Yes, this is Cambodia!

When most people think about Cambodia, 2 very different pictures come to mind. One, of course, it the Killing Fields and the horrors caused by Pol Pot. The other, is the magnificent sights of Angkor near Siem Reap.

Visitors to this country almost always do both, but the third tourist attraction here is the beautiful beaches of Sihanoukville (named for former King Sihanouk).

Most of Cambodia is land locked and very hot. But a small section of the country borders the Gulf of Thailand, and as you all know, political boundaries go not stop geography. What I mean by that, is that Thailand's magnificent white sand beaches do not stop at the Cambodian border.

For a paultry $10, we headed out on an express bus to Phnom Penh. Davit knew an inexpensive hotel there, so we stopped for the night, and checked out PP's nightlife. The next morning, we took the same bus company's bus to Sihanoukville. When we arrived, we discovered that tuk-tuks are quite expensive there, so we hopped on motorcycles with our luggage between the driver's legs, and zipped off to our hotel.

Sihanoukville only has two fancy resorts, and mostly small guesthouses, so the whole place has a small scale look to it. Billboards advertise that this is about to change, with some giant ugly resorts planned.

We decided to "splurge", and stayed in a pretty nice hotel a block from the beach. This is what $30 a night gets you in Cambodia...... not too shabby!
















It was an odd couple of days, in that Davit is the opposite of me, and has that SE Asian obsession with keeping his skin white. So, no beach or pool for him. He actually stayed inside most of the day, coming out like some kind of Cambodian vampire at night. Then, he did enjoy swimming in the pool, and we had some great sunsets at the beach.

I did not let this stop me, and insisted on sitting on a beach chair under an umbrella during the day.

At sunset, all the beach shacks pull in their sunbeds and put out really comfy chairs and tables. Happy hour starts, with all kinds of drink specials, then out come the BBQ's. Every beach shack has one (there are about 30 or so), and they all do fresh fish, seafood, beef, pork and chicken. I have abandoned some caution on this trip, and just enjoyed the seafood, and also indulged in the classic traveller's no-no - a salad! Nope, still not a single stomach problem, even when we bought grilled squid from a beach vendor.














It was a nice relaxing three days at the beach, and we really enjoyed the cooler weather (only 32 with a nice breeze). The water was toasty warm, and although not the classic aqua blue, it could be described as a pretty jade green.

Like Siem Reap, this area is growing fast, and I probably won't recognize it if I come back here in a few years.

Tomorrow (April Fool's Day) I am off to Thailand again, taking a bus to the border, then changing to another one to continue on to Pattaya. I have decided to skip returning to Bangkok.

I will really miss this country and its amazing people - it has been a wonderful 3 weeks here.

Quirks and Quarks - Some Observations About Cambodia

As I have been in Cambodia almost two weeks, spending much of my time with locals, I have had a chance to get into the culture, and wanted to share some observations about this wonderful little country.














Cambodia has more Lexus SUV's than Marin and Orange Counties combined (can you say corruption?). Everyone who has a Lexus, has the word "Lexus" and the "L" logo painted on the side of their vehicle. Same thing goes for Toyota Land Cruisers. People with Toyota Camry's do not write "Camry" on the side of their cars. These 3 models make up 95% of the cars in Cambodia, so no comment need be made about other cars.

A cool day in Cambodia is 32C (90F), I commented on such a cool day just a few days ago. A typical day is 37C (100F), with fairly high humitity. A hot day is 42C (110F) even the local complain!

Cambodians drink their beer in glasses filled with huge ice cubes. The ice melts really fast.

It is not odd to see 4 Cambodians on one motorcycle. Equally normal is 5, if three are small children clinging onto their parents. Add a household appliance or furniture to the mix, and it is an odd site.

I don't give a second look anymore to a motorcycle with one, or even two, pigs on the back.

My favourite breakfast no longer has eggs. I love a big bowl of beef noodle soup, heavily laced with pepper and chili sauce.

Cambodian BBQ looks like a big broad bundt pan heated by charcoal or gas. A big blob of fat is put on the top, and beef, chicken and pork are cooked in small pieces around it. Little bits of butter are added to give more flavour, and so the lean meat does not stick. All the juiced flow down into a circular pan of broth, where you cook fresh veggies. After it is all done, the broth with all the juices is spiced up, and eaten as soup...... heaven!

Tuk-tuks in Cambodia are not little vehicles, but cute little trailers pulled by mototcycles. They are everywhere, and a great way to get around. People customize them, some are quite gaudy, yet others are really nice.

Little child beggers around the tourists sites have memorized facts to try to "prove" to tourists they go to school. They ask you what country you are from, then launch into a preprepared monolougue.... the capital is Ottawa.... the population is 32 million.... the Prime Minister is Stephen Harper... etc, etc, etc. Same thing for Canberra, London, Wellington, Berlin etc. It sounds really fake, and quickly becomes annoying.

Finally, a little odd experience from the other night. We were out a Pyramid, a huge "straight" disco complex the other night. As I had had a few beers, nature called. I walked into the huge spacious bathroom, complete with the obligatory guys turning on the taps, handing you a towel that you get in fancy establishments. I walked up to the clean, well spaced, divided urinals, and paused, waiting for that lovely relaxing feeling... you know. Just as things started to flow, a strong pair of brown hands firmly gripped my shoulders and a deep voice asked "massage, sir?". Yes the flow instantly stopped, and I just said in a nonchallant voice, "no thanks, I'll just pee now". Seems they have rooms upstairs where staff can take you for a massage. They seem to ask everyone in the same manner as I was asked, and I have no idea if it is a regular or happy ending massage.

You just gotta love this country...

My Big Fat Cambodian Wedding - Part II

As I mentioned earlier, I have the opportunity to go to not one, but two Cambodian weddings. The second one was out in a smaller Cambodian town, Purset.

We set out early Saturday morning, Davit driving eight of us in the Land Cruiser, the rest roaring along in a Camry share taxi. We headed up towards the Thai border, circling around the end of Tonle Sap lake, back through the town of Battembang, then on to Purset. We arrived at midday, and I was surprised we did not check into our hotel.

Instead, we headed to the heart of the Central Market, where the wedding tents were set up. Seems it is traditional to feed the out of town guests lunch when they arrive. So, we sat down at the tables, and dishes of food started to arrive. As seems to be the case here, we ate and ate and ate. As we enjoyed, a huge tropical thunderstorm arrived, turning the area under the tents into a lake. Fortunately, this did not happen for the ceremony, or either of the two feasts.

We checked into our hotel rooms, and the gay boys set up shop, doing all the ladies hair and makeup for the wedding. Their room was hilarious, fullfilling every gay stereotype. But, the hair and makeup were great!

As seems to be the custom, we did not go to the actual ceremony, which is for the family. We hung around town, and created a bit of a stir - 15 gay guys hit small town Cambodia.














We headed back to the market area for that night's dinner. It would be a feast fit for a king, except I had been to a Cambodian wedding before, and knew that the real feast would be the next night. We had a really fun time, eating, drinking, laughing and joking alot. Funny how after a few drinks, it does not matter if you speak Khmer, you get the context of the jokes and conversation, and feel a part of the laughter.

We woke up early the next morning, slightly hungover, and Davit insisted we head over to the wedding tents early, something about fruit. I protested, but went along to be a good sport. Good thing, it was one of the highlights of the wedding, if not my trip.

This was a very traditional part of the wedding. At 7:00 in the morning, all the guests gather in the tents, each on given a shrink wrapped bowl of fruit or other goodies. Davit's friend, Soka (sp?) managed to find (or create) a shrink wrapped bowl of Tiger beer.


















All of us stood up, and paraded out of the market area, and onto the streets of Purset. Everyone was checking us out, and it was very cool. Oh yes, I should mention that not only was I the only Westerner at the wedding, I was the only Westerner in the whole town. There are absolutely no tourists in this part of Cambodia!














So, we stopped at the side of one of the main streets, and lined up two across from each other with our offerings. The groom made his way to the head of the line, dressed in a traditional Cambodian orange silk outfit, flanked by his best men holding traditional umbrellas - he looked splendid. He passed through the line with a big bouquet of flowers thanking us all.


















We then proceeded back through the streets to the wedding tent. As we walked in, we were all given a small gift and a handful of flower petals.

The bride came out to join the groom, and they walked down the tent, all of us showering them with petals, so pretty.














Then, of course.......... it was time to eat again!!! Breakfast was served, and we all chowed down. Then, most of us headed back for naps at the hotel. Again, as the big party was that night, the hair and makeup room was going full tilt.

That night's dinner was at a big restaurant/hall, with huge roof and open sides. There were probably about 400 people there, and it was a bigger version of the first wedding. The food was absolutely amazing, tray after tray kept arriving at our table, and the beer and Johnny Walker Scotch were flowing freely. It was so much fun, meeting new people who didn't speak a word of English, but again, I felt so welcome. The dancing started, and the party continued until about 10:00.

The boys decided they had to go out dancing, but we were in small town Cambodia. Off we went into the night, heading to Battembang, the nearest town with a disco. Not to worry, Davit drank very little, and was dancing most of the evening, so he was just fine to drive.

Unfortunately, by the time we got to Battembang, Davit was also too tired to go out, so we just checked into a hotel, and sent the boys off. We heard they got back at 3:00, but we were dead to the world.

Next morning, we were up early and headed back to Siem Reap. It was quite odd returning, in that it was so apparent that Siem Reap is not a typical Cambodian town. That is likely why I am so comfortable here, it is very Westernized, with so many tourists and amenities suited to them.














We are here for a few days, then off to Phnom Penh, and after that, the beaches of Sihanoukville. More from there.

Lunch in the Countryside

It was just another day in Cambodia. We got up at our hotel in Siem Reap, and had a quick breakfast of beef noodle soup, liberally laced with chilli sauce. We dropped the SUV off at Davit's place, as there was definitely no room for it at the local market.

So off we zip on the motorcycle, well protected in t-shirts, shorts, flip-flops and no helmets. It was pretty slow, as the dirt roads have lots of pits and potholes. We arrive at a true local market, just teeming with people. We grab some fresh vegetables, then pass the fresh meat out on tables in the 35 degree heat. We pass some meat parts I have never seen before, but I do recognize the bowl full of live bugs crawling around.

A slithering table of live catfish awaits us, and Davit picks out a nice fat one. He jumps out of the tray while being weighed, and flops about violently. Equally violent is his demise minutes later by a meat cleaver. Truly a vegitarians' nightmare (Sorry Laurie).

Lunch ingredients in hand, we switch back to the SUV for our drive out to the countryside. Davit's parents have a small farm, with a nice modern house not far outside Siem Reap. They are expecting us for lunch, but unfortunately Davit's father is working at his job (they no longer farm). Davit's mother welcomes me warmly, and I check out the place, including 3 dogs, a puppy, 2 cats, 2 newborn kittens (so cute), chickens, chicks, a cow and a calf.

We pick fresh papaya and mangos off the trees, and Davit helps his mother prepare lunch. I watch as he washes the lettuce and cucumbers in the rural Cambodian well water, and wonder if my stomach is as travel hardened as I hope it is.














Davit's sister and cousin come home from school for lunch, and a nice spread is set out on a platform we sit on under an awning. We have rice and lettuce wraps with fish, dipped in a delicious sweet chilli sauce. I tell Davit I really don't like to eat fish skin, and he nicely dispenses only the best parts of the fish to me. I pretend not to notice as his mother picks up the fish head, savouring the best parts - crunch, crunch!

They chat, I listen, we play with the puppy and kittens, it is a peaceful afternoon in the country. I crave and enjoy the simplest things these days.

It is a couple of hours later, and I am at an internet cafe in Siem Reap, and the tummy seems just fine so far. Guess I have that cast iron stomach now.














Cousin, Mom (a nun), sister and Davit

The Gay Table at a Cambodian Wedding

I may have mentioned it before, but after this trip I have a new yardstick to measure if you have truly lived life and travelled. That is achieved by answering yes to the question "have you ever travelled by train in India, including overnight".

Several notches above that on the living life scale would be attending a Cambodian wedding. A couple more notches is added if you sat at a table of mostly gay men. What a hoot!














As mentioned in the previous post, Davit is invited to two weddings in the next week. Last night we went to the first one, right here in Siem Reap. Most of you know I am pretty reserved in large social situations, and generally try to avoid them. But this opportunity was way to good to resist.

We went clothes shopping earlier in the day, and I got a really nice shirt and black dress pants that I can wear at home. Also bought some black dress shoes, not sure if I have the packing room, may just leave them.

We arrived at a beautiful local restaurant at 6:30, and were greeted by the wedding party and given a little gift as we walked in. Thank goodness for yoga, and being comfortable with a little bow and namaste hands.

The place was chock-a-block full of Cambodians, from little kids running around, to people in their 80's. I would guess about 300 people were there. We were quickly seated at a table near the front, and were soon joined by two other Western women from France (the only others besides me), and a whole bunch of Cambodian gay guys.

This is probably a good time to digress a bit, and explain the situation for gays here. The key ëxpression is - what is the problem? People here are so accepting of it, that no one even looks when we cuddle or kiss in a "regular" restaurant or bar. It is by far the most broadly based accepting place I have ever been on Earth.

Anyway, back to the wedding. The ceremony was the day before, so this was all about eating and drinking. A bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label was at each table, along with copious amounts of beer. Another odd thing about Cambodians is that they drink beer with lots of ice in it. That would prove to be a good thing as the evening went on.

With good drinks, there must be good food, and it just kept arriving in platters. Chicken, beef, vegetables, spicy sauces, fish, duck, you name it, it just kept coming. Now keep in mind, Cambodians eat almost anything, so I was glad to have Davit, with his local knowledge and excellent English to help me. "What is that?" I asked as one odd looking dish arrived. "It is from the inside of a cow", he calmly explained. OK, well, when in Rome..... I tried a little bit of the cow's inards, and after about a minute of chewing asked if it were OK to spit it out in a napkin.... no problem.

Don't get me wrong, most of the food was absolutely fantastic, one just has to be careful in this country.














Along with the food, the beer and Scotch were flowing. I was smart, and just stuck to beer and ice. In Cambodia, when someone from another table comes over and cheers you, everyone must down their entire drink. And you really must or you might offend someone.

And guess what, a table full of gay guys at a Cambodian wedding is not shunned, they are the centre of all the fun. A huge mixture of people came over to see and drink with us. Almost no one knew a word of English, but I could sure tell I was most welcomed there!

There is no other way to describe it, everyone in the room was getting pissed. Two tables of middle aged men were particularly funny, cheersing all the time, running around looking silly, and dancing together on the dance floor.

Alot of people get up and sing, and Davit and his friends joined in on that. I was watching all the people dancing, Cambodian style, while they were up there. They sort of shuffle around in a circle, doing neat, sort of feminine movemonts with their hands.

Well this big burly Cambodian guy spotted me just sitting there, and motioned for me to join them. Oh no, I don't dance, and I could not, thank you. No, no, come on over and join us. So up I get, joining the throngs on the dance floor, trying to figure out the hand gestures.

Everyone around me was laughing, waving at me, shaking my hands and just generally making me feel a part of the whole silly thing.

It turns out my dance partner was a Cambodian Police Officer about my age. He was laughing and dancing with all us guys, all the while downing more scotch.

About my age.... wonder what he was up to during the Killing Fields...? But this is the new Cambodia, tolerant, laughing, smiling, drinking, eating, celebrating a new union... the Cambodia of the future.














Later that night, we went out to the huge local disco complex. Jam packed, splashy, just like anything in North America or Europe, perhaps on a larger scale. Again, groups of guys dancing together was just seen as normal, the big bouncers giving us the thumbs up.

Bar girls dispenced ice by tongs into our glasses, and bar guys just kept filing them up. No need for us to raise a bottle.

Can this trip get any more amazing?

A Change of Plans

Travelling for such a long trip is the greatest adventure of my life, so far. I have experienced more things in the last half year than most people do in a lifetime. I truly believe a person must be careful, there are lots of people out there trying to scam you. Several have been sucessful with me so far, but on a very minor scale.

On the other hand, sometimes you must take a leap of faith, or risk missing out on something unique and truly amazing.

With that in mind, I must tell you that I have met a local young man, Davit, who has made me rethink my plans to immeadiately return to Thailand. He seems to absolutely adore me, and yes, I know what it probably looks like, but it is definitely not that kind of situation!

I have a unique opportunity to travel through this country with someone who has lived here all his life, and speaks the language, and understands the culture. Already, he has taken Ann and myself to local bars and restaurants where there is not a single tourist.















Me, Ann and Davit doing Cambodian BBQ with the locals

So, I bid farewell to the GAP group the other night at FCC before they headed back to Bangkok. I am to remain here for two weeks, staying in Siem Reap for the first week, then we head by bus to Phnom Penh, then down to Sihanoukville, a place that rivals Thai beaches, but is much more untouched.

We are going to not one, but two local Cambodian weddings, and already I have had some unique locals experiences.

Today, for lunch, we went to a Cambodian place outside the city, where you sit up on thatched platforms eating on bamboo mats. After lunch, you can lounge in the hammocks in the platforms. We started with spicy clams in the shell, and moved on to an entire roasted chicken, with rice and a platter of vegetables. When a lovely dish arrived with green beans and meat, I asked if it were beef. No, Davit explained, that is the heart of the chicken. Yes, Cambodians eat everything, and cannot understand why we turn up our noses at things that can sustain you.

I did take a little nibble of the chicken heart, but fortunately, the dish was far too spicy to eat (well, I did eat some of the beans).














And for those of you worried about my safety, you will be glad to know that Davit has borrowed his brother's car, a huge Toyota SUV. We have been travelling around on a motorcycle, sans helmets, but that has now stopped.

The Angkor Complex

The Angkor Complex is truly Cambodia's greatest asset, and a key to its future. The country is quite poor, but would be much poorer if it were not for the influx of tourists, here mainly to see Angkor.

And the Cambodians do love us tourists and our dollars. They are very welcoming and always giving us genuine smiles. I cannot tell you how much this country has charmed me. I have talked to quite a few Westerners who have moved here - they say it is just wonderful. Funny, of all the countries I have visited so far, this is by far the one I could actually imagine moving to - who would have thought? (please don't panic, I have no plans to move here).

Anyway, Angkor is truly one of the world's greatest sites, right up there with Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal. There are no words I can use to convey the wonder and majesty of this site. Viewing my pictures on flickr might start to give you an idea, but really the only way to really experience it is to come here yourself.