EN - Bangkok & Cambodia
Door: Lars van Lier
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Lars
11 December 2014 | Cambodja, Phnom-Penh
Last week Saturday Clément and I started our trip. It was weird to say goodbye to everyone in the hostel, 'cause you get really used to being around them. The first destination was Bangkok in Thailand, where we arrived that evening. Here we immediately tried some Thai beer, and when we returned our two Dutch friends from the hostel in Singapore (Stefan and Martijn) had arrived as well. So the party could start!
On Sunday we visited the enormous weekend market, the tempels Wat Arun and Wat Pho, and the rest of the old part of town. Since it was the King's birthday on the 5th of December, there was a lot going on, and we tried some local snacks. People in Thailand really worship their king, and his birthday is celebrated for a week. So they probably can't imagine that we always make fun of our king. On Monday we visited Chinatown, the Golden Mountain, the National Monument, and some more temples, and in the evening we visited Khao San Road - the main party street - where we ate some insects (I tried a grasshopper).
On Tuesdaymorning we got up early because we were taking the bus to Cambodia. Due to this fact I don't think we made the most of Bangkok, but I'm going back there so for me it didn't really matter. After a trip of 11 hours we arrived in Siem Reap.
On Wednesday and Thursday we spent our days visiting the tempels of Angkor. These are around 900 years old and that really showed. Most of them were partly decayed or destroyed by the jungle, and the remains were being held up by clever constructions. We managed to visit most of these dozens of temples, and they were beautiful and impressive to see. We spent the evenings visiting the markets, bars, and restaurants in the lively city of Siem Reap, where we enjoyed the Cambodian beer and food, and tried to buy some cheap souvenirs.
On Friday we left to Sihanoukville in the south (together with our friend Teije who joined us on Wednesday), after spending an afternoon in Battambang. There we rode the bamboo train, visited the Killing Cave, watched more than a million bats leave theur cave during sunset, and visited a crocodile farm, where a few hundred crocodiles were laying in the dark.
After taking the night bus, we arrived in Sihanoukville on Saturday afternoon, where we took a guess and decided to go to an island called Koh Rong Samloem since we heard that there was gonna be a party there. Turned out there was no party but the island was amazing and we did a fishing trip on the ocean on Sunday afternoon. In the beginning of the evening we got back to Sihanoukville, where we went out that night and where a sneaky thief managed to take my phone out of my pocket. Therefore I mainly spent my Monday buying a new phone and recovering the problems of losing it. In the evening we took the bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital.
Although Cambodia's history is very rich, it also contains a lot of horror. In the seventies, 3 million out of Cambodia's 8 million people got murdered by their own people under Pol Pot's regime. "Killing Fields" are spread throughout Cambodia, where people were murdered and buried. On Tuesday we visited one of the best known Killing Fields and the Toul Sleng prison to learn more about these cruel times. It was really impressive! On Wednesday we explored the city itself a bit.
Cambodia has a lot to offer, bjt unfortunaly a large part of this is poverty. People are always looking to get money (or phones) from you and often it's best to just ignore this, no matter how harsh it can sometimes be. But all in all the people are generally very friendly, the food is tasty, and we really enjoyed this country.
Today we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, where our journey continues. More about Vietnam in my next blog!
Pictures will soon follow in the Dutch version of this blog!
On Sunday we visited the enormous weekend market, the tempels Wat Arun and Wat Pho, and the rest of the old part of town. Since it was the King's birthday on the 5th of December, there was a lot going on, and we tried some local snacks. People in Thailand really worship their king, and his birthday is celebrated for a week. So they probably can't imagine that we always make fun of our king. On Monday we visited Chinatown, the Golden Mountain, the National Monument, and some more temples, and in the evening we visited Khao San Road - the main party street - where we ate some insects (I tried a grasshopper).
On Tuesdaymorning we got up early because we were taking the bus to Cambodia. Due to this fact I don't think we made the most of Bangkok, but I'm going back there so for me it didn't really matter. After a trip of 11 hours we arrived in Siem Reap.
On Wednesday and Thursday we spent our days visiting the tempels of Angkor. These are around 900 years old and that really showed. Most of them were partly decayed or destroyed by the jungle, and the remains were being held up by clever constructions. We managed to visit most of these dozens of temples, and they were beautiful and impressive to see. We spent the evenings visiting the markets, bars, and restaurants in the lively city of Siem Reap, where we enjoyed the Cambodian beer and food, and tried to buy some cheap souvenirs.
On Friday we left to Sihanoukville in the south (together with our friend Teije who joined us on Wednesday), after spending an afternoon in Battambang. There we rode the bamboo train, visited the Killing Cave, watched more than a million bats leave theur cave during sunset, and visited a crocodile farm, where a few hundred crocodiles were laying in the dark.
After taking the night bus, we arrived in Sihanoukville on Saturday afternoon, where we took a guess and decided to go to an island called Koh Rong Samloem since we heard that there was gonna be a party there. Turned out there was no party but the island was amazing and we did a fishing trip on the ocean on Sunday afternoon. In the beginning of the evening we got back to Sihanoukville, where we went out that night and where a sneaky thief managed to take my phone out of my pocket. Therefore I mainly spent my Monday buying a new phone and recovering the problems of losing it. In the evening we took the bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital.
Although Cambodia's history is very rich, it also contains a lot of horror. In the seventies, 3 million out of Cambodia's 8 million people got murdered by their own people under Pol Pot's regime. "Killing Fields" are spread throughout Cambodia, where people were murdered and buried. On Tuesday we visited one of the best known Killing Fields and the Toul Sleng prison to learn more about these cruel times. It was really impressive! On Wednesday we explored the city itself a bit.
Cambodia has a lot to offer, bjt unfortunaly a large part of this is poverty. People are always looking to get money (or phones) from you and often it's best to just ignore this, no matter how harsh it can sometimes be. But all in all the people are generally very friendly, the food is tasty, and we really enjoyed this country.
Today we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, where our journey continues. More about Vietnam in my next blog!
Pictures will soon follow in the Dutch version of this blog!
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