Toul Sleng or Security 21 (S-21) genocide museum
Formally a school know as Ponhea Yat located in the middle of Phnom Penh the almost ghostly building that became know as Toul Sleng or Security 21 (S-21) still stands as a ever present reminder of the atrocities carried out by the Khmer Rouge.
S-21 was Angkar's (meaning the organisation of the Khmer Rouge) premier security institution used for the interrogation and extermination of anti-angkar elements. It is estimated as many as 10,499 prisoners plus 2,000 children passed through S-21, all of which died many at the Choeunh Ek killing field.
The old school was modified little save for classrooms being clumsily divided into cells. We entered the prison at Building A and walked slowly from room to room. In each room on the ground floor was a metal bed, without mattress, and a picture on the wall. Each picture seemed more horrific than the last and showed a dead prisoner as they were found in the room when the Khmer Rouge deserted the prison upon the fall of the regime. Inside the room some of the shackles used to tie the prisoners to the bed remained and blood splatters were still visible on the ceiling.
One of the rooms used for torture.
The Khmer Rough meticulously documented each prisoner that passed through S-21. On arrival they were taken to a special chair that made them sit up straight and held their head up for their picture. These pictures were kept with the confessions extracted from the prisoners under torture, many of which are though to be false.
The ground floor of Building B contained rows and rows of pictures of the prisoners. Some of them looked defiant, others scared and some just seemed to be pleading for mercy. I'm sure whilst being photographed most of them were already aware of the fate that awaited them. The most shocking of all the walls was a collection of photographs of small children some no older than about three. The Khmer Rouge worked on the basis that: "to dig up the grass one must dig up the roots".Therefore if one member of a family was deemed to be anti-angkar often the entire family would be "exterminated".
Looking at the pictures and seeing the haunted look in the eyes of the victims was the hardest part of the museum. Emily didn't even make it through the first room before her imagination got the better of her and she spent the rest of the afternoon in the courtyard.
Some of the children who passed through the prison.
Some of the mean and women who passed through the prison.
Upstairs in Building B was an exhibition of stories told by relatives of those taken away by the Khmer Rouge, Having already read two different personal accounts of life under the Khmer Rouge I was prepared for this. However it was still much easier to take in the information without dwelling on it too much. Emily's problem was she would spend ages imagining if it had been her and her family. I found it easier to try and detach as much as possible, otherwise I'd have been sat in the courtyard with her.
Building C is the only building that remains as it stood during the Khmer Rouge time. The front of the building is covered in barbed wire woven into a net to prevent the prisoners jumping from the second and third floor and committing suicide. On this first floor are some badly built brick cells measuring no more than 0.8 meters by 2 meters where the men were held. On the second floor are similar sized wooden cells where the women were held.
One of the mens prison cells.
Two of the ladies prison cells.
On the third floor of each of the building were collective cells. Here row of prisoners were kept sleeping close together waiting for their turn to be integrated, tortured or killed. A metal bar measuring four or five meters long was placed through the shackles on their ankles to prevent them moving anywhere and talking to each other was forbidden.
The museum also contained an exhibition of some of the torture implements used by the Khmer Rouge guards. Among them was a bed filled with water. The victim's hands would be tied to each side of the bed and his legs to the bottom. The bed would be then filled with water almost submerging the victims head. Women would be tortured with their hands and feet shackled to a bed then scorpions and centipedes used to sting her or pliers used to clip off her nipples. In the courtyard of the school once stood a wooden frame with wires attached that student, from the buildings time as a school, used to do exercise. The Khmer Rouge utilised this as another torture device tying the victims hands with a rope and hanging them upside down until they lost consciousness. They were then lowered into a tub of smelly, filthy water used for fertilizing the crops causing them to regain consciousness and the interrogation could begin over again.
This kind of inhumane torture hardly bares thinking about. Although from reading the books I have on the Khmer Roue regime I know it could get even worse!
One of the final parts of the museum took us through a series of paintings by Vann Nath an artist who was one of only seven people who survived S-21 (A website with images of his paintings can be found by clicking this link). He painted images he had seen during his time as a prisoner. Then later we watched a documentary on the prison where the painter walked around the prison with a former guard talking about the torture and killing methods and asking weather his paintings were accurate. Throughout the interview the guard wore an inane grin, possibly because of the horror of the acts he once committed, possibly because of having blocked out the reality of what he had done, or maybe he was just an evil man - regardless he admitted that the acts of depravity and degradation in the picture were accurate portrayals of life in the prison.
Sarim (our tuk tuk driver friend) had walked around the whole museum with us explaining things as we went seemingly unphased by his countries horrific history. But having seen the documentary before he excused himself before the prison guard came on screen saying it was too much form him.
It seems that abominable acts committed by the Khmer Rouge will not any affect the generation to which it happened but many generations to come who grow up with the knowledge their ants, uncles, and grandparents were among the two million Cambodians who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. As long as S-21 and the killing fields stays open to the public it will be an ever present reminder of just how barbaric a regime can be.
Choeung Ek killing field
Set amongst peaceful rice fields and farmland is one of Cambodia's most grisly sites the Choeung Ek killing field where as many as 17,000 Cambodians lost their lives under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Located just 12km outside Phnom Penh Choeung Ek is where prisoners from the infamous Toul Sleng or S-21 prison were taken to be "extinguished".
We'd contacted Sarim (the guy we met in Sihnaoukville) and arranged for him to drive us on his Tuk-tuk, being Cambodian he got free entry to the site (we paid $2 each) and walked around with us explaining things as we went.
Just standing outside the gate of the Choeung Ek killing field had already invoked a feeling of horror. I knew what I was about to see wasn't going to be pleasant and if I thought too hard I could almost hear the terrified screams of a bygone day.
Inside Choeung Ek the first thing we came to was a modern Chedi of glass panels set in white with a classical Khmer golden roof. Inside was the final resting place of thousands of skulls piled high on shelves inside a square glass case and arranged by age and gender. Some of them bearing the marks of a grisly death. Underneath the skulls was a pile of clothing removed from the thousands of exhumed bodies.
The chedi.
We entered in silence, whilst Sarim waited outside, and walked slowly around the Chedi looking at thousands of skulls placed close enough for us to have reached out and touched them. Looking at the remnants of death on such a large scale it was impossible to fathom how any regime could kill so many people. It was so shocking it didn't seem real.
The clothes on the bottom of the Chedi.
One shelf in the Chedi.
Looking into the Chedi.
I left the Chedi lighting some incense on the way and stopping for a moment to think of all those who lost their lives under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
At Choeung Ek 8985 bodies have so far been recovered from 86 mass graves dotted across the site. A further 43 mass graves remain untouched and some estimates claim as many as 17,00 people may have been killed there.
We strolled slowly towards the mass burial sites passing long ago demolished buildings where the Choeung Ek guards would have gone about their gruesome business. We first came to a sign marking the truck stop where the trucks carrying prisoners for execution would have stood. Trucks carrying 20-30 terrified prisoners would arrive every three weeks. The prisoners would be taken straight for execution or be detained in the dingy on site detention centre to await their death.
A few more steps took us to the place where the "dark and gloomy" detention centre once stood. Prisoners were usually executed immediately but when the number to be executed reached 300 a day the Khmer Rouge couldn't kill them fast enough so they detained them for slaughter the following day.
Next to the long ago dismantled detention centre once stood the executioners office and the beside that a chemical substances storage room. This room was used to store substances such as DDT. DDT was used to sprinkle over dead bodies to remove the stench of rotting flesh from the bodies that if smelt could of aroused the suspicion of people working nearby and also to kill off victims buried alive.
Sarim then lead us to some of the mass grave sites. The whole landscape was dotted with large pits all of which Sarim explained were mass graves. Some of the larger mass graves were fenced off and a wooden plaque said how many bodies had been recovered there. Walking around this area it was almost impossible to stop an involuntary shiver going down your spine as you looked at the ground and saw fragments of bone and clothing left behind after the grave excavations.
One of the mass graves.
Clothing from the ground left under a tree.
A large tree in the middle of the grave site was apparently used to hold a loud speaker blasting music and propaganda to cover the screams of people as they were killed and their lifeless bodies thrown into a pit.
To begin with victims were killed by a bullet to the head but as ammunition ran out victims were bludgeoned or stabbed to death. Sarim showed us some palm leaves with lacerated edges and said the Khmer Rouge would kill some of the victims using the leaves. The edges were sharp but not sharp enough to kill without it being very slow and inflicting enormous pain on the victim. The area was surrounded by large palm trees that 30 years ago, when this horror was taking place, would have been small. Those same tress that I was walking past now where the ones whose leaves were taken and used in acts of horrific brutality.
In near silence we walked around the grave site taking in what we were seeing, barley able to imagine the abhorrent acts that were committed on the ground where we stood.
We left Choeung Ek in silence preparing ourselves four our next stop of the day Toul Sleng or S-21 the prison where many of the victims of the Choeung Ek killing field would have lived out their last few days. It was going to be a very somber day.
Ghosts
The day after Ream national Park we travelled to Kampot and booked a trip to the abandoned hill station in Bokor National Park.
Bokor National park was originally developed by the french when they colonised Cambodia. It was an elegant hill station with a cool climate and luxurious amenities where visitors flocked during the 1920s. It has since been abandoned twice. The first time during the 1940s when the Japanese invaded Cambodia then again in the 1970s when the Khmer Rouge took over the country. In 1979 Bokor was the scene of a prolonged battle between Vietnamese and Khmer Rough troops who hooled up in the Catholic Church and Hotel respectively - today the scars of the battle are still visible. The hill station hasn't been inhabited since Khmer Rouge left and now lies as an eerie relic of a former time.
Getting to the hill station was an adventure itself. The trip left early in the morning but as we arrived at the pick up point it was pouring with rain and the transport was an open back 4x4 truck. Kat, Emily and I did a good job of looking like vulnerable young girls and were all given seats inside the vehicle.
It took about 15 minutes to get to the entrance to Bakor National park then almost two hours along a very bumpy, non existent road to the Black Palace - the former residence of King Sihnaouk and our first stop.
Along the way we encountered a very large poisonous spider making it's web across the road. It was the largest spider I've ever seen and made me shudder from inside the vehicle I was very glad I wasn't sat on the open back!
The Black palace area was made up of three buildings. The kings residence building was surprisingly unspectacular and much smaller than I'd expected. Inside it was little more than a shell but the terrace offered amazing views down the mountain and out to sea.
The view from the Black Palace dining room.
To the left about 200 meters away was the kitchen and dining building; this was a much larger building with a room that could have once been a grand banquet hall. The to the left of this building was the least impressive building of the palace complex, the concubines residence. To get to this building you had to navigate through thick undergrowth, Inside there were two bedrooms, a bathroom and small entrance way. This was probably the worst maintained of all the buildings with a massive hole in the floor of one of the rooms.
Our next stop was the abandoned hill station at the top of Bokor National Park. The truck came to a stop in front of the modern looking rangers station, I got out and turned around. I was looking across a reservoir at an area dotted with abandoned and almost ruined buildings. Clouds were blowing gently across the scene in front of me. The mist floated in and out of the windows of buildings that were blackened with age and covered in a bright orange lichen as the mist swirled around the area the buildings disappeared and reappeared making it a very eerie scene to behold.
The clouds swirling around the catholic church.
The guide took us for a walk around the park first stopping at the hotel and casino where we could take some pictures but not go inside. Then we climbed the hill to the massive structure of the main Hotel Casino. The building was blackened with age and slime and dotted with bright green moss and orange lichen. Inside much of the floor was covered in a layer of water which dripped from the ceiling. As you entered there was a sign saying no sleeping but looking around me and having heard the rumors about how haunted the building was I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to sleep there.
The hotel Casino had once been a grand building and walking around the main room you could almost imagine it rebuilding itself in front you eyes as the boat does in the film titanic. But at the same time as imagining it with the grandeur it once had it was also easy to imagine it in its second incarnation as a Khmer Rouge prison. Thinking about it like this the whole building seemed like it had emerged from a horror film - in some ways it had! The building is said to be haunted because so many people died there without Buddhist ceremonies being held for them to allow their souls to pass into the next world. Behind the building is a cliff with a drop to the jungle floor of over 1000 feet, it is said the Khmer Rouge would execute prisoners by tying them together and pushing the first man over the cliff and letting those tied to him follow.
The hotel casino.
The building was still very much standing and it was possible to climb the staircases to all three floors and walk around the once plush bedrooms although there was no furniture left and the occasional window covered with sheet metal could be found - possible evidence of the buildings use of a prison.
Inside the hotel casino.
Our next stop was the church. This was nearly all covered in the orange lichen and clouds seemed to gather whirling around the church tower then drifting slowly across the building. Inside the alter still remained although no religious artifacts were in evidence. I've never seen a church designed this way as the main room was split in the middle then behind the wall where the alter rested it was divided into another two rooms neither of which had walls that reached the celling. We surmised the rooms may have been added after the church was built but our guide had disappeared so no-one could explain it to us. The church was supposed to bear the scars of battle although I couldn't find any unlike the hotel where you could clearly see bullet holes in the wall.
The catholic church.
It was soon time to leave the hill station behind although I would have liked a lot longer and more freedom to explore the buildings. The day ended with a very relaxing sunset cruise along the river to Kampot.
More photos can be found here.
Swimming with snakes!
I've been in Phnom Penh for about five days now but I'm going to take you back over a week to Sihnaoukville and our day trip to Ream National Park.
Ream National Park includes the only protected marine area in Cambodia, is home to more than 155 species of bird and has, mangrove swamps and lowland evergreen forest.
We chose a trip that promised a boat trip down the mangrove lined river to a fishing village then a short hike through the jungle to some unspoilt beaches for a swim then lunch on the boat as it sailed back up the river again.
The trip was disorganised form the start, we arrived at the meeting place and the guys didn't appear to have a clue about the breakfast that was supposed to be included in the trip. There was a girl from Holland also on the trip wondering where her breakfast was, when we asked they made a phone call then drove us to a restaurant up the road for a breakfast of baguettes and jam.
It took about 20 minutes to drive to the ranger station from where the boat would take us down the river. The station was surrounded by what appeared to be a small village on stilts. The ground under the stilts clearly flooded regally and was a disgusting green swamp like colour and littered with rubbish. All the houses and the pigs (who also live in a hut on stilts) appeared to empty their waste onto the ground below them.
We set off in a rickety old boat with one of the boat men bailing water from inside it; he said it was full of water because of the rain, but later admitted there may be a small hole in the boat. Nearing the fishing village many people could be seen in small boats fishing or walking along in the river looking for clams.
We arrived at the fishing village and parked the boat a couple hundred meters out to sea. They said it was too shallow for the boat to go any further and the guide whipped off his trousers exposing his hideous blue y-fronts and jumped into the knee deep water. Luckily we were all wearing shorts and flip flops, so off came the shoes and we began wading to shore. The ground under our feet wasn't sand it was a disgusting feeling squishy mud that made you sink in places. We couldn't see into the water and kept standing on sharp clam shells and bits of wood. I was very glad when I finally reached the sore and could feel sand beneath my feet.
The fishing village was small and as we walked up through kids sat on the veranda of houses shouted: 'Hello" and: "What's your name?", whilst other kids were more shy and hid behind the windows of their houses watching us but thinking we hadn't seen them.
The houses were all fairly simple, built on stilts but had (so the guide told us) both electricity and running water. Passing through the village we turned into the forest and the guide showed us the village school. It was a very simple wooden building with rows of benches and desks with a blackboard at the front.
Once we'd passed the school we began walking through the jungle. In the jungle we just about caught sight of a squirrel then the guide showed us some termites and explained how the guard their workers. As we neared the end of the walk the path turned into a stream and we had to take our shoes off and wade through almost knee deep water in the middle of the jungle.
The track opened onto a deserted beach in the middle of nowhere, there wasn't a house or another person in sight, we stopped for a while but no-one wanted to swim because we didn't want to be wet walking back through the jungle.
By the time we got back to the shore where we needed to wade to the boat we were all very hot, tired and covered in insect bites. The tide had also come in quite a lot making the water deeper. The guide called the boat and told them to come closer. As we stood on the shore waiting for the boat we spotted some snakes swimming in the water we were about to wade through. I know they'd probably been there earlier but now having seen them I didn't want to walk back through the water. The boat came within about 200 meters of shore and we had to step into the snake infested water to reach it. It was a case of mind over matter, I kept telling myself the ground doesn't feel disgusting, I haven't just stood on something really sharp and there AREN'T any snakes int this water. I reached the boat safely ahead of Emily and Katrina, who'd both managed to cut their feet in the water.
Then we were given a lunch of fish and salad and driven back up the river to head back to Sihnaoukville.
Some photos can be found here.
Cross country Cambodia
We awoke early, but still ended up rushing around to get the bus at 8：40 because our breakfast took 20 minutes to arrive. By 8:45 we were all in reception eagerly awaiting the bus to take us to Sihanouk ville along with an English guy called Marcus and two Brazilians who had also stayed at our hostel.
We waited as 9:00am came and went then started to get worried. The hostel guy called the bus company assuring us it would be along shortly, finally around 9:20am the bus ambled down the road and we all piled in. I grabbed the front seats knowing I was in for a long journey and spotting the extra leg room.
The bus drove a couple of hundred yards and stopped to pick up an Irish couple, Harry and Rebecca, and their Cambodian friend, Sarim, before we finally got on our way.
Just as we drove out of Koh Kong we pulled into a garage. All around people were fixing and washing cars. I wondered why we were there because there weren't any petrol pumps and I hoped there wasn't a problem with the mini bus already.
I watched out the window as a young boy came and put a stool beside the van. On top of the stool he placed a massive jerry can type thing and unscrewed the lid putting a tube in the top. It was clear they were refuelling the car although in a way I'd never seen done in a filling station before. As the tube was inserted the other end was put in the tank of the car and they covered the top of the jerry can pressing on it to create suction and the petrol flowed into the tank.
The guide book had said the bus would take between five and 11 hours because many of the roads weren't complete and the journey included four ferry crossing because the bridges across the river weren't finished. For this reason we had intended to catch the much quicker ferry, despite the guidebook saying this could be a scary experience as the boats used were designed for river rather then sea travel. However it is the rainy season and the seas were rough so the ferry wasn't running leaving us no option but the bus.
After about an hour on the bus we turned off the road and began making our way down a very bumpy muddy dirt track to the first ferry port. We were all instructed to get off the bus and board the clapped out looking ferry on foot. As I walked onto the ferry I could see big holes where the metal work had rusted away. There were no rails or anything to keep you on the seats and in places it would have been possible to slip off the ferry into the water with absolutely nothing to stop you. The ferry crossing was quick just a short hop across the river so at least if we had sank it wouldn't have been too far to swim to shore.
The first ferry port.
After another hour or so on the bus we came to the second ferry crossing. This time there was a much bigger queue and we waited in the blazing sun for half and hour while the ferry made two trips across the river before it was our turn. As the bus attempted to reverse up the ramp onto the ferry it was too low and the wood used to make the ramp smoother flicked up and somehow caught underneath the front bumper. The driver couldn't see what was happening and continued backwards as the wood split and cracked against the bumper. It was amazing the bumper itself didn't give way but the bus made it onto the ferry unscathed.
At the third ferry crossing things got a even more interesting. This time the dirt track leading to the ferry was a lot wetter and as we waited our turn the driver got stuck in the mud. Luckily he managed to get us free and after lots of wheel spinning and flying mud we boarded the ferry still sat in the mini bus so as not to loose our shoes in the ankle deep mud!
The mud at the third ferry port.
Getting off the ferry however wasn't as easy. The van was too low for the steep river bank and as the bumper hit the floor the driver ordered us all out to wait on the bank. Most of us managed to pick our way through the mud without getting too dirty, Emily however wasn't so lucky as she submerged her whole foot in the orange clay like mud.
After the third ferry cross we were nearing civilisation. I hadn't seen a house or village since leaving Koh Kong but now were were driving through lush green scenery and stilt houses. Cambodia is a poor country but many of the houses were much better maintained than those we saw in the Philippines. Some of the houses on the side of the road were nicely painted in bright colours and just looked a lot nicer than some of the Filipino houses we'd seen.
You'd think more civilization would men better ferry's but the fourth and last ferry was the worst of all. As we pulled up to it I actually though the ferry was the ramp. All I could see was some badly put together planks of wood forming what looked like a ramp over the water. I was alarmed when the mini bus driver drove up the ramp and kept going. It was then I realised the mass of badly constructed wood was in fact the ferry. I got out the van and realised the ferry was little more than three sideways boats joined together with planks of wood. Hopefully the picture below will do it more justice than my description.
Well it floats so I guess that makes it a boat!
Once we'd completed the forth ferry crossing the roads improved and it was an easy drive the rest of the way into Sihanouk ville.
Six hours, four ferry crossing and some very bumpy roads later we pulled into the bus station in Sihanoukville. As everyone got out of the bus discussing where they were going and who could share with whom we were immediately swarmed on by taxi drivers. Some held signs saying car taxi - this was because the main form of taxi in Cambodia is the back of a motorbike - but there was no way I was getting on one of them with my backpack on my back.
The rest of the people on the bus were going to Serendipity beach. We'd intended to go to Weather station hill because this is where the guide told us the cheapest accommodation is. However for the sake of ease and to be closer to the beach we decided to get a minibus with the rest of the guys to Serendipity beach.
Sarim went and found a minibus and negotiated a fare with him to take us all to the beach. But as soon as he tried to pick us up the moto drivers became very angry, shouting and blockading his van with their bikes saying he was tyring to take business away from them. Which he kind of was but none of us intended to get on a bike anyway.
As the situation escalated we all walked away carrying our bags and flagged a mini bus down on the other side of the road. The bus dropped us off at the beginning of the road to the beach and we began walking. Sarim, having less baggage than the rest of us, called into each place as we went asking prices. After walking for about 20 minutes we came across a place called GST. It was $5 a night for a room which, was clean and spacious and although we have two queen size beds between three it was fine.
Everyone decided to stay in the same place and once we'd all freshened up we met in the restaurant for some well needed food and a drink before taking a stroll along the beach at sunset and sitting in one of the beach bars for a few hours sipping bear and enjoying each others company.
The sunset on Serendipity beach, Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
The following day (today) they all left for Kampot because they were on much tighter travelling schedules than us. It's rained and been overcast all day so we spent much of the day blogging, went and had a look at Weather Station Hill and realised it was a good thing we didn't stay there because it was dead, then walked briefly around the hot, stuff very grubby main market.
The journey to Cambodia
We left Koh Chang two days ago and began the journey to the Cambodian border and onto Sihanoukville on Cambodia's South Coast.
The journey from Koh Chang went smoothly apart from waiting almost an hour for a taxi from White Sand beach to the ferry port. We didn't get the ferry until 4pm and weren't sure if we'd make it across the boarder that day as planned.
We got off the ferry and straight onto a shared taxi to Trat. The driver quoted the fare as 50Baht as we got on then waited a few minutes and said 60Baht if we wanted to leave immediately. We refused to hand over the money saying it was fine for us to wait from some more people. But the driver collected the 50baht and then left immediately anyway!
The taxi into Trat took about and hour and we were driven right to the bus station to get a minibus to the Cambodian border. We got out of the taxi and were ushered across the platform straight onto a bus bound for the border. The bus cost 110Baht each it was very small and there wasn't a lot of room for luggage so I was surprised when the driver kicked a passenger off the bus to make room for my bag to sit on the front seat. Kat tried to tell him to put it on the floor and we'd put our feet on it but he didn't seem to understand.
By the time we reached the border over an hour later it was dark. As soon as we got out of the mini bus people swarmed on us offering us Taxi's and trying to carry our bags. Fiona (from the hostel in Koh Chang) had arranged for a friend of her's called whisky to meet us at the border. As I tried to get my bag from the front seat and explain to an eager taxi driver we didn't need his services two men were already unloading Kat and Emily's bags from the boot and putting them in a wheel barrow/trolly type thing so they didn't have to carry them. But Kat and Emily quickly rescued them and hoisted them onto their backs.
We walked through passport control collecting yet another departed Thailand stamp. As I was filling in my departure from a man started talking to Kat, she tried to ignore him saying no to whatever he asked, then he introduced himself as Whisky, the man Fiona had arranged to meet us at the border. He showed us to his car and we left our bags before going to immigration to get our visas.
As soon as we got to immigration some men took our passports and began filling in the forms. A lady told us the visa cost was 1,200 Baht (about 20GBP) as opposed to the $20 or 10GBP quoted in the guide book. They would only accept the money in Baht we had to go back through passport control to Thailand to use a cash machine to get the money to pay for our visas. The guidebook said they may try and rip you off at the border charging extra but if you insist on a receipt they will usually lower the price. We asked repeatedly for a receipt but the woman refused to give us one saying they didn't have any. We were at the border and not in a position to turn around and go back so we didn't have any choice but to pay the money. We later met some other people who had been charged exactly the same at the border so they didn't just rip us off.
Once we were through immigration we began the drive to Koh Kong the nearest town to the Cambodia border, where we were to stay the night. But not before severely upsetting the men who filled in all our forms by refusing them a tip. Well I didn't ask them too they literally took my passport out of my hand and did it!
As we were driving along Whisky tried to entertain us coming out with cockney phrases such as "lovely jubley' and "dimond geeza" although the humor was somewhat lost as it took us 10 minutes to figure out what he was trying to say!
On the way to the hostel he totally confused us about money saying we needed to change our baht into Riel but that we could use dollars then quoting all his prices in Baht! We've been here two days now and everything so far is charged in dollars, we've paid for room, food even souvenirs on the beach in dollars. The only stuff we've really used Riel for is water and we paid for breakfast this morning with Baht - Are you confused cause I am!
Anyway - We arrived at the hostel and were given a nice clean room with towels, toilet roll and soap - all things we hadn't been given in a hostel for a while! We went to their restaurant for dinner (and paid in Baht) before going for a stroll around the area in search of chocolate!
We walked a little way until a motor bike driver asked us what we were looking for and directed us down a road. We walked a little way down the road until all the street lights disappeared and it was pitch black. I decided this was the point at which we went home. Kat and Emily wanted to keep looking but I decided that if I wouldn't feel safe wondering around pitch black streets in Preston way should I feel safe in a small town in Cambodia that I know nothing about! So we walked back to the hostel without any chocolate and got an early night ready for our journey to Sianoukville.
Island paradise - or not?!
I arrived in Koh Chang off the South coast of Thailand three days ago. (when I began writing this post!)
After a very comfortable first class bus journey from Bangkok then a short ferry ride to the island loosing our squishies and my expertly crafted pillow case along the way when we got to Koh Chang we headed straight for a beach called Hat Khlong Phra. The travel guide recommended this as one of the nicest beaches in the island yet less comercalised that its neighbour white sand beach.
Seeming like an ideal palace to spend the next few days we headed for KP huts the cheap traveller orientated accommodation situated just off the beach and recommended by the guide book.
We were dropped off at the top of a long dirt track leading down to the accommodation. We walked for about 15 minutes carrying our bags until we came to the huts. Three young Thai girls were sat around a table in the middle of the reassurance that served as their reception desk. We said hello and asked for a room just about rousing a response from one of the girls. She told us the price was three hundred baht a room, then as she saw there were three of us the price increased to 600 baht a room! Tired and having already carried our bags a long way we decided the best option was to stay for one night then move on in the morning.One of the girls lead us across a coconut grove to a large wooden hut standing partly over a small river leading to the sea which was less than 100 meters away.The location was very pretty although would probably have been a lot nicer in the tourist season when they probably put more effort into maintaining the grounds.
The room was basic but had plenty of sleeping space and a large bathroom. We dumped our bags and went down to the restaurant to get some lunch before going for a walk along the beach. The food was nice but they had clearly not heard of service with a smile. It was a much as the girls could do to speak to us!
The beach was disappointing. Far from one of the nicest beaches on the island we were faced with a beach of grey sand covered in debris that has been washed in from the sea. We walked along a bit to see if it would get better and came to a large river that was far too deep to cross. Most of the nearby entertainment was on the other side of the river so we decided to head up to the road to see if would could find a way across. At the top of the road were a few bars, restaurants and shops but all were well spread out and none of them looked particularly interesting. Just down the road was an elephant camp full of very agitated of looking elephants. They were all chained by the leg, had very little room to move around and were pacing and swaying. They were very different to the elephant we'd seen the in jungle in Chiang Mai.
We wondered up the road for what turned out to be three hours in search of something more lively than where we were staying. It eventually became clear there wasn't anywhere and we headed back to our hut stopping to buy some Malibu and coke along the way.
The area was a bit dull and the taxis were wanting to charge a fortune to take us anywhere so we decided to spend the evening sat on the veranda playing cards and drinking Malibu then move on in the morning.
In the morning we got up early, troubled the girls some more by expecting them to serve us breakfast and left. We went to White sand beach, the most commercilised on the island, in search of better service and some more people.
We were dropped off at the end of the beach and began walking along it in search of accommodation. We couldn't find the one in the guide book but came across a place that looked a little like a wrecked pirate ship set into the cliffs. As we looked at it a Scottish woman shouted to us saying they had room. She came and met us at the entrance helping us over a large rock in front the doorway that served as a very slippery step. She told it was 300 baht (about 6.00GBP) a night and showed us to a room on the front of the cliff overlooking the beach.
The room was basic, the bathroom miniscule but it had two large beds and was fine until we noticed the massive amount of ants all over the floor! But as long as our bags stayed on the beds we could almost forget they were there until they came crawling up our legs as we changed and put make-up on! Even so the Scottish lady, Fiona, sprayed the room with some ant spry that didn't rally help but for 2GBP a night each we couldn't really complain.
The night we arrived they were having a Mongolian BBQ so after topping up our tans on the beach we went down to the BBQ. There was a table set up with one BBQ dish at each end. The dishes were a little like Korea style galbi but were in a pyramid shape with a rim around the bottom. In the bottom was some water where veg and noodle were cooked. Then in the side of the pyramid the meat was cook. Everyone was given a bowl of rice and helped themselves to meat, veg and noodles adding ore to the BBQ as they took some off.
It was at the BBQ we realsied just how high the place was and how far up the cliffs the huts stretched. Loads of people kept arriving for the BBQ and it was a good opportunity to get chatting to a few people. We spent the night chatting to two English boys who were stopping of in Koh Chang before going up to Chinag Mai to voulnteer in an orphanage. Then as the evening drew to a close Yut, the (very fit!) Thai guy who we'd assumed was the husband of the Scottish lady running the place, Fiona, took an interest in Emily. It tuned out Yut wasn't Fiona's husband and he spent the next three days desperately trying it on with Emily and getting nowhere!
Our next three days in Koh Chang were fairy uneventful. Emily had a bad ankle - an infected insect bite - so after a brief trip to the hospital was ordered to rest it. That however didn't stop her clambering over some rocks to a rather unspectacular waterfall that afternoon. Our last day in Koh Chang was spent chilling out and planning the next leg of our adventure in Cambodia.
Which is where I sit as I finish this post. Hopefully I will now have time to write about crossing the border and the rater adventurous journey getting to Sihanouk Ville.
Good-buy Chiang Mai
Time seems to be going so quickly. Yet at the same time it seems like soooo long since I left Korea, the kids are almost a distant memory.
Today I leave Chiang Mai and head to Bangkok to meet Katrina. Although Emily and I have been travelling for almost a month already it feels like once we meet Kat the journey really begins.
Chiang Mai has been a lot of fun. We've done some amazing things and had some unforgettable experiences. Having already done three countries it is great to compare and contrast with the last place we went to.
Korea has been the most developed and technogically advanced with many high rise buildings. Whilst the traditional Korean stuff is still there it feels almost as though it is being lost to development and westernisation.
The Philippines was an amazing experience, as I've said before Manila was a shit hole and somewhere I would never choose to go back to. Bacolod however was a lot of fun. Staying with Fatima and her family added to the experience as we were able to get a glimpse into a Filipino family and live with them for two weeks. This is definitely somewhere I would love to go back to. However Bacolod is still very poor. Everything there is poorly maintained and dirty, very little money seems to get spent on anything and some of the people there literally have nothing. It did however make me appreciate how lucky I am to have everything I have, the ability to travel and the security of knowing I not only have my dad place to go home to but also my own house in Preston.
Whilst in Bacolod I got on very well with Fatima's brother, Federick. He is the same age as me and lives in the Piaid (Bamboo hut thing) in their garden. Brian isn't there most of the time and it is important to have a man in the house, he doesn't have a job because they like him to be around to help around the house and he lives off what they give him. It seems almost inconceivable that someone could live like that sleeping in a bamboo hut in the garden with almost nothing - yet by Fillipino standards they are a wealthy family!
After leaving bacolod we moved on the chiang Mai in Thailand. Thailand is much more wealthy than the Philippines and much more developed. Chiang Mai is probably the cleanest place we have been to so far with everything well maintained and the attention to detail on the front of some of the buildings is amazing.
I have another few days left in Thailand before we move onto Cambodia so my overall impression of Thailand will have to wait a while. But at the moment it is somewhere I would definitely like to come back to, if only because this is the first place where no one has stared at us!!!
Anyway. I have a plane to catch so best be off. Over and out!
What've I been up to?
I haven't had chance to do much blogging recently, Emily however has been much better than me. So nif you want to catch up on our adventures in Manila, Bacolod and some of Chiang Mai check out her blog.
I left off in Manila after our first couple of days. For details on our adventures after that check out Manila Part 2 on Emily's blog. Some of it may repeat what's already on here but you get the gist.
Whilst staying in Bacolod we visited the museum. For some more information on this go to Bacolod - Philippines on Emily's blog. We also visited the Mambukal mudpack festival which, although I have uploaded the photos (click on the photos tab above), I never got the chance to write about it. Emily once again did - Bacolod Philippines (part 2).
I have blogged our hill-tribe trek through the Thai jungle. however I've not had chance to write about our travels before that. Emily blogged the other way round to me so to find out about our first couple of days in Chiang Mai take a look at Chiang Mai- Northern Thailand on Emily's blog.
Aside from the temples I visited yesterday and earlier today you are now up to date on all my latest adventures.
In the jungle - Day two
On day two in the Thai jungle I was woken at 4am when the rooster underneath our hut on stilts decided it was time to get up. Luckily after about half an hour he realised he was being ignored and shut up allowing us another four hours sleep!
I got up at 8am and washed my hair under a dribbling tap as the shower bucket had disappeared in the night. Then we were given a good breakfast of eggs and toast before embarking on the second day of the trek.
We were told to put all our stuff in a plastic bag inside our bags to prevent it getting wet during the rafting! I dutifully did this hoping it was just a precaution and didn't mean our bags would get wet.
The morning also gave me the first glimpse of the elephant camp in the daylight. It was a small village with no more than 15 huts all built on stilts. The cooking and eating area was under a roof but didn't have any walls. Then our room was a long bamboo hut also built off the ground. I couldn't help comparing the elephant camp and the villages we passed through to Fatima's grandma's village in the Philippines. The Thai villages had all been bigger than grandma's village and although like grandma's village they didn't have electricity the Thai villages did have running water. It seems that the Thai people live in a much more remote location but they are more wealthy than the Filipinos and subsequently that little bit more developed.
Once we packed up we loaded our bags onto the raft and checked it would balance before getting onto elephants for a two hour trek through the jungle.
To get onto the elephants we had to climb up onto a high platform then step onto the elephants head before sitting in the chair on the back. Rather disconcertingly the elephant's head was squishy as you stood on it!
I'd heard that elephant riding was very bumpy and a lot higher up than expected but I found neither to be true. However the were a couple of scary moments. The first came shortly after we set off. We came to a steep very muddy bank leading down to the river. We could see the elephants in front trading carefully but still slipping as they made their way down the bank. As our elephant stepped over the edge it lurched forward causing us to hang onto the sides of the seat so as not to fall off.
Emily and I on the elephant.
Going down a steep muddy slope into the river.
The ride took us criss crossing the river running through the jungle for about two hours until we came to the Lahu hill tribe village were were were going to board the raft.
As with all the villages we didn't stop there long. Just enough time to watch the elephants take a bath, use the bathroom and get hassled by another woman dressed in traditional hill tribe clothing trying to sell us jewellery. It was a shame we didn't spend more time in the villages. I though we would have the opportunity to meet villagers and learn something about their way of life. But all the same we were having an amazing experience.
Once the elephants had washed we boarded the raft for the final leg of our trek. The raft was made entirely of bamboo and strung together using leaves of some description. Amazingly it held eight of us sinking below the surface just enough for us to feel the water lapping at our feet.
It was incredibly peaceful in the middle of the jungle. The oily sounds that could be heard were our own voices and the sounds emanating for the forest.
Not long after setting of we came to our first set of rapids. The raft picked up speed and we each stood still in our assigned position trying to make sure the raft didn't over balance as the guide negotiated our way through the rocks. As we approached the next set of rapid we were told they were harder to negotiate and the raft was easier to balance if we sat down. No one really wanted to get wet but amongst much complaining we begrudgingly knelt on the raft pulling our shorts up as far as possible trying to stay dry. This worked for the first couple of large rapids but eventually a large wave swept over the raft wetting me up th my waist. Coupled with the guides slamming their bamboo poles the were using to steer into the water trying to splash us were were all soon fairly wet!
After a while the lead guide decided he wanted to take charge of the raft. He was a strange looking man with very small features. Emily took an instant dislike to him and I wasn't keen. He was incredibly hyper active, constantly squealing with laughter and always seemed like he was high on drugs. As he took the helm of the raft it was clear he wasn't as good at it or as strong as the other guide and he struggled to negotiate the raft around rocks and most of the time wasn't even paying attention to what was coming up!
We came to our first set of rapids with him in charge of the raft and the raft began picking up speed. We were approaching a large rock in the middle of the river, he noticed too late and tried in vain to get us past it but there was an almighty crunch as the raft rand aground on the rock tipping up at a 90 degree angle and throwing me into the river! The current in the river was incredibly strong and I had to grip onto a rock with my legs to prevent myself floating away. I had fallen off right below our bags that were hung on a bamboo pole on the raft. I could see the raft tilting more and more with our bags perilously close to the water. Luckily the guides managed to get the raft back up right but it was still wedged on the rock. With a lot of effort they managed to lift it of the rock amid much cracking and splitting of bamboo!
Once the raft was freed I climbed back aboard now well and truly soaking wet. Luckily we didn't have far left to go as the buoyancy of the raft wasn't quite the same. There were visible splits in many of the poles and the water often came up to our knees as we passed through the smaller rapids.
Once we reached the end of the river we stopped and had lunch before being picked up by the land rover and making our way back to Chiang Mai.
That's all I have time fore right now. More photos of the trek can be found by clicking on the photos tab on the top of the page. We're off down to Bangkok tomorrow to meet Kat. I'll try and check in again soon.
The river
Rafting down the river.
After the trek.
