Le Roux's Travels: Cambodia: Phnom Penh & Islands

Cambodia - Phnom Penh and the South Coast:

Phnom Penh: I arrived in Phnom Penh without a passport. Leaving Don Det nobody had any dollars while the cash machine on the mainland was down. According to my travel agent in Don Det this was no problem as the other tour company could pay for my bus ticket and Cambodian visa. I was told that as soon as we cross the border the driver would stop at the nearest ATM where I would draw money and pay them, getting my passport back. Things were apparently lost in translation as even though the tour agent received his money, the driver, who was meant to have my passport, only had a dumb expression on his face when I enquired about it. I was left without a passport and as nervous as a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Reaching Phnom Penh I booked into Top Banana (known for their buckets like Todd’s Pink Pussy and Tom’s Passion Fruit Leg Opener) where it took many calls and my consumption of many beers while I was nervously waiting to finally get my passport back from the tour company. I’m very thankful for the helpful Top Banana staff for making the phone calls and for also driving to collect my passport from the random bus stop.

One of the first things I noticed on my first morning was the amount of tuk tuk drivers. There I was, having just woken up and still rubbing sleep from my eyes, peeking over the penthouse balcony of my hotel only to be greeted by a chorus of “Good morning! Tuk Tuk sir?”, coming from an army of eagle-eyed drivers, eagerly waiting at the bottom. With the serenity gone, I stumbled to the lounge area for which was to become my ritual coffee and breakfast. There were not too many things of interest in Phnom Penh other than the S21 prison, the Killing Fields, Museum and Silver Pagoda. Braving a moto-taxi, I made my first stop the Silver Pagoda with all the best intentions of actually going inside. That was until I was overrun by swarms of snap happy Chinese tourists. With the line to the ticket office seeming longer than the Mekong River, I decided to leave and head to the S21 Prison instead. It was just as well as apparently all 5000 silver tiles were covered.

Knowing full well that the S21 Prison and Killing fields were going to leave me feeling sick and disgusted, I still felt compelled to visit it, drawn by a morbid curiosity. On the one hand it was interesting to learn how one man could dictate the killing of around 3 million people, while on the other, it left me with many questions, especially seeing all the pictures of tortured prisoners or while looking into the eyes of prisoners from photos taken while they were still alive. I left the prison feeling ill, in dire need of a strong alcoholic drink and a new appreciation to be alive. The next day was almost déjà vu while visiting the Killing Fields. It was disturbing on another level though and felt like sacrilege as I found myself walking amongst the graves but also on top of bones of victims. On the one hand I felt like the people should rest in peace but on the other one feels like it is a very important reminder that history must never repeat itself with the likes of the Poll Pot genocide.

The rest of my time on my first visit to Phnom Penh, I spent most of my time preparing for my Cambodia Off-Road Motorbike Trip. I was both very excited but admittedly also slightly nervous because of all the landmines still around Cambodia. But, that is all in another blog. After my motorbike trip, I returned to Phnom Penh and Top Banana. Little changed other than I met what I dubbed “the 3 freaks”. It is funny how things go, I hadn’t met any weird people in months and suddenly POOF, there they are, – almost like London buses -three of them arriving at the same time! Freak Nr. 1 (FN1) shared the dorm with me and was a self trained eccentric acupuncturist of around 60 years old. He had the habit of stashing strong smelling food in our dorm while preaching life lessons, philosophy and religion in a very annoying “holier than thou” high pitched Californian voice. He was also a pathological liar, believing very much in his own lies. He once told me how he dated the richest girl in Denmark though quickly dumped her when he got bored. He continued to describe how all the movie and rock stars invited him to their parties and envied him as they all wanted to be like him. According to him, he was so popular that he slept with most of the girls in Copenhagen! He also had an 18 year old daughter living in Brazil who he had visited not too long before. Supposedly, she asked him to leave when all her friends desperately wanted to have sex with him. He also completely freaked out two young Danish girls by asking them many personal questions like “are they virgins”, “are they gay” and “do they like having sex”.

Freak Nr. 2 (FN2) was an angry individual who was covered in tattoos, sweated profusely, had a nervous twitch and hardly ever made eye contact. Sitting with hunched shoulders and making darting glances around the room he would tell me how “FN1” was indeed a freak and that he was convinced that he had spiked his fellow dorm dwellers waters with his weird potions. Apparently he had a tummy bug earlier which he blamed “FN1” for and told me in detail how he was going to throw FN1 over the balcony. This was because he was apparently told by FN1 that he was going to stab needles into his neck which would paralyze him. What made it all very funny however was that the very macho FN2 insisted on my watching a “gay pirate love song” on YouTube. Feeling in the mood to be humored, I watched the music clip with him not completely sure what to make of it. When the clip finished he asked my opinion upon which I replied that it was funny. Wrong answer…FN2 didn’t find that amusing and looked near tears when he told me (while twitching badly), “That wasn’t f*cking funny mate that was absolutely beautiful.” I found a link to the song: Gay pirate love song...

As if that wasn’t enough, FN3 turned up freaking out the very same two young Danish girls previously bothered by FN1, by asking them if they wanted to go for a walk within the 1^st minute of meeting them. They declined though he persisted in asking almost every 5 minutes if they indeed wanted to go for a walk. The only thing he spoke of was he himself; how great he was, that he really loved himself and all other conversations were seemingly aimed at his glorified self. It was funny watching the girls nervously glancing over their shoulders as they snuck away to go and have lunch, worried about bumping into FN3. I joined them moments later where they were waiting for me tucked in behind a corner. It was very funny seeing their faces when we were walking back from lunch and of course had to bump into FN3. Dressed in a neon vest, headband and tight black shorts not leaving much to the imagination he yet again asked them if they wanted to meet up. “No!” they said not really trying to hide the horrified expressions on their faces!

The rest of my time in Phnom Penh I spent either desperately trying to avoid the freaks or impatiently waiting for my passport to return after having an extension done. It was great news when Jeanette (my climbing buddy) told me she was coming to meet up. Unfortunately for her, metaphorically speaking, she was thrown into the deep end with meeting the “Three Freaks. At least we had each other in those dire dark moments…The final straw came one morning when I had my breakfast and FN1 invited himself to share a too small couch with me. FN2 was sitting sweating, twitching and drinking beer at the bar at the unrespectable hour of around 9am. Suddenly, FN2 launched a verbal attack on FN1 with me caught in the middle. I failed to enjoy my breakfast having to listen to FN2 making death threats to FN1 who again was sitting next to me. Enough is enough and absolutely fearing the remote possibility of a FN4 appearing, I decided it was time to move on to the safety of Sihanoukville.

Sihanoukville: Fleeing the freaks, Jeanette and I took a bus to Sihanoukville, meeting up with a friend of hers called Lina. While previously speaking to a few fellow travelers, I discovered that Sihanoukville was also nicknamed “Shitville” due to all the prostitution, drugs, muggings and on a lighter, although very annoying level, the constant harassment of beach sellers. It was for that reason that we chose to stay at Otres Beach at a recommended place called “Wish You Were Here” which is run by two friendly Aussies called Aaron and Johnny. I immediately fell in love with the place. There were no freaks, it was friendly, laid back and served good food. At night there was usually a breeze and I could hear the soothing laps of the waves of the ocean. During the day I could swing in one of their comfy seats attached to the ceiling or pet their happy dog, Punchie, with its sad wrinkled face.

It only took a few seconds to reach the white sands and turquoise water of the ocean. The beach itself was lined with comfy chairs where we could relax during the day, going for a swim every now and then to cool off. If you chose to, you could lay all day without even moving as either the waiters or beach sellers came to you selling anything from sunglasses, massages, manicures, pedicures, cold drinks and food like barbecued prawns or other delicacies. The only hindrance, having to answer natures call! At the time, Lina, Jeanette and saw a really cool looking poster for a small island called Koh Te Kiev and decided to go there for a few nights.

Ko Te Kiev: I was excited to visit the island as the advertising placard displayed in the bar promised many cool things to do. We were a mixed group of travellers all eager to soak up the sun and relax on the island. Our host picked us up from Otres beach with his longtail boat and from there it took about 1 hour to reach the island. The island was covered with a dense jungle and outlined with white sandy beaches. I found the sandstone rock around the shore especially fascinating as it ranged in shapes, texture and many hues of colour. Our group was disappointed though as it seems the advertising placard was completed before the actual things on offer were finished. That went down like a lead balloon with some of our group and unfortunately things turned sour after that.

Even so, there were many plus points about the island. It was a beautiful relaxing spot, our hosts were very friendly and there was a cute squeaking pet hornbill keeping us company. We used to feed him chunks of either tomato or mango which resulted in a “squeak, squeak, squeak, gobble, gobble gobble…” It was still a young bird although it had the appetite of, I guess you could say a young hornbill, and cost them around a dollar a day. Other than that there were many hammocks to laze around in and it was also possible to catch squid off the rocks using a rod, reel and squid jig. One day I managed to catch 7 which we barbecued over a fire and washed down with beer. It was during one of these evenings while having a few beers that we heard rumors that Wish You Were Here burnt down. I counted my blessings as at one point I was thinking of storing my luggage there while going on the island trip!

Unfortunately, the weather turned bad with rain and strong winds. Trying to leave the island was not an option though as the seas were too rough to navigate us safely back to Otres. At least there was a bar and cold beer on offer which kept us occupied while it was interesting to listen to island politics and other funny stories. I also had many beers with one of the islanders who produced his own lethal Absinthe. I was amazed by the amount of alcohol in it as it seems to burn forever! Luckily the weather the next morning was better and I was able to leave the island. Originally I had high expectations for Ko Te Kiev due to the activities on offer which was displayed on a professional looking placard. If I knew that many of the activities and facilities were in fact unavailable, I would have planned much differently. Saying that, when these things are available it would be a great place to stay.

Koh Rong (1^st visit): Back in Otres it was a relief to learn that Wish You Were Here hadn’t actually burned down. Apparently, someone had tried to make a cup of coffee and left a faulty boiling kettle in the room. He returned to find his room in flames! Luckily there was not too much damage done and only left one room with a burnt wall and the coffee bandit with a burnt foot – it could have been much worse… To reach Koh Rong Island the next day, I had to take a 2 hr boat ride from Sihanoukville. That meant getting up early and arriving there at 6am to board the 7am boat. I walked passed a prostitute with a very short red skirt who got picked up within seconds and from there down to the jetty where I bought a savory rice porridge with meat and herbs off of a local street stall. When I asked the ticket office on the jetty which boat I was to take they said the Koh Rong boat didn’t leave from there at all! I had to rush back to the dive company where I bought my ticket from in the first place. I just barely made it and had to take a truck to the main harbor from where the boats left.

I was excited to leave the city behind and relax on an island away from the beach sellers. A few army officers shared our boat and had a whole roasted pig wrapped in foil with them. When Koh Rong Island slowly took shape, I noticed first the lush green vegetation, then the brilliant white sandy beaches, the wooden jetties, the wooden buildings and then the human shapes that mostly moved very slowly. I just had a feeling that I was going to like Koh Rong but little did I know it was going to steal my heart. For most of my time I stayed on one of the wooden jetties in a quaint little Italian restaurant/guest house called La Mami. The place was owned by a cat called Tigre who shared it with a friendly Italian/Hungarian guy called Matteo who did all the cooking.

I felt like a part of their small family and I will never forget Matteo always saying “of course!” every time I ordered one of his tasty espressos, cold beer or Spaghetti Carbonaras. At night time I went to sleep hearing the waves crashing right underneath my room while during the day I could walk to the end of the pier to catch squid with my own fishing rod which Matteo would then cook for me in a creamy white wine sauce. Some days, little blue fishing boats would dock at the end of the pier when the sea was rough. I used to buy either tuna or crabs off them, one day swopping a cheap 2dollar50 bottle of Khmer Gold for 3 large tuna! The crabs always found their way to a pot while we filleted the tuna for a barbecue shared with friends.

La Mami was also near the actual fishing village where I saw for the first time home made polystyrene fishing boats. As an avid fisherman, these guys became my heroes. They would sit crossed legged on their little boats all day long, paddling using old flippers cut into rough circles. Mostly these guys targeted squid but on some days they would bob up and down catching fish off a reef – total respect! The villagers were quick to smile while the kids waved when I walked past. Most of the locals there were very poor but even so they always had time to smile. There were a few more places to stay or eat that were small and run by locals, or larger places like Coco’s, Aka’s, Monkey Island, Paradise or Treehouse. I quickly discovered where to find the best delicacies: seafood barbecue or pork chop at Coco’s, sweet baked shrimp at Seaview, Carbonara and coffee at La Mami, pizza at Treehouse and Gueng Gua at Monkey’s.

One day while chatting to a few people I met a friendly guy called Milan. He was helping Coco’s with their barbecue at night while Maya, his girlfriend, worked as a dive instructor. I noticed that he was limping and his foot was all bandaged up. Thinking that he might have stepped on a sea urchin while diving I asked him what happened. “Well”, he said, “one night I was making coffee in my room when the kettle malfunctioned and caught on fire…” I immediately burst out laughing (adding fuel to the fire) saying: “you were the guy who almost burnt Wish You Were Here down!” “Yes, I’m the idiot who almost burnt down Wish You Were Here”, he admitted. During my stay on the island I became good friends with Milan and Maya. They were a very friendly couple (with an unfortunate past, haha) and it was sad to say goodbye to them when they decided to move on. I never even got to try one of their homemade coffees…

In the evening, the place to go was Monkeys for their happy hour on cocktails: buy one get one free. Not only was that good value for money but the staff didn’t skimp on alcohol, mixing some very potent drinks. I’ve seen many things because of that like people dancing on the bar, naked people playing strip poker, people going skinny dipping , hanging upside down from the beams or crowd surfing. When Monkey’s closed the only late night bar was Mangos where we would stumble into for more over indulgence. It was the place where we could choose our own songs while playing air guitar or singing into “mic's” (lighters hanging on strings from the ceiling). It was also the place where Simon would always fall asleep at the bar with people drawing things on his head only thought of in an intoxicated state. It has been stated that most expats or people staying on the island for a long time would fall asleep at least once in Mangos Bar - it happened to me too!

Other than eating delicious cheap food, relaxing or partying, Koh Rong did actually offer a few activities like diving, snorkeling, fishing and jungle trekking. Taking a walk down the beach all the way to Pura Vida was also a nice way to kill time especially as their pasta and coffee was equally as good as La Mami. So, my time in Koh Rong came to an end (or so I thought). Originally I intended to only stay for 3 to 4 days which ended up at two and a half weeks! It became a running joke where people would ask me daily: “Le Roux, when are you leaving?” I always replied the same: “Well tomorrow of course!” It was with a heavy heart and big lump in my throat that I did finally said my farewells leaving behind many newfound friends.

Otres: It was nice to return to Otres seeing the friendly faces of the staff and other locals who seemed to be part of the furniture, especially, “Space Mike” with his long moustache and beard who reminded me of Troubadix from a cartoon book called Asterix. Aaron and Johnny thought I had gone MIA (missing in action) as they stored my luggage for the 4 days which became more than 2 weeks. I felt like it was time to move on to Vietnam and made it a priority to get a visa organized on my first day back with all the intentions of leaving within the next few days. One warm day, while walking down to the beach dressed in jeans, I sat down at a bar to order breakfast. Next to me sat a cute girl with flowing auburn locks, brown eyes and a quick million dollar smile. I explained to her why I was walking around in jeans on a hot day due to all my laundry being washed…I could continue to say that the rest is history.

Amanda is from Canada and someone who I’ve found to be a beautiful person both inside and out. I very much appreciate kind and genuine people with good hearts and she excels in all those categories. So it was that we spent a lot of time together and ultimately became travelling companions. I realized that my original well intended plan to leave within the next few days wasn’t going to happen after I cancelled my 2^nd bus ticket. It came to a point where I realized that I wasn’t going to leave which opened another possibility: going back to Koh Rong. I didn’t have to think too long to make a decision, dragging Amanda with me with the promise of all the nice things the island had to offer.

Koh Rong (2^nd visit): I was as eager to return to Koh Rong as a retriever to fetch a Frisbee. I can’t say that the locals seeing me come back were too surprised. Even so they all laughed seeing me come back. It felt a little like returning back home although sadly Matteo was fully booked so we opted for staying in a bamboo hut at Monkey Republic. Very little had changed on the island and it was fun introducing Amanda to all my friends while showing her all my local haunts. Coco’s was still having their seafood barbecues, Seaview’s sweet baked shrimps were still delicious, Monkey’s still offered their happy hour cocktails and Mango’s still stayed open until very late (or early depending on which way you look at it). We spent our time soaking up the sun or in the sea while savouring the tasty food the island had to offer while socializing in the evenings. A few days we would hike for miles along the white sandy beach all the way to Pura Vida resort to savour tasty Italian food.

One day I was asked by the Management from Coco’s to be their photographer for the day while doing their first test run at a diving trip/booze cruise. I jumped at the opportunity as it meant a free day of diving and food for both Amanda and I. We were lucky as the weather the next day was sunny while the boat was loaded with lots of food, cold beer and eager divers/party animals. There was not a person on that boat who didn’t have fun that day and even I had time to snorkel a few times in-between taking photos. I’m not as fit as I used to be although I still managed to give poor Kris a heart attack when I tapped him on the shoulder after diving down 14m. It is not every day I ironically get called the “craziest motherfucker in the world” by probably one of the “craziest motherfuckers in the world”…

Unfortunately, our stay on Koh Rong Island was tainted when someone broke into our cabin, using a tool to get access into our (not so) safe box while we were out partying. I was planning to upgrade my SLR anyway but either so they took off with 3 lenses and a few of my memory cards. Luckily I backed up my photos the night before which was safely stored at the bar. Amanda was unfortunately not so lucky. The thieves made off with two of her cameras, an iPhone and all her memory cards containing months of fond memories. We contacted the island police and were met with a new level of incompetence not known to me. There is a saying that you should never trust a skinny chef. I wondered if it was the opposite for policemen as there was no way our obese guy was going to catch a thief. We quickly came to realize that getting our stuff back or even just getting a police report was a lost cause. It was time to mourn and try and forget…

Even so, I will always remember Koh Rong for the good it offered. Things like the phosphorescence in the water at night, the white sandy beaces, the friendly locals, Matteo’s “Rasta Pasta” with generous amounts of “Rasta” and him saying (with a big smile) “of course!” and his cat Tigre with its insatiable squid appetite and resulting huge bulging belly. I will also remember the good food, especially the sweet baked shrimps from Seaview, the seafood barbecue from Coco’s and the good Italian food from either La Mami or Pura Vida. There was also the tasty tuna barbecued over coals by the locals who would invite me to join eager to share some shots with me. They used to scrape a layer of tuna off using a spoon after which they would dip it into a spicy sauce and roll the mix in a leaf of cabbage – delicious! I found it amusing to listen to the island politics or watching the large black “booofallo” walking down the beach . It was also nice to see little Sandy the dog who invited herself to our balcony every morning. Most of all however, I will remember Koh Rong for the wonderful people I met. We finally left the island with mixed emotions: angry with having our belongings stolen from a locking up box but equally sad to say good bye.

Kampot: Amanda and I continued to stay in Otres for a few days and finally managed to drag ourselves to visit Kampot. We booked into a lovely place called Samon Village located right next to the river. We had a wooden bungalow with balcony which offered a view over a field. I couldn’t help but laugh at the shower head which was a coconut shell with many tiny holes drilled into it. Even though our quaint little bungalow was memorable, I will always remember Kampot for its award winning ribs served at the Rusty Keyhole Restaurant/bar. The place was run by a jovial Englishman called Kristian who was as friendly as his ribs were good. He always had a smile on his face and it was an absolute pleasure to eat at his restaurant! On offer was their “Half Rack” (a good feed for one),” Full Rack” (a huge feed suitable for 2 persons) or 1.5kg Dino Rib (Don’t make any plans for the next week. Finish this beast by yourself and get a free dessert or pint and your picture on the wall - suitable for up to 4 people! Served with your choice of baked potato, chips or mash).

Amanda and I were very hungry at the time and both decided to brave the “Full Rack” each of us thinking, really, how big could it be? Their ribs lived up to expectation as it was succulent, fall-off-the-bone soft and came with a tangy barbecue sauce with smoky flavor being done on a barbecue. Feeling slightly like a caveman with sticky fingers, I tried my best to get the upper hand with my ribs but had to admit defeat, not even halfway through! The portion was huge and there was no way I could eat it all – hats off to anyone finishing the “Dino Bone”! We gladly accepted a doggy bag with visions of a rib baguette for the next day. I can highly recommend this restaurant to any carnivores visiting Kampot.

Kep: Another little town I will remember, for it is where I picked up crabs…Not the ones where you have to consult a pharmacy while feigning interest at the floor tiles but rather the edible type coming from the sea. We hired a motorbike from Kampot and did a day trip to Kep to see the green mountainous surroundings. It was a nice drive and when we reached Kep, sitting next to the sea we could immediately see the devastation caused by the Poll Pot regime not too long ago. The Khmer Rouge infiltrated the area killing all the foreigners and stripping their houses to fund their campaign. There were many shells of formally luxurious houses almost swallowed whole by the jungle. It was a strange feeling visiting a place where so many lives were lost with only time saving our lives…

Kep, however, is more commonly known for people picking up crabs from the women working at the dock. These were the crab ladies who kept their crabs alive in woven bamboo baskets which were placed in the sea. Whenever a potential customer would enquire regarding crabs they would walk into the sea and drag the basket out to show their catch. We handpicked two kilos of crabs and had our lady boil them for us in a pot right there and then. I walked to a small shop to buy two beers after which we got down and dirty each cracking our way through a kilo of crabs! It was a slow albeit tasty process which left us covered in crabs shells and juice. We left Kep with full stomachs and big smiles making our way back to our cozy bungalow in Kampot. The next morning early we boarded a local bus for Phom Penh while eagerly biting into a Rusty Keyhole pork rib baguette.

Phnom Penh: Not too much happened on my 3^rd return to Phnom Penh. We booked into a guest house called Mad Monkeys after which I took Amanda for a few cocktails at Top Banana while listening to “DJ Jimmy” crank up his Dubstep tunes. Their “passion fruit martini” cocktail was a favorite and it was nice seeing all the friendly faces again. While we were there a large very intoxicated group of painted faces stormed in reminding me a little of the Tasmanian Devil cartoon. One of them was Chris from Otres Beach who was not very coherent at the time, dancing with anyone and everyone and even on the bar. It was funny watching the drunken mob as they swaggered and swayed to the music completely out of beat.

Most of our time in Phnom Penh was used to research and buy new cameras. We were both still angry with haven our cameras stolen while in Koh Rong but alas, life goes on…After much thought we both decided on the Canon G1X as it offers all the functions a normal SLR would give while not so heavy. With the arrival of our new cameras, so also came the beginning of a new adventure: Vietnam. After hearing many mixed reviews from various travelers I was eager to visit the country especially buying a motorbike and traveling from south to north.

Summary: There is no two ways about it, I loved Cambodia. I found it to be a beautiful country with friendly locals which left me with lasting memories and many new friends. It was a country I will fondly remember for its beautiful temples (some very remote), off-road motor biking, homestays, turquoise waters and white sandy beaches. Cambodia is a country that has endured (and still is) many hardships brought by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. Even today, landmines still claim the lives of many innocent people, although the hardy locals have embraced their freedom and will to live. Cambodia, I salute thee! I am sure I will be back one day...