Dankblog: Cambodia #1
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Siem Reap. To say they are vast and impressive is an understatement.
The best way to see the ruins is to buy a three-day pass for $40 and
take a group tour that shows you the highlights of the several Angkor
complexes the first day, and the second and third you hire a tuk-tuk
driver for the day for $15 and go exploring on your own.
Make sure to arrange the tuk-tuk driver the night before, because you
want him to pick you up at about 05:00 to take you to Ankgor Wat to
watch the sun rise over the ancient temple. The reflecting pools in
front mirror the towers and colorful sky perfectly, making the
experience almost surreal.
There is also a complex where you can watch the sun set, but you have
to get there early because you have to climb to the top of an old
monument to see it. Have the tuk-tuk driver take you back to the air-
conditioned guesthouse by lunch because Cambodia is unbearably hot and
humid during the day.
A mysterious Khmer man approached me in the ruins and made me take a
tour, hoping I would pay him. He showed me some interesting things,
including a small room with special acoustics so as to only echo the
sound of someone thumping their upper chest with their fist. Thumping
anything else or outside of the special area produced no echo.
Later, an even more mysterious Khmer man saw me looking at a Buddha
(actually a headless Hindu god which was converted into a Buddha by an
ancient Khmer king. He gave me two sticks of incense, lit them, and
demanded I place them in front of the decapitated Buddha statue and
made me clasp my hands and bow down three times. It was such a weird
request that I didn't bother to protest, and I figured it couldn't do
any harm if I didn't believe in it (I don't believe in anything, not
even reality).
If you're lucky, you will see wild monkeys in the ruins, but watch out
because they will grab your food, particularly fruit.
The status of marijuana in Cambodia is unclear, but it is technically
illegal despite a long history of use in traditional Khmer culture,
mainly because the communist government signed a treaty requiring it
to criminalize marijuana as a condition for receiving Western (U.S.)
aid.
I had heard the Cambodian government claimed to have eradicated all
marijuana crops in the country in just the last few months, and
personally witnessed a propaganda billboard depicting government
troops taking flamethrowers to fields of marijuana.
So you won't find marijuana in Cambodia, except maybe on the street
corner or as a topping at one of the famous "Happy Pizza" restaurants
in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh (look for any variation of 'happy,'
'special,' 'ecstatic,' etc. and make sure to confirm with the waiter
that you want it "extra happy." Sadly enough, they did not take this
concept one step further by offering hallucinogenic mushrooms as
another topping.
Don't drink the water in Cambodia unless it is in a sealed bottle.
Don't eat the local food except at sanitary-looking restaurants in the
tourist district. They said to take malaria pills for a month,
slather myself in DEET lotion, and soak my clothes in insecticide, but
I didn't and wasn't bitten by a single mosquito, even in the jungle
around Angkor Wat. But remember that December is dry season.
Almost everyone in Asia wears face masks, because the air is toxic.
Vietnam's air is bad enough because of all the scooters, but
Cambodians use just as many scooters and also burn wood for cooking
fuel because they are very poor and live in a jungle with lots of
trees. I had an allergic reaction and am still coughing a week
later. A respirator or gas mask would really be a good thing to use,
but it's so damn hot that it would be very uncomfortable.
Took an air-conditioned motorboat from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh for
$33, across the huge Tonle Sap lake and saw lots of fishing boats and
floating villages. Got sunburned standing out on deck while taking
photos; sunburns always make me nauseous so that and the allergies
made me feel quite ill the entire time.
Upon arriving in Phnom Penh, an ambitious tuk-tuk driver convinced me
to let him pick a guesthouse, and I got a very large and clean room
with air conditioning and a hot shower for only $15, right in the
middle of the tourist district near the royal palace. Took a shower
and slept till evening and went out to eat (some Khmer fusion
restaurant, where I got a bowl of mild and sweet coconut sour soup
with chicken for only $3.50.
The next morning the same tuk-tuk driver took me to the infamous
Killing Fields about ten kilometers outside of the city. Such a quiet
and tranquil site that if it weren't for the tower of human skulls in
front of you, you would never believe that a crime of that magnitude
could have occurred there. Butterflies and wild chickens roam freely
around the mass graves,
Caught a 13:30 bus back to Ho Chi Minh City for $10. The strange
place I first encountered only a week before now seems civilized and
almost like home after five days in Cambodia. Cambodia is a
fascinating place to visit, but be prepared because it can be very
uncomfortable, and make sure your all your shots are up to date.