As painful as it can be to arrive in a country and only spend two days there, and the question over whether it is worth it inevitably will arise, we decided that the satisfaction in visiting Cambodia before we went to Vietnam would outweigh the hassle of the extra travel and the loss of sleep (somehow the backpacking vacation never seems to yield the relaxation and rest of most others).
That decided, we left Khao Sok yesterday morning after a fabulous trip to Lake Cheow Lan the day before, which entailed spending the day with three German and three Thai tourists, Tiger Man and Wat, our two jokester tour guides and the sweetest (and very chiseled) boat driver you will ever know. The day turned out to be more than we had hoped or expected.
The drive to the lake, which lies within the national park was about an hour long, after which we boarded a long wooden motor boat. Not five minutes into the ride, we rode up alongside another long boat and stopped. Apparently their boat was bigger and more equipped for our group, so one by one, we traded passengers and were on our way. The lake is absolutely beautiful, surrounded on all sides by massive cliffs that fool the eye with their size and shape, so the hour and a half long boat ride complete with natures air conditioning went by quickly and we soon came upon the floating guesthouse, our base for the day. After a lunch of fried rice and Thai pastries and fruit (rambutan, dragon fruit, fried bananas and various coconut jelly deserts) we again boarded the boat for a ten minute ride deep into swamp. Turns out that the lake is man made, so parts of it look like there was just a flood, with trees and bushes peeking through waters surface.
The exit from the boat into the muddy swamp was telling of what was to come; for the next hour we tromped through mud puddles and rivers heading deep into the forest, dodging low lying brush and gripping on to bamboo for balance the whole time. Occasionally we stopped to check out a plant, swing from a vine or skip some stones and about an hour in, Christina and I had wreaths around our heads and leaf flutes rang through the air. It was quite the scene, motivated both by the magical environment and the goofy personalities of our group.
We finally reached our destination, a fairytale spot, where the river was divided by rocks, vines hung low, and a small hole was visible in the side of a mountain. We had reached the cave and water poured out of it's mouth. The water was pretty high due to the rainy season, but after a quick check, Tiger Man gave the okay to proceed, though he himself did not enter (it was only later that Tiger Man told us of the story of when a python wrapped itself around his leg in that very same cave). In a single file line we waded in to the cave, gripping on to the smooth sides, four of us with headlamps to assist our footing. A large toad as Gate Keeper, sat in a crevice and watched as we worked out way further in. At one point I was swimming, holding on to a to a rope to guide the way. The cave was spectacular, oddly shaped and dripping like sand. We went only as far as Wat would allow, seeing the that water kept rising. So we turned around and exited the way we came and headed back.
By this time, we were not shy about getting muddy, so there was no dodging mud puddles and the walk back went quickly. We re-boarded our wooden vessel and motored back to the floating village/guest house for swimming and beers with some Japanese and Thai students. We returned to our tree house tired, but very satisfied with our day in the jungle and early the next morning Tiger Man drove us to the airport to board another plane.
This brings me back to Cambodia, where I now sit, at Mom's guesthouse. And again back to the point that it has been a whirlwind tour here. Only one day at Angkor in Siem Reap of course is not enough, but we packed it in and felt very satisfied with the day of temples. We began at Angkor Wat. Viewing bas reliefs and climbing the steep staircases which require both hand and foot coordination to get to the top levels, where we sat and talked and enjoyed the immensity of it all. We ended up being there for almost three hours before realizing that there was so much more to see, so we dethroned ourselves from the temple top and headed back to our guide Sopheak, who then planned out the rest of our day for us (in order to see all that we should, even if we were only going to devote one day to Angkor) much to our delight and relief.
Throughout the rest of the day, until after sundown, we were zooming around the tree-lined roads of the temple complex, making sure to stop of those deemed must-sees by our new dear friend. He would drop us off on one side of a temple, we would wander through the maze of half doorways and crumbling corridors, gawk in amazement and the magnificence of a tree that has wound itself around the remains of these ancient centers, becoming a part of it, and at times, looking as if it is making it possible for parts of the temple to still be in tact. And once we had mazed our way through the unstable stone temples and climbed the many levels of each one, Sopheak was waiting on the other side to whisk us off to be amazed again by the next one. The success and enjoyment of our two days in Cambodia is really due to him.
Outside most temples, there are vendors and children, selling everything from cold drinks to t-shirts. More often than not, before entering the gates of any temple, we would be surrounded by cute kids, offering their merchandise and ready to bargain and tell you the capitol of California, once that information was offered. At one temple, where the kids were especially vocal and persistent, I looked over to Christina and she was completely surrounded, arms full with flutes and bracelets, postcards and a wooden cow bell, trying to figure out whom to pay for what. I wish my camera had been out. That first night, we also went to a dinner that had Thai traditional dancing. The food left much to be desired, but the dancing was great, and with the amount of Japanese tourists there, I felt a little at home.
Our second day in Cambodia was spent outside of the Angkor area, out towards the Lake and in the poorer area of Siem Reap. It was quite a contrast from the four star hotels that line the streets leading to Siem Reap airport, the feeble shack homes compared to the gated monstrous hotel resorts. And it is hard not to feel like an intruder, a cultural tourist in ways when roaming through this area, where it is so apparent that the country is still very much on the mend despite the growing number of tourists. We took a boat to see some of the floating fishing villages. The people that live in these villages, have homes built on rafts and during the rainy season (which we were in) will float further inland to fish. So the homes are structures on rafts and some are nicer than others, painted in bright colors with hammocks on porches. We even saw a sign for Karaoke. As in Thailand, we saw catfish farms and this time also an alligator farm constructed solely for the sake of tourism I am pretty sure. It was an interesting ride, though one of the men on the boats requests for money the entire time left us feeling pretty heavy. I am glad we got to see this other side of the town and I think Sopheak wanted us to see it too. He also brought us to see the killing field memorial in Siem Reap, a tower filled partially with skulls and bones found in the area, though apparently far smaller than the one in Phnom Penh. We were asked here by a man why we had spent so much time in Thailand and only two days in Cambodia. Guiltily I explained that we had even just squeezed in Cambodia. Though having gotten just a sample of the country and the people, I assured him I would return.
