Bus trip to Sein Reap and Angkor Temples.

Today we have  to be up very early to pack up our suit cases in readiness for disembarking from the Amalotus. We must have the cases outside by 7am at latest so we are up with the sunrise. it is almost worth getting up early.

Breakfast  this morning is at 6.30am and we enjoy a big brekky and Erle and I make ourselves a nice ham and cheese sandwich to eat along the way on the bus, as there is no plans for lunch today, we throw in a banana each and we shall not need to worry about lunch Some of the others though about doing this too, but I am surprised that most of them didn't.
The bus trip is 5 hours long and as many are not feeling well most of us sleep quite a few miles away. Pauline looks particularly unwell.
I decide to take some photos from the bus window of the countryside and in the small towns as we race past.

We stop on the way at a Road House, where some buy food and souvenirs, the cafe is situated on the edge of the Lake we were meant to sail down so at least we have seen some of it. In fact the balcony is right out over the water.

There is a very colourful shrine to some God or other in the centre of the cafe. 

We arrive at the Sofitel Sngkor Hotel another wonderful 5 star place of great luxury, amazing we never expected luxury any hotel would have done. There is a welcoming group of musicians and  dancers all dressed up. We were just pleased to get to our room and relax with a cup of coffee before we have to be back out at the bus to head to the first really big Angkor Temple.

Angkor Thom is the one we shall visit today. There is a big wide weed filled moat around it and the Temple looks great reflecting in the water. We walk in over a long narrow causeway and through quite hig walls These Temples were during the 12th century by the then king. This one is the biggest of all of them. The largest of all the ancient old structures around the world the guide said.

There are big high statues with 4 smiling buddah faces on each side,on partly destroyed by time but still impressive. Also a grey concrete replica which may be used to replace the damaged ones.

There are some pretty carvings and statues  along the walls that still look as good as when they were carved. There are a number of big steps to climb so I didn't quite go right up to the top.
I have so many photos from this Temple that I shall make a special blog on its own for  amazing Angkor Wat  including the early morning sunrise that didn't happen photos.  have to admit I am not at all sure which temple is which they all looked a lot similar.

There was this really scary staircase up to the very top special temple, but I couldn't bring myself to attempt it there were no guard rails and the steps were so steep and a very narrow foot place. many others did climb up and kind of wished they had not when it came to the downwards climb.

In the evening there is another big welcome dinner held at  several different restaurants  because none can handle 100 people in one sitting, we chose to go to Madam Butterflys and enjoyed a pleasant meal with about a dozen others, we went both ways in rickshaws.

Holly Mountain and first Angkor ruins

After lunch the group heads off again in the bus, off to Holly Mountain, now I am inclined to think this should be Holy Mountain as there is a temple on the top that we are visiting. However we are told it is Holly.


There is a beautiful Bhuddist temple built looking out over the plain below, in front there are two lovely marble Lions standing guard. Our Guide tell us that at the start of the Pol Pot campaign of terror, he invited all the most learned and influential men such as Doctors Lawyers teachers and officials from the Government etc to attend a special blessing  at this Temple. They most all attended since it is a privilege to be invited. When they got there guards and troops were awaiting them, all were slaughtered by sword wielding troops.
One of the beautiful Lions sitting so proudly was used by them to sharpen their swords during the battle, the poor Lion now has only a big fat bottom on one side, the other side has been rasped and scraped away sharpening the blades! We were surprised and shocked to hear this story as we didn't think such things had happened in such a quiet peaceful place. Guide said it happened all over the Country.

I did try to photograph the poor Lion with his half bottom but the Lion and my camera didn't see fit to allow it so no photo. I do have a photo of a similar Lion with his whole big bottom. The second Lion has a little guard standing with him.

After such a slaughter, the people of the town wanted to make the place holy again, so they built a big Buddha Garden at the base of the mountain, a place of peace and serenity, where Buddha is seen teaching the young and also there is  a huge reclining Golden Buddha lying with in the garden, I must say he looked very comfortable and resting in peace..

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 There were also several large pigs wandering around, it seems locals give pigs to the Monks instead of money and they are allowed to grow to old age wandering around the garden.

Then it was back in the bus and off to see the first of the ancient Angkor temples, Wat Nokor is the name it was built in 12th century and was already in a state of ruin before Pol Pot decided to smash it a little more. We wandered around being careful because there are broken stones scattered all around.
Monks have small statues hidden in corners for us to come upon as we wander.

We then walked across an equally ancient bridge built at a similar time and still standing and being used after all that time and safe, but not for big buses we had to detour around.. Beautifully constructed, make me wonder just how they managed it, a great feat. There are beautiful big carved stone bridge heads at either end.

Monkeys dance along the edge of the bridge.

Back to the ship, Erle spent most of the day on the balcony, he looks a trifle bored, but he had been swimming during the afternoon in the ships pool..

There was time for  a short rest before cocktail hour and tonight it is the Captains special cocktail and boy are they powerful, I managed to get 3 I think, it really helped to drown my headache and general feeling of unwellness.
Tonight is the big farewell dinner and it is especially nice and enjoyable even if I don't feel my best, in fact not many of us do. There are continuous choruses of coughs and sneezes all evening, it will be good for all of us to be off the ship and breathing cleaner air as from tomorrow.
There is entertainment tonight put on by the crew of the shi,p it is a lot of fun and not at all professional, gave us all a lot of laughs as we watch magic tricks, dancers and singing and a band playing made up of mainly pots and pans and assorted funny things.

 In fact we were meant to have at least one more night abourd the ship sailing up to a lake, but with the river rising so fast the ship could no longer get beneath the bridge span, so we travel by bus tomorrow to Sein Reap.

We are surprised to find another ship, the Sister ship to the Amalotus, tied up alongside us for the night, they too probably are unable to get under the bridge and must end their cruise here.

Campong Cham,,Amica Eco village in Morning

I awake after a restless night of high temperature and coughing, to the knowledge that I have bronchitis! it is not the flu, it can't be, I had the flu vaccination, though I am sure it was for common varieties of Flu in New Zealand not some obscure variety from Mekong Cambodia. I am not going to allow it to stop me seeing everything I can of this country because I know I shall never be back. I am not a pill taker, but I find a couple of very old Paracetamol tablets in my toilet bag, chop them into quarters and I shall have a quarter every 4 hours, when you never take any at all the small amount works just fine and this had the desired effect.
So at 9 am I am ready to depart in the bus, Erle however is not he says he needs to hover much closer to where a toilet is.
The day is beautiful not too hot but nice and sunny at present but it will get much hotter as the day goes on, lovely to be walking in the fresh air.
We are visiting Amica and Eco Village where half the villagers are under 15 years of age, most all the people are rice farmers. This is area does not have a very high rainfall so the farmers can only grow one crop a year here, whilst in some parts of the country up to 3 crops a year can be grown.
I did see the village dam which is quite full at this time since it is the wet season, everywhere is nice and green.

Not a wealthy village, they are getting help from a French organization to start eco tourism; ie us, I guess! They are also trying to make and sell handicrafts, some did sell today. 
The guide tells us that the people don't really get enough to eat and are generally shorter and lighter than most Cambodians because of this, children do not get milk to drink, though quite why I couldn't figure, coming from a great dairy farming country and seeing cattle beasts everywhere I would have though milk for the children would be an easy matter, but not the case apparently.
Children today are treated to lots of sweets that we all seem to have a pocketful.

 Most houses are built on stilts and are quite new and well looked after, there are neat hay stacks of rice stalks put aside for the off season for the cattle beasts

I find cattle and water buffalo under buildings resting today, and am surprised how closely they live with their owners, one man sat and cuddled his buffalo, right beside his wife busy preparing dinner, while we talked, but he would not allow us to touch it in case it reacted fiercely. 




 Other families had breeding pigs. 
Many people were busy out in the rice paddy, planting rice bent double all day with their bare feet in the wet sloppy mud, a very hard job I wouldn't enjoy.
I saw crabs in the mud, another source of food for the people.

Other people were being transported around the village on the tuk tuk type transport.

I saw large crabs in the mud, another source of food for the people.

A group of ladies do their washing at the village pump.

Pleasant mornings visit, now back to ship for lunch, more activities this afternoon.

Buddhist Blessing Peam Chi Kang

Fortunately another relatively quiet restful day, I am not feeling at all well coughing sore throat and congested chest, 9 out of 10 of us are feeling the same, we blame the air conditioning system for spreading the bugs but maybe it is simply the Mekong River in flood brings disease as well as lots of rubbish down with it. There are various things planned for the morning a towel and napkin display showing us how to make animals from a couple of towels, we find an elephant sitting on our bed when we return from breakfast, but it doesn't tempt me to go watch, 

I decide to sit on the balcony look out across the vast Mekong River and read awhile then have a little nap.There is also a fruit carving display but I give that a miss too, been there done that.







After lunch I decide I feel up to a shore excursion so head off on the tender for a Buddhist Blessing at the big Buddhist Temple by the river. I think an extra Blessing can't be all that bad and may even help.
There are a couple of big black elephant statues outside the Temple which is quite unusual.
Several Buddhist Monk are kneeling on their mats waiting to Bless us. One of them are in a not very healthy state with what look like big tumours on their head and chest. I ask the guide about him and he says the Monks have no income to pay for treatment of any complaint so must suffer with it. Very philosophical. There are several long sung Prayers in Cambodia and a short version in English for us, then the Monks tie a few silken strands that they have plaited around our wrists for luck. Mine was golden yellow.

Across from the Temple was the  big sprawling very old Monks house where they mentor and teach young boys to be Monks.

Then we all go on a walk around the old village, apparently it was one of the only villages not burnt to the ground by Pol Pot's Regime, there are houses built on stilts over 100 years old. 


There are also lots of livestock goats and cattle roaming all around.




He found the village shop where the young people congregate with their bikes and scooters..

 But I was feeling not at all well and decided I needed to go back to the ship, so I left Erle to take photos of the animals and went back  on board
and lay down with my head ache.
Lots of others were sickly now too, including the nice lady in next door cabin Pauline, she is much worse than I am and is confined to cabin at present.

Easy day, visit to Ouknhatey Village.

The ship is still docked at Phnom Penh, Cambodia, its a lovely sunny day and we are all free to explore the city or not. Erle and I decide  to take a short wander down to the market.


Back to the ship to sit on the balcony in the sun and read my book before its time for lunch, when the ship sets sail again up the river.

This afternoons excursion is by Tuk tuk to Ouknhatey Village. When we get there we notice that the Mekong is rising quite quickly, it has not been raining here but the Mekong is a very long river, there must of been a big rain in China or Thailand to swell the river. We land on shore from the small boats to a pier that has been recently sand baged so it is dry for us to land on and is not in danger of being swept away by the flooding, it will not be many days before the pier is completely under water, but that is the way of the Mekong Delta, the rice paddy production depends on a regular flood every year. All the houses are built on
stilts to accommodate the rising waters, once the land is all covered the people use their boats to get around.



Tuk Tuks are lined up waiting for us and take us inland a little to the village. These are the kind that are driven by a motorbike undercover and very comfortable.

There is a man power irrigation system, a man sits on a bike and pedals madly to move the water wheel thing to lift the water, effective but slow hard work. Just what POl Pot envisioned, no mechanical gear only man power.




Then we are shown the Silk Worm production, how the tiny silk worms are fed on Mulberry leaves till big and fat and ready to make a cocoon of their silken webs.

 The cocoons are left to dry for some time in the store house, before being placed in boiling water to loosen the threads and to slowly unwind al the lovely silk onto spindles, two ladies do this together from the same cocoon. Beside them is a basket of dried cocoons all ready to unwind.


This is a very labour intensive job that must result in a lot of burnt fingers from the boiling water. Once collected it goes to the weavers and they spend long hours at their looms making silk material outside but under the cover of a roof on poles.
 This is a family run business, there is a small shop selling some of their wares.

On the way back to the ship we make a brief stop at the Village School, only two classrooms and only one head teacher but with some young assistants. The children can speak some English and sing us a song, If your Happy and you know it Clap your Hands. I know it too and sing along with them from the back of the class beside two of the older girls, who showed me their school books and I gave them some pens and pencils and sweets.


The children were all happy and healthy tidily dressed and enjoying school.

In the evening it is cocktail hour and another big briefing about the next few days activities.
Hung tells us he has had word of the 2 ladies who had to leave out tour for hospital back at Ha Long Bay. They are released from Hospital and have just boarded a plane back to New Zealand, fully recovered.
It seems the ladies had to pay for everything.... many many thousands of US$ but will get reimbursed by their insurance polocy. It appears like it costs about $2,000 a night in the hospital.