Hello from Kampot, Cambodia!!!! I arrived here last night, after a truly spectacular bus ride down through Cambodia's countryside. (One minor mishap along the way, a small bit of smoke pouring out of the front of the bus, but not a big deal) The views were amazing - flat, checkered farmland as far as the eye can see in either direction, and once in a while we'd pass through small, simple towns. Children were walking and biking home from school in their uniforms at the side of the road (little kids riding big bikes alongside passing traffic, one would think that is very dangerous, but not in Cambodia. It's the way of life). Anyway, we arrived at the center of town just as it was getting dark, and just as it started to pour. A British friend that I traveled down from Phnom Penh with and I checked out a couple of guest houses, and then chose one that was right...lots of other backpackers, clean, nice people, and $3/night. I love living on a budget.
Today I embarked on a full day tour of the area. Kampot's most unique attraction is the Bokor Hill Station, which is an abandoned vacation resort town, formerly used during the French colonial period in the early 20th century. Basically, they built this big palacial complex with grand views, a nearby church, and then once France pulled out of Cambodia in the 1950s, it quickly went into disrepair and ruin (to put it lightly). Today, Bokor Hill Station is a national park, and the buildings are eerie, empty, and a stark reminder of chaotic century Cambodia has endured. The buildings are ravaged by fighting between the Khmer Rouge & the Vietnamese army, and the buildings are destroyed and decrepit - it was hard to imagine what the place was like at its prime.
In order to reach Bokor Hill Station, you have to take a truck ride for 1 1/2 hours up the mountain. Easy enough, right? Well, not in Cambodia, and not on this road, which was pretty much destroyed by the Khmer Rouge 30 years ago. To say that the road was plagued with craters is putting it lightly. Hardly any asphalt is left, and it's basically going over large boulders and dirt road all the way up the hill. Plus, sitting on the back of a truck for the ride up and back has left me with a numb bum. Very sad.
After we walked around Bokor, we headed on a mini trek through the surrounding national park. Our trail was originally cleared by the Khmer Rouge to march people towards the cliff and push them off. The cliff is now overgrown with plants and trees, but it's haunting think that it is rooted in so much death.
Our day ended with an hour-long boat ride up the nearby river overlooking the sunset. The boat was very simple, long and narrow, in the shape of a canoe, but much bigger than your average canoe. The Cambodian husband and wife in the back of the boat were monitoring the steering and water pumping (aka - manually pumping water out of the boat), and it was a perfect way to end the day. The river was narrow, with the sun setting on the hills around us. Every now and then, local fishing boats would pass us and it reminded me how simple life is here - the people have very little, but there is always a smile on every face you see. Happiness is not based on material wealth in this country.
Tomorrow or the next day I will head to Sihanoukville, and beach town on the southern coast of Cambodia. There are caves nearby Kampot, so I might check those out tomorrow, but I'm not sure - I'm enjoying each day one by one. Vietnam is the next stop after Cambodia, so I should be there in a few days. Can't wait!
Top 10 Things I Love About Traveling in SE Asia
10. Reading book after book, and then passing them on to a new friend
9. No alarms to wake up to (except if it's a travel day and you're catching the early bus)
8. I'm surrounded by all the British people I could ever ask for
7. The difference between $4/night and $3/night is a big deal
6. The hardest choice I have during the day: "Should I have noodles or rice?"
5. What's a bus trip without a near disaster?
4. Beer Lao, Chang Beer, Tiger Beer
3. Same Same But Different
2. Figuring it out when you thought you couldn't
1. Every day is an adventure
Speak to you again soon, lots of love always!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Top Ten Things I Enjoy About Reading About Your Tip To SE Asia:
10. Reading blog after blog and then passing the website onto a new friend.
9. Walking up every day to the thought of reading about your latest a1dventure.
8. I am comforted by the fact that I know exactly what you are up (like I am with you on these adventures)
7. The difference between doing my work and reading your blog is a big deal.
6. The hardest choice: Should I read AND respond now or just read?
5. What is a Daniel Blog without laughing out loud.
4. Imagining what you are going through.
3. The desire for having a full understanding of why you like the phrase SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT so much.
2. Knowing that you of all people would figure it all out.
1. Reading about your day is 100% more interesting than if you were reading about mine.
I LOVE YOU BUDDY!!!!!!!!
Hey bro...good to hear from you! All sounds pretty amazing on your end. Can't believe how much you are seeing and learning that most people, including yours, know so little about. We really are so sheltered over here in the US of A...glad you are reporting back on such important topics.
On not so important topics: the lowly Yanks just swept the lowly Rangers...they are still way behind the Red Sox; the NY Rangers play an integral game 5 tonight against the #1 seeded Buffalo Sabres in the NHL playoffs...series is tied at 2-2, would be great if they could eke that out; and thankfully nothing to report about the Knicks considering they are so terrible and not in the playoffs...phew.
So, everything else in NY is fine. Keep on having some great times over there, miss you lots, talk to you soon.
Hi, Daniel: I've been away from your blog for a while - partly because I was also away from home for a while - at a meeting in San Antonio. And then our cousins Judy and Klaus were here for 3 days or so. This is the first weekend I've had some down time in a while...and it was nice. So I caught up tonight with several of the recent entries. I agree with everyone - your reports are fantastic, written with such fabulous detail and sense of humor. Can I produce the sequel to "Under the Tuscan Sun?" Maybe "Under the Cambodian Moon?" :) For me, your description and reactions to the genocide had a real impact, because last weekend we were at the Holocaust Museum, where I hadn't been in a long time. There are the usual questions about how it could have happened...and you've reminded us that Nazi Germany was only one, albeit the worst, of many holocausts throughout history. There were a lot of young people at the museum of different races and religions, and I was wondering if the pictures and descriptions really had an impact on them. I got the feeling that it didn't, or at least it wasn't the gut-wrenching reaction that some of us get there. We say "Never again," but Cambodia and Darfur remind us that that's a lie. So if something like the Holocaust doesn't put an end to mass killing, we are probably condemned to repeat it. Only the killers and the victims change.
Sorry for the down message...on the bright side, I got a kick out of your staying in hotels at $3 a night - although surprised that a beer cost one third of a night's stay! When I went to Europe the summer after college graduation, Frommer's original "Europe on $5 a Day" was our bible and most days we could pretty well do it. Speaking of college, my senior year was when President Nixon bombed Cambodia - spring of 1970 - and the college campuses erupted in protest, even staid old Hamilton. Classes were cancelled and, as I recall, finals were cancelled also, so we could "march" on Clinton, NY...I'm sure that had a big effect on the war! However, it sure affected the townies, who probably thought upstate NY was in the hands of the Communists. We thought it was pretty serious stuff...and I suppose it was, when combined with protests across the country. Now your're about to travel to Vietnam, which seems very weird to me...needless to say, we did everything possible to keep from going there at the time!
What you are doing is fabulous...I hope things keep getting better and better.
Love, Uncle H.
If you can, check out this story on AOL's home page, about newly discovered paintings of Buddha in Nepal, dating from the 12th century. You won't be able to go there - I guess it's pretty remote and they're not disclosing the location - but you'll be in the "vicinity" so I thought you'd enjoy reading about this amazing discovery:
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/nepal-cave-paintings-buddha/20070504190009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
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