hungry fish, hot hands and heavy rain.
Monsoon season is here.
I am posting slightly out of order here- I still want to write about visiting the War Museum in HCMC and the S21 and Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh, but I need time to collect my thoughts and to write in detail that shall do them both justice. But now I will concentrate on Cambodia so far.
Phnom Penh is a small city with a very laid back vibe. Our second day there, it rained hard for about half an hour. We took shelter in a bar getting caught in the downpour wasn’t the problem; it was the flooded streets afterward. Seriously deep- I know I’m short, but I stood on tip toes and the water was thigh deep, condoms floating past. Drainage systems were not the best.
We didn’t do too much other than pay our respects at S21 and the Killing fields. I did very well to succeed at not crying. We’d met E, my absolute favourite Dutch person, and travelled with her entirely though Cambodia. She’s lovely and so very interesting; I learned an awful lot from talking to her about politics, life in Holland, the television industry. And strangely we had actually met many weeks ago in Hoi An. We’d been walking down the street with J and L, a great Aussie couple, when they were stopped by a girl who knew them in Sapa, and we were briefly introduced. A couple of weeks later, when we were in Dalat I noticed a very pretty girl in our hotel but had never spoken to her. When we crossed the Mekong delta into Cambodia on an incredibly slow slowboat, I recognized the girl from Dalat- it was E. One night in conversation we realized that our paths had crossed twice before but we’d never properly spoken and realized how awesome each other are! There is a travellers path in Asia and you know that you will see many people, getting to know some of them or just recognizing faces but it still my mind when I think about how close you come to making great friends and how easy it is to pass them by never knowing how great a person is. As I’ve said before, we’ve been so lucky with the people we’ve met- we’ve had brilliant experiences while we’ve been out here that really were only made so good by the people we were with. They are all legends, and I really was so sad when we parted ways.
Battambang was a small town we visited as we headed north. The journey there was amusing. As there had been a major holiday, many people had visited their families in the capital and then headed home the same day that we travelled by local bus. We were the only white people on the bus (well I was orange but that’s really splitting hairs). Dan and I sat next to each other and enjoyed the Cambo-pop karaoke played loudly over the speakers. The accompanying music videos were incredibly entertaining- dramatic affairs with one young man singing his heart and life away to a pretty girl, giving her a necklace and then watching her cast it to the floor of the mall foodcourt as she ran to the arms of his arch enemy rival, a true broken heart story. The tv captured much of our attention, but on the opposite seats a girl of about 5 watched Dan, entranced by his flowing blond locks and bright blue eyes. For 6 hours she did not take her eyes off him, and at one point Dan had dozed off only to be woken by said girl stroking his fine leg hair, petting him like a dog. He looked right at her and she did not break her gaze as she continued to pet, along with her little friend from the seat in front. Dan decided (had no choice) but to ignore it and put his earphones in, to which the 2 girls put their hands over their ears and started dancing in the aisle of the bus.
We did a wonderful tuk-tuk tour around Battambang itself- we visited an ancient temple 358 steep stairs up a hill. The temple complex was crumbling, hundreds of years old atop a hill that gave us views of the sprawling countryside. There was a distinct juxtaposition of peace and violence here, the Buddhist temples where peace has been preached for many centuries, and in the surrounding trees on the slopes of the hill stark red signs that declared “Danger! Land Mines”. It’s the sad story of the Khmer people’s lives. We also visited another temple and monastery atop an even bigger hill. It was hard work climbing it in the midday heat, but we were rewarded with stunning views, and a long conversation with a young Buddhist monk. The monastery and temple were gorgeous, ornate, and the monks were keen to practise their English:
Monk:“Do you have meskeets in England?”
Me:“I’m sorry, pardon?”
“Um, meskees?”
“Er, I don’t know, sorry I don’t hear very well, DAN!”
“Do you have mekeees?”
Dan:“Mosquitoes? No we don’t”
Me:”aaah, mosquitoes, I thought you meant Mosques. Well we do have mosques too”
Monk: “Ah, Mosque. The temple of Islam”
There is something about when a Buddhist monk smiles. It’s just so genuine and serene, and it’s really wonderful. Obviously it’s a prerequisite of the job, it’s not exactly hard to see one smile, but it is special.
Siem Reap was a cute little town, very touristy with lots of bars and restaurants (“Best Mexican in Cambodia!”) and a big night market. Of course we hunted out the traditional food, went for lunch in a great place that proclaimed “Khmer and proud”, had some great Khmer curry- fish, shrimp, beef and chicken washed down with 50 cent Angkor beer. We really are spoiled for amazing food, and I have stopped taking pictures of it, mainly because I forget and have demolished half of it before I realize my error. We decided to wait a day to get some rest, and then to head to Angkor Wat for sunrise- an eye burningly early 5.50am tomorrow. So we went for a wander, did a few errands and found the pretty night market. Lots of silk scarves, bags and jewellery. As we wandered out, we passed a sign for Dr Fish, proclaiming he could make us “happy and funny”. 60 minutes of little fish nibbling at your feet, free beer or cocktails and fee back and nack (yes nack- their typo but it stays) massage for $2.50. How could we refuse! Well yes, it did make us happy and funny. It was so ticklish, and I could barely order my drink I was in stitches. Those fish are hungry, they just swarmed round all of our feet munching away. At one point it did cross my mind, would they stop when they got to the live flesh? So we stayed, and chatted and drank and had our necks massaged and then the skies opened and how there is that much water in the sky I don’t know. Thunder rolled in and flashes of lightning. The rain didn’t seem like it was going to let up any time soon, and our time was up. So we thought, well it’s only $2 for a full body massage, why not? What an experience. Mood lighting (blackout), the sweet sounds of gentle tapping (the roof started leaking, so much so that I was woken from my relaxed daze, the guy next to me had to be replaced by a large bucket) and I got an inexplicable attack of the giggles when the girl had me sit cross-legged and put her knees into my back, pulled my arms over my head and rolled me around like a spinning top. We all felt like we were unable to walk after, it was as if we were made of clouds.
Angkor Wat was everything you’d expect, magnificent, imposing, ancient. I will admit I didn’t have the spiritual enlightenment everyone bangs on about, but I did enjoy seeing the wonder of another time.
Our last night in Siem Reap, we went out for a few drinks, and wound up in a rooftop bar, the “X Bar”, that played metal and served dodgy cocktails. It reminded me of a place in Liverpool. It was almost empty, other than us were a few weird American expats. I got stuck talking to a skinhead from LA who kept muttering” these Buddhists over here, these monks, they don’t know, y’know. They don’t. They haven’t got a clue. I’m a real Buddhist. These monks aren’t real. They don’t know”. He then proceeded to tell me about how he had to sleep with his bedroom door barricaded with a dresser because his best friend (and housemate) had threatened to murder him and his girlfriend. Then someone in the bar stole his t-shirt and set it alight in the middle of the dancefloor. I ought to sum this up in some way, but words truly fail.
We were so sad to leave the amazing Khmer people, the earnest country behind. I can’t wait for Cambodia to fully heal and know the grace it deserves.
