Phnom Penh

 

We had a full day in the capital of Cambodia, Phnon Penh. There are approximately 2 million inhabitants of Phnon Penh, which initially did not seem a large number, but as the day went on we learnt about the atrocities of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge regime, so it started to make sense. The city had been virtually destroyed and deserted by its civilian population by 1979, so the city has been through a transformation in the last 43 years.

Cambodia has a long and ancient history. The National Museum of Cambodia in the centre of Phnon Penh has a collection of artefacts which date back to the 6th century. They class them as the pre-Angkor, Angkor and post Angkor periods. Angkor Wat, which is in Siem Reap region of north Cambodia, was the centre of the Angkor civilisation over a 1000 years ago. We visit there later this week.

 

The King of Cambodia resides in Phnon Penh. Like our King he is only a figure head, but in Cambodia the King is elected and represents the peace and stability of Cambodia since their independence from France in 1953. The palace has been closed since the start of the Covid Pandemic, so we were unable to visit inside. 

From the Kings palace we moved to the disturbing part of the day. The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, systematically committed genocide of the Cambodian people from 1975 to 1979. It was truly shocking. The fact that they killed between 1.5 and 2 million people (it is unlikely they will ever know exactly how many) was bad enough, but what was more horrendous was the cruelty in how they went about it. They tortured each person in prison camps before sending them to the Killing Fields where they were executed by hand. In parallel, he starved the nation to allow a generation of young indoctrinated people [13-15 years old] take on the atrocities. Non of it made sense and it clearly left a nation confused. We visited the largest of the prison camps where the torture took place and the Phnon Penh Killing Fields.

This all seemed so morbid for a holiday, but its a reminder of what can happen if we allow dictators to succeed. 

But we will now look forward to happier destinations. Tomorrow we head to the beach area of Sihanoukville to spend a few days relaxing before the rest of our Cambodia adventure. 

Finally, congratulations to England for playing well last night. A long way to go, but a good start. 

Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Cambodia

 

We have left Vietnam and arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Our journey was by high speed ferry up the Mekong river. At the boarder we stopped at the Vietnam river customs and then 5 minutes further up river at the Cambodian customs for them to inspect our passports and visas. Unsurprisingly, the Cambodia Visas we purchased in the UK are not permitted for the river entrance, so politely they take another $68 US to let us in. 

 

The river journey was around 3 hours, which progressed well, until the boat came to a sudden stop. As we lift our heads from the back of the seats in front, we realised that we had run a ground. Our driver quickly jumped out of his seat, opened a box close to him and pulled out his swinging trunks. A few minutes later he was in the water. We had the feeling this was not the first time. After about 45 minutes of trying to get the boat free another ferry boat arrived to our rescue. After several attempts they managed to pull us free of the river bed. It wouldn’t be Asia without this type of incident. 

 

We had lost a little trust in our driver, but eventually we could see Phnom Penh in the distance. This was our second surprise of the day. Phnom Penh had a sky line we were not expecting, High rise buildings rising up behind the Mekong. A much more modern city than we expected.

   

We arrived safely and checked into our hotel. The first stop a local market to buy new mobile phone SIM cards. Two SIM cards with 5 Gig of data each for a total of 6 USD. As someone who has spent the last twenty years trying to sell expensive mobile infrastructure to mobile operators around the world, it explains why they negotiate so hard. This is a low cost, low margin market, 

England play Iran in the World Cup tonight. Just like Vietnam they love their football here, so there are many bars showing the game. The only challenge is a big rain storm is heading our way, which could mean we get wet. Good Night Cambodia and good luck England.

Vietnam adventure nearing the end

 

Sadly our journey around Vietnam is coming to an end. It’s our last full day. We move further into the Mekong Delta and close to the Cambodia boarder. Our guide, who uses the English name Andy, is keen to  make the most of the day. We had a 6am start to visit the floating market in Can Tho. Tourists from all over Cambodia travel down to visit this market. The market starts early, around 3 am and literally sells boat loads of fruit and vegetables, mooring up against their customers boats to make the deal.

 

We returned for breakfast at our hotel, before setting off on a two hour drive to the brilliantly named Mr Tiger Island. The Island was originally inhabited by Tigers, who found the locals appetising, so sadly, but unsurprisingly they were hunted and made extinct on the island in the 19th century. Apparently, this was the same for Crocodiles, who were nearly hunted into extinction in Vietnam, but there is now a reserve where they are protected. 

Back to Mr Tiger. The legend goes he was a white tiger who protected the islanders from other tigers. So he was buried in a dedicated temple and is now worshipped throughout the island. Our cycle ride took us around the island to see the temple. We were fortunate to arrive as they were preparing a feast to celebrate his death and invited back the next day. We had to decline, but it just highlights how hospitable the Vietnamese are.

Lunch on the island was at one of their fisheries. The local delicacy is catfish, which was not on our list of fish to eat while in Vietnam, but it was served before we could say no. Ironically we watched it being caught a little earlier. Catfish is a meaty fish. It had been fried and was much better than we expected.

       

Introducing Andy our guide for the three days. He is originally from the Mekong Delta and now lives in Saigon. He entered the daily lottery, so we are hopeful that he has success tonight and these are his lucky numbers. 

Andy and his lottery tickets

Our driver, Mr Four [another great name] drove us from Mr Tiger island to our final hotel destination. The Victoria Hotel and Resort in Chau Doc City, which is a hill top hotel with panoramic views over the Mekong Delta. A lovely location to spend our last night in Vietnam. We will miss you Vietnam.

 

Vietnamese Hot Pot

As its the 20th November, we couldn’t finish the days blog without wishing Sharon Hance a happy 60th Birthday. Happy Birthday Sharon and we are sorry we couldn’t make your drinks. Have a great time. We will raise a glass for you. 

Mekong Delta

 

An 8am pickup for our journey to the Mekong Delta. We are staying in Can Tho, which is the capital of the Mekong Delta. Can Tho is built on the Hau River, which is a branch of the Mekong. We have a 2 hour car journey to pickup the river boat, which will take us to our hotel. Our river journey takes us through various rivers and tributaries of the Mekong, passing villages, floating market boats and river cargo boats. In total we spend 3 hours on the boat, sitting in our deck chairs watching the world go by.

Our days out could not not be without visiting some local business. Our visits today included a local family sweet making business, which was quite amazing, producing sweets from Coconut and popping rice. All very impressive and tasted amazing. 

From here we visited a river side brick making company, who have shifted their business to make impressive flower pots and garden ornaments. The type of pots which cost hundreds of pounds in a Surrey Garden centre. The largest sell for £20 here and no doubt 20 times this price in the UK. I’m sure there are wholesalers making great profit shipping to the UK. 

Our dock at the brick making factory. 

Clay pots selling for £20

Our journey from the brick company was 2 hours by boat to Can Tho, following the working rivers. Can Tho appears to be a tourist town, very busy. Similar to most towns in Vietnam, live music is blasted out in  the centre of the dining and bar area. It’s really entertaining. They love their live music here, for this they thank Ho Chi Minh. 

Good night Ho Chi. 

 

Cu Chi Tunnels

 

The Cu Chi tunnels are a 2 hour drive from Saigon. They are a lattice work of tunnels covering 250km used by the Vietcong during the Vietnam war. An incredible construction, they were first started in 1948 during the French war and then expanded during the American war. They extend out to the Cambodia border and cover three levels; 3 metres, 6 metres and 10 metres deep, containing kitchens, water wells, hospitals and a complex drainage system to avoid flooding. 

The tunnels were designed to be deliberately complex and very narrow, suitable only for the slim Vietnamese, thus preventing attacks directly at the tunnels. Thousands of air ducts were created, which became the primary targets for the American soldiers, which meant the Vietnamese needed to be very creative to hide them. The tunnels that still exist for tourists are narrow, but much bigger than they were originally, but small for the average well fed visitor.

 

The war here was tough for both sides, the Vietnamese having to spend years surviving underground in a difficult living area and extreme weather conditions, while the Americans having to defend against the Vietnamese deadly gorilla tactics. 

The Vietnamese weapon of choice was often traps with long lengths of sharpened bamboo to impale an unsuspecting solider jumping from a helicopter or falling into a 1.5 metres hole, cleverly camouflaged. It’s painful to think about it. 

The photo below on the right shows a wooden construction with 10 cm exposed nails that would swing onto a solider bursting through a village door. The photo on the left is a trap with vertical sharpen bamboo. 

  Our guide for the day was an enthusiatic veteran who fought for the South Vietnamese army. He fought against the Viet Cong and spent 8 years as a POW when the war finished. He is now 72 and stll carries shrapnal in his face, which he was keen to guide our fingers over to prove. From what we could determine, his only benefit of the war is he now has a full time job as a guide.

Our guide Tuan

Back to Saigon

There are an estimated eight million motorbikes in Saigon. When we returned from Cu Chi, we took two of them for an evening ride around Saigon City. These were vintage manual Vespas, which our drivers weaved through the mad streets, stopping for drinks, dinner and music at venues across all parts of the city. As normal, road rules are for guidance only which added a touch of adrenaline to the evening. A great evening and one which we will not forget.

       

I never thought I would see Janice on a motorbike, Saigons has been full of surprises. Thank you and good night Saigon.