Sianoukville and its beaches

Since we really liked the beaches and islands of Thailand, we thought we should give Cambodia a chance to show us its recreational possibilities as well as the cultural ones and headed for Sianoukville.


This harbour town really has potential and could have been a lovely place if it wasn't so dirty. The beaches and the sides of the streets are just full of plastic and rubbish. There are beaches that are fairly clean, but since the rest of the town isn't much of the magic of a beach town is gone.

But we were determined not to give up on a few days of lazy beaching and found out that there are a number of islands off the coast, about 2 hours by boat from Sianoukville.
After trying three different resorts which were all full, we hit gold when a travel agent told us about Lonely Beach, a new resort on a very private beach on the island Koh Rong.

And nomen est omen, Lonely Beach is really lonely. When we arrived we were the only guests and the entire resort has four bungalows in total, but they hope to expand in the near future (depending on if and when they get the permissions from the local government and the land owner to build more huts...).
The bungalows are very basic wooden huts with open-air bathrooms and solar panels for the power supply.
Our stay at Lonely Beach was great and we spent a couple of lazy days reading books in the hammocks on the beach. We tried laying in the sand the first day, but got so badly bitten by sand flies (my legs are still full of red little dots that are slowly turning into scars!) that we took the flight to the hammocks for the rest of our stay.
The sand flies was not our only wildlife encounter on the beach, we had a friendly crab watching us for hours. Well, he was very curious and tried to pinch my back through the hammock but after I chased him away, he decided to keep his distance.

This little fellow was very curious and watched our every step

Riding the Bamboo Train

After Siem Reap, where we visited the famous ruins of Angkor Wat, we decided to do a short stop-over in Battambang on our way to Sianoukville. Why? Because of the famous Bamboo Train! 

This train - well, to be precise it is not a train but a draisine - is a simple construction consisting of weels, a bamboo plattform to sit on, and a small twin-stroke engine to animate it! All out of the simple reason that after the Khmer Rouge regime resources were scarce and no trains were operating in the region (and still do not operate on this particular route). But people had to get to the local markets to sell their goods, so they invented this magnificent means of transportation.

And it had to be kept simple and to be easily disassembleable for one good reason: there is only one track! So if two bamboo trains from two different directions meet each other, the one that is heavier loaded stays on the track, the other one is disassembled quickly and put aside the track to give way. A great way to solve the problem!!!

Unfortunately, the Bamboo Train is not as heavily used by locals as a means of transportation anymore, it is kept alive mainly to make tourist dollars. Feels quite odd to be driven for 7 km from one station to another, only to be hassled by people who want to sell refreshments to you...
However, riding the Bamboo Train was heaps of fun and exciting, and watching the operators dismantle their rides even more! 

Additionally, we have heared rumors, that local authorities plan to revitalize the track and that the Bamboo Train will come to the end of its existence. So be quick and catch this very special train as long as you can!

Angkor's ruins - The stuff of legends

Of all the old capitals in Southeast Asia, Angkor is truly the jewel in the crown!

We bought the three day pass and went around the ruins by tuk-tuk.
Even though the temples of Angkor feels strangely familiar because you have seen them in films, on photos and in books, the real thing is incredible impressive. Just the size of the core temple area makes you marvel at the achievements of the Angkorian kings (and feel very bad for the poor workers who had to carry stones and build it all).
Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century, a couple of years before the construction of the Notre Dame began in Paris. The capital city of Angkor Thom was founded in the late 12th century and the ruins cover an area of about 9 km².

Angkor Wat is of course the heart of the area and the main attraction, but the ruins of the temples in Angkor Thom are very spectacular as well.

I will spare you a long history lesson and just go straight to some of the highlights of our Angkor tour:

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm - you might know this one from Tomb Raider

Ta Prohm

Our tuk-tuk driver napping

Terrace of Elephants

Recognise this one?



"It wasn't me!"

Some thoughts on Cambodia

Our first impression of Cambodia was not a very good one. Anyone who has been to the Thai-Cambodian border at Aranyaprathet/Poipet can probably understand why.
Poipet is one of the most heavily trafficed border crossings between Thailand and Cambodia. Since gambling is prohibited, but very popular in Thailand, a lot of Thais go to Poipet to visit the casinos there. The casinos are located between the Thai and Cambodian border control, so Thais can gamble without having to actually enter Cambodia. We have been told that Cambodians are generally not allowed into the casinos as paying customers, even though they make up most of the work force.
Our hotel in Siem Reap had warned us about the border being corrupt, they told us not to trust anyone, not even the police. Apparently, the taxi drivers and all transport companies have formed a cartel with very high fixed prices for transport. You would have to pay 48 US dollars to get from Poipet to Siem Reap, a two hour drive. We arranged transport through the hotel and payed 40 dollars.

8 dollars might not seem like a lot but here in Cambodia 8 dollars will get you quite a long way. For $ 5 you can go by bus from Siem Reap to Battambang (a four hour ride) and $ 8 will get you a three course lunch in Siem Reap. So the eight dollar difference is not really a small one.

The price quotes brings me to Cambodian currency. Officially, the currency in Cambodia is Riel. 4000 Riel equals one US dollar and almost every shop (even the smaller shop at the market) quote their prices in dollars. Here in Siem Reap, you only get dollars out of the ATM (it is probably the case in all major towns and tourist areas). The US coins are not used, so you always get small change back in riel.

I thought it was a bit curious that an entire country starts using the US currency just like that, but the explanation was very logical.
Between 1975 and 1980, Cambodia did not have a monetary system since money was abolished during the Khmer Rouge regime. When the riel was reinstated in 1980, the people did not really trust the currency and many preferred foreign currencies or gold.
No wonder, I would not trust banknotes to keep their value if I had lost all my savings once because the money turned out to be worthless.

One more thing worth mentioning: every other car in Siem Reap is a Toyota Camry. I have never seen so many Camrys at the same time before. It almost makes me wonder if Toyota had a major charity project and sold off all their excess Camrys really cheap to Cambodia in the 80's?