Cambodia (2) - Kep - National Park, Mini Caving and Super Chilling

Hope you have enjoyed the time off and the wedding. We spent 3 nights in Sinouk Ville; just chilling out and receiving massages on the beach... hard times!

One of the days that we were in Sihnouk Ville was Easter Sunday; so in a truly British way we had a roast on the beach.

The next day we headed to the small town of Kampot near the south coast of Cambodia. We liked this place because the people were interested in us as Westerners instead of walking dollars. Our guest house was a small place with little bungalows looking over a lily covered pond. The owner was a really nice family man who looked after us.

Once we arrived we headed out to Phnom Chnork (Seeing Hill) where little kids guided us around caves with 1,300 year old temples and bats in them.

These kids were amazing at leading us around the caves (a job for Holly?) and were rewarded with some Dollars and Riels! The tuk-tuk ride was hilarious; a huge monsoonal rain hit us and we were soaked. The next day was spent around Kampot because of exhaustion and illness; the architecture was a mixture of traditional and colonial. We also saw the Monk Mobile (last picture)!

The next day, Dave and I went for a hike in the nearby Bokor National Park and a boat ride down the Kampong Bay river. Bokor was being converted in to casino resort by the French before independence came to the country. The day was hard work but well worth it! The park had tigers in it; so we had a guard with us at all times!

The boat ride was at sunset which showed the area differently.

The next day we went to the quiet coastal town of Kep, only 60km from the Vietnamese border. We took a tuk-tuk ride from Kampot and spent the day swimming in very shallow water and laying in a hammock.

That night we watched a lightning storm over the sea.

The next day we did a 10hr bush taxi/local bus trip to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)...and that is where we are now. A Vietnam update should be up soon...

Cambodia (1) - Sihounk Ville - Temples, Floating Village, Genocide and Beaches

Well, sorry for the delay for the latest post. We have been on the move constantly since leaving Singapore, tiring experience. We arrived in Siem Reap a week ago today and was met by a tuk-tuk driver who took all four of us and our bags to the city from the airport.

 The next day we headed to the Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. The whole day was interesting and tiring seeing that the mercury in the thermometer was pushing 35C. The temples we saw were the Angkor Wat, which is one of the world largest religious site that was abandoned to the jungle by the Khmer empire. The temple was originally created to represent the Hindu mythical mountain Meus whilst the surrounding towers, water and courtyards represent the world. 

 After Angkor Wat we headed to the ancient city of Ankgor Thom and the temple of Bayon. The temple of Bayon is covered in 236 Buddha heads making it slightly creepy; he sees everything in your soul!

 After Bayon and lunch we headed to the temple of Basuphon which was the original temple of the city prior to the construction of Bayon. This temple did not look overly impressive as it was undergoing a huge restoration project.

Finally we headed to Ta Prohm; which is a temple that has been left to the jungle showing the devastation of mother nature over time! People may know this temple for its appearance in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movies starring Angelina Jolie.

After the temples we had a day of chilling and recovering from a hangover; the next day we went to a floating village near Siem Reap. In this village there is a floating school, floating hospital, floating church and floating basketball court.

The next day we headed to Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh. It was here that the horrific Khmer Rouge regime destroyed so many lives in their attempt to destroy opposition to their communist views. We went to the harrowing Killing Fields of Chueng Ek, where skulls of the murdered people were left on display as a reminder to how bad things got in South East Asia. Around 17,000 people were killed, this included men, women and children.

After the killing fields we went to S-21; the school converted to a prison and torture camp. This displayed how people were tortured and beaten for false confessions!

The next day we headed to the south to recover from the physical and emotional drain of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. That is where we are now...on the beach in Sihounk Ville.