Cambodia (South)

AC: So with the excitement of Vietnam over, time for Camobdia! We took a boat up the Mekong to cross the border. Great experience - as they had over booked the boat so we had to stay on a smaller, much slower boat - but with lovely sunny weather, it was a nice view from the top of the roof as the boat chugged up the Mekong to Cambodia. The final bus ride to Phnom Penh was a little too bumpy (think giant potholes in an overcrowded mini bus!!) for our liking but we arrived safe and sound in the evening. First impressions, not as many beeping horns as in Vietnam, but a lot more cars. The city has a nice vibe - not as crowded as cities in Vietnam, and the people are just as friendly. Although - the contrast between rich and poor in Camobdia's capital is much more evident than in Vietnam. There are some very rich people living right next to a slum of houses and beggars. We visited the city - checked out the markets (got a few new tshirts - so I can finally look different in the photos!!!). We also took a haunting trip to the S21-killing museum. Horrific massacres by Pol Pot. The people suffered so much, it was truly humbling to visit this place. We then made the trip to Sihanoukville (cambodia's beach town) to rest for a couple of days, and managed to co-incide the trip with Sascha (a mate from Germany)!! Fun to hang out on the beach with his mates drink some beers and generally just lap up the service from the locals - serving fresh fruit, prawns, springs rolls and even massages! (Sorry to mention the beach when I know how freezing Europe is at the moment! Next stop is the city of Siem Reap to check out the temples of Angkor!
VG: Nous avons navigue a bord d'un petit bateau sur le Mekong depuis le sud du Vietnam jusqu'a un bled Cambodgien, et ensuite on s'est tape 1h30 de minibus sur une piste dans un etat lamentable jusqu'a Phnom Penh! La premiere chose qui nous a marques a l'arrivee, c'est la coexistence de gens tres pauvres qui dorment dans la rue, et d'autres qui bossent dans les ambassades et se balladent en 4x4...gros contraste. Nous avons visite le centre S21, cette ancienne ecole ou les Khmers rouges aux ordres de Pol Pot ont torture et massacre des milliers de gens. Les portraits de plusieurs detenus y sont exposes, c'etait tres emouvant. Nous avons ensuite file vers le sud, a Sihanoukville, sur la cote ! Les femmes se balladent sur la plage avec de gros paniers sur la tete, remplis de crevettes, de fruits, de rouleaux du printemps etc...et elles proposent des massages, services de manucure et autre ! C'etait genial, on n'avait pas besoin de bouger de notre serviette! On y a aussi retrouve Sascha, un ami de Londres ! Ensuite nous sommes partis en moto dans un parc national juste a cote de Sihanoukville, on s'est un peu perdus et apres avoir failli faire demi tour (a moitie ensables sur un chemin!), on s'est retrouves sur une plage deserte! Au retour on a quand meme ete un peu etonnes de voir une entreprise petroliere dans le parc national, ainsi que les debuts de travaux pour construire un enorme complexe touristique... c'est triste. 10h de bus nous attendent vers la prochaine etape: Siam Reap et les temples d'Angkor!
:: View the photos from Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville