22/1 It is a cold (22C) and especially windy morning, and it is time to leave the highlands. I head for the larger city of Kampong Chaam, around 260 kilometres west. The first part of the road is mountain with forest, and that causes for several botanical stops. Then again, the wind might cause branches to fall, and the wind is especially strong today. Further more, I have done this stretch before. In a matter
of fact, the first half of the tour is back to Snuol I do a breath stop in the little town of Chumni. There is one new thing at their small market; frogs. The next stop is Memot, which is almost a town, although the fields starts behind the modern houses in the main street. It is a red-dust area, and the old houses are just red.
As I head on, I have to pass quite some
mini-busses with thick boards sticking out in the back. Most have more
than half outside the car! Another have four mopeds sticking out the
back. A third one of the passengers. They are all pulled over at a
police check-point - and straight out on the road again. I wonder what
you have to do to get in problems? The endless plains with rice take over, only
interrupted by quite some towns, if the terrain raises just a bit. I
drive right through, figuring Kampong Chaam will offer it all.
The
river is narrow here, not more than hundred metres, while it is half a
kilometre wide around the bend. There is not really much to see within
the river, and I
The
market is quite clean, and here are all the usual goldsmiths,
textileshops, plastic household, cosmetics, women's beauty-saloons,
small restaurants with local food, fresh and very dead fish and other
seacreatures, fruits and vegetables, chopped-up mammals and for once;
medicine plants. I even find the antplants sliced into thing I see several of the central streets, with the
shops, the almost colonial houses and the local people. Here is a bit
calm, but it is Sunday afternoon, late.
The few photos of the day go all into the general photos of central Cambodia. Somehow, I have lost time, and it is only nine, when I finish work. Strange??? I read a bit of the coming day's sights, and then start accounting - that will last the entire evening....
23/1 Here are only a few larger villages, but
farmhouses are found almost all the 110 kilometres up the Highway 6. Out on the highway, I find another new item: The
police do have lasers! I could have done without that! Well, I think it
is a 60 km/t, and I was only doing 50 km/t, mainly because of the one in
front of me. I reach Kampong Thom before noon, and drive
straight to the river Stung Sen. Here are several large guesthouses, and
I find a nice room, right next to the
As I
set out to find lunch, I find a stall with Ground Crickets, scorpions,
bird-spiders, Great Diving Beetles and huge cockroaches. All prepared
for eating. Pity I'm a vegetarian, but I find some pain with honey and
some tea.
The
city seems rather new, but some houses seem really old, and they are
mixed with the new ones. Along the river are a line of post-houses, and
there are green ponds within the centre of town. I find an extension the the market with mainly
fish. One shop have also snakes. What appears as adders and mixed
snakes. Raw, but The "pizzeria" have no pineapples, and the Hawaiian without ham too, sounds a bit doll. The fried vegetables with cashew nuts - without cashew nuts even worse. I am so much looking forward to either my own cooking or at least a proper restaurant! The few photos from Kampong Thom. The rest go into the general tour.
It is lowland with its
rice fields, all over the low plains. Several larger tows are
I do a short walk around, but here are no hotels, and
I want my bag stored in a room, as well knowing here actually are a
hotel.
A single woman offers me a boat tour into the river, and I remember her
for later. Many of the houses - if not all - continues out in the swamp on posts. The shops are hardware, household, moped repair and new ones and alike. The sheets on the other side is mainly vegetables, fruit, weavings, live chickens and ducks, dead mammals, fish in all stages from alive to rotten, and clothing among much more.
One path leads into a dock-area, and it The fare side of the river is real green and only a few huts are found on the banks. Further up,
the house boats are also found here. In the distance, a small, green
The house boats have all kind of purposes. Some are shops with beer, some fishermen's "factory", some just for living with nice flowers and all. The tend to have a room north and a porch, taking up the better part to the south. And a small sheet downstream for personal matters. Some look like normal houses, some like the farmers sheets.
We do the eastern part down, and the overgrown
trees on the banks make a great background. Here have been so many great
motives, but my photos are disappointing. I guess it is the entire Back at land, I head further out the road to see the post houses and the ferry I spotted from the river. They look so photogenic, though I would not like to live in one. The ferry area is real busy. Here are fish sold along with most else. The women are sitting playing Chinese cards, and they are really engaged!
As I
head further out the dusty trail, the post houses are in general made of
sticks and When I return to the car, a find a pain with
honey, and call it lunch. Then I drive back to Kampong Chhnang,
just to see it and especially locate a restaurant for later.
Kampong
Chhnang have a bit of a colonial vibe, and if it had cafes and
restaurants, they might get tourists. The floating city of Phoum Kandal
ought to draw some here from nearby Phnom Penh. I think I am at the
nicest hotel in town, and they don't do toilet paper. Tourists can't be
common around here! At six, I try Kampong Chhnang's tiny night market, and
I find some deep-fried rice balls with vegetable filling and an egg.
Actually quite good. A cup of ice-coffee end the day, then it is back to
work. While planning tomorrow, I realises I might have to head into Phnom Penh by now. I have a rescue zoo and two market I want to see, and I have to return the car - and find a flight in three days. 25/1
Not surprisingly, it is hard to find breakfast
without meat. I finally find a stand with bread and vegetables too. I try to
explain; I don't want the sausages, and she warms up the flute, and bring
me a plate with vegetables and sausages. The flute have been filled with
minced meat sauce. The road towards Phnom Penh is familiar in the beginning, and the rest is just the usual rice patches and small towns. I had planned to do a bit of a de-tour to avoid Phnom Penh centre, but the road have been dug up on around 70%, and it make a slow progress. I return to the great highway. Well, it stay that for some time,
but then it is being renewed, and it is a narrow dirt-road with too much
traffic. I passes a few road stalls with the Chinese New Year trees:
Branches of trees and bushes that will As I reach the
traffic jam in Phnom Penh a warning light pops up on the
dashboard, and I can't figure its meaning. Check the rental company's
location; 1,9 kilometre away. I might as well go bye them. It take a
The Russian Market is just around the corner, and while walking there, I look for a guesthouse, a hotel or alike. Accordantly to the tuck-tuck drivers, there are none, and they might be right. I have to see the huge market with my back-pack on.
It is
in the
Back at the dorm room, I have a long chat with a
Canadian, teaching English in China. I find my vegetarian pizza, which
is real good. Back at Out to grab a cup of tea and a diet bisquet. I guess something went wrong in translation: I get the tea but also a thick pancake, soaked in Malibu and topped with generous vanilla ice and pineapples. As the polite guy I am, I just eat it without complains. The guy drinking beer at the next table is a English brick-layer, who have travelled quite the same countries as I, and we chat till after midnight - and closing time. And then I have to sneak home to get the computer and finish the work of the day on the balcony, offering a view over a huge part of the town. 26/1 As the original plan was to do, what I did yesterday, I just get a real slow start on the day. Accordantly to other back-packers and the hotel, there are really only two sights worth seeing around here: The Killing Field and the Shooting Range. As I have a no interest in wars, I skip them.
As I
head on, the new and huge Psar Thmei market turns up. The central
dome is said to be the tenth biggest in the world, and the entire
market is actually impressive. It is light, clean and huge. The areas
are still partly defined, with raw food, foot court, hardware,
textiles, flowers, I find significantly more "tusks" here, and get confirmed; it is actually stag-horns from huge deer - but they don't tell that. I am looking for shoos for the colder Taiwan, and find some reasonable ones. And without any proposes, I find an egg sized elephant in bone, which I accidental buy.
Back to re-group at the hotel, and down in the
lobby/restaurant to work until dinner. My
roommates returns from the Killing Zone tour - fare from amassed: Hot,
too much
The Chinese New Year actually starts this evening,
and last five days. Cambodia only have a minority of Chinese who
celebrate it, where other Asian countries treat it as a combination of
summer brake, new year, Christmas, Easter, spring brake and birthdays
all together. Hong Kong and Singapore sure know how to have a party!
27/1
I do a long walk through the more interesting part of
town, might be the old area along the river. Plenty of shops and three
small markets. Many of the shopkeepers and their families or employees
are outside, feeding the fire with fake dollar bills and other printed
matter as a sacrifice. The big New Year eve it tonight.
My roommates are gone, but then I get invaded by three Australian girls, and that live up the dorm-room!
At the markets, half the stalls are closed, and I
guess most of the rest actually live and sleep in the shop. I pass through my
local temple, but here is as quiet as normal. The afternoon is spend walking around the area with the national Museum and The Royal Palace. Despite my most eager efforts, I fail to talk myself into seeing it from the inside. Then I get a shave at a barbershop and one more tea at the usual restaurant. I leave the girls in the room, and go playing pool and drinking tea in the evening. Here are real quiet, considering the New Year. Not a single fire-cracker! 28/1 I have a two hours to spend, before I get a tuck-tuck to the airport - and then three more in the airport. The tour to the airport is through the new city, consisting of a lot of posh buildings. Many with a "Royal something" sign in front.
To sum the Cambodia tour up a bit: I have driven around the entire
Cambodia; 4350 kilometres, and seen pretty much everything I wanted to
see. It have been a quite disappointing botanical experience, and the
country is actually already too modern to fascinate me. But despite what
I have heard, I find the people of Cambodia real kind and helpful. It
is in general a happy people.
|