Monday, 8 March
Up at 06H00, finish packing, thank goodness all washing, including cargo shorts washed yesterday are dry. The rolls Colin and Dylan had bought yesterday afternoon are dry, but I'm happy to have bread. Coffee works well - Stainless cup just the right size, add lots of milk to cool it down, very civilised cafe latte. The bus fetches us at 07H40. Some other tourists on the bus too. We drive around the Wat Bo area, picking up more people from guesthouses. Move over to the proper bus for the trip and leave at 08H45. Start with journal again. Not very interesting countryside, very flat, brown grass and a village every now and then, that looks like all the others. Dylan had asked the driver in Khmer to tell us when we got to Kampong Thom and he'd said he would, he had also checked our tickets twice. When Colin said he thought we were in Kampong Thom at 11H00, Dylan and I said it was too early, as the trip should take 3 hours. As we left the village, Dylan asked the driver whether that was Kampong Thom and he said it was. Dylan flipped and asked why he'd not warned us. The driver stopped the bus along the road and got off like he was going to remove our luggage. He came back on and asked a Cambodian girl to tell us we'd have to take a tuk tuk or moped back into the village. I asked how much it would cost and she said $1 each. Dylan was insisting that the driver pay the tuk tuk driver, but I didn't think that would happen. I wanted him to turn the bus around but he said the bus couldn't turn around! Eventually I said we should just go. There was only one moto driver waiting next to the bus, we discussed our options in the blazing sun when another moto stopped. It was clear we'd each have to get one with the backpacks and day packs. Dylan flagged down another moto and we each got on. Clearly these moto drivers are used to transporting all kinds of things and goods. We weren't sure where we would be staying, but made a choice and were going to have to walk there from where the motos dropped us off. They decided to stop in front of the Arunas Hotel, which Colin said was on the list of recommended guesthouses in the guide, so we went in. The double room for them was $8 and my single was $7. I went up to check the rooms and they were very comfortable with fans. The showers/toilets were in good nick. Only cold water, but that's no problem in this heat.
I'm craving fruit and fruit juice, so buy 2 mangos from a stall downstairs, however, I'm very disappointed to find that they were hard and sour. We find out later that the locals eat them like that, dipped in sugar! Not a taste I could get used to.
We freshen up and meet downstairs to go to the Sambor Prei Kuk complex. The motos are $3 and tuk tuk $15. It was very hot at 12H00, so we decide to take a tuk tuk. Kampong Thom is a small town and there's nothing much to see except the main street with lots of small businesses, a few guesthouses and some small hotels. The road is not tarred, it has lots of bumps, so we get thrown around a bit. We pass lots of houses made of wood, plaited grass on plots of 20 x 30M and 20 x 40M, a few cement ones (one can clearly pick up who is more wealthy here). There are hayricks in some yards and farm animals, chickens, dogs (mostly unkempt, dusty, often mangy and skinny - like the cows), this is a difficult place to live, for people as well as animals - all just eking out an existence. The landscape in between the villages is cream coloured because of the dry grass. There is jungle beyond, obviously cleared here to create the crop fields. Every time a truck or car passes, we are covered in red dust - this happens every 10 minutes. There is a distinct pecking order on the roads: biggest vehicles (trucks, buses, cars) have right of way, they just hoot and everything else gives way, then the tuk tuks, then motos and lastly bicycles (tuk tuks and motos also hoot every time they pass something, so there's a lot of hooting). It is amazing to see what the people fit onto a moto: often 3 people, quite often 4, with the baby right in the front. The things transported on the motos include piles of baskets, 4 piglets in a wide metal cage behind the driver, a large dead pig in a reed sling behind the driver. There are lots of overloaded small trucks. I'm fascinated by the small primitive Chinese tractors with the long handlebars like a chopper. They have wooden platforms in place of a trailer, where the rider and passengers sit and the goods are packed and they transport steel, wood, building materials and bags of provisions. We pass through Alsu village, established in May 1995, the people are very poor and their houses and stalls are so dusty from the traffic passing through.
Sambor Prei Kuk is 30 kms north of Kampong Thom and it takes an hour to get there. We are all disappointed that the sanctuary towers are all so ruined. There are lots of them, we enter from the East at Prasat Sambor Prei Kuk and see 5 towers, at least it's a bit overcast and the sites are in a forest, so quite a bit of shade, still hot because there's no breeze, so very soon we're sweating like pigs again, especially inside the towers. Prasat Tor is also very ruined, as well as Prasat Neak Pean. One can just make out some decorations over the lintels and on a few of the outer walls on some of the towers. We walked around there for 2,5 hours and then decided to go back to the tuk tuk. The towers are in a forest in a big area. Colin had programmed the location of the tuk tuk into his GPS and was confident we were heading in the right direction. After 20 minutes we ended up on the main gravel road, turned left hoping to get back to the entrance. The trucks and vans drove by and we were left in dust clouds. After 5 minutes Dylan said he was sure we were going in the wrong direction. Colin was still trying to get a bearing with the GPS. We turned around and welked back along the gravel road to the path from which we had emerged and carried on and finally got to the entrance where our tuk tuk driver was waiting. We were soaked and very happy to see him. Drove back to the Arunas Hotel, taking lots of photos along the way. Had a welcome shower and washed my hair when we got back.
We walked around the area next to the river before supper, not very pretty I must say and not much happens here. I think mostly local traders and local people come into this village. We had supper in the Arunas restaurant downstairs - Angkor beer, Coke, Dylan had rice and sweet and sour pork, Colin rice and port and bell peppers and I had rice and pork and veg, very tasty. The drinks came from their fridge but were not too cold, so Dylan took some more and put them in the icecream chest freezer, much to the amusement of the Cambodian waitresses. I didn't want to have a late night, so we just walked to the night market which was starting up and bought 3 hard and dry bread rolls for R1 each. Dylan and Colin wanted to go out so I had another shower and started journalling. I was watching the TV in my room while journalling and was fascinated by a Cambodian soap opera where the girls (all gorgeous) mostly spoke in a breathless, gentle sing song style, slightly similar to Chinese. Dylan and Colin came in just before they went out and changed the channel for me (remote didn't work) to AXN. The Amazing Race was nearly finished. I then watched So You Think You Can Dance at 22H00, while writing. Strange being in a foreign country, watching a Western TV show. Went to sleep at 00H00, had to get up at 07H00 the next day. It was most pleasant with the fan blowing over me.
Up at 06H00, finish packing, thank goodness all washing, including cargo shorts washed yesterday are dry. The rolls Colin and Dylan had bought yesterday afternoon are dry, but I'm happy to have bread. Coffee works well - Stainless cup just the right size, add lots of milk to cool it down, very civilised cafe latte. The bus fetches us at 07H40. Some other tourists on the bus too. We drive around the Wat Bo area, picking up more people from guesthouses. Move over to the proper bus for the trip and leave at 08H45. Start with journal again. Not very interesting countryside, very flat, brown grass and a village every now and then, that looks like all the others. Dylan had asked the driver in Khmer to tell us when we got to Kampong Thom and he'd said he would, he had also checked our tickets twice. When Colin said he thought we were in Kampong Thom at 11H00, Dylan and I said it was too early, as the trip should take 3 hours. As we left the village, Dylan asked the driver whether that was Kampong Thom and he said it was. Dylan flipped and asked why he'd not warned us. The driver stopped the bus along the road and got off like he was going to remove our luggage. He came back on and asked a Cambodian girl to tell us we'd have to take a tuk tuk or moped back into the village. I asked how much it would cost and she said $1 each. Dylan was insisting that the driver pay the tuk tuk driver, but I didn't think that would happen. I wanted him to turn the bus around but he said the bus couldn't turn around! Eventually I said we should just go. There was only one moto driver waiting next to the bus, we discussed our options in the blazing sun when another moto stopped. It was clear we'd each have to get one with the backpacks and day packs. Dylan flagged down another moto and we each got on. Clearly these moto drivers are used to transporting all kinds of things and goods. We weren't sure where we would be staying, but made a choice and were going to have to walk there from where the motos dropped us off. They decided to stop in front of the Arunas Hotel, which Colin said was on the list of recommended guesthouses in the guide, so we went in. The double room for them was $8 and my single was $7. I went up to check the rooms and they were very comfortable with fans. The showers/toilets were in good nick. Only cold water, but that's no problem in this heat.
I'm craving fruit and fruit juice, so buy 2 mangos from a stall downstairs, however, I'm very disappointed to find that they were hard and sour. We find out later that the locals eat them like that, dipped in sugar! Not a taste I could get used to.
We freshen up and meet downstairs to go to the Sambor Prei Kuk complex. The motos are $3 and tuk tuk $15. It was very hot at 12H00, so we decide to take a tuk tuk. Kampong Thom is a small town and there's nothing much to see except the main street with lots of small businesses, a few guesthouses and some small hotels. The road is not tarred, it has lots of bumps, so we get thrown around a bit. We pass lots of houses made of wood, plaited grass on plots of 20 x 30M and 20 x 40M, a few cement ones (one can clearly pick up who is more wealthy here). There are hayricks in some yards and farm animals, chickens, dogs (mostly unkempt, dusty, often mangy and skinny - like the cows), this is a difficult place to live, for people as well as animals - all just eking out an existence. The landscape in between the villages is cream coloured because of the dry grass. There is jungle beyond, obviously cleared here to create the crop fields. Every time a truck or car passes, we are covered in red dust - this happens every 10 minutes. There is a distinct pecking order on the roads: biggest vehicles (trucks, buses, cars) have right of way, they just hoot and everything else gives way, then the tuk tuks, then motos and lastly bicycles (tuk tuks and motos also hoot every time they pass something, so there's a lot of hooting). It is amazing to see what the people fit onto a moto: often 3 people, quite often 4, with the baby right in the front. The things transported on the motos include piles of baskets, 4 piglets in a wide metal cage behind the driver, a large dead pig in a reed sling behind the driver. There are lots of overloaded small trucks. I'm fascinated by the small primitive Chinese tractors with the long handlebars like a chopper. They have wooden platforms in place of a trailer, where the rider and passengers sit and the goods are packed and they transport steel, wood, building materials and bags of provisions. We pass through Alsu village, established in May 1995, the people are very poor and their houses and stalls are so dusty from the traffic passing through.
Sambor Prei Kuk is 30 kms north of Kampong Thom and it takes an hour to get there. We are all disappointed that the sanctuary towers are all so ruined. There are lots of them, we enter from the East at Prasat Sambor Prei Kuk and see 5 towers, at least it's a bit overcast and the sites are in a forest, so quite a bit of shade, still hot because there's no breeze, so very soon we're sweating like pigs again, especially inside the towers. Prasat Tor is also very ruined, as well as Prasat Neak Pean. One can just make out some decorations over the lintels and on a few of the outer walls on some of the towers. We walked around there for 2,5 hours and then decided to go back to the tuk tuk. The towers are in a forest in a big area. Colin had programmed the location of the tuk tuk into his GPS and was confident we were heading in the right direction. After 20 minutes we ended up on the main gravel road, turned left hoping to get back to the entrance. The trucks and vans drove by and we were left in dust clouds. After 5 minutes Dylan said he was sure we were going in the wrong direction. Colin was still trying to get a bearing with the GPS. We turned around and welked back along the gravel road to the path from which we had emerged and carried on and finally got to the entrance where our tuk tuk driver was waiting. We were soaked and very happy to see him. Drove back to the Arunas Hotel, taking lots of photos along the way. Had a welcome shower and washed my hair when we got back.
We walked around the area next to the river before supper, not very pretty I must say and not much happens here. I think mostly local traders and local people come into this village. We had supper in the Arunas restaurant downstairs - Angkor beer, Coke, Dylan had rice and sweet and sour pork, Colin rice and port and bell peppers and I had rice and pork and veg, very tasty. The drinks came from their fridge but were not too cold, so Dylan took some more and put them in the icecream chest freezer, much to the amusement of the Cambodian waitresses. I didn't want to have a late night, so we just walked to the night market which was starting up and bought 3 hard and dry bread rolls for R1 each. Dylan and Colin wanted to go out so I had another shower and started journalling. I was watching the TV in my room while journalling and was fascinated by a Cambodian soap opera where the girls (all gorgeous) mostly spoke in a breathless, gentle sing song style, slightly similar to Chinese. Dylan and Colin came in just before they went out and changed the channel for me (remote didn't work) to AXN. The Amazing Race was nearly finished. I then watched So You Think You Can Dance at 22H00, while writing. Strange being in a foreign country, watching a Western TV show. Went to sleep at 00H00, had to get up at 07H00 the next day. It was most pleasant with the fan blowing over me.
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