26 February - 01 March '04

A boat trip on the Mekong, where naked splashing, bathing children gave choruses of cheerful hello's. An Africa-like bus trip, driving between the potholes, passing overloaded pick-ups and minibuses with passengers and luggage on the roof. That is how we arrived in Phnom Penh. Once the most glorious city of Indo-China, the capital of Cambodia now is a complete mixture of new and former glory, and filthy dirt-roads and decaying houses where the poorest families live, dressed in rags, on the streets.

We dumped our backpacks in one of the cheap guesthouses next to the lake and enjoyed a red-hot sunset across the lake with a beer. And hot it was: we measured a constant temperature of thirty-four degrees Celsius in our room.

We visited some of the main attractions: Phnom Wat, the Royal Palace with the Silver Pagoda, where the massive silver floor tiles are duck-taped together, and the National Museum where we saw some of Angkor Wat's treasures and where we learned about some of the legends of the country.

We avoided the S-21 Torture museum and Phnom Penh's Killing Fields; instead we tried to concentrate on Cambodia today and not its gruesome recent past. Some tourist, however, thought the heritage of the civil war sensational: T-shirts with sickening texts such as "I survived Cambodia's landmines" were not uncommon. But more about landmines later.

Finally, we planned our trip through the country: off the beaten track! Because the guidebooks gave many warnings about unsafety, the civil war being only over for just five years. So, we decided to verify the conditions carefully with locals each time, before moving on to our next destination.

01-02 March '04

Nor Chhloung or Snuol were mentioned in the Lonely Planet, which was the main reason to go there. The other reasons were the fanciful names.

A, for European standards, normal bus took us to Kampong Cham, where our adventure began. We hoped for a boat to Chhloung but we just missed it. Luckily, we found a pick-up in which we squeezed ourselves on the front seat. Ten minutes later we left with twenty-five passengers in the back and on the roof. When we turned onto the first dirt road, we did not realize we would not see a proper asphalt road again for two weeks!

Halfway, we were truly shocked to see the inevitable: a team demining, just along the road. The deep impression we got form just a glimpse was more overwhelming than a visit to the killing fields or the S-21 museum could ever be. This is Cambodia today and sadly enough, also tomorrow...

The village of Chhloung stretches along the Mekong, and also here, the French left their traces. During our evening stroll, we stumbled upon what once was a magnificent colonial mansion, now completely un-maintained and abandoned. Later, the villagers told us its basement was used by the Khmer Rouge as a prison, and since the people have avoided the place.

Our guesthouse was a typical Cambodian stilted house with very basic rooms and only a water bucket in the bathroom. But all in all, it was very charming!

The next day we found ourselves a pick-up to Snuol, not really knowing what to expect there. Upon arrival, it did not look too exciting and it missed the charm of Chhloung. While we were walking around, a pick-up offered to bring us to Sen Monoron. Well, Why not?

02-04 March '04

The waterfalls of Sen Monoron and the local hill tribes attract a few tourists and we were not the only foreigners in the pick-up. Due to lack of space in the cabin, Fab sacrificed himself and stayed in the back of the pick-up with the locals. After four very dusty hours we arrived.

To explore the region at low budget we rented one scooter for two; Fab did the driving and the steering, Cornelia on the back the waving and the cheering. At first, we got a bit lost and ended up in what we figured out was a hill tribe village. Then we managed to find the two waterfalls in the volcanic rocks where Cornelia could not control herself and gave Fab a complete geology course.

The forests in the region have all been timbered completely but in the North is still a pristine area where a large nature reserve is being set up by WWF. We spent a pleasant evening with amongst others, Martin, the responsible for this project. He and his family will spend the coming five years in a village in the bush, managing tigers, elephants and other wild, sometimes endangered species. Unfortunately, the fish that was served during diner that night turned out to be one of Martins nearly extinct protégés! So we won't publicly admit how delicious it was...

04-05 March '04

We left Sen Monoron in a pick-up and arrived in Kratie in a small Toyota Camry, where they managed to put four adults and a child on the backseat and on the front seat as well. The Cambodian travellers thought it was hilarious that Cornelia travelled on Fab's lap but it was the only possible way!

"Hello where you going?" is the favourite expression of the touts that will do anything to get a commission from the hotel you choose. It takes a professional to avoid them, but our skills are getting better each time.

We rented a motorbike to see the rare fresh water irrawaddi dolphins that live fifteen kilometres North of the city during dry season. We spotted some of them but a group of children discovered Rendy and Plukje, which was much more fun. They played with them for half an hour and were delighted when we offered them a look through Fab's camera. The simple pleasures of life!!

05-07 March '04

The road from Kratie to Stung Treng is really bad. The 200-kilometre trip took us seven hours. A few years ago, it was even worse when bandits and hold-ups terrorised the voyagers, but that is all past now.

Stung Treng was the starting point for a jungle trip that would take us to Ta Seng, where an angkorian Temple can be visited and then further to Angkor itself, four-hundred kilometre West. Swiftly we figured out that renting motorbikes and drivers was much cheaper in the village of Thala Boravit on the opposite (west) bank of the Mekong river. We found two villagers willing to bring us to Chaeb, the next stop on our itinerary, a small hamlet in the middle of the woods, a 100-kilometre drive.

Although Thala Boravit is a tiny village there was a lot of commotion about. A new temple was inaugurated (we think) and hundreds of people came from the entire region for the festivities, all dressed up for the occasion. Tens of Monk came and went with little boats and there was a lot of singing and praying by the colourful crowd.

07-08 March '04

CHAEB

On Sunday 7^th of March we saw the sunrise over the Mekong while we crossed the river to Thala Boravit. The monks on the boat were very nice and curious. One of them invited us for a morning swim in the Mekong.

At 07:30 we set off to Chaeb, hoping to stay there for the night in someone's house. The small path through the woods was really bad but our drivers knew the way and we were really amazed by the capacity of the scooters: cross-country with two persons and a large backpack. It makes you wonder why one would spend money on a cross-bike!!

At 13:00 we arrived in Chaeb where we were taken to the cousin of the friend of a neighbour of the sister of one of the drivers, who offered us lunch. Fab even had a glass of local whiskey for dessert, which tasted surprisingly well. It was still early enough to continue the journey and after a brief discussion, two new drivers were found to bring us to Rovieng, a step closer to Ta Seng; as far as they would go.

ROVIENG

The first half of the three hours lasting trip featured the worst trail-conditions so far, but the second half was amazingly good. In Rovieng, we found a basic room underneath a stilted house. A bed between four walls; the rats and cockroaches came for free.

In the village a wedding was going on and half of the inhabitants were invited and dancing. The other half was watching from the gate. To revenge they invited us to join the party, which we politely refused.

PHNOM DEIK

The next day we could not agree on the price for a driver to take us to Ta Seng, so mounted a pick-up. Seated on a mountain of rice bags, hanging on to a rope for security, we hobbled to Phnom Deik. Better prices ought to be waiting there for us; Ta Seng lies again in the area where pick-ups fear to thread.

A better price we got indeed but not what we hoped for. Therefore, we decided to go for the endangered species of the Ox-cart that might be cheaper still. Alas, no ox-carts today, and we mounted those steel fuming horses again...

TA SENG

We found out that Ta Seng is troublesome to reach in the wet season. Not because of the mud; it is a sandy road. It is because the river cuts through the road and even in dry season we were lucky not to have to swim. The water was only knee-deep.

What about the jungle?

So what about the jungle during our Jungle tour? Sorry folks, it has all gone. Years of civil war have been taking a high toll: the trees literally paid for it. What is left in the area we came through, is less of a jungle than the woods in the Belgian Ardennes...

09-10 March '04

No matter how small the village is, there is always a shop and there you'll always find somebody ready to cook for you, find you a bed or a motor driver. So, having left our bags in our new "room" (a bed surrounded by curtains) we left for our first Angkorian-era Temple: Preah Kahn, locally known as Prasat Bakan.

An introduction to Angkor's temples

The ancient Khmer culture manifests itself by building entire temple complexes, walled and surrounded by a moat, which gives a city-like impression. Preah Kahn is the largest of these and we were stunned by its dimensions.

First we visited Prasat Preah Stung, also called the temple with the four faces. In the centre of the ruin, four enormous faces are towering, looking in all directions.

We carefully stayed on the path: the temple lies in the area where the Khmer Rouge stayed until the end and many mines have been laid here. When negotiating the driver in Ta Seng, a loud explosion severely shocked us. The locals tried to act normal but you could feel the tension. When we asked about mines they ensured the temple was completely cleared, but we preferred to take no risks.

A few kilometres further we visited the main temple group. We were very sad to see that only recently, these remote and unguarded temples had been looted. A couple of years ago, sculptures had been stolen brutally while using pneumatic hammers and other non-delicate methods, causing great damage and even collapse.

An introduction to Cambodia's landmines

A three kilometre long Baray (water reservoir), now partially dry and overgrown, separated the main group from Prasat Damrei (the temple of the elephants). To get there, we returned to the village and took another road. Just after leaving the village, around the corner, our blood ran cold. On the ground, next to the road, a group of about thirty people, both men and women, were doing their job. We had run into the deminers of MAG. In a tent next to the road we saw a foreigner and asked the driver to stop for a chat.

The Mines Advisory Group is one of the NGO's demining in Cambodia. He, John, explained us the basics of demining and also calmed us a bit: the explosion this morning was planned and controlled; the minefield they were working on was well indicated and no others were around. Nonetheless, we visited Prasat Damrei with shaking knees.

At night, after a "shower" at the village well, we shared a couple of beers with John and also discussed more pleasant things in life than mines.

The next day we had planned to take the direct trail west to Angkor, but at the last minute, someone suggested we took the route via Stoung, where the highway was. He explained armed robbery was still an issue on the trail we had in mind and we eagerly accepted his advise. So, after some 350 kilometres during some fifteen bumpy hours on a scooter, we took a real bus from Stoung to Siem Reap, the visitors base for Angkor's temples.

10-13 March '04

After three days of dust biting we treated ourselves to the luxury of Sala Bai: an NGO hotel school, where we recovered from the trip.

We took a three days pass to visit the archaeological site: day one the bicycle, day two with a tuk-tuk, day three on the scooters again, gradually increasing the area we covered each day.

Angkor by bike

The first day we cycled thirty-one kilometres visiting the absolute main attractions. Angkor Wat, with its five towers, the largest temple we ever saw, was very lively. Monks and tourists climbing the steep stairs to the terraces, beautiful bas-reliefs of religious epics cover its immense walls.

In the city of Angkor Thom we were impressed by the entrance bridges and towers (Gopura), where the gods and demons have a tug-of-war on the five-headed snake Naga. The Bayon, in the centre of the ancient city, was absolutely stunning. Fifty four four-faced towers surround you when on the second level, creating a sea of stone smiles that would render Mona Lisa green with envy.

The temple of Ta Prohm, famous for the trees growing over, in and out of its walls, was so crowded we decided to see it the next day. We returned to Angkor Wat instead to admire one of the world's most famous sunsets. Because we took the view from within the temple, we are now present on the hundred's of pictures people snapped of the orange glowing temple.

Angkor by tuk-tuk

The next day we started by tuk-tukking to Ta Prohm. The overgrowth has been clinically cleaned up, except for the spectacular giant tree roots, creating a strange contrast. Man-made walls are strangled by the roots, in their turn chained by human maintenance. We also found out that the 80-year-old man who sweeps the temple floor on the cover of the latest Lonely Planet edition of Cambodia, has become the most popular photo-model of the country!

We visited various other temples, each with their own character, with or without tree-roots, but the hit of the day was Preah Kahn (another one). This large temple is also overgrown, but, unlike Ta Prohm, much of it has been left the way it was found. In the long corridors, between collapsed roofs and walls, we had fun playing Indiana Jones and Lara Craft.... trying not to get lost in the huge labyrinth.

To watch sunset once more, we climbed up the brick temple of Pre Rup, one of the eldest creations on the site.

Angkor by motor-bike

On our last day in the Angkor site, we headed North on scooters to watch surprising carvings in a riverbed and a (dry) waterfall, at Kbal Spaen. On our way back we paid a short visit to Bantay Srei, a temple that contains many of the finest carvings and sculptures of all Cambodia (and not stolen yet!). Templed out, we spent the afternoon well deserved at leisure in a swimming pool, gaining force for the trip to Bangkok (and we would need it...).