Destination: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Cambodia… where do I start with you?

It took us a grand total of 40 hours, 4 planes and lots of plane and airport food to get from Bogota, Colombia to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Finally though, we had touched back down in Asia… and man, how all of the smells just brought India back to me! We got picked up in a very stylish tuk-tuk, and made our way through Cambodia’s capital tired as hell, but excited for the upcoming adventures to be had!

Back in the land of the tuk-tuk

I’m ashamed to say that before I visited Cambodia I knew nothing of the country’s history. And so I was shocked (and disgusted) to discover that it was home to one of the worst genocides ever recorded in history in the WORLD. The Khmer Rouge. Now, if you don’t know anything about it, then I strongly suggest that you do a quick read up on Wikipedia (not the most reliable, but at least it gives you in a nutshell what went on). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge. In Phnom Penh there are two very popular tourist sites to visit that were central to the Khmer Rouge reign- the Killing Fields and S-21, Tuol Sleng prison.

The Killing Fields are a fair distance out of the city, and was the site for the murder and disposal of civilians. Over 80 huge pits have been excavated, and hundreds of dead bodies have been found piled on top of one another. These people were murdered by Khmer Rouge soldiers using all kinds of horrific farm tools as to save money on bullets. One of the most disturbing sites was a tree in which babies and young children were swung against (the soldiers holding onto their feet and then swinging their heads into the tree, like a baseball bat) and who were then tossed like garbage into the pit next to the tree. There are still small teeth dotted all around the base of the tree.  For that matter, there are still bone fragments, teeth and clothes littered around the entire site. It was a secret place and the odour of the bodies was masked with chemicals that they poured into the pits. In the case that the people in the pits weren’t dead yet (and this was very common), the chemicals would act to finish the deed.

A collection of skulls of the victims at the Killing Fields

In a population of around 7 million people, they estimate that approximately 2 million people were killed during the Khmer Rouge in just under the 4 years that they were in power. Many went to die at the Killing Fields after being tortured at Tuol Sleng, previously Phnom Penh High School. Any educated person- doctors, lawyers and school teachers were singled out due to their educated status, and were tortured and killed so that any chance of rebellion against the Khmer Rouge was minimalized. The people that were lucky enough to survive worked for 12-14 hours a day in the countryside with only rice gruel for food. Many died of starvation, exhaustion, dysentery and other illnesses as no medicine or doctors were available. Families of those killed due to their educated status were also killed as to prevent revenge attacks on the Khmer Rouge.

Formerly Phnom Penh High School

Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21

 It was just all so wrong. It was very emotional visit to these places that are such a reminder of the potential evil that some people have inside them. I think one of the things that bothered me the most was the fact that it happened such a short time ago. 1975. 8 years before I was born. My parents were happy and healthy young adults being encouraged to be educated, not being killed because of it. How do these things happen? Why do they happen? It really opens your eyes, and although it wasn’t one of the nicest experiences, it is one that has had the most impact on me emotionally.

This wasn’t just meant to be a post about the Khmer Rouge- we did so many amazing things in Phnom Penh like eating noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner, visiting the Central, Russian and Night markets, marvelling at the Royal Palace, having a zen moment at Wat Phnom, feeding fish at the National Museum, and just generally relaxing and having a good time in between all of the sightseeing. In our experience, the Cambodian people have been so wonderful, always smiling and happy to help you whether it be with directions or where all of the good places to eat are! So all in all, I have only good thing to say about Phnom Penh- I would recommend a trip here on anyone’s itinerary! Next up, we have our trip to Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat. Being a ruins nerd, you can imagine that I’m pretty excited J.

Gardens at the Royal Palace

Offerings at Wat Phnom

National Museum

Feeding the fish at the National Museum

Relaxing with an Angkor beer

Jono decided to test his strength...

But realised that one year off the gym has cost him big time!

Showing off the guns!

Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City), Colombia

Sorry guys, have been a little bit slack with the blog, but there is just so much to do in Cambodia, where we are now... luckily I wrote this blog just after our trek to Ciudad Perdida, so it pretty much captures all of the emotions felt after almost dying... haha. Enjoy!

Five days ago I embarked on one of the hardest, but most rewarding journeys of my life. After spending a week sailing through tropical paradise, and let’s face it, after 9 months of great food and lots of cervezas, I was ready to start sweating by actually exerting myself, rather than relying on the humidity to pump out those toxins. So we decided to head to the Lost City for 5 days of hiking through Colombian jungle and rainforest in search of a city that no one really knows anything about.

There were 16 people in total for our group which is HUGE, and 3 tour guides. We decided on Expo tours in Taganga and after a 2 hour drive to the base village (and devouring some scrumptious devon sandwiches) we headed off on our trek.

The group :)

To summarise a five day experience of heaven, hell and everything in between would take way too long for most of you to stay patiently reading. So instead, I am going to make a list of everything that I learnt on my adventure: 

1) I am definitely not 21 anymore, and thus can no longer just go “oh cool, I haven’t done a minute of proper exercise since I took a plane out of Australia, but hey, a five day trek is definitely the way to get back into the game”. Wrong. My body was screaming at me the entire way, saying “I tried to warn you on the first day that this was a very, very bad idea. You didn’t listen, and now you’re going to pay, sucker”. 

Yep, definitely not 21 anymore...

2) I have never longed for dry clothes and a dry towel like I did those 5 days. Although it only downpours for an hour or two each day, nothing dries unless it’s in direct sunlight. Which really only shines when you’re trekking. Go figure. 

The biggest luxury... DRY CLOTHES!

3) If you wear the same clothes for 5 days straight, you stink. But so does everyone else, so it’s best to save all of those extra dry clothes to snuggle in when you’ve finished sweating out litres of water that you never even knew you had consumed. 

Just one of the reasons to save those dry clothes!

4) The jungle and rainforest areas of Colombia are some of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. 

Stunning scenery every day of the trek

5) Swimming in fresh water is the best way to cool your body temperature and maintain your sanity. We swam in numerous rivers and a waterfall and it was always the highlight of my day. A swim break was always accompanied by fresh oranges or pineapple- heaven! 

Pure bliss after sweating your arse off!

6)  Nopikex, a Colombian insect repellent is the best kept secret over here. It is magical, and works wonders against every kind of bug there is. Score! 

7)  It's struggle city for me when I’m trying to trek uphill, but I am the downhill warrior queen! 

8)  “Uno” and “Shithead” are the absolute best ways to pass time with people you hardly know, or who hardly speak the same language as you. 

9)The ruins of the Lost City are magical. They don’t have the reputation of Machu Picchu, or the enormity of Tikal but they are beautiful and mysterious in their own right, and were definitely well worth the 3 day trek there. 

Some of the terraces of the Lost City

The Lost City

10)  I will never smoke another cigarette in my life. Ever.

Clenching my teeth, but Jono was pretty chilled the whole time :)

It was tough, it was wet, it was dirty, it was exhilarating, it was amazing. It was a very special 5 days in which I pushed my body to the limits, and pushed my mind even further. What also made it so amazing was our tour guides, Gabriel, Luis Senior and Luis Junior. I only saw these guys sitting down once to relax in the whole 5 days we were away, and that was when everyone had passed out in bed. They helped us cross rivers, climb hills, carried bags, dressed wounds, cooked us delicious food, gave us snacks of fresh fruit at the perfect points in the trek, fed us sugar when we were down, gave us coffee and hot chocolate at all times of the day, and never stopped smiling through it all. They didn’t speak English, and were so patient with all of us and our awful Spanish, but they made us feel safe at all times, and went out of their ways to make our trip better than any of the ones people had told me about. We were super lucky, so if you are ever thinking about doing the trip, check out Expo tour in Taganga and ask when Gabriel will be guiding. And be sure to let him know that you love swimming. And chocolate J

Luis Senior, Gabriel and Luis Junior

We made it!

THE END! Cambodia blog coming soon...

PARADISE!

This is going to be a quick post with a lot of pictures, because I feel that no matter how many words you use to describe this place, a picture if definitely worth a thousand of them. We decided to journey from Panama to Colombia on a boat. Well, to be exact, on an 80 foot catamaran that had a Jacuzzi, jet ski, hammocks on deck and a very cold fridge. It’s a really popular way to travel between the two countries, and on the way you visit the San Blas islands, off the coast of Panama. On our trip, we spent 4 days frolicking in the warm Carribean water, baking in the hot sun, exploring tropical islands, snorkelling, and eating delicious fresh seafood. We had heard some nightmare stories about people having awful captains, running out of food and water, sailing off course because the captain was drunk (adding many more hours more to the trip) and even a story about one boat that ran into a reef because the captain was too drunk to steer! So we asked around, and went with a boat called Captiva run by an Aussie guy, Jeremy. It was a bit more expensive than other boats, but the fact that the boat was bigger, and that we crossed open water for only 24 hours instead of 48 kind of sold us in the end.

Captiva

I really loved being on the boat, and the whole sailing experience. There is so much work that goes into it, and we even had turns at steering the boat one night- it’s more complicated than I thought! In total we were on the boat for 7 days- a long time to be on a boat, but we had a great group and the boat was big enough that you didn’t ever feel cramped, or in anyone’s way at all. We had awesome cook ups- lobster, barbequed fish, a massive lobster Paella that Phil, one of the crew made up on a bonfire on one of the islands, and lots of comfort foods like spaghetti Bolognese, lasagne and lots of salads. Lots of beers were drunk, and someone even made a punch one night that went down a treat at the time, but ended in one of the worst hangovers I have ever had in my life!

The beginnings of a Paella masterpiece

Phil and his home-made spatula

Almost ready...

FINISHED!

Something that also made the trip pretty awesome was the fact that Jono and I scored the master suite- very lucky, as this room was more than twice the size of all the others, had a huge queen bed, and even a plasma screen TV! We had been tipped off that if you were the first to book then you would get the suite, and so we had organised the trip pretty early, but it was definitely worth it, especially as Jono started to get sea-sick on the very first day (luckily most people on board had sea-sickness medication, so he made it through the trip without any troubles).

Our rockin' huge bed!

We were super lucky that everyone on the boat was lovely, and that we had a good captain and crew. We had such a good time, and were lucky that we had an awesome experience, compared to some of the nightmare stories that we had heard from other travellers! Here are some more pics of our time on the boat and islands :)