves and wonder around the beach. The beach has a wonderful and very relaxed feel to it, made better by the numerous happy shakes and pizzas which can be purchased from most cafes and restaurants.

Cambodia (Kampot)

We headed from Siam Reap with a stop over in Phonm Penh to a small riverside town called Kampot on the south coast of Cambodia. We arrived on a swanky minivan after paying the extra $2 dollars we were presently surprised the van had free WiFi plus you got a bottle of water which was handy. We didn't book anywhere to stay as we had read about a small guesthouse which is good and also cheap which cannot be booked before hand however on arrival it was full. The good news is over the road was another guesthouse which turned out to be really good and even cheaper. The room was massive with a huge bed, fridge, hot water showers and was relatively clean and well kept, not bad for $13 a night. We didn't do much the first night other than go for some drinks and we ended up meeting three French people, one couple and a young man about our age. We got drinking and talking and ended up beating them at pool which was a miracle as we are both usually terrible but still good as we beat the French. We all headed out for food to a local restaurant, all of us getting the local Luk Lac beef with Kampot pepper, pepper is the main produce of Kampot and can be found on most menus used heavily. The meal and evening was good and we spoke mainly about differences in culture both gave several small lessons on speaking French and English, however as is most often the case they spoke great English and we spoken nearly no French. English is the language of travellers and is spoken by nearly all, we sometimes feel bad about our language skills and when speaking about it with other nationalities you realise that they are taught English a lot earlier and with more emphasis on it, unlike in England with usually an hour or two a week only for a second language for only a  few years. Kampot is like a lazy river town, life is slow and relaxed and people are friendly and smile, you can walk round the central town in about 20 minutes so its very small with no large developments which is good. We have always wanted to hire a motor bike but the other places were usually too busy for me to have the confidence but this place was so quiet and slow we decided to go for it.

The next day we awoke and headed next door to rent a scooter, $5 for 24hr and then you need a few litres of petrol and then your off. I have ridden bikes before in England but not for a long time so I was nervous at the start. Our destination was Bokor mountain, about 1.5hrs away. The mountain is part of  a national park where there is an old abandoned French settlement complete with church, houses and a governors house. The settlement was destroyed and abandoned quickly when the Khmer Rouge came to power and has been left ever since. We headed out on the bike which we must have looked comical on, for one the bike looks tiny with me on it and let alone with izzi on the back. The drive up was great fun, the views also breath taking and just generally good fun. The road to the top was in very good condition and even quieter than the town which made for an easy drive. En route we took a slight detour to see a small water fall and took refuge in a local eatery to escape the midday down pour where we got some lunch. At the top we suddenly hit a thick wall of fog/cloud which slowed us down and created a very eerie feel and spooky feel as we meandered up the roads. We nearly missed the church for the fog and occasionally stumbled to a small tour group which freaked us out until we realised what they were, visibility was down to 10-15m at one point. The drive down was also good, we stopped at several points for pictures and to soak up the views. The best part of Kampot was the bike ride and generally the feel and slow pace of life that exists. One expat referred to it as the last place in Cambodia with a true soul and one that has not been ruined by tourism and the corruption. Next we head to the coast to see the beach and islands that Cambodia has to offer.

Cambodia (Siam Reap) - Angkor Wat

Siam Reap the Magaluf of north Cambodia except no beach, thousand year old temples and less topless women. Upon arrival from Battambang we jumped straight on a tuk tuk to a guesthouse a friend back home had recommended. We arrived at the guesthouse and our tuk tuk driver got a phone call from someone who claimed they were supposed to pick us up for free, what we had forgotten was we had arranged two days earlier that our guide around Battambang had a friend who he had arranged pick up and then he would pitch to us his tour of Angkor Wat. Well the guy didn't sound too happy and shouted at the other tuk tuk for stealing his fee, understandable I suppose not that we meant any harm by it. The guesthouse was pretty poor compared to our "flashpacker" past and seemed to cater to lone travellers who want to stay in dorms. Our first impression of the room seemed okay, away from the bar so quiet, a/c and a fan, big and with hot water shower however we soon realised things weren't as we first expected. Firstly the a/c didn't work other than making a noise, the room was for some reason always hotter than outside which is unbelievable and the shower wasn't hot. Also as we soon realised the bathroom sink pipe had completly come off and when you turned the tap on the waste went straight on to the floor. Later that day we mentioned it and someone attempted to fix it however after leaving what they had actually done was fix the pipe but now water constantly dripped and was highly irritating. The next day I complained and they moved us to another room. The room was smaller but everything was working even if it was unclean and ditty.

Day one came and went and we just explored and ate some food. The best thing about the guesthouse was the roof top bar, always busy with other travellers with music and a pool table with cheap $0.50 beer all day everyday. We arranged the next morning for a tuk tuk to pick us up at 4:30am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. That night we went out and had a few drinks and some food then coming back to the guesthouse bar and meet some really pretentious pillocks, we soon left after an hour or two as there's only so much you can take, they didn't once ask us anything about ourselves.

We woke at 4am got ready however izzi was ill, she had eaten something bad and hence we had to cancel, I didn't enjoy going to meet the tuk tuk driver and let him down and try to rearrange but he was fine and understood which was good. That day we didn't do much and izzi rested. The next day we woke again and headed out for sunrise, we saw several groups of people still up partying from the night before en route to the temple!

Angkor Wat is spectacular, the sunrise wasn't the best, we got better pictures at other points during the day to be honest, however it was still good to see the sunrise and tick it off the list. We headed on what is referred to as the small circuit, even if it took us nearly 9hrs to complete, a lot of temples are involved. There are too many to really talk about in great detail bit some of our highlights were Angkor Thom and walking through the abonded and jungle temples with no other tourists around. The place is big on a scale we havent seen yet, it cover tens of square kilometers and many parts have not be cleared or restored which we thought is the best way. One temple nicknamed the 'Tomb Raider' temple as it was used in several scenes in the films was also one of our favourites. The temple has been left to the encroaching and engulfing jungle and the trees grow interwoven into the temple walls giving it an ancient and mystical feel. Inside the main Angkor Wat temple you can scale the several layers of the temple and once at the top the views over the jungle and ancient city are breath taking. In general it was very good and very interesting. As you travel around the temples at most major junctions and stops you are hounded by children selling souvenirs, bracelets, drinks etc which can get annoying. We bought a book to help us walk around but in hindsight we probably could have had a proper guide all day which may have been easier and meant I didn't have to stop and look up what stuff was all the time.

The next day we headed out shopping around the market and izzi got a new bag and we got a small souvenir, the market wasn't the best we've seem but not bad. It was very tourist driven with stall owners pleading with you buy something as its low season and not that busy. We had arranged to meet some friends that night, the couple from Ireland who we meet in Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Francesco from Italy who we meet in China. It was really good to see them all as we had being trying to meet with Francesco for weeks but always missed him as our plans didn't cross paths. The eel I had for dinner however was like eating a bowl of bones so I didn't manage much. We went out with Nicola and Kieran after for drinks and even ended up having a few shots, the next day I didn't feel so fresh.

The guesthouse did good burgers and had sausage and mash on the menu so we ate there. The bar was two stories up and looked out over the town which was great and the way they brought food up and down was ingenious. They had a simple but effect contraption made from steal wire, various cables and old tyre wheel. The food glided up and down effortlessly and was a prety neat invention, however we noticed they often got food wrong and took it to the wrong table but I guess that's the problem of eating far away from where the orders where taken. Izzi got 'English Sausage' mash which turned out to be more like a fish sausgae with herbs and smash potato, she was disappointed to say the least.

The next day we booked on to a bus down to Phnom Penh, the bus was advertised as 5hrs but as all buses are local buses the driver tends to stop to let people on and off all day to make an extra dollar or two so actually took us 8hrs. We arrived back in the guesthouse we stayed in last time as we know it was nice and booked a bus to Kampot.

Cambodia (Battambang) - bat city

Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia but to our surprise on arrival we found it more akin to a small French riverside town. Most buildings are no bigger than 3 stories and the streets lack street lights after dark. The locals are friendly and you don't get harassed by tuk tuk drivers or children street sellers which was nice coming from Phnom Penh. We plan to stay 3 nights and spend a day wondering around the town and another with a tuk tuk seeing the temples and caves around town.

Day 1 we meet a Kiwi couple and got a tuk tuk for the day. The main attractions include the ancient and ruined 'Banan Temple', the killing cave and temple, an old bamboo train and a bat cave. The first place we visted after coasting through some old villages and a fishing village was the bamboo railway. Its a 5km train track that still uses bamboo trains which can be dismantled and removed when needed. It was good fun going down the old, rickety tracks and more fun when we needed to dismantle it as there was a on coming train. Some of the down sides is that the train is extremely bumpy and when you hit a bad piece of track it feels like someone has kick you in the ass and you certainly know it. Also the train is completely open which is nice however what is not pleasurable are the swarms of large bugs and insects which hit you as you hurtle down the track, in hindsight a scarf to wrap around you head and mouth would be better unless you fancy a dinner of fresh live bugs.

Next was a visit to Banan Temple which included a 350 step steep climb to the hill on which the temple sits. What we didn't realised is how flat Cambodia seems, its like one massive flood plain with the odd hill which usually has a temple or pagoda on top of it. Banan temple was really good, a little bit like what we expext Angkor Wat to be like but smaller and thankfully hardly any other tourists which won't be the case in Siem Reap. The views from at the top were exceptional and the weather was ideal for it, bar the 35℃ heat.

Next we took a very precarious trip to the killing cave down a sand/mud road and with 4 people in the back I thought we wouldn't make it a few times. The cave is where thousands had been massacred by the Khmer Rouge, often injured and simply thrown to death down into the cave. At the bottom of the cave sits a laying Buddha and glass boxes full of bones and skulls. As with most places upon arrival you tend to atract a young boy who tries to lead you around and inevitably demands money at the end, he eventually got the message and cleared off but he was one of the most persistent hawkers we've had yet. After a further climb we reached the hill temple which was precariously built into and hanging over the mountain cliff. I personally didn't feel safe at some points, the temples was basically stuck overhanging the cliff and caves in some parts with what looked like questionable building work and shit loads of concrete. At the top a troop of monkeys roams freely hoping to score a free lunch from any visiter not holding on to there belongs tightly. As well a group of monks and men sat around doing not much who looked like they did a lot of that all day kept watch, occasionally throwing or shouting at the monkeys they probably know very well.

At dusk we moved to our next location, referred to as the bat cave to watch millions of bats leave for the evening before returning at sunrise. Watching the bats flow out like water from a tap, we stayed for around 25 minutes and the stream was none stop, we were told it takes about 40 minutes in total and as we headed back to town you see the bats break off in to several packs and appear as grey liquid like clouds floating and ever changing in the distance. Not a bad day out and it cost us only $10 for the driver all day which was good.

Day two we woke and as usual when we have a fridge cereal is on the menu for breakfast however after opening the box an army of ants had started to fest on it, we got rid of most and told our self we needed the extra protein but izzi didn't eat much of hers which is understandable. We headed out to explore the city and went to see some of the sights, often taking refuge from the sun and heat with periodic coffee stops. Izzi now is a true coffee lover which I didn't expect, getting a coffee at most opportunities and even liking the iced ones, next she'll be drink tea, a real drink. The actual city didn't offer us much other than a nice quiet and relaxed leisurely stroll and some good coffee. We booked on to our next destination of Siam Reap and prepared for another 5hr journey.

Overall we both really enjoyed our two full days even if we didn't do much on the last day. Battambang as a place was good and the temples and bats were interesting, a nice break from the hussle and bussel of many of the cities we have visited.