Cambodia

Bayon Temple at Angkor

It's hard to put into words how much of an impact Cambodia had on us. We started off in Phnom Penh, a budding cosmopolitan city bustling with markets, upscale shops and happening nightlife all in a beautiful riverside setting. At first glimpse, it's easy to forget that the 700-year-old city was almost entirely deserted just 40 years ago as part of the Khmer Rouge's forced evacuations to the countryside. Look a little closer, however, and you'll quickly notice the many signs of this horrific chapter in Cambodia's history. Tuk tuk drivers shout to you from the sidewalks like they do anywhere else in Southeast Asia, but instead of pushing the usual temples and palaces they offer to bring you to the torture prison or the killing fields. With this dark shadow cast across the country, it's hard to stop dwelling on their heartbreaking history and get on with your day. But that's exactly what Cambodians are doing. The political and economic problems will take far more than a single generation to repair, but locals are facing these challenges with an optimism and energy that is remarkable considering the tragedy that many of them have experienced firsthand. Fortunately their economy gets a boost from the thousands of tourists who flock to Angkor, the most stunning temple complex in the world. In our travels, we did our best to learn and pay our respects to the tragedy that so deeply marks Cambodia, but to then move on and see all the beautiful things the country has to offer. We had no idea what an emotional roller coaster we were in for.

All of our Cambodia photos were also lost with the computer theft, so once again we've patched together some photos we were able to collect from emails we sent, Ashley's brother's Facebook (thanks Phil!) and our lovely friends Alex and Patrick who sent along some epic Angkor shots.


Our first stop in Phnom Penh was to one of their famous night markets to gorge on some delicious food.


Grabbing noodles, fried chicken, squid skewers and deep fried crab patties, we settled in for our feast.


One of the outdoor markets selling everything under the sun. Watch out or you'll be run over by one of the many motorbikes that cruise through the narrow lanes ignoring the packed crowds.


It's amazing how little Westerners learn in school about the Khmer Rouge genocide, so here's a brief review: In 1975, the Khmer Rouge and their infamous leader Pol Pot overthrew the already-corrupt government and embarked on a maniacal social engineering project to reverse industrial progress and return Cambodia to an agricultural society. Over the course of four years the Khmer Rouge army forced all city dwellers to abandon their homes and embark on grueling, often fatal marches to villages and labour camps where many died of starvation and disease while enduring endless hours of torturous work. As part of Pol Pot's goal to create an entirely agrarian society cut off from the rest of the world, anyone who was educated, held professional positions or worked for the previous administration was targeted and killed immediately along with their families. Just wearing glasses was often enough to condemn someone to death as an intellectual. Women, children, the elderly - no one was spared. When the Vietnamese army liberated Phnom Penh and Pol Pot's reign of terror finally ended, roughly two million people had been killed, a quarter of the country's population, and most survivors were forced to start a new life having lost homes and loved ones.

The Tuol Sleng Museum in Phnom Penh (pictured) exists today to bring the terror of that period to light for foreigners and locals alike. It had originally been a high school, but under Khmer Rouge was transformed into a prison and torture chamber named Security Prison 21 (S-21) where at the height of its activity some 100 victims were killed every day.


The rules of conduct at S-21


One of the rooms where the "high risk" prisoners were held, chained to the bed. Upon liberation, only seven prisoners had survived because they posessed skills such as painting or photography. Graphic paintings done by one of the survivors of daily life at the prison are on display in the museum. On some days, the survivors will visit the museum to talk to visitors.


Child victims. Like the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records of all their prisoners. There are rooms upon rooms at the museum displaying thousands of photos of victims.


After a day at the museum we didn't have the heart to visit Phnom Penh's other major genocide museum at the Killing Fields, so we visited the opulent Royal Palace instead.


Monks outside the gates of the Royal Palace


Having a round with Alex and Patrick! We met this couple from San Fran one fateful night at a communal table out for dinner in Bali. They were on their way out, but it started to pour, so they ordered another beer. Thank you rain gods. We formed a friendship that night that would take us to four more destinations together, often staying at the same hotel. Beyond their sparkling personalities, good looks and impeccable ability to not repeat outfits while living out of a backpack, we had an uncanny amount in common. It felt like we'd found our West Coast doppelgängers! Like us, they quit great jobs, gave up a lovely apartment in one of the country's best cities and said goodbye to their nearest and dearest to travel with no plans of where to live when they returned. It was reassuring to meet a couple as crazy as us!


One of our many double dates took us to Romdeng, a restaurant that helps street kids get a head start in the hospitality industry by providing them with the necessary training to get jobs. It's one of many socially-concious businesses in a city that is working hard to rebuild and redefine itself. In addition to some nice Cambodian and French food (along with Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia was once a part of French Indochina) Romdeng serves fried tarantula, and their sales pitch includes bringing a live spider over to crawl on you. As you can see by Ashley's face, their sales tactic failed miserably.


We noticed an older disabled man had been walking up and down the street selling the usual hawker selection of books - copied replicas of guidebooks and tragic stories of the Khmer Rouge regime. He wasn't pushy about selling like so many can be. A female tourist who clearly knew him from the area asked: "how many books have you sold today", he replied with a big smile on his face: "one book," to which she encouragingly responded "well that's a good start." Needless to say the moment he walked by we bought a book from him. Not all of the street hawkers are saints and some use the plight of the past to take advantage of the "guilty tourist," but many are genuine, friendly, and are doing their best to move on and support their families. We'd been traveling for long enough to suspect a scheme around every corner, but sometimes even the most jaded traveler needs to assume the best and lend a hand. We bought this book which is a heartbreaking autobiography of a survivor who coincidentally attended the same high school as Joe after emigrating to America.


Happy Herb Pizza - a must-try when you're visiting Phnom Penh.


Our brilliant plan post Happy Herb Pizza was to visit one of the many blind massage parlors in the city for a relaxing rubdown. Unable to find work, there are a number of organizations who train blind people to be masseurs and enable them to make a living. When our masseurs entered the room, Ashley noticed that hers was much older than she had expected. In her altered state of mind, the thought of an old blind man massaging her butt forced her to stifle her laughter.


From Phnom Penh, we headed to the riverside retreat of Kampot, famous for their green peppercorns (and delicious pepper crab!). It was a popular vacation spot for Europeans back in the French colonial days, and much of the colonial architecture remains.


After Kampot, we set off to explore the magnificent temples of Angkor, Cambodia's (and one of the world's) premier tourist attraction. Between the 8th and 13th centuries, the Khmer civilization (no relation to Khmer Rouge) was centered in Angkor and a number of Hindu and Buddhist kings created the spectacle of temples that are now home to the world's largest religious building, Angkor Wat, and many more fascinating feats of architecture blended with spirituality. One of our favorite sites was the lesser known Ta Som (pictured) where the entrances to the temple have been taken over by the aptly-named strangler fig trees.


East Mebon - a three-tiered temple featuring beautiful elephant sculptures at each corner.


Also known as the Tomb Raider Temple because of the popular Angelina Jolie movie filmed here, Ta Prohm is a sprawling temple where the trees have been left intact. When the temples were discovered in the early 1900s, almost all of them looked like this - swallowed up by a thousand years of jungle growth.


Ta Prohm


Angkor's star attraction - Angkor Wat. It was the capital of Angkor during the 12th century and is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It's a national treasure and featured on Cambodia's flag. Unlike the other temples, it was never abandoned to the elements and has been in continuous use since it was built.


Depictions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata Hindu epics, as well as scenes from legendary Khmer battles, are expertly carved into the stone walls.


Each of the "god-kings" of ancient Cambodia were constantly trying to out-do the last in size, scale and symmetry of their temples. This competition ultimately culminated in the construction of Angkor Wat.


Some Buddhists visit Angkor Wat as a pilgrimage site and thus the Hall of the Thousand Buddhas was created. Many of the Buddha statues were removed for safety and the remainder were decapitated by the Khmer Rouge.


Making the steep climb to the uppermost level of the temple


Joe getting impatient - this monk took FOREVER


With our guide Phirob. We had been looking for a chance to talk to someone about their personal experience living through the Khmer Rouge regime, but it was not something we could just casually bring up to anyone. Because this isn't an ancient historical event and happened so recently, it's shocking to walk around and realize that everyone you see over the age of 40 probably has a tragic story to tell about their experience. At the end of our last day at the temples as Phirob was leading us back to the tuk tuk we asked him if he had been born in Siem Reap and what had happened to him during that period. He told us that he was 6 when Khmer Rouge took power. His father had been a soldier for the government and he had been immediately captured and murdered. He and his mother were taken from their home and forced to the fields. When the reign of terror was over (he quoted the exact number of years, months and days) only 2 out of 8 of his mother's siblings had survived. He was now doing ok as a tour guide, supporting his wife and two teenage sons. But he said it was difficult to get regular work since there were so many guides, especially during low season. When we said goodbye for the day, he looked at us with his hands in prayer and said "thank you for providing me with a job today." Ashley was in tears again.


Bayon - by far our favorite temple, its 54 gothic towers are decorated with 216 smiling faces, which bare a striking resemblance to the egotistical king who commissioned the structure (as well as Olmec from Legends of the Hidden Temple). It is a mysterious temple that passed through different religious phases and features a truly unusual architectural design. We loved weaving through the levels while staring up at the peaceful smiling faces.


West siiiiiide, east siiiiide


Definitely the coolest temple we've ever seen


Might as well throw in two more smiling faces!

On another note, Ashley's brother just moved to Phnom Penh a few days ago to accept a job as a Local Economic Development Advisor for the NLC/S (association of local governments). His wife Julia will be joining him in a few months. We're so happy for them as it is something they have been working towards for a long time and they made it happen. We'll miss them, but we'll be thrilled to visit our favorite SE Asian city again to see them! Phil's new job fits right in with the socially conscious environment of Phnom Penh, so if you want to learn more about Cuso International and perhaps even help him achieve his personal fundraising goal, check out his website.

Komodo & Flores, Indonesia

Hotel thief

Unfortunately we have to start this blog off with some bad news. We recently had a bunch of our stuff stolen in Laos - computer, iPhone, iPod, Canon Powershot, Nook, sunglasses, etc. The SLR and Joe's iPhone were on us, so thank goodness, they were spared. We were staying in Luang Prabang in Laos - incredibly safe and chilled out in comparison to some of the other spots we've been (our friends were pick pocketed three times in one day in Saigon), but a lesson that you can never be complacent. We were staying at a lovely hotel right on the river with 24 hour security. We had been there a week, and let our guard down, leaving our belongings on a table by a screened in window with wooden bars. Since we were the furthest room on the river, we bordered the local land next door and someone scaled the fence, hopped on our balcony and went "fishing" through our window. The computer and Ashley's bag were within reaching distance. They miraculously threw back Ashley's passport, IDs and credit cards, so we like to think this was someone who really needed the money and wasn't trying to ruin our lives. Huge silver lining.. the hotel had never had a robbery in their 15 years of existence so they graciously offered to pay us back the value of all the goods taken in cash. Unbelievable. So really, the worst part of this is we lost all of our photos from Cambodia, Vietnam and the last leg of Indonesia, Komodo & Flores. We've done our best to piece together some crappy cell photos Ashley sent in emails to people and the rest are good ol' Google Images. We hope you enjoy this hackjob of a blog!

Our last stop in Indonesia was to Flores - a stunning, less-traveled island known for its easy access to Komodo National Park - home not only to the infamous Komodo dragon but also to some of the world's very best scuba diving.  The island was colonized by the Portugese and remains primarily Christian. Labuan Bajo was the base for a 2-day scuba trip we arranged. A lovely, ramshackle bay harbour, this once sleepy spot has found its tourist scene growing, partly due to the influx of Italian inhabitants. We ate some of the best food on our trip - incredible Italian and Greek, and even indulged in a wine tasting next to our dive shop. Those Italians.. can't leave home without their wine!

Off the coast of Flores, the converging of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean create strong currents (too strong, as you'll later hear) and plankton-rich water that attracts a wide variety of large marine life. This is obviously not a photo of us scuba diving, but we like to think this is pretty much what we look like.. epic sunburst and all.

One of our dive spots was Manta Point, where we were told you see many massive manta rays 99.9% of the time. Unfortunately for us, the incredibly high odds were not in our favor. The other group that dove with us somehow saw a bunch and even more infuriating - the girl who came just to snorkel saw some! Joe was ready to ask for his money back, when we decided to give it a go and throw on a snorkel and see if we could find any. Sure enough... down in the deep we spotted a huge guy (even bigger than the one in the picture)! He must've been 3 meters across and looked like a spaceship floating below us. So cool. 

On Joe's deep-water dive at Castle Rock, he spotted a Napoleon fish which some call the blues singer of the ocean. Look at those lips!

Our favorite site of the day was Cristal Rock - the most incredible visibility and tons of fish of every shape and size. There was absolutely no current, so it was a breeze. And we saw our first shark! A white-tip reef shark.

One of the most memorable (and scary) moments of our second day, was our dive at Batu Bolong which has been rated as one of the best dive sites in the world. It is a wall dive where you descend immediately and make your way zig-zagging up a narrow rock. Current here can be a huge issue as once you get to the edge of the wall on either end, the current will take you. Our instructor Andromeda (Flores Diving Centre is owned by, you guessed it, four Italians) confirmed there would be current, but said it wouldn't be too strong. Of course Ashley's main concern all day was the current, so she had already worked herself up. The beginning of the dive was lovely - truly beautiful coral and fish along the wall. But at one point the instructor took us too far to one edge and we got caught in the current. We held on to coral and rock and struggled to swim back to the calmer area, but in the process, Ashley's regulator fell out. She cleared it and put it back in, but she started to feel panicked, couldn't quite catch her breath and wanted to ascend immediately. There's nothing like feeling like you're out of breath 20 meters underwater! Ashley alerted the instructor and made a controlled ascent for a nice breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief. 

If that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we decided to take a visit to Rinca Island to see the fierce Komodo dragon - the world's largest lizard which can grow to 10 feet and 150lbs. You may also know him from his appearance in Skyfall at the Macao Casino when he takes down one of the rather large bad guys. We did a small hike on the island, flanked by two guides carrying sticks to protect us. One of them had recently been attacked - he was bitten in the foot, scaled a tree for protection and was there for hours with the ferocious dragon waiting beneath before someone came to help him. With stories like these, we were ready for some action. Unfortunately, the only dragon action we got was a small, old female Komodo who would hang out by the kitchen on the island. It was mating season, so all the other males and eligible females were deep in the jungle getting busy. Poor old gal. With our heads hung low, we headed back to the boat. Just as we got there another group came to tell us they had spotted a huge male roaming around. We ran back and caught the menacing beast trolling the area, tongue slithering. Joe got way too close for the guide's liking to snap some great photos, which of course, are no more. But Google's photo ain't so bad.

From Labuan Bajo, we made the trek to Moni - a small village close to Flores' second major attraction- the color-changing volcanic lakes of Kelimutu. This was our bus to Moni. They asked us if we wanted to take a seat up top. Yaaaaa right. We wedged ourselves inside instead.

Moni is a very small, rural village full of cascading rice paddies, thatched-roof huts and grazing water buffaloes. The main attraction is the volcano, but we thoroughly enjoyed the wifi-free, simple, quiet village life.

We stayed at the Estevania Lodge which we're plugging here to support our good buddy Jeni, the guesthouse owner. Jeni was the best - she was one of the saaviest business people we've ever met. Constantly on the look-out for "tooooourists!" (as she would whisper with delight every time a tour bus drove by).

The three color-changing lakes atop Kelimutu volcano from above. After arranging the tricky transportation to get to Moni, we were informed by a fellow traveler we met in Labuan Bajo that the volcano had been closed due to recent activity. The govenment didn't mind shutting it down, but did a terrible job of checking in to re-open it, so once it was deemed safe by the locals, they started to bring tourists up illegally - for an extra fee of course.

We arrived as the sun was coming up and it was quite a sight. This awful cell pic does not do it justice.

During our stay in Moni, we did a lot of hanging with the local kids. The friend we had met scuba diving had recently completed 2 years with the Peace Corps teaching English to village children in Java. She had just been to Moni and asked us to bring some letters to the kids she had met there and conversed with. In such rural surroundings we could not imagine how incredible it would have been to be able to speak to the kids in their native language. When the letters from "Miss Erin" arrived, the kids went nuts. It was adorable. 

Ranty with her letter.

Ashley playing cards with Karlitos. The language barrier made it difficult to pass on the rules of Go Fish, but she did her best.

As you can see in his lap, Karlitos carried his special letter from Miss Erin every where he went. So precious!

During a hike through the rice paddies, Ashley decided to get to work helping the locals in the trenches. Thankfully, no leeches.

Ashley and Jeni became good friends during the stay in Moni. She was a spicy little lady and they'd gossip together about the other villagers, her failed marriage (and the story of her chasing her ex around the lawn with a knife), and her daughter who was at the top of her class in Mathematics in college and was Jeni's everything. One night Jeni joined us for dinner and started bragging about the village's extravagent wedding feasts, detailing the delightful food spread - "they have everything you like... beef, dog, chicken, fish." And contrary to the last post, Ashley has in fact started wearing tablecloths. Here she is in her ikat - essentially a hand-crafted snuggie made with natural dyes that all the village ladies wear. Ashley strutted her stuff in her ikat during a walk through town and got more hoots, honks and thumbs up than she could count. The villagers love seeing tourists in the local gear. And Ashley was just happy it was socially acceptable to leave the house wrapped in a blanket.

The ikat gettin it done.

We'll end on this note. The air freshener in our hotel was not-so-aptly named Wenis. This ridiculousness was one of the only surviving photos since Ashley sent it to certain special deener tot in their birthday email. 

That wasn't so bad was it? It was nice to have an excuse to steal from Google to grab some epic underwater shots. We promise the next blog on Cambodia will be much better since we traveled with our best travel buddies throughout the country and they have so kindly shared their photos with us.

You can find the rest of the Komodo and Flores photos on our hard drive in a small Laotian hut where the thief is currently enjoying the fifth season of The Wire.