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Cambodia and Vietnam 2000
The end of 1999, I was wondering where to ring in the New Year. Previous Xmas holidays I had been to Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, southern Thailand and South Africa. Then on one of my morning walks, I went by the Cambodian Embassy and saw this poster for Festival Angkor 2000 and decided I would go to Cambodia. I called to get plane reservations, but all the flights were booked by tours. So I called and got tour brochures faxed to me. Wow, $750 each for 4 days of which two are traveling and all booked for the New Year. I was ready to give up when I received an e-mail newsletter about a new border crossing into Cambodia and how one could go by bus, van, taxi, small boat, express boat and bus to Phnom Penh.
We left at 11:30 PM from Bangkok by bus on the 23rd of December and arrived at the town of Trat early in the morning. From there it is about an hour to the border town of Ban Hat Lek. There are three means of transportation. A taxi for $15, a van for $3 each or a pickup with bench seats in the back for $1.50 each. This morning was the coldest recorded in 25 years, so riding in the back of an open pickup was out of the question and we took the van. Problem is it waits until it is full to leave and we didn't arrive at the border till 7:30 AM. Then we have to clear customs out of Thailand and then into Cambodia, take a taxi a mile to a big river, and cross the river in a small skiff to get to the town of Koh Kong where the express boat leaves at 8 AM for Sinoukville. It was very windy, the water is rough, we get soaked riding the little skiff across the river and we missed the express boat. So we got a room at the only real hotel in Koh Kong, dried off, and relaxed. Found a small restaurant run by a German married to a Cambodian with excellent food.
Left the following morning on the express boat and arrived Sinoukville about noon. The boat was very comfortable even in rough water. It was long and narrow and went through the water with the bow high so it didn't crash into the waves. There is a lot of building going on in Sinoukville and we found a brand new hotel to stay in. Had a couple of motorcycle riders show us around as Sinoukville is pretty spread out. It is Cambodia's deep-water port and beach resort where people from Phnom Penh go for the weekend. Had lunch at a restaurant on the beach and had Christmas dinner at an English pub close to our hotel.
The next day we left at noon by bus for Phnom Penh. There are three bus companies and with the competition, the fare was <$2 each. The road was very good and we arrived in four hours and found a nice hotel near the bus station. Took a tour around town in evening and had dinner at a restaurant on the river. The next day we saw Wat Phnom, which Phnom Penh is named after, the Independence Monument, the Tuol Sleng Museum where prisoners were tortured and the Killing Fields where they were killed and buried. The following day we saw the Central Market, Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and National Museum. Ate dinner at the Capital Guesthouse, which was in the movie "The Killing Fields". I was impressed with Phnom Penh. There are several really nice restaurants and each pub has its own personality. My favorite being the Foreign Correspondents Club, open air on the 3rd floor, overlooking the river and the Royal Palace. Not much traffic and you can easily get about anywhere on the back of a motorcycle for $1.
Our hotel was able to get us reservations at Siam Reap, the town outside Angkor Wat. We went there by boat up the Tonle Sap River and across Tonle Sap Lake. The Tonle Sap River is interesting as it runs up into Lake Tonle Sap when the Mekong River is high, filling up the lake. Then when the Mekong River is low, the water flows back out of the lake and down the Tonle Sap River. This continually stirs up its nutrients, making fishing very good.
Siam Reap was really full of tourists and we had to wait until they finished wiring our room in an addition to the hotel we were booked at. The next morning we went to Angkor and other Khmer wats (temples). The most memorable were Ta Prohm, Balor and Angkor. Ta Prohm is also know as the jungle wat as it has been left like it was found with many big trees growing in and over it. Balor has many carved faces and Angkor is absolutely enormous. There is a program running on the Discovery Channel called "Mysteries of Asia" and one of the programs "Jewels of the Jungle" shows the wats we visited. You can spend several days exploring all the wats, but one day was enough for us. We rested the next day and then went to Angkor Wat for the Festival 2000 in the evening. Had a big show with traditional Cambodian dancers and then fireworks over the Angkor Wat to celebrate New Year 2000. We drank a bottle of Champaign we bought in Siam Reap.
The next morning we went back to Phnom Penh by boat and had dinner at the Foreign Correspondents Club. Had the best pizza I've had in Asia. The next day we left my van for Saigon. Where the road from Sinoukville was very good, this road was full of one-foot deep chuckholes and we went very slowly, like a snake weaving back and forth to avoid them. The countryside was in Cambodia was very beautiful and worth the bumpy ride to see. Took a while for everyone to clear customs and they checked all bags. Arrived Saigon early afternoon and checked into a room on the street where my friend Gary was staying.
Spent four nights in Saigon, which has gone downhill since my last visit in 1996. All construction has stopped, most of the expats are gone, the beggars are unbearable and shopkeepers are really rude. A shopkeeper would grab Nit, and another would show her clothes, very inferior in style and quality to Bangkok. Then when she didn't buy, they would say, you stay long time, you have to buy. I bough a few pirate audio CD's ($2 each) and pirate books (~$4 each). Overall Saigon is much cheaper than Bangkok. A nice room was $10 a night, a beer $1 and a meal $2-3. Didn't do any of tourist sites other than a dinner cruise up the river as I had seen everything my last trip to Saigon.
From Saigon we flew back to Bangkok, a one hour, fifteen minute flight. It was a very interesting and fun two-week vacation that cost a lot less than a guided tour and we got to see a lot more. I liked Cambodia and plan on returning there in the future.
Glenn Todd, January 2000