Frontera entre Tailandia y Camboya: 30 de Septiembre de 2008

Salimos de Bangkok a las 5:50 de la mañana por el tren Bangkok-Aranya Prathet. Son unas 5 horas de tren y el paisaje es bastante agradable. Habiamos leido que habia 3 clases diferentes de asientos pero cuando llegamos a la estacion de trenes en realidad solo habia una. Asi que pagamos 43 Bats cada uno, algo menos de 1 euro. El tren estaba en bastantes buenas condiciones y el viaje resulto tranquilo. Al llegar a Aranya Prathet, Math propuso que comieramos algo antes de cruzar la frontera asi que nos sentamos en un restaurantillo de mala muerte y nos tomamos un ultimo Pad Thai antes de despedirnos de Tailandia.
Pillamos unos tuk tuk que nos llevaron hasta el consulado de Camboya y mediante 1000Bats por barba y una foto nos sacamos el visado para poder entrar a C. Nos volvimos a subir a los tuk tuk para ir hasta la frontera y aqui es donde empiezan a torderse un poco las cosas. Nada mas llegar se nos acerca un tio que pretende trabajar para el gobierno Camboyano y nos enseña su insigna oficial. Nada mas verle, yo ya me olia que nos estaba mintiendo y ya habiamos visto en las pasadas semanas lo facil que resulta conseguir documentos falsificados en Tailandia. Pero al fin y al cabo, el pive nos indica donde ir para hacer el papeleo y yo sin hacerle caso, escucho lo que va comentando. Pasamos la frontera y el tio nos comenta que hay un bus gratis que une la frontera con la estacion de buses para que los turistas puedan pillar un bus a cualquier parte de Camboya. Hasta aqui todo bien, aunque hay que decir que el impacto al cruzar la frontera es bastante fuerte. Nada mas llegar a entrar a Camboya, se entra por una ciudad llamada Poipet, en la que nos hay ni una sola calle asfaltada ni un solo cubo de basura. Estando a finales de temporada de lluvia os podeis imaginar como estan las calles. Enfin, para volver a mi historia, nos subimos al bus, total, ademas de nosotros se suben mas turistas y no nos van a robar cuando nos hemos subido delante de aduanas. Efectivamente, 500m mas alla nos dejan en una mini estacion de buses. (Hacia falta un bus para recorrer 500m? Os es que nuestro señor guia queria que fueramos ahi sin pasar por otro lado antes?). Resulta que los precios para ir a Battambang son exorbitantes. Ya no hay bus que va hasta alla y la unica manera es ir en Taxi que cuesta 500Bats (10 euros) cada uno. (Si, aqui, aunque estemos del lado Camboyano, siguen hablando en Bats). Despues de hablar un rato con los tios del contador y viendo que nuestro colega del gobierno se queda ahi esperando a ver que hacemos, ya estoy convencido al 90% que nos quieren hacer el lio. El 10% que faltaba vino confirmado por 2 turistas que entraron en la estacion gritando que querian que se les devolviera el dinero, que esto no era la estacion de buses sino que era la terminal de una agencia de viajes patatin patatan... Asi que pillamos nuestras cosas y salimos a la calle para intentar encontrar un medio de transporte para ir hasta Battambang. Desafortunadamente nos dimos cuenta que hay una mafia en el pueblo de Poipet y que no hay manera de salir de su "Oferta de transporte" para salir de la ciudad. El tio que supuestamente trabajaba para el gobierno, cuando nos fuimos de la estacion de buses y Annemarie le dijo que ibamos a buscar un transporte mas barato, le contesto "Me juego la cabeza a que no encontraras mas barato"... Y efectivamente, lo tienen tan controlado que vayas donde vayas al final siempre es el mismo grupo. Van hablandose por Talky walky y no hay manera de pillar un bus local o un taxi mas barato. Incluso cuando le preguntamos a la poli nos dijeron que preguntaramos a esta gente. Tambien hay que mencionar que el tio que nos "ayudo" a cruar la frontera, paso de un pais a otro sin pasaporte ni nada, por lo cual, las aduanas tambien estan medio en el ajo... Leeremos mas tarde en una parte de nuestra guia de viajes que Camboya es famosa por su nivel de corrupcion.
Al final no nos quedo mas remedio que pagar los 2000Bats para ir los 4 en un coche. Llegamos sin problema a Battambang y a partir de ahi donde fue a mejor, mucho mejor! 

Border between Thailand and Cambodia: 30 September 2008
After an early 5am start in Bangkok we got the 5.50am train east to Aranya Prathet, right on the border with Cambodia. The train took 5 hours but seeing as we slept for half of it and enjoyed the views for the other half, it flew in. We took economy class with the locals and were expecting the worst (chickens under the seats, fruit piled up everywhere etc) but we got a nice surprise as the standard of the train was decent enough. Apart from the drunk who took a liking to Ant oine for a while everything ran smoothly. Once we got to Aranya Prathet, having our priorities in order as usual, we stopped in a small road side shack for lunch. We ordered our last Pad Thai (typical Thai noodle dish which we had been eating pretty much everyday!) and said goodbye to Thailand. With our tummies full we got two tuk tuks (motorbike taxis) to take us to the Cambodian consulate, before we could cross the border we had to go there, pay 1000 Bahts (20 euro), hand over a passport photogragh and get the Cambodian visa stamped in our passports. With our new shiny visas ready we got the tuk tuk to take us a few kms more over to the border. Once we got to the border we passed through the necessary immigration controls and took our first steps in Cambodia. The contrast between Thailand and Cambodia was way more than we expected. The town on the Cambodian side, Poipet, is one of the roughest places we have ever seen (and thats saying something after a year of traveling!). The road through the town is just a mess of mud and dirt as it isnt tarred and all the rain from the rainy season has taken its toll. They didn't seem to believe in bins either as there was rubbish lining the streets everywhere you looked. To sum up Poipet in three words, it is smelly, dirty and disgusting! However the dirt was the least of our worries. Once we got near the border (there is a large arch and you walk under it to go from Thailand into Cambodia) a Cambodian guy came up to us, very well dressed and with an official looking badge, stating that he worked for the Cambodian governement. He explained to us that it was his job to guide us and help us get accross the border safely (show us where to go for immigration etc). Antoine immediately saw a red warning light and didnt believe him at all. Plus we had seen in Bangkok places where you could pay to get any type of false document you wanted, you could even get a false degree from Oxford or papers to say you were a surgeon, so the fact that he had an official looking badge wasnt very convincing. However eventhough we told him we didnt need his assistance he continued to walk with us and tell us where to go etc. Once we had passed the Cambodian immigration and entered into Poipet he still stayed by our side and showed us a free bus to take us to the bus station. Our plan was to get a local bus to Battambang (2 hours from the border) so the free bus to the bus station seemed like an ok deal. However once we arrived at the so called bus station only 500m down the street and the guy still didnt leave our side we all started to smell a rat. They told us that there were no more buses that day to Battambang and that our only option was a taxi. We found this hard to believe as we couldnt imagine the locals having enough money for a taxi so now did they get there? Plus the so called bus station was nothing more than a single roomed office. Not knowing what to do and realising that we were being bullyed into paying for an expensive taxi when there must be a normal bus station somewhere with buses running, we were having a family "what will we do?" chat when two tourists came screaming into the "bus station" confirming our doubts. The two tourists were screaming and demanding their money back, and shouting to everyone else that this was all a big scam, that it wasnt the bus station and that we should all go elsewhere as these guys were just trying to trick us out of our money. On hearing this we got our backpacks on and headed in search of the real bus station, of course the guys involved werent too happy to see money walking out the door and getting slightly aggressive one of them even said to me that he would cut of his head if we were able to find someone else to take us to Battambang. To cut a long story short, we later found out that it is a kind of transport mafia that operates in Poipet, they lie to tourists saying they work with the governement, march them on to the free bus which they say goes to the bus station and instead take them to their offices where they fill them with lies about there being no buses and how you have to go in expensive taxis. Plus apparently once you pay the money they sometimes even stop again outside of town and demand more money from you before taking you to your destination. However the guy was right when he said that he would cut of his head if we found someone else to take us, the mafia run the whole town so pretty much everyone is involved. They are positioned all around the town, keeping an eye on the tourists and talking to each other on walkie talkies, even when we asked the police they told us to go with the dodgy guys! They also cross the border to greet the tourists and dont have to show their passports so its seem almost that even the immigration people are in on the scam. In the end we had no other option but to pay 2000 bahts and go in taxi to Battambang. It says in our guide book that Cambodia is full of corruption and let me tell you, it doesnt take too long for you to see for yourself that that is definitely true! So far on our trip the worst border (the most dodgy and scary) was without a doubt the one between Ecuador and Peru, well Poipet is now a close second!

Battambang: 30/9 al 3 de Octubre de 2008
Estamos en el Nor-Oeste del pais y aunque sea la segunda ciudad mas grande de Camboya, se parece mas a un pueblo grandote que a una ciudad. Todavia se pueden observar edificios de la epoca en que el pais estaba colonizado por Francia y resulta raro ver un viejo edificio como uno veria en Paris metido entre una tienda de herramientas agrarias y un restaurante local.
Hemos oido de un restaurante rico rico que se llama White Rose asi que nos acercamos la primera noche y resulta que lo rumores son ciertos. Comeremos desayunos y cenas ahi en los 3 proximos dias...Nos alquilamos unas motillos y el primer dia nos fuimos a explorar el templo de Phnom Sampeau. Para llegar hasta el templo recorrimos unos 18 kms de camino de tierra lleno de batches. Las motillos de aqui son la leche, nos cuesta 4$ para todo el dia, no consumen un pedo y aguantan lo que no esta escrito.
El templo en si esta situado arriba de una colina asi que aparcamos las motillos donde unas casetas de madera y subimos andando hasta la entrada. Las vistas no estaban nada mal y el templo se compone de varios estupas. En una de ellas, cuando estabamos dentro viendo los budas y las pinturas, un viejo monje se acerco a Math y empezo a intentar comunicar con ella. Como no hablaba ingles la conversacion era limitada pero mas o menos se entendilla lo que queria decir. Estaba sorprendido que una mujer le sacara dos cabezas... Cuando Veri se acerco, el monje se puso a sonreir y parece que le gustaba mucho la Veri's barba. Pero creo que al final lo que mas le sorprendia, cuando se entero de que Math y Veri estaban casados, es que mi hermana fuera la mas alta de los dos... Cuando me acerque yo y le sacaba 4 cabezas, nos echamos todos unas buenas risas.
Menos divertido, fue ver la parte de la colina en la que los Khmer Rouges procedieron a la ejecucion de miles de Camboyanos entre 1973 y 1976. Un genocidio sistematico de los intelectuales, a los que despues de golpear en la cabeza, tiraban desde lo alto de un precipicio en una cueva. Todavia se pueden ver algunos de los esqueletos metidos en una pequeña estupa.
Dejamos atras la colina de la muerte para ir hasta el Wat Banan en el que pasamos una buena hora. El templo en si no es nada del otro mundo pero se respiraba un aire de serenidad que nos dejo a todos hipnotizados. A la vuelta hasta la ciudad, nos pillo la noche y sobre todo una lluvia tropical de c_____es. No se veia a mas de 3 metros por las trombas de agua. Al principio nos paramos pero teniamos que devolver las motos antes de las 7 y no parecia que la lluvia iba a parar asi que no nos quedaba mas remedio que tirar bajo el agua. Math y Veri se quedaron sin gasofa y nos tuvimos que parar en casa de un local (cuando digo "casa" teneis que imaginar 4 maderas y unos toldos de paja trenzada). La gente muy amable, llevaron a Veri a comprar un litro de gasolina y asi pudimos seguir. Al final devolvimos las motos media hora tarde pero no nos cobraron de mas.
Al dia siguiente fuimos a visitar otro templo y de camino de vuelta pasamos por un puente desde el cual unos niños se tiraban al rio. De verlos asi saltar al agua nos pudimos resistirlo y Veri y yo nos tiramos tambien. Para salir del agua habia que subirse al barrizal que habia en la orilla y eso nos dio bastante terreno para jugar con los niños. Annemarie y Math estaban en el puente y luego en la orilla y tambien se mezclaron con los chavales. Nos reimos bastante y fue agradable poder mezclarse con ellos.
Habiamos empezado mal entrando en el pais pero a parte de esa experiencia, el resto ha sido excelente y la relacion con los locales mucho mejor que en Malasia y Tailandia. Dicen que Tailandia es el pais de las sonrisas pero nuestra experiencia hasta ahora es que los Tai no siempre son tan sonrientes y amables. Ya veremos sin cambiamos de opinion a medida que vayamos adentrandonos en el territorio Camboyano.

Battambang: 30 Sept - 3 October 2008
Although our first impressions of Cambodia werent exactly positive, thanks to the corruption and dirt of Poipet, our stay in Battambang totally changed our opinions. Supposedly the second biggest town in Cambodia, after the capital Phom Penh, Battambang didnt seem any bigger than a small town. It is a town with a lot of character and it is home to some of the best-perserved French period architecture in the whole country. It was strange to see French style buildings in Asia! However the French influence could also be felt as some of the older generation Cambodians still speak French and on many street corners locals can be seen selling baguettes! We found a really nice hotel for 6 dollars a night, it was one of the most luxurious hotels we had slept in in a long time, we even had a tv with cable so we got to watch the Spanish news!!! It was like being transported back to Madrid for an hour! We rented two scooters for two days and spent our time there out exploring the Cambodian countryside. We visited some of the ancient temples around Battambang, like Wat Banan, which looks like a lego creation and is said to be a smaller version of Angkor Wat, and Wat Phnom Sampeau, where you can also visit the errie killing caves which were used by the Khmer Rouge between 1975-79 to kill thousands of educated Cambodians. As well of getting a look into Cambodias culture and past we also got to experience the friendly nature of the locals. As we went riding around everyone was full of smiles, stopping us to say hello and in general make us feel very welcome. Even when we got caught in a heavy downpour and were riding along soaked to the skin, locals would ride up beside us on their scooters and chat to us. It has to be said also that they have a good level of English here, way better than the level in Thailand which was something of a surprise. During the downpour one of the scooters ran out of petrol so we had to take shelter in a local's house, once again we were welcomed with open arms. One of the highlights of our time in Battambang was on the afternoon of our second day when we were returning back to town to take back the scooters, we saw some local children bathing and playing in the river and in the mud on the riverbank. Without a second thought Antoine stripped down to his boxers to join them and it didnt take Veri too long to follow. For the next hour they were jumping off the bridge into the murky river and playing with the kids in the mud, I dont know who was more delighted, Antoine and Veri or the kids!!! We did get a glimpse once again of the corruption in Cambodia as the guy who we rented the scooters from told us not to park them outside our hotel, apparently there is once again a small mafia running and trying to control the transport of tourists in town. Apparently their punishment for tourists who dont rent from them is to put sand in the petrol tank when the unsuspecting tourists park up outside their hotels! However none of this can take us down from our high of our first few days in Cambodia, in general the people are super friendly and the countryside is out of this world.

Sihanoukville: 3 - 6 October 2008
Since we hadnt been to the beach in a while, (must have been at least 3 weeks!!!), our next stop in Cambodia was the tropical coastal town of Sihanoukville. The town itself is a working town with a running port but the main attractions are it's numerous white sand beaches. After getting off the bus in town we were over-whelmed with eager locals trying to sell us their taxi services. In the end we picked one guy who seemed sound enough and asked him to take us to a hotel. Of course he took us to the hotel which gave him commission for bringing in tourists, however it was clean, reasonably priced at 6 dollars a night for two, and a one minute walk from Occheuteal beach, so we took it. Our first night there we had a lovely dinner in Susaday restaurant not far from the beach. It is owned by a French women and the food was delicious. Of course we also had to have some crepes for dessert seeing as it was a French place...YUMMY! The weather was roasting and the sun was shining during our stay there, so much so that we had to start getting up before 6am like the locals to do some sightseeing before the midday sun came out. Once again we rented some scooters and explored the whole area, spending the mornings visiting all the beaches and spending the afternoons chilling out on the beach nearest to us hiding in the shade. It really is a great place for relaxing and not to mention eating and drinking!! Apart from being a great beach destination, it also boasts the cheapest beer in Cambodia at only 50 US cent for a beer! Everynight we went to the nearby Serendipity Beach for the best dinner deal ever....3 US dollars for fresh BBQ seafood with chips, salad and a beer! Not only was it good value but the setting was idyllic. The beach is lined with candle lit restaurants and bars right on the sand, with music and big comfy sofa seats. One of the nicest and most underdeveloped beaches in town is Otres Beach. We arrived there one morning on our scooters and ended up getting very comfy in a beach cafe drinking smoothies, taking in the views and chatting to the locals. Antoine and Veri also treated themselves to a massage on the beach, yes it is without a doubt la belle vie! We also proved ourselves to be hardened Asia travellers in Sihanoukville as we started having breakfast like the locals....fried rice with vegetables, noodle soup with chicken, fried noodles with egg, beef patties etc. I never thought Id be able to handle a dish of fried rice and vegetables for breakfast let alone anything with beef in it, but there you go...never say never! Mathilde and I are also official scooter drivers now, after getting lessons from Antoine and Veri. Although I think that they might regret teaching us as now they have to sit on the back and let us have the fun of driving!!! Thanks guys!!

Kampot & Kep: 6 - 8 October 2008
Just two hours from Sihanoukville we arrived in the small town of Kampot. The main reason we went there was to visit Bokor National Park, one of Cambodia's largest protected areas. Within the park there is an area called Bokor Hill which is home to the ruins of a former French Hill Station. A fabulous colonial palace was built there in 1925 but later abandoned in 1940 during the war of independance. It was later used by war troops and Khmer Rouge rebel forces but it was never restored. Thanks to its war torn past and it' s position on a hilltop (in pretty much the middle of nowhere), apparently it has a real ghost-town errie feel to it and is worth a visit. However our plan to go there came to a dead end when we found out that it had been sold and is going to be developed into a luxury holiday resort. Since they are currently doing up the road into it they dont want people to visit and therefore charge 40 dollars per person. 40 dollars just for the buzz of wandering around an errie abandoned town...umm no thanks! It would be cheaper to go to the local fair and take a ride on the ghost train!!! So instead we opted for plan B and rented some scooters for the day and went on a trip to the nearby beach town of Kep. Kep is a reminder of the chaos and damage caused in Cambodia during the long civil war. It was orginally a rich sea-side resort for the French at the start of the 1900's but all that remains today are numerous rundown empty buildings. It was quite shocking to see the damage and change that war can bring about on a country. One thing the war didnt destroy though was the sea, so we spent a while swimming and cooling off before visiting some of the abandoned buildings, including a palace built by one of Cambodia's former kings. We spent the 7th October in Kampot and Kep, a date which we wont forget as it was our one year travel anniversary!!!!! Yes it had been one whole year since Antoine and I left home, said goodbye to our friends and families, and started our adventure.Neither of us could believe that a full year had gone by!! It had been everything we hoped for and more.  

Phnom Penh: 8 - 11 October 2008
We said goodbye to Kampot on the morning of the 8th and after 6 hours of being shaken about in a Cambodian bus we arrived in the hectic capital of Phnom Penh. Sophie, a friend of Mathilde who was coming to see her for two weeks, was due to meet us at our hotel and was already there waiting on us when we arrived. We spent two full days in Phnom Penh and it was more than enough. The city is oveflowing with people, so as a result it is hectic, dirty and contaminated. The first day we spent there wandering around and visiting some of the many temples. We tried to visit the Royal Palace but we were not allowed entry as we weren't dressed appropriately! oops! Now before you go getting the wrong idea, we were decently dressed its just that the palace dress code is a bit strict, no uncovered shoulders are allowed and between us we had 6 of them! Once back at the hotel that evening we took advantage of the rooftop balcony (that we had all for ourselves) to have some pre dinner drinks with a bottle of rum that Sophie had kindly brought over from her home in La Reunion. After the extreme heat of the day we were all very content sitting on the roof top, enjoying the night air and drinking our rum cocktails. Merci Sophie :-) On our second day in Phnom Penh, Antoine and I decided to let the others visit the Royal Palace alone (they went shoulders covered this time!) and we visited the Tuol Sleng Museum instead. For any of you that arent familiar with Cambodia's past let me fill you in quickly. After years of civil war tearing the country apart, in 1975 - 1979 Cambodia was ruled by a rebellious group known as The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. They claimed it was a new start for Cambodia and declared it was Year Zero. Currency was abolished, the postal service was stopped and apart from one fornightly flight to Beijing, Cambodia was completely cut off from the rest of the world. The idea was to create a communist agrian country where people were separated from their families and made to work in the rice fields 15 hours a day. Anyone who disobeyed their many rules was executed. The worst result of their rule was the brutal genocide which they carried out between 1975-78. Not only were the people killed but many were cruelly tortured. The majority of Cambodians who were killed were those who posed a threat, or who were believed to pose a threat, to the new rule. Therefore all those who spoke languages, all those with education etc. Even people with glasses were targetted! The museum which we went to visit was a former school which had been taken over by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and used as a Security Prison known as S-21. It was the largest centre of detention and torture in the country and over 17,000 people were killed there during the two years from 75-78. Visiting the scene of so much pain, torture and death was very emotional. You can walk around the former prison and see where the poor genocide victims lived (if you can call it living) their last days in suffrance. The Khmer Rouge also kept a close record of everyone who was arrested so you can see pictures of many people who were kept and tortured there. Pictures of people laying dead after hours of torture can also be seen. All in all it was a shocking place to visit but it helped us to understand more about the turbulent past of a still poor and struggling Cambodia. That night we werent feeling as cheerful for some pre dinner drinks, so it was dinner and bed early to get up for our 7am bus the next morning to Siem Reap. After having learned about Cambodia's problematic past it was time to go to visit Angkor Wat and learn about some of the country' s more glorious years.

Siem Reap: 11 -16 October 2008
Without a doubt the most touristy town in Cambodia and not surprisingly as the main attraction in Cambodia is the magnificent temples of Angkor, which are just 6 km from Siem Reap. So yes this is the tourist base for everyone going to visit the temples and there are no tourists who visit Cambodia without coming here. Although it is growing rapidly, with more and more hotels, bars and restaurants going up every year to accomadate the tourists, it still manages to hold on to it' s roots so visitors can also see a glimpse of the real Cambodia. There are almost two sides to the town, the dusty poor part where you see the locals selling their produce in the market and a scooter passing by with a pig tied on the back, and the smaller touristy area offering fancy restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. It is a good mix as there is something for everyone. Anyways enough about Siem Reap and on to THE tourist attraction in Cambodia, the temples of Angkor and in particular the most well known of them all, Angkor Wat. The temples of Angkor were the capital of Cambodia's ancient Khmer empire. The Khmer empire was very successful in it's day and spread from Burma to Vietnam. With it's political, religious and social capital being based at Angkor, there were over one million people living there at it's peak. Each king tried to build temples bigger and better than the one before, so the temples really are something else.The most visited and talked about is without a doubt Angkor Wat, the largest religious building in the world. However there are many others which are also very impressive. Im not going to go into detail on each temple we visited (thank goodness I hear you say!!) as for anyone who has already been, well you already know how good it is, and for anyone who hasnt, put it on your "to visit" list as words won't do it justice. There are different options for visiting the temples, you can buy a day pass, a 3 day pass or even a 5 day pass. Since one day was definitely not going to be enough and 5 perhaps a bit too much, we paid 40 dollars each for a 3 day pass. You have the option to pay a tuk tuk taxi to take you around but we decided to be more hardcore and rent bikes for the 3 days. In total over the 3 days we cycled 98km, had two 5am starts to see the sunrise over the temples and loved every minute of it. The whole place is amazing. As I said, words don't do it justice so just take a look at the pictures.

En realidad tuvimos que hacer escala en Kompong Cham la primera noche ya que el viaje directamente a Kratie hubiese sido un poco largo. Tambien es verdad que en America Latina nos habiamos acostumbrado a los trayectos de 24 horas o mas pero como tampoco tenemos prisa pues venia bien pararse. Primer contacto directo con el Megkong. Nuestro hostal esta en frente de este rio tan emblematico. La orilla de enfrente esta a varios centenares de metros y vemos barcos pasar aguas arriba. Solo tenemos unas horas por la tarde, vamos a correr antes de que anochezca y la gente nos mira como si fueramos animales curiosos. Se preguntaran por que diablos salimos a hacer un footing si podemos alquilar una bicicleta por unos miles de rieles....
A la mañana siguiente salimos ya para Kratie. Despues de unas 4h de Bus aterrizamos en la pequeña ciudad y despues de pasar por los 4 o 5 hostales de la zona, optamos por un hotel bastante "lujoso" para la zona, llevado por una familia de chinos. Nuestra habitacion sale por 4$ por lo que no nos podemos quejar. Sobre todo que arriba del hotel hay un balcon terraza enorme con vistas al Mekong y nadie sube por lo que lo tenemos solo para nosotros. Asi de facil, vamos a comprar una cervezitas Angkor bien frescas y unos panchitos y tomamos el aperetivo arriba para apreciar la puesta de sol. Que pasada. Mala sorpresa, de vuelta a las habitaciones antes de ir a cenar, descubrimos un riachuelo que fluye por nuesrto pasillo. En nuestra habitacion no hay mucha agua pero en la de Sophie hay varios centimetros de agua... Despues de dar el aviso en recepcion y que cortaran el agua del cuarto de baño de otra habitacion, tuvimos que pelearnos verbalmente para que cambiaran a S de habitacion...estos chinos desde luego <:-) Kratie se ha forjado una pequeña reputacion turustica gracias a las posibilidades de pillar un barco para navegar sobre el Mekgong y observar un tipo de delfin muy particular. No solo por el echo de vivir en agua dulce, el Irrawady se distingue del delfin mas comun por la forma de su cabeza y la longitud de su aleta dorsal. Pudimos observar unos cuantos y ademas el paseo en barco fue bastante agradable. Mas al Norte de donde embarcamos, nos encontramos con el pequeño pueblo llamado Sambor. Dejamos las motillos aparcadas delante de un templo construido recientemente en el que han intentado batir el record del numero de columnas. Llega a 108 columnas, aunque cuando estabamos de visita falto poco para que se quedara en 107...un chabalito (no se como lo hizo...) se dio con la cabeza en una de ellas y le salio tal chinchon que nos asustamos un poco. Fuy corriendo a por hielo y se lo pusimos en la frente. El unico adulto que habia por ahi desaparecio unos segundos y volvio con una tropa de niños que estaban por ahi...no lo podiamos creer, todos los niños riendose de nuestro pobre herido y aquello por el adulto que habia ido a avisarles. Realmente otra cultura... Annemrie fue conduciendo todo el trayecto de vuelta y nos paramos a orillas del Mekong, en los arrozales, para ver la puesta de sol. Al dia siguiente los 4 guerreros se fueron hasta Chhlong con las motillos pero yo me quede tranquilo por Kratie. Por la tarde me fui a correr 50 minutos y pense que me morria del calor. No ayudo despues la copichuelas que nos tomamos ya que era la ultima noche de Sophie con nosotros. Al dia siguiente pillaba el bus de vuelta a Phnom Penh y el avion de vuelta. Bye bye Sophie...Nosotros saldriamos el dia de despues de ella hacia Ban Lung en la region de Ratanakiri, despues de descartar Sen Monorom en la region de Mondulkiri. No teniamos tiempo para ir a las dos ciudades y por motivos de tranporte resultaba mas facil la primera opcion.

Kratie: 16 - 21 October 2008

From Siem Reap the idea was to head to Kratie, a small town towards the North West of Cambodia, to get an idea of life along the famous Mekong river and see the rare fresh water dolphins which live there. However to cut the journey down a bit given we had plenty of time, we stopped over in Kompong Cham for a night along the way. Our stop here was our first contact with the Mekong river and to take advantage of the views we got a hotel right on the riverfront. We had a relaxing evening, Antoine and I went for a run along the Mekong, and then we found a local restaurant for dinner. I also had an interesting chat with a local guy in his 30's who had been to Ireland for 3 months on holidays. Apparently an Irish woman had paid for him to fly over and had paid for his whole stay while he was there. Yes I also was wondering what she got out of it!!!!!!! The next morning we got the bus again and after 4 hours we finished our journey and arrived in Kratie. We found a nice hotel there with rooms for 4 dollars a night, however the best part was that it had a huge rooftop balcony with views over the Mekong. Needless to say it didnt take us long to go buy some beers (Angkor beer) and munchies, which the five of us enjoyed while watching the sunset over the Mekong River. The following morning we rented some scooters and drove to an area of the Mekong from which you can take a boat ride to see the rare Irrawady dolphins. We paid a local guy to take us on 90 minute tour of the Mekong during which we got the chance to see a good number of dolphins. Not only are they a special breed of dolphins because they live in freshwater while most dolphins are saltwater, but they also look different. Unfortunately they are in danger of extinction so it was pretty amazing to get the opportunity to see them. We spent the rest of the day touring around on our scooters. We visited another nearby village called Sambor, where Antoine had to come to the rescue of a small kid who almost knocked himself out by running in to a pillar in the village temple. We saw him laying on the floor with THE biggest duck-egg on his head that I have ever seen, he was semi in shock and half crying so Antoine got ice and helped him to recover. The only local adult who was nearby also dissappeared off when he saw the accident, we thought he had gone to get ice or something as well, however when he returned a few minutes later with a hoard of other kids behind him, we realised that he had gone to tell the other kids about the fall and they all came to laugh and tease the poor kid?! It really is a different culture! On the way back to Kratie we stopped off along the riverfront amg the rice paddies to watch the sunset, before heading back for a much needed shower and dinner. The following day we rented some more scooters and headed in the oppostie direction to visit the small town of Chhlong. The town wasnt anything out of the ordinary but the journey there and back was fun since the road was a dirt track full of holes and mud! Antoine decided to have a lazy day and stayed in Kratie so I had a scooter to myself and got a good day of practice on the slippery mud track! Needless to say I loved it! That night we bought some local whiskey and had some drinks to say goodbye to Sophie who was leaving the following day. Yes her holidays were over and she was due to get the bus back to Phom Penh and then her flights home to La Reunion. We on the otherhand had to decide whether to go to Sen Monorom further east or Ratanakiri further north. In the end we opted for a town called Ban Lung in the province of Ratanakiri, otherwise known as the "Wild East", it was supposed to be one of the most remote places in Cambodia. After seeing the touisty places it was time to see the real Cambodia!!!!!

Ban Lung:  21 - 25 de Octubre del 2008

Vamos subiendo hacia el Norte de Camboya, donde es temporada de lluvias por lo cual se complican los transportes. El bus va a paso de tortuga y tardamos mas de 6 horas por un camino sin asfaltar lleno de baches para llegar al “Far Oest” de Camboya. Las calles estan sin asfaltar por lo que cada vez que pasa un coche se levanta una de polvo que ni se puede respirar. Los edificios son de madera para algunos, de hormigon armado sin pintar para otros y no supone un gran ejercicio de imaginacion el ver un baquero (con ojos achinados??? No…..) asomarse a una barrandilla y dispararte.

Lo bueno de esta region no es la ciudad en si sino sus alrededores. A unos 6Km esta el lago Boeng Yeak Lom que esta en plena vegetacion. Forma como un crater circular y han instalado 3 plataformas de madera para poder bañarse. El dia que fuimos, tardamos una buena hora en llegar ya que fuimos andando. Otros 45min para dar la vuelta entera al lago y despues de eso un merecido chapuzon en el agua transparente. Una autentica pasada y la temperatura del agua perfecta! Nos tiramos una buena parte del dia ahi. Encontre por ahi un trozito de corcho con hilo de pescar y un anzulito asi que pille un bambu y me hice una caña de pescar. Todos convencidos que no iba a conseguir pescar nada. Pero tras cortar un trocito de lombriz y lanzar el anzuelo al agua, no tarde mas de 10 minutos en sacar un pezecillo del agua… Venga Veri, a buscar leña que hoy toca pescado a la barbacoa. (Al final solo saque ese y lo volvi a echar al agua…).

Al dia siguiente optamos por dar un buen pirulo andando hasta las cascadas de Chaa Ong y Ka Tieng. El sol pegaba realmente fuerte a eso de las 12h pero Ka Tieng es realmente preciosa, con posibilidad de bañarse justo al lado de la cascada pero si acercarse demasiado ya que la fuerza del agua es brutal.

Nos tomamos el picnic ahi y luego hablamos con unos locales para que nos llevaran de vuelta. Negociamos los precios y dos tios nos llevaron en sus motocicletas, las dos parejas en cada moto, sin casco ni reposa pies para el de atras… como tiene que ser para ir por la junglilla.

En definitiva Banlung es un buen sitio para perderse unos dias si tienes tiempo en tu viaje. Eso si, queda bastante lejos de la capital o de la atraccion turistica Number one de Cambodia: Siem Reap. Pero si hay tiempo merece la pena pegarse el viajecito…

Ban Lung: 21 - 25 October 2008

After a bumpy 6 hour busride with no airconditioning, we stumbled on to the dusty streets of Ban Lung, sweaty and tired. Yes we had arrived in Cambodia's version of the "Wild West"! None of the streets in town are tarred and everywhere you look all you see are dirt tracks with dust flying everywhere. If you replaced the scooters flying about with horses, we would have really thought we had been transported to the scene of some country and western film and expected to see Clint Eastwood or John Wayne walk down the street! Antoine and Veri went on a walk to check out some of the hotels and after realising that the choice was' nt great, they picked one which was clean and on the main street. However they did get an interesting offer from one hotel owner, 4 dollars a room and free girls included!!!!! Welcome to the wild east! We spent a total of 5 nights in Ban Lung and although there wasnt much to do at night (unless you wanted free girls that is!!!) we kept ourselves so busy during the day that we fell into bed wrecked and happy every night early. Everyday we took a picnic and left early in the morning on foot to go exploring the nearby countryside. During our stay there we spent two days at the nearby Boeng Yeak Lom Lake, a circular crater lake known as Cambodia's best swimming pool. We spent hours in the water cooling off, acting the monkeys in the nearby trees and jumping into the lake, playing cards, listening to music and enjoying our picnics. It really is an idyllic place in the middle of nowhere. Another day we walked three hours to visit two beautiful waterfalls outside town. The three hour walk under the sun was tough but swimming in the waterfalls afterwards made it all worth it. All in all I think we all really liked our stay in Ban Lung, the countryside is beautiful, there are lots of natural places to go swimming and even the dusty town has a special charm to it, it was like going back in time to see what Cambodia was like years ago. However all good things must come to an end, so on the morning of the 25th we got back on the bumpyroad again and headed back to the capital Phom Penh. With only a few days left on our visa it was time to head towards the Vietnamense border of Moc Bai, with a day stop over in Phom Penh.