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Cambodia
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Cambodia Travel
"Motodops", Buses, Taxis and Cheap Flights
In the last few years travel in
Cambodia has become much less arduous than in years gone by
with the continual improvement of the roads. Buses taxis and
'Motodops' (shortened to moto's) are running at faster speeds
and they are not the body shaking, teeth rattling odysseys
anymore for the most part.
The major exceptions would be the
route from Poipet to
Angkor Wat probably one of the worst road and the overland route to
Sihanoukville
from Bangkok via
Trat Thailand.
With more Cambodia tourism, which has
been growing in double digits for many years now, the flights
and air routes into Cambodia have more potential passengers,
which have increased the competition, which has resulted in some
of the cheapest flights to Cambodia in quite a while.
Cambodia trips using buses both the mini bus and the big commercial
busses are getting to be a higher quality, and new bus
companies are forcing the older companies to improve their
equipment in order to compete.
Taxis like wise are improving as
the western tourist demand a better quality, you can be fairly
certain of getting a taxi is not that adventure travel anymore
and inside Cambodia travel meets a minimum standard that has
much improved from the old days, means everything is ready for
your Cambodia vacation especially when doing a Cambodia tour to.
If you want to have hot nightlife you better try
Phuket nightlife.
I remember one time that they had
taken the seat belt and secured it behind the molding of the
door frame, making it totally useless, this kind of modification
was not |
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unusual, nor was it unusual to
be suffer from a massive
headache in a mini bus due to exhaust fumes
coming in by the open rear door.
'Moto's' still tend to aggravate
tourists mostly for the constant
rip offs and now there is a
lot of 'tuk tuks' these guys
are just as bad as the 'tuk tuk'
drivers in
Bangkok
and if you can avoid using one
you will be that much happier on
your travels in Cambodia.
As always in Cambodia
remember to be vigilant when you
travel if it seems wrong
often times it is trust your
intuition and do the smart
thing.
Author Fred Tittle at Asia adventure
tours, http://www.ecosea.com. |
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After all this
turmoil in neighboring Thailand and Myanmar or
Burma, Cambodia is just the right travel
destination. A exotic Asian country with a
great past and history - with the exception of
the mad Khmer Rouge times. Laos could also
be a nice travel destination but no beach and
the infrastructure is quite poor. That encourage
Cambodia trips and Cambodia vacation
Cambodia weather is also quite
good from November to March.
If you like some Cambodian
adventure travel, no problem.
Have a look to
Bokor
National Park and /
or to the east of Cambodia near
Vietnam, plenty of wilderness is
waiting there.
Naturally the premier Cambodia
travel destination Angkor Wat.
Travel to Angkor is a must on
every Cambodian travel plan, its
also very convenient to travel
into Cambodia via Bangkok,
either with the bus or airplane. |
Bokor National
Park |
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The Thai airline
Siem Reap Airways
has the monopole into Phnom Penh
Airport, this airline always has the
highest prices, also on their routes in
Thailand, in Thailand they run under
Bangkok Air.
Since Cambodia is one of the
poorer countries in Asia the
infrastructure is not as good as
in Thailand or Malaysia but
Cambodia tourism is catching up
very quickly. The main Cambodia
travel developers are mostly
foreigners from Europe,
Singapore, Thailand and other
countries. After all what happen
with the mad Khmer Rouge in the
near past it slowly moved
upwards. |
Angkor
travel |
Take a
Cambodian guide for your Angkor travel,
this way you will see things you would
have never found on your own, also your
Cambodia vacation time is used much more
economically. Check first a little bit
if the guide is fit in Cambodia history.
The easiest way could be ask in your
Cambodia hotel for information on a
qualified tour guide and make deal for a
day or more with him or her, sometimes
they even have their own car which is
probably the best solution to see
everything what you want and probably
more.
On your
Cambodia travel deal you should also
also consider that you bring money into
the pocket of a Cambodian, he has no
money so you |
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can
directly help instead giving
donation to NGO's and UN who
burn most of donation for
salaries and administration of
their western staff.
There are plenty of good to
excellent Cambodia hotels on
all the important tourist spots
like Phnom Penh, Angkor and Siem
Reap which is the gateway to
Angkor Wat anyway. |
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You also could also travel the
Mekong and Tonle Sap, or
maybe to Sihanoukville to find a
beautiful beach, most developed
beaches are around
Sihanoukville.
Travel from Cambodia to Vietnam
could also be a good idea. Road
travel between Vietnam and
Cambodia is done by buses and
taxis.
Be careful when changing ,
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money, in general ATM's are
very limited in Cambodia, its not as
in Thailand where a ATM is
virtually around every corner.
Flights to Cambodia are now
more common and there are more
flights to Cambodia as well as flight to
the neighboring countries of
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Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and
Myanmar or
Burma.
The nearest discount travel
destination to Cambodia is
for sure
Bangkok Airport which also somehow serves as a
regional hub for discount
flights.
As always in Cambodia
remember to be vigilant when you
travel if it seems wrong
often times it is trust your
intuition and do the smart
thing.
Author Fred Tittle at Asia adventure
tours, http://www.ecosea.com
Sailing in Cambodia and Thailand
- Deserted Beaches
and
Aquamarine Seas.
Traveling by road from Bangkok
via the ferry from Laem Ngop to
|
Travel in Cambodia |
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Dan Kao on
Koh Chang, the second
largest island in Thailand, the
biggest Thai island is
Phuket.
We arrived at Thida's base at Salak
Phet where she was moored by the
side of a Thai seafood restaurant. Thida is a 44 feet yacht built
in
Pattaya, Thailand in 1986
which was to carry us on our
journey through the sparkling
waters of the Gulf of Thailand
for the next 6 days. |
Cambodia Trip |
As the captain and assistants
stowed the luggage for our
Cambodia trip and made final
preparations for the voyage, we
had a
delicious lunch with great
Thai food.
Captain Ralf joined
us for a beer bearing the same
name as the island '“ Chang. A
glance at the
Cambodia travel
chart quickly
reveals the origin of the name
as the island is shaped like an
elephant's head, 'chang' being
the Thai word for
elephant.
We
were drinking elephant beer on
Elephant Island. We discussed options for the
impending cruise and, decisions
made; we cast off at 8pm just as
the full moon was rising over
the mountain and picked our way
across calm, silvery seas
of the Gulf of Thailand through the small islands that
make up the Koh Chang
archipelago. 4 hours of
atmospheric, moonlit cruising
under power later, we dropped
the anchor and chain into black,
shimmering waters of a very
sheltered bay on the south
western tip of Koh Kut The plan
was to head for Koh Tang which
was as far from home port that |
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we would
travel and then
slowly work our way back to Koh
Chang. This was the reason for
the 4 hour trip to our anchorage
and why we needed an early start
in the morning.
Dawn broke around 6am and very
soon afterwards the rattle of
chain as the winch hauled up the
anchor signaled our departure
from our very scenic anchorage.
We set a course of 155 degrees
across the Gulf of Thailand to
Koh Tang under steady throb of
the Volvo Penta engine.
The wind
direction was south east
prohibiting the use of sail as
we had an estimated 14 hour
journey through the Gulf of
Thailand at 6 knots to reach Koh Tang. The early morning cloud
that was to be an almost daily feature gradually dissipated
leaving behind |
Koh Chang |
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a hot blue sky. Wind and wave
height increased gradually slowing our speed and lengthening our
journey until we decided that Koh Tang was becoming just a
little beyond our comfortable reach for that day opting instead
to raise sail and head East for Koh Rong.
With jib and mainsail
aloft, Thida steadied in the beam seas providing a more
comfortable journey as we sped across the now Cambodian water at
6-7 knots. |
Cambodian waters |
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We reached a large Cambodian bay in
the north of Koh Rong, well
protected from the swell and
south easterly wind just as the
sun was setting. |
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The bay offered
a selection of palm fringed
sandy
Cambodia beaches and our carefully
selected anchorage was shared by
a solitary fishing boat, the
occupants of which had retired
to a makeshift shelter on the
beach.
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Cambodia Beaches |
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The next day the travel was to
round the
point and motored a few miles
down the eastern side of the
island
and took the dinghy
ashore to visit a fishing
village. The village epitomised
how the fisher folk of Cambodia
had lived remote from the
mainland for hundreds of years
scratching a living from the
sea. Our curiosity with the
village was equally matched by
the villagers themselves who
seemed happy at seeing such
strange visitors. |
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A posse of Cambodian children soon
followed our every move and gently jostled each other to
gain prime position whenever our cameras were raised to take a
photo. This was followed by laughter and squeals of delight as
we showed them the result. The adults also got in on the act
usually transforming a toothy or toothless grin into a solemn,
proud pose for the photo before breaking out into the same
grin again.
We moved on our Cambodian
cruise with a good wind to
reach the port of Kampong Som or
Sihanoukville to give
its most
recent name. The port was
established in the 1950's and is
also Cambodia's major coastal
resort with several beautiful
beaches of its own once
frequented by the pre Pol Pot
middle class of Phnom Penh.
The captain had radioed his
Cambodian agent as we approached who was
waiting with the necessary
official papers.
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Cambodian children |
Cambodia Sea Travel Tour |
There then
followed a troupe of Cambodian officials representing various agencies,
customs, health, immigration etc. each of whom received their
'gratuity' for ensuring the smooth processing of the necessary
official documentation.
Actually we were registered
as entering and leaving Cambodia
on the same day which
effectively meant that we did
not have to stop in Sihanoukville again on our
departure from Cambodia.
Official business over, we spent
some time exploring
Sihanoukville before returning
to Thida now lying serenely
anchored off one of the beaches.
That evening, we ate excellent
seafood and soup cooked by
ourselves on a table top BBQ at
one of the Cambodian beachside restaurant for
U.S. $3 each accompanied by the
local Anchor (the 'ch' is
pronounced as in 'cheers' which
differentiates it from the rival
Angkor beer). |
Determined to eventually reach
Koh Tang on our Cambodia travel
tour, we set course again
and arrived in the early
afternoon to anchor in a bright,
aquamarine bay with a selection
of fishing boats. After a much
needed, refreshing dip into
warm, clear and deep salty sea,
we spent late afternoon amassing
a pile of driftwood and bamboo
on the beach in preparation for
our beach BBQ. Ralf took the
dinghy and visited the fishing
boats returning very shortly
afterwards brandishing a king
mackerel which was cleaned and
cut up into thick juicy steaks
in readiness for the BBQ. All
food preparations complete we
lit a fire on the beach, relaxed
with a beer and waited until we
could rake the coals out of the
fire to barbeque the fish. The
fishing boats had all left for
the nights fishing and we could
see their bright lights
attracting the squid on the
horizon looking like a city in
the distance. Otherwise, we were
alone cast away on our own
private desert island. We were
late to our bunks that evening
as we savoured the unforgettable
moment as long as possible each
of at times gazing with that
faraway look into the orange
embers of the beach fire
thinking our own private
thoughts.
We were now half way through
our Cambodia travel tour and it was time to
backtrack towards Koh Chang. We
again stopped at Koh Rong but
this time on the western side of
the island in a bay featuring
intense, aquamarine water and
fringed with blinding white sand
as fine as talcum powder that
squeaked when you walked on it.
It was just so beautiful '“
Paradise found and a reminder of
the magnificence that Mother
Nature has bestowed upon this
world all by herself for us to
enjoy. The beach was about 6
kilometres in length and
deserted but for an unoccupied
hut at one end and a small
fishing village at the other
end. We spent the afternoon
periodically enveloped in the
aquamarine liquid and exploring
the beach before reluctantly
raising the anchor at dusk to
motor for 3 hours to Koh Samit
for what proved to be a rather
eventful overnight stop.
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On our
Cambodia travel tour we anchored off the fishing
village in Koh Samit which,
although Cambodian territory, was founded by Thai fishermen
deciding as a precaution against collision to leave the
navigation lights on in preference to the anchor light and hit
the sack. A squally storm had us back on deck at around 3am to
let out more anchor chain. Satisfied that the anchor was holding
it was back to bed |
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until around 5am when a
tremendous crash brought us
hurriedly on deck again just in
time to see a fishing boat
reversing off the stern and
speeding away at full throttle. Initial thoughts of giving chase
were soon sensibly discounted
given our location, as we
inspected the damage which
appeared to be all above the
waterline. Under the eerie glow
of the aft, white navigation
light that appeared to have
acted as a magnet for the
fishing boat as it seemed he had
headed straight for it.
Our
inspection revealed that the
bathing platform was smashed the
ladder having completely
disappeared, the aft safety
railing had been partially
wrenched from the deck, one of
the davits was gruesomely
twisted at an angle pointing
away from the boat and there was
a deep V in stern where the fibreglass and teak had been
splintered. It could have been
worse as it appeared that the
fishing boat had almost mounted
our stern at an angle with the
help of the bathing platform,
rather than a full blooded smack
by his prow.
We had been
sleeping inches from where he
hit but thankfully no-one was
injured and he had also missed
the dinghy with outboard engine
attached. We assume that the
captain of the fishing boat was
drunk, which would appear to be
a regular occurrence judging by
all the empty liquor bottles we
saw in the fishing village in Koh Rong and it was the only
explanation we could think of
for smashing into a yacht
anchored under full navigation
lights. Sleep was abandoned as
we waited for dawn to recheck
the damage which proved to be no
worse than we already thought so
we motored off in light drizzle
across a dead flat sea.
The
drizzle was gone by 9am and the
sun came out to cheer our
passage to the north eastern
coast of Koh Kut, an island to
the south east of Koh Chang, and
another delightful bay where we
stopped and swam and explored as
before. We were now back in Thai
waters and moved to a deep water
bay to moor against a rickety
landing stage by a restaurant of
sorts in a fishing village.
Dinner consisted of some of the
freshest crabs and prawns,
deliciously cooked Thai style
with chilli and other spices,
that we had ever tasted. We
anchored in this deep bay
undaunted by the previous
night's events and had a
thankfully peaceful night waking
to warm sunshine on the last day
of our adventure. |
Cambodia Travel Children Muslim
fishing village Koh Kong |
It was not so far from Thida's
base and so we had time to stop
for snorkelling and swimming at
Koh Rang a popular day trip for
these activities before briefly
visiting beautiful Koh Wai. We
arrived back at Salat Phet and
had lots of time to reflect on
our voyage during the 6 hour
road and ferry journey back to
Bangkok.
Memories of this trip
will always linger '“ shimmering,
silver, azure and aquamarine
seas, powdery, white beaches,
crystal clear waters and
friendly Cambodians not to
mention something that went
"bump" in the night!
Visit my website for access to
Cambodia pictures of the trip.
Author
Kevin Hellon has a website
offering accounts of other
interesting places to visit at
http://kevinhellon.googlepages.com/home
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We went overland from Bangkok, taking a bus to a border
marked by tacky casinos,
paid our visa for Cambodia, were
photographed by customs and walked from the second to
the third world. Our taxi, a fifteen year old Toyota
sedan, would take us to Battanbang, Cambodia’s second
largest city.
The journey
through this part of Cambodia took
seven hours and it gave us an opportunity to ease
into the country in a way that jet travel can not. Travel the main
road south, connecting the two countries, was potholed
dirt, almost as bad as our driveway in Santa Fe, NM. It
was dry season, yet even so, the land appeared
fertile with rice fields spotted with fish ponds. We passed
several colorfully illustrated signs on our Cambodia trip showing people giving up
rifles for shovels that read: “We don’t need weapons anymore.”
Battambang is slightly off the tourist
travel map. It has a happening
market and a lively local street scene along the Sang Sanker
river. Helen, my wife, had grown up in Southeast Asia. Her first
impression, which held for everywhere but Angkor Wat, was that
Cambodia was like Thailand in the seventies. Tourists are not
seen as walking ATM machines yet. You can still have a real
conversation with people.
After settling at our
Cambodia hotel, a young man who introduced himself
as Chris offered to show us the local sites. The next day, we
were off on a trip with his motorbikes, traveling on dirt roads through
small family farms. I wasn’t too concerned about where we were
going. I just wanted him to show us what he thought was
important.
The Cambodian countryside was beautiful with kampongs surrounded by
bananas, mangos, palms and avocado trees. Chickens, pigs, rats,
dogs and cattle meandered about.
After travel of forty-five minutes, occasionally eating “Cambodian
snow” (road dust), we arrived at what looked like a
mesa rising up from the plains of rice fields.
This was one of the operation centers of the Khmer
Rouge.
After about a twenty minute climb up steps
on our Cambodia tour,
we reached the top of a rounded hill with some flat
areas.
While we rested on the
steps of a Buddhist stupa, Chris told in detail how uncles were
killed while mother and father narrowly escaped, though they
were separated for five years. The account was heart wrenching. Pol Pot was no longer just one of many distant, twentieth
century figures who perpetrated genocide.
We were shown a big open hole leading down into a deep cave.
People were tortured and then pushed into the blackness to die.
But many didn’t die. So those who lived fed on those who died
until they died.
Now, the bones were stacked in a wire cage.
Next to it, a
reclining Buddha, candles, the smell of incense.
“What about all the army who supported Pol Pot?”
I asked. “Where
are they?”
“They were young. No one could recognize who they are now.”
Even though there are war criminal trails and
there have been elections, Chris was not very hopeful about the
future. How could anyone be?
Every Cambodian lost family members
to Pol Pot and the perpetrators could be your neighbor. Some of
the top people who helped to orchestrate the genocide still have
political power in the current government
At the bottom of the site, we rested for lunch. A coconut with a
straw. Noodles and mysterious flesh in broth. And we discuss the
culinary merit of various meats. |
Bones stacked in
a wire cage, Cambodia |
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Cambodia
agriculture |
Getting down to basics, I asked him, “But which do you like
better? Dog, pig or rat?”
“Dog,” he replied with the assured confidence. “It’s rich, like
beef.”
(PS: for those of you with an entrepreneurial bent, the US has
an excess of dog meat, wastefully incinerated at our shelters.).
Having a second helping of noodles, Chris explained that even
eating insects without permission during revolutionary work on
collectives was a capital offence. All food had to be given
over. Rice was exported to China. Chris had starved when he was
a young child.
Today basic agriculture is back in Cambodia. |
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No wonder the market has baskets of beetles, frogs and grass
hoppers sautéed in soy sauce. It is all childhood comfort food.
Appropriately, our last stop was a distillery, where we indulged
in fresh pineapple and rice whiskey.
On our Cambodia tour we left Battambang the next morning, a little hung over, we
traveled to Angkor Watt by public water taxi. We sat on crowded,
uncomfortable wooden benches with grandma and her chickens,
sacks of rice and the elderly Dutch couple with their suitcases,
squatted on the ground next to the deafening smoke coughing
diesel engine. |
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After a few minutes travel, we jumped on top of the boat’s roof tin,
using our luggage, two small day packs, as a back rest. From our
perch (still keeping our ear plugs in) we saw river
village life as it was and has been for hundreds of
years: fisherman casting their nets, temples and houses
built on stilts.
The next day on our Cambodia vacation trip we visited Angkor
Wat which was very impressive, even to a
jaded ruin visitor. It is not just one site, but several, and
each is grand in its scale and detail. Here is Cambodia’s
glorious past, when their great kings dominated most of
Southeast Asia and built monuments of Mount Meru, the mythical
Hindu and Buddhist center of the universe.
Cambodians take such pride in Angkor as a symbol of Khmer
destiny
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Boat
Cambodia |
Cambodia
at Angkor Wat |
that when a -not very bright- Thai actor recently said that the
ruins were
really part of Thailand, it caused rioting. Never mind that
Angkor is managed by a Japanese company which gives hardly
anything back for the preservation of the monuments. The site
attracts thousands of travelers every day. To see it with any peace you have
to get up early and beat the tour busses.
In the town of Siem Reap, where Angkor is located, beggars
missing hands or legs squat in front of bars popular with
westerners. A few hawk knockoffs of tour books. Some of the most
fertile farmland and gemstone areas are still heavily mined.
I am a cut throat bargainer but here I give them nearly what
they want every time. The difference between comfort and strife
costs less |
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than a latté at Starbucks. I don’t want postcards, but I
buy a pair of sandals from a girl selling them who
hounds me for half a mile.
Cambodia economically wasn’t much different in the early
sixties than now prosperous
Thailand, but how do you
make up for thirty years of civil war? That border road
from Thailand-- paving it would cost less than a
resurfacing a secondary highway connecting any American
town to a suburb.
On our last day back from touring ruins, we stopped at the
children’s hospital funded by a Swiss |
Cambodians |
Phnom
Penh |
philanthropist. A banner above the road read that you
can save a child’s life by giving blood, which
Cambodians are reluctant to do for cultural reasons. We
wanted to give some money.
After the donation, Helen told the guard that she was giving
blood but her husband, she said, pointing to me, was too scared.
Well, it didn’t hurt much and it was harder than giving money;
but I got a free tee shirt, butter cookies and some vitamins.
From Angkor, we traveled overland by bus to the capitol, Phnom
Penh, suffering six hours of the hokiest romantic Cambodian
karaoke videos. I |
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watched a man pull large spiders out of a paper bag and
eat them leg by leg, chewing the body just like a soft
shell crab. He
licked his lips with delight.
I chastised myself for not being more courageous and buying some
at the bus station to sample, but Helen said I shouldn’t be so
hard on myself. It is one of those things you need someone to
walk you through the first time.
Phnom Penh is situated beautifully on the vast Mekong river.
Phnom Penh
streets are graced by French colonial architecture. The
city |
Mekong
River |
Cambodia
Trip |
has relatively
few cars and busses, so pollution is minimal and unlike
Bangkok, traffic moves faster then 5 km an hour.
Sitting in one of the
Phnom Penh
riverside cafes, it is hard to imagine
that this city was totally evacuated by the Khmer Rouge thirty
years ago. But it was, and the resulting bones have become big
business. The first thing any tuk tuk driver asks is, U
want
see killing fields?
I had seen enough bones seen on our Cambodia trip, but I went to see the notorious torture
prison, S21. The dilapidated three story concrete u-shaped
building surrounded by razor wire was once a school. It was the
last stop for over 17,000 prisoners. Records of the detainees
were meticulously preserved under the supervision of a former
math teacher. |
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On the first floor, we passed large photos of mutilated bodies
above cots. These were the last people
killed right, photographed by the North Vietnamese army
when they drove out the Khmer. Iron and wire torture
implement were still in situ. The third floor had rooms
of black and white mug shots, slightly larger than
passport size, in row after row behind large glass
frames.
Babies, children, teenagers, young adults, middle age, elderly,
were neatly arranged according to age. The dark eyes peered out,
sometimes blank, sometimes in fear and unimaginable terror.
Who were these people who died, bleeding upside down on wooden
posts, or through electrocution while writing seven hundred page
autobiographies for their captors-- listing their bourgeois
family members who would also be gathered up to confess and die?
They were not special Cambodians. They were the same as the people I’d |
Cambodia
Children |
Capitol
of Cambodia |
seen since I’d entered the country. They were me. They
were you, too. And who killed them? Same as the
above, minus the babies. But the most effective recruits
though were young children who could be easily
brainwashed. People in their thirties and forties now.
Perhaps, today, Chris’ neighbor.
The revolution gained momentum partly because of Kissinger’s
private war, evacuate Phnom Penh. The Americans are going to
bomb us! But once they got all the teachers, civil servants,
merchants, intellectuals, and artists out into the country and
found out they made lousy farmers who couldn’t be reformed, they
killed them. Not long after that, they killed the farmers who
got disillusioned with killing and starving.
After two days in the capitol of Cambodia, we left a
country where perhaps |
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everyone has post traumatic stress. Yet at the airport,
I noticed that there were no guards carrying Uzis.
Every country I’ve been to has armed guards at airports.
I then realized that during my stay in Cambodia, I
didn’t see anyone carrying weapons. This was
extraordinary. I had never been in a country without an
armed military or police presence.
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