After an extremely hectic morning of sleeping through the alarm, waking up an hour late, and frantically flying across Phnom Penh in a tuk tuk to barely make it to the airport on time, I’m finally in the air travelling to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I figured since I haven’t posted a blog in over a week, I would use my one hour and forty five minutes of flight time to fill everyone in on my travels in Saigon and Cambodia. I’m going to have to try and be really concise here, since a lot has happened, but it’ll probably end up being extremely long anyway.
So last Friday I arrived in Saigon and went to the airport to pick up my friend Lauren who would be travelling with me for the next ten days or so. After only a few hours in Saigon, we both agreed that the city had a much different (and much better) feel to it than Hanoi, First of all, it wasn’t so polluted that you couldn’t see the sun through the haze of smoke and dirt. Second of all, someone actually stopped their car to let us go when we were crossing the street! It was absolute madness. Can you imagine, someone showing courtesy rather than an insane need to get nowhere faster than the speed of light? Unfathomable.
Clearly my sarcasm has not dwindled during this trip. Anyway, I would describe Saigon as a much more modern and developed city than Hanoi. Then again, I suppose I actually lived in Hanoi away from the touristy areas, whereas I didn’t venture far from the main districts in Saigon so I didn’t get as good of a feel for the city as I did in Hanoi. But I stand by my statement until someone informs me otherwise. Our first night in Saigon consisted of a night out at a few random bars with our roommate Edyta from Poland, and three Australian guys we met at our hostel. We went to a nearby street with many bars and night clubs and were almost immediately accosted by large hoards of people trying to coerce us into drinking at their establishment. It was pretty intense, but also highly entertaining. It’s something I’m certainly not going to miss when I return to Canada, but the touting in Saigon was nothing in comparison to Cambodia. But we’ll get there.
Our second day in Saigon we went to the War Museum which was both interesting and infuriating. As a person aware of the horrors of the Vietnam War and the atrocities committed by the US, but also aware of the corruption of Vietnamese government and their mistreatment of their own people, I found my experience there very conflicting. On one hand I was horrified by the images I saw, and the stories I read, but on the other hand I wasn’t sure how much of what was written I could believe. Every exhibit was spun in a very “pro-Vietnamese government” propaganda sort of way, and that bothered me a lot. I mean yes, sure, a lot of the things the US did during the war were despicable, and the far reaching consequences of their actions there have affected millions of people, and not just in Vietnam (think Khmer Rouge). But statements such as “protecting our country from American imperialism” and “to provide freedom, rights, and equality for all Vietnamese people in a democratic society” really rubbed me the wrong way. Who the hell do they think they’re kidding? The Vietnamese government is a corrupt, authoritarian regime that cares more about money and maintaining power than the welfare of their people on any given day. Any NGO operating in the country to genuinely try and help the suffering population has to pay off dozens of government officials just to be allowed to do anything. For every dollar that goes to a school for disabled children or an orphanage, much more goes to the government. It just sickens me, and although the actions of the US during the Vietnam War sickens me as well, I was infuriated, but not surprised of course, by the tone of the exhibits. Thus ends the first of three political rants in this blog entry (I saw a lot of ridiculous stuff in the last ten days).
On our final day in Vietnam, we visited the Mekong Delta which is about two hours south of Saigon. The river was really dirty, and I wanted to punch our tour guide in the face, but overall it wasn’t a bad trip. The highlight was taking a longtail boat down a narrow stretch of river, even though there was a massive traffic jam because the Vietnamese drive boats just like they drive cars and motorbikes. We also got to try banana wine, which honest to god tasted like taking a shot of crown royal. When we returned from the Mekong, we had a quiet night in the prepare to embark for Cambodia early the next morning.
On Monday morning we left our hostel at around 7:30 am to catch our bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The bus we were on was really nice and we managed to score a seat on the top deck right in front so we got to watch the entre journey through the front window. The Cambodian border was really busy when we got there as there was a large group of English cyclers who were completing a 5 day trip from Saigon to Siem Reap for cancer research (so going on my bucket list, by the way). After waiting in line for almost an hour, we made it through the gates only to be informed we could have skipped the line because we already had our visas. There had been so many people in the building there was no way we could have seen the tiny sign pointed out to us afterwards, but it was still a little frustrating nonetheless.
Before I get to talking about what we did in Cambodia, I just want to say a few things about the annoyances, dangers, and sadness of Cambodia. The moment we arrived in Phnom Penh we were accosted by countless tuk tuk drivers (see picture below) offering us a ride. This is something we would have to get used to quickly, as it was something that would never let up during our entire visit. Luckily, I knew that we were already in the area we needed to be, so we managed to get away from them eventually (even though several followed us down the street). As I was saying before, touting is much more intense in Cambodia than Vietnam. These tuk tuk drivers made the moto guys in Vietnam look like polite gentlemen. Literally ever step you take in Phnom Penh you have “tuk tuk! Lady you need tuk tuk?” or some other variation shouted at you. At first, we laughed it off and ignored them, but when we arrived in Phnom Penh for the second time last night I think we were both ready to blow up at every single one of them. Seriously, if I wanted a freaking tuk tuk, I would ask, and following us down the road screaming “cheap price!” is not going to make me suddenly realize I need you to take me two feet down the road to the place I’m going. Is it easy to tell it was starting to piss me off a little?
Tuk Tuk
Another unfortunate thing about Phnom Penh is the large number of beggars. I didn’t see many beggars at all in Vietnam, as the country has undergone a major economic boost in the last two decades leading most people to be able to maintain a somewhat sustainable livelihood. But Cambodians are not as lucky. It’s impossible to walk down the street in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap without encountering beggars. Men in wheelchairs missing limbs, mothers with small babies, kids less than ten years old, widowed elderly women… it’s just so incredibly sad. And there are just so many of them it is absolutely impossible to give to everyone, and having to sit there and ignore someone who is clearly in need is quite possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I experienced some of this in Peru and Bolivia, but it was much worse here. There are gangs of street kids everywhere who either try to sell you a bracelet or a pirated DVD or straight up ask you for money. Unfortunately, you can’t give money to the children at all because about 99% of the time they are working for an adult and will never see any of the money you give to them. A much better idea is to give them food, which we did a few times, but even then it’s impossible to give to all of them. The unfortunate thing is you can’t tell them no, because if you acknowledge them at all you won’t be left alone for a good hour, so you literally have to sit there completely ignoring their existence. It’s so… just an unbelievably awful feeling.
Another truly awful thing about Cambodia is the sex trade, and man is it ever present. There are hoards of prostitutes literally everywhere, and guidebooks give out stringent warnings about getting massages in the cities as they involve wandering hands more often than not. When night falls, every second tuk tuk driver will suddenly offer not only rides, but drugs, girls, and a host of other things you probably don’t want to imagine. Standing on the street in Sihanoukville waiting for Lauren, I was even offered a prostitute, which disturbed me quite a bit to say the least. What’s even sadder though, is the child prostitution. On our first night in Phnom Penh, Lauren and I were strolling down Sithowath Quay, which is one of the main roads, and we came across a big crowd of people watching some Khmer teenagers dancing by the waterfront. Our eyes were immediately drawn to a girl, who could have been no more than six or seven years old, who was dancing with the older teens. At first, I was highly impressed with the way this kid was how amazingly this kid was able to follow the steps; she was clearly very talented. Then, I noticed her state of dress, her lack of shoes, and general unclean look and I realized she was a street kid. At first, I was really sad that a kid with some much talent had so little opportunity. But things quickly got sadder as it became evident what was happening: she was being showcased. She was wearing a teeny little dress, and accepting tips from onlookers by shoving them in front of her dress. In general, she was following the steps of the teens in the dance class, but quite often she added some of her own… and it was far too obvious that they were taught to her by an adult for a purpose. The way she moved and gyrated… no child should know how to move like that. As her dance moves got increasingly more provocative, it quickly went from incredibly cute to extremely depressing. I found myself scanning the crowd for people looking at her, and obviously most people were because the girl was good. Eventually, I couldn’t stand it anymore I told Lauren that we had to go… it was just too sad to watch a child being so blatantly sexualized. Unfortunately, the child sex trade in Cambodia is a huge problem, and many street children a subject to working in such conditions as they often have no other option.
Okay, so those were the bad things about Cambodia, and now on to the good. Well, the sort of good… how about the interesting. On our first full day in Phnom Penh, Lauren and I caught a tuk tuk out to the famed Killing Fields outside of the city. I have to say, as annoying as all holy hell as the tuk tuk drivers were, riding in a tuk tuk was awesome. It was not only a fantastic way to see the city, but the breeze through open seating offered reprieve from the sweltering heat. When we got to the Killing Fields we paid our entrance fees and were given our audio headsets to silently follow all of the other traveller passing through. For those of you who don’t know, the Killing Fields were used to torture and murder tens of thousands of people during the Khmer Rouge area in Cambodia, where approximately one third of the entire Cambodian population was slaughtered in the brutal dictator Pol Pot and his regime. If you don’t know much about the Khmer Rouge, I’m not going to spend this blog giving a history lesson, as much as I would actually enjoy that. However, if you are interested in learning about it I can recommend some good books, and of course Wikipedia is a good source for a brush up. I would describe my experience at the Killing Fields using many words: terrifying, devastating, haunting… but ultimately, inspirational. I think it’s a place everyone (with the stomach for it) should visit to understand the atrocities committed during that time so people can realize how important it is to join the fight to ensure things like this never happen again. We also visited the Tuol Sleng prison museum, where most of the prisoners during the Khmer Rouge era were kept and tortured. A lot of the things we saw in that museum were gruesome as well, but unfortunately it is not as well developed as it should be due to the fact that more than half of every visitors entrance fee (US $2) goes into the pocket of the museum’s curator, who just so happens to be the son of a government minister (corruption is abound, of course). Overall, it was a day that gave me a lot to think about and one that certainly reaffirmed my lifelong commitment to battling for the rights of those less fortunate than me.
Here are just a few pictures to give you an idea of what I saw and experienced there.
The Killing Fields: A peaceful looking orchard where tens of thousands met their end.
"The Killing Tree": Here, Khmer Rouge soldiers would pry children and infants from the their mothers, and kill them by swinging them around by their feet, and smashing their heads into the tree.
A Collection of Victim's Skulls
After two days in Phnom Penh, we took a bus to Siem Reap, the central tourist hub of Cambodia and the access point to the famed Temples of Ankor. Siem Reap is an awesome little town with a great market (that we spent too much money at), great bars, and great food. We only had time to stay one night, but I really wish that we could have stayed longer. Our first night we basically just chilled out at few bars, enjoying the cheap drinks (50 cents for a glass of beer!) and meeting a few other travellers. We didn’t stay out to late because we had planned to be up for sunrise to head to the temples, but it was still a good time.
The thing that really made my trip to Cambodia, however, was visiting the temples of Ankor. As I don’t feel I have the words to accurately describe how awesome it was, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Getting the picture? (See what I did there.)
Yeah it was absolutely amazing, and I have a lot more pictures but it takes a really long time to upload them.
Once we finished up in Siem Reap we headed to our final Cambodian destination, the beach town Sihanoukville. Unfortunately we were pretty ripped off on the trip there. We paid for a sleeper bus with direct 9 hour service to Sihanoukville, and ended up with a seat bus that left an hour late, and dropped us of in Phnom Penh, leaving us at the bus station to wait almost two hours for another bus. We ended up spending nearly 14 hours in transit, and suffice it to say we were pretty pissed off. Unfortunately, there isn't really much you can do about it. Either way, Sihanoukville was really nice and we spent two days just relaxing on the beach (which included day time drinking and wicked sunburns of course).
Overall, my experience in Cambodia was great. I saw a lot of really sad things, but from a positive perspective is helped reaffirm my commitment to human rights and development. I also had some new and interesting experiences in Cambodia, such as having my feet chewed on by fish (fish foot massage, look it up), getting a manicure from a lady boy (male prostitute that dresses like a woman to turn tricks), and saw cooked insects being sold on the street (like hell I was going to eat those). It's a place I would like to visit again in order to visit the many places I didn't get to see in my week there for sure.
And thus ends my extremely long blog. I'm actually hoping to get another one up about Kuala Lumpur before the night is over to get myself back on track.
But until then, remember, there's a positive side to everything.
Sarah
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