Sihanoukville - Otres Beach and Koh Rong Samloem Island Paradise | Cambodia

In the words of the eternal Nicki Minaj, I kept chanting, 'Let's go to the beach, each, let's go get away!' and as if by magic, we were transported to the beach town of Sihanoukville. Our hotel was right next Ochheauteal Beach, although this was very crowded during the day.

We threw our bags in the rooms, shoved our cosies on, and headed for the beach. Opting for a more exclusive beach, a few of us went to Otres Beach. This was relatively quiet, and peaceful until a pack of Cambodian women suddenly descended upon us, trying to get us to buy their wares. You could get manicures, or legs threaded, massages etc. 

It was quite interesting chatting to some of the younger ones. They told me their life story and their dreams for the future. All of them wanted to study tourism at school, and practice their English. Again, it seems to be if you speak English in Cambodia, you are more likely to get the better paid jobs. I liked one of them, called Ocean, who gave me an anklet as a good luck charm. I gave her some money and took a bracelet and wished her well. 

You are also joined by more unexpected guests, like this little guy below. He came and sat with me for a while.

We got back to the hotel, changed, and headed out for a couple of drinks at the local beach. It was actually Australia Day, and there were quite a few Aussies around on the beach playing with some Cambodian children. It looked like fun, but in reality, those kids shouldn't be at the beach at all. You get a lot of them wanting you to buy dodgy fireworks and postcards. By giving them money, they will never see any of it, and be forced to beg more by an adult. There are a few projects I would like to get involved with to help stop these situations, and will look into it when I settle down in Sydney.

The next day we headed to an island paradise. We had initially booked with an agent who had met us on the beach the night before, but he failed to turn up on time. We flagged a tuk tuk and raced down to the harbour at Serendipity Beach to get the ferry to Koh Rong Samloem. When we arrived, it turned out we were at the wrong island, and had an hour to wait on Koh Rong. This is what greeted us there:

(this is an Instagram pic, but even with the filter, you can see how beautiful this place is)

This island looked like a party island, and was full of very chilled out people. Lots of 'happy' cake places too :)

Getting back on the boat for twenty minutes, we reached our final destination aka paradise. The following images have not been altered.

This island seemed to only have beach huts and two restaurants, with a small shop. It was very secluded and hardly anyone was around. We found a spot and basked in the sun, swam in the clear turquoise waters and ate coconut crackers.

Adam, an architect by trade, even built a mini Angkor Wat, which my budgie took pride of place on.

We went for lunch in one of the restaurants, and being fed up of noodles and rice, I opted for a chicken burger. It was so yummy! This was our view from next to the restaurant.

We met some French people living in one of the beach huts, and found out they were only $20 per night. I will definitely come back to this part of the world, as this is one of the best beaches I have ever been to. Absolute paradise.

Leaving the beach behind, we headed back for one more night in Phnom Penh and then onto the Vietnamese border for the second half of our trip.

Chambok - Homestay in Eco Tourism Community | Cambodia

On the way down to the beach at Sihanoukville we stopped off at Chambok, a community which follows Ecotourism. I asked myself, what is Ecotourism? As life without the Khmer Rouge became a reality, the people of this community, which consists of nine villages, decided they wanted to come back to this remote spot. The state decided it would not support the community, so they had to do this themselves. This meant they hunted wild animals and began cutting down lots of trees to earn money. When an NGO visited, the community was encouraged to protect their surroundings and make use of the beautiful waterfalls and Khmer culture for tourists.

We arrived late afternoon, and half the group headed for the waterfall. It was quite a hike, and I struggled with my bag and jumper, which was used as an anti mosquito measure. Eventually we clambered over the last few rocks and were presented with the above view.

It was unfortunately too late to go swimming, but it was lovely and cool sitting next to the spraying water.

With darkness approaching, we hop footed it back to the Women's Restaurant in the complex for a lovely Khmer meal. After we stuffed ourselves, we were treated to a dancing performance from the local children. When you come to Cambodia, you will get a lot of children coming up and begging. Although it is hard, you must not give them any money. They always have some older person behind them, making them beg, and they never get any of the profits. This dancing troupe was started to try and prevent the children from begging, and seems to be working. Although, I'm not sure making children dance in front of Westerners is any better than begging, but at least the children seemed happier than others I have met on this trip.

The dances were so intricate, and I have no idea how they were able to bend their fingers to make the moves. Khmer dancing is all about the technique, and can be quite slow but powerful to watch.

It was then off to the homestay. Our group was split in half, the oldies and the young uns. We entered the bamboo house and were presented with lots of beds and mosquito nets. We all got ready for bed and settled down for a good nights sleep... NOT.

If ever you want an introduction to rural Cambodian life, but want sleep too, remember to bring your earplugs. There is constant noise the whole night, crickets, dance music in the distance, babies crying, dogs barking, ROOSTERS. Oh and Adam, one of our group waking everyone up shouting 'MUM MUM' from a nightmare. Those who know me well know that I need to get a good sleep or I get cranky.

The next morning we were leaving early, but I managed to get some snaps of the place we has stayed.

Here was the house we stayed in. It was a shame, we never really got to meet the family who had given up their house for a night. The lady of the house didn't seem very confident around strangers and wanted to get on with her daily routines without being disturbed, which is fair enough.

I don't think we were able to experience all this place has to offer, but we did meet an American girl who had been learning to cook, make jewellery and had taken an Oxen cart to the local market.

Onwards to some of the best beaches I have ever set foot on!

Phnom Penh - S21 and the Killing Fields | Cambodia

Phnom Penh is the capital city of Cambodia, but it is unlike any other capital city I have been to. The further I have travelled in Cambodia, the more I have come to understand why things are the way they are. Not a light and airy fairy subject, but Phnom Penh is the place to learn about the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide. This horrific period happened before I was born, and I naively didn't know anything about it. I vaguely knew something bad had happened and from what the media had portrayed, Angelina Jolie had tried to help in some way.

The Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, and quite literally overnight life changed for the Cambodian people. The extreme communist regime abolished all of the country's infrastructure. This meant no more schools, banks, hospitals, public transport and or even the right to have a religion. Those who worked and lived in the cities were immediately shipped out to the country to work in the rice fields, with the rice quota set at an impossible rate. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence was eradicated, private housing was given to the state and families were torn apart. Over 2 million people died during four years, a fourth of the population. There is a large age gap between the very young and the very old.

The first place we visited was Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, otherwise known as S21. This former high school was one of many secret interrogation and torture centres used by the Pol Pot regime. Inmates were taken here, photographed and processed, kept in unsanitary conditions, tortured in inhumane ways and forced to sign false confessions. These were sensationalised confessions claiming connections with the CIA. Once doing so, they were officially signing their own death warrant. They were then transferred to Choeung Ek aka the Killing Fields.

As someone with hardly any knowledge of what had happened, I was horrified walking around the school. You could still see some blackboards with writing on them. They have exhibits showing all the photos of those who were processed through the centre, and it was too much to take in. Weirdly, it was difficult to see the few images of Westerners as they stood out amongst the thousands of Cambodians.

Some of the buildings had barbed wire on the side, to stop prisoners from escaping or attempting suicide. Classrooms were divided into makeshift cell blocks made out of wood or brick. The courtyard displayed some of the tools used for torturing those poor souls.

We then moved onto the Killing Fields, which used to be a fruit orchard. This is the site of many mass graves, where the prisoners from S21 ended up. This was a full on extermination centre of thousands of people, men, women and children. When you arrive at the gates, you are given a set of earphones and a device. This was excellent and informative, by allowing us to move along at our own pace. Every part of the compound was explained, and eye witness accounts were also available to listen to. I won't go into detail, but the experience sobered me walking around especially the Killing Tree.

I was shocked by the Magic Tree. This hollow tree was used to project out Communist songs, late into the night. Along with drilling, and other noises, these muffled the screams of those whose heads were being smashed in. I got really upset listening to a short snippet of this, and how this would have been the last thing the victims had heard.

The excavated pits have been taken back by nature, and appear to be teeming with wildlife. However, whenever there is a large amount of rainfall, some bone fragments and clothing surface. A constant reminder of the victims below. There are still some graves left undisturbed. The skulls and bones found are now displayed in a special Stupa which is the main focal point of the site. It is very eery, but will stand as a permanent reminder.

If you go to Phnom Penh, you must visit these places. The best way to get to both in a day is by a tuk tuk. The driver will wait at each place and take you back to your original destination. Agree the price beforehand. It cost us $15 for the day, and there were 4 of us.

On a much lighter note, there are places not solely focussed on genocide. The National Museum of Cambodia exhibits statues from as early as Angkor Wat. I was stopped by a group of girls who wanted to take my picture. It turned out they were all studying to be midwives and all had excellent English. It was amazing to see that they are taking full advantage of the opportunities laid out in front of them. School in Cambodia still costs money, but they are moving forward and the next generation will help to better their country. It was really positive meeting them, after the day before.

At night we found ourselves in the Foreign Correspondents Club, FCC. This was, as you can probably tell, where all the correspondents would meet up. The view wasn't too bad either!

Kampong Cham - Bamboo Bridge to Koh Paen | Cambodia

Setting off from Siem Reap early, we arrived in our next Cambodian destination of Kampong Cham, next to the Mekong River. This is a relatively quiet town compared to the last one, and not so dusty. It is famed for the bamboo bridge which is constructed every year for the dry season over to Koh Paen Island. Myself, Adam, Angela and Jo decided to hire out bikes and go for a wander. We came across the bridge and decided to cross it. I have never been so nervous. It makes this rattling sound as you pass over the slats, and I seriously thought I was going to end up in the Mekong. There were a few hairy moments, especially the busier it got at parts but we made it through to the other side.

We paid our $2 bridge fee and cycled up through the sand into what seemed like paradise. It was a lovely island, full of lush greenery and lots of fruit. We stopped and chatted to some of the local people and children. It was a stark contrast to Siem Reap.

We cycled through all the villages and kids kept shouting 'Hello' everytime they saw us pass. It was very cute. Jo gave some of the kids pencils, which they seemed really happy with.

We came across another temple, and were immediately surrounded by kids on bikes coming out of school. They followed us along, and we even stopped to help some get some fruit from a garden by throwing sandals. I failed, but Adam managed to get some.

We came across some more rice paddy fields.

Realising the time, we cycled furiously back to the bridge for sunset.

Across the way we met some monks. They were happy for us to take photos, but I was conscious not to touch them. Women cannot touch monks.

That night we went to a local house and were given homemade Khmer curry. I decided to be veggie for the night. Cuisine in Cambodia is very much fried noodles, fried or steamed rice and lots of curries.

Our host gave us some tarantula whisky, and his son put one of the dead spiders in his mouth. He has done this ever since he was a baby. It was actually not bad tasting, but I think I prefer Scottish whisky!

Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm | Cambodia

The day had finally come where I would get a chance to see the highlight of Cambodia, the wonders of Angkor Wat temple. 

The group wanted to see the main temple at sunrise, and I was more than happy to go along. We had to decide the best way of getting to Angkor Wat. Some of us opted for the bus tour, which came to collect us at 5am, others had a personal tuk tuk driver. I don't think they had the same experience as us. We then entered the compound which was enormous and had to queue up to get the pass. As you can see, I look a little tired but was so excited to find out about the history of Angkor Wat. 

We then positioned ourselves between all the other tourists, some quite annoying, to wait for the sun to rise. On the way there it was pitch black, and I tripped on a hidden stone. Continuing on I felt fine, and then moisture began to build up on my flip flop. Everyone got their mobile lights out and my foot was covered in blood. Our tour guide for the day made sure it was cleaned with bottled water and plastered up. It turned out it was only a small nick so panic over.

We waited for quite a while, and the sky began to get increasingly lighter. Here is a picture of my awesome group.

We weren't so lucky to experience the famous fiery red sunset of Angkor Wat, but I did manage to get this shot...

We actually went off to explore other temples in the meantime and returned to Angkor Wat later that afternoon.

A question which came from the group was, how was Angkor Wat temple built? The most amazing thing about this temple was that it was built without cement. The stones all lie on top of each other perfectly and it is still standing to this day. All down to incredible engineering.

We even saw some monks chilling out on the steps at the back entrance.

We revisited the spot where we had been in at sunrise, and I feel I got a better shot of the temple with the reflection.

Even the Budgie made an appearance at the temples!

The second Khmer temple was Bayon, which has lots of Buddha heads. Some of the towers have four heads and a lotus flower at the top. The lotus flower is very significant to the Khmer people. 

Whenever the king died, and a new king replaced him, the temples were modified to reflect the religion of that king. This reminded me of the religious struggles in British history, particularly after Henry VIII reign. Sometimes the Buddhas would be destroyed, or turned into Vishnu for the Hindus. It turns out the Khmer Rouge also destroyed a lot of temples, as they didn't believe in religion.

Onto the next wonder, this time the one famous because of the Angelina Jolie movie Tomb Raider, Ta Prohm temple. The other two temples had shown amazing strength and resilience, whereas this temple is a strong reminder of how powerful nature can be. 

Interestingly, in the stonework, a dinosaur can be seen. The Ta Prohm stegosaurus. How amazing to think those who built this temple were even aware of the dinosaurs.

This is one of the more peaceful entrances to the temple.

Overall, the entire day was exhausting and trying to beat what seemed like the whole of South Korea round the temples was a bit of a challenge. It is all quite disorganised, and there really should be a one way system to avoid blockages of people. Other than that, I would highly recommend visiting these temples, perhaps not in the peak season like I did...

Our tour guide for the day was also extremely good at English and gave us an excellent insight into the history of Angkor Wat, how the temples were constructed and about the different religions. It turns out in Cambodia, if you have a good grasp of English, you are more desirable for the tourist trade, which is a big income generator here.