Kampot (Cambodia)

Discouraged and disgusted with Sihanoukville, my partner and I set off for Kampot. One shared taxi ride and a few hours later, life improved dramatically. Normally, I am anti-taxi. In this case, the taxi was the same price as the bus and it was faster. Also, since we stuffed 8 people in the Camry for the 2 hour trip, I did not feel like I was really indulging in a luxury.

Kampot is a lovely little town on the river. You can pay $50US to stay at the lodge just across for the river. We spent a little while contemplating what exactly you get for that amount of money- AC, hot water, and breakfast included should only be around $15-20. What could possible justify the extra cost? I guess we'll never know. The river view wasn't that amazing. Anyhow, we stayed at LongVilla. Despite the mention in the LP, the rate has not tripled like all the others. $5 still gets you a decent room.

Part of the intrigue of Kampot was visiting Bokor Hill- a national park up a hill. Unfortunately, the Cambodians have recently sold it to the french who are constructing a 500 room resort. It is now closed to visitors as the road is being used for 'construction vehicles' which may be 'dangerous.'

With Bokor out of the running, we rented a motorbike and headed East. Kep is a small town nearby which represents huge contrasts. There are abandoned buildings next to nice, new resorts. Also perplexing are the stalls of pre-set up hammocks. I wasn't sure if the locals rented them for hanging out or if there was some other system. Cambodians tend to do quite a bit of lounging. We took advantage of a lounging structure to stop and have a snack.


Once of the coolest stops of the day was at a pepper plantation. (Pepper as in the companion of salt, not chili peppers). I had never seen the way the peppercorns grow on trees. It is pretty neat. The owner of the plantation also provided us with some of the best jackfruit I have ever had. I have been eating jackfruit for only a few months but I have eaten it in enough countries to know that this was pretty amazing. I wanted to purchase a bag of peppercorns but couldn't really justify carrying around 1 kilo of pepper for 6 weeks.


Kampot was a very necessary stop and more of the relaxed pace of life I have come to love.

Sihanoukville and Kampot (Cambodia)

I arrived in Sihanoukville just before dark. I always try to avoid getting to new places at nightfall, but sometimes it happens. My guidebook painted a very lovely and rosy picture of Sihanoukville- a coastal city in southern Cambodia. After walking from the bus station to Victory Hill area (supposedly the cheap backpacker area) I realized that something was amiss. There were 6 or 8 girly bars with middle-aged western men and young Cambodian women wearing a little to much make-up and not enough clothing.

At the corner, my partner and I got offers for every type of imaginable thing that would be illegal in the US. I don't consider myself a conservative prude, but I was definitely thrown off by the description I had read. Apparently, things are changing really fast. Cambodia is more than willing to sell its land (and national treasures) to foreigners. This saddens me. Foreign ownership should not come at the expense of the local economy as it does in Sihanoukville. Is it really necessary to have an Italian, Swedish, Austrian, and Mexican restaurant in one little tourist area?


The next day, we headed to Serendipity beach. It was absolutely horrible. Hundreds of tourists lounging in chairs on the sand. Half as many Cambodians trying to sell goods and services (massages, etc.). The beach was not pretty. The water appeared especially dirty. Out of curiosity, we checked out accommodations. For the same price as we paid in Victory Hill ($5), the standard declined considerably.


Maybe I am unaware of the benefits of the ex-pat presence in places like Sihanoukville. But after seeing the disgusting state of affairs, I have renewed my commitment to eating at local establishments and staying at local owned guesthouses. It is the least that one can do for the struggling Cambodians.

Quest for Nutrition

After biking around siem reap for 3 days, Evan and I decided that we needed a healthy dose of veggies and some protein. This was a huge undertaking considering the minuscule amount of both that the Cambodians subsist upon.

I have been lusting after the beautifully shaped deep purple eggplants that I see in all the markets. I'm not sure where they end up but we never see them in restaurants or at food stalls. I acquired 2 medium sized eggplants for .50$ at the market. Next step: find a food stand to cook them. This project would have gone a lot more smoothly in siem reap where hot woks abounded. But here in kompong thom, all of the food carts and stalls had pre-prepared food with no means of cooking. Finally, I caved and went to a restaurant where an all too eager kid immediately understood what I was after and escorted my eggplants to the kitchen.

As suspected, only about ¾ of 1 eggplant made its way back to the table. I enjoyed my pile of mixed veggies and learned my lesson: next time find a wok on the side of the road and watch them cook all of the food I give them. I asked the kid what happened to the rest of my eggplant after he begrudgingly made his way back to our table when I spotted him trying to hide and motioned to him. His English capabilities suddenly diminished to only knowing how to say the number of riels that we owed him.

With one project complete, we set off in search of protein. I spotted a few ladies with rotisserie chicken setups but $4 for a chicken was too much. The options were dwindling to meat on a stick and the baskets of eggs that everyone had. Not in the mood for mystery meat, we opted for the eggs. At 30 cents each, the eggs were also expensive. Determined not to get the special tourist price, we shopped around. After getting the same price over and over we also learned that these eggs were baby duck eggs. I thought to myself what's the big deal, we eat baby chicken eggs all the time.

We ended up taking the plunge and buying 2 eggs. The first indication that something was different was that the eggs came with a bag of condiments including limes, black pepper, and a pile of little green leaves. Back at our hotel, Evan started to peel his egg. He immediately put it together- baby duck egg means duck embryo. I'm not sure how far along the ducks were but there was quite a bit of development already. Thinking back, I don't think it was a question of if we were going to eat the duck embryos but how we were going to eat them. The eggs naturally broke into 4 pieces. The first 2 were harder than a hard boiled eggs yolk and more chewy. We developed a method of squeezing lime juice, coating in pepper, and then covering with leaves. The last 2 pieces were more challenging. Evan went for the get it down quick method and then had fun taking pics of me making faces. The egg itself had little flavor and the leaves helped with the consistency which wasn't as disgusting as it seemed.

The good news is that we were no longer pissed about paying for eggs, we got some protein, and we were able to try a new interesting food. It's always an adventure.

Kompot Thom

Imagine a town where there are less than 50,000 people. The sprawling market serves as the center. You can buy hammocks, fishing nets, cell phones, stainless steel kitchenware and anything else you might need. Now imagine most of the women and some of the children are wearing pajamas. Not victoria's secret stylish nighties but sets of matching pants and long sleeve button up tops. Welcome to Kompong Thom.

A few months ago, I would have been unable to comprehend the scene where women were going about their normal market shopping while wearing pajamas. Fortunately, I had listened to a planet money podcast which put this scene in context. Cambodia produces the majority of the pjs that the US imports. Unfortunately, things are going downhill for the pj factories. I can't explain it as well as the podcast but the decline is essentially based on American stupidity and a lack of ethical practices in China. The bottom line being that it sucks for Cambodia.

Anyhow, for now, the Cambodians still wear pjs as daytime apparel. I thought that thai pants might be the most comfortable getup in se asia or possibly a sarong. But the Cambodian pajamas might have them beat.

The other interesting thing about kompong thom is the guesthouse scene. There is a secondary road with 7 or 8 guesthouses in a row all offering varying degrees of small, dingy, and dirty rooms for $3. For $5 you can upgrade to a clean room with a tv, balcony, and bathroom.

Back on the main road, you can find the tallest building in town which is also the hotel recommended by our guidebook. In an attempt to avoid the guidebook circuit, I checked out a room around the corner from the main hotel only to find that for the same price ($5) the quality and cleanliness did not even come close. Once again, I am baffled by Asian business practices. It's like a Comfort Inn competing with a Hilton but charging the same amount. Who stays there?

Bottom Line: Kompong Thom is a somewhat easy stop over on the way from SR to PP to get a little closer to seeing the locals in Action.

Intro to Cambodia

Cambodia has beautiful countryside. I'm not sure what it is about they sky, but it seems bigger and more blue than many other places I've visited recently. Also, the hues of pink and red that illuminate the sky during sunset are ridiculous. I'm sure that if you could find a high point (cambodia is sort of flat) then sunset would be absolutely amazing.

After 1 week here, I'm fairly certain that there is no economy here besides tourism. Cambodia is using Angkor Wat and its proximity to Thailand for all it can get. Well, it might not actually be the Cambodians since they don't really own AW anymore. I saw an article in a newspaper yesterday which said that Cambodia had "increasing exposure to the global financial crisis." But not to worry, the IMF is already preparing to help Cambodia through this economic retraction. Essentially, westerners can't afford to travel so much these days, so Cambodia needs a bail out too. This country needs more than the IMF and NGOs throwing money at it. What I see in Cambodia are the effects of the worst possible type of corruption.

That being said, I've enjoyed my travels here. However, after 3 months in SE Asia, it is no longer merely amusing to me the way things (sort of) work. Now I want to understand why things are the way they are. I want to rack my brain for solutions and help these people (and the rest of the world) just as much as the next person. I just don't think that throwing money at the situation makes it any better. Just like giving candy to the kids begging does not help. It just rots their teeth. Really, I don't understand why foreigners think that kids with their teeth already rotting out of their heads need candy. They need nutrition.

So, my trip planning advice for Cambodia in a nutshell: Spend 1 week or 10 days on the tourist circuit (Siem Reap-pnom penh) renting bicycles or motor bikes as much as possible or bring a dirtbike and prepare for a few months of really getting out there

Border Crossing- Thailand to Cambodia

Border Crossing:

There's tons and tons of info out there on crossing the border from Thailand (Aranyapathet) to Poipet (Cambodia). With a little research, my partner and I felt adequately equipped to take on the border crossing which is famed for its scams. If you're doing the crossing and don't read any thing else that I write, read this: The Cambodian Consulate on the Thai side is a scam. Your visa will be official, but you will pay $30 (1000BHT) instead of the $20 charged at the actual border. Tell the tuk-tuk driver to keep moving.

Part 1: BKK to A

5AM: arrive at bus stop and start waiting

5:25: Get on bus

5:50: Arrive at train station, sprint inside, buy ticket.

5:52: Secure seat as my partner runs to get breakfast

5:55: My partner boards the train seconds before it pulls away.

Part 2: A to Market at Border

Roughly 12pm: Arrive in Aranyapathet. Tuk-tuk drivers swarm the train. We secured one for 20 BHT. Not sure how that happened. As expected, the driver brought us to the rip off consulate and we told him to keep going. Didn't even think about getting out. He gave in pretty quickly and took us to the border.

Part 3: the Market

This is the part where we bought some (over priced) rations and some jet fuel coffee. We also marveled at the cattle cars. Tourists do this crossing as part of a group tour bus thing (SCAM). I thought it most appropriate to photograph the name tags these tourists were sporting. The name tags were pretty much equivalent to "rip me off please." tags.

Part 4: The Visa

Just a little ways past the market is where you get your Cambodian visa for $20. There's a sign that says it is $20. They ask you if you want the "express" service and if you decline, they may or may not try to charge you more than $20 anyway. We stayed firm on the $20 and did not pay for an express visa. They told us we would have to wait 'very long time' which turned out to be 3 minutes and 46 seconds. Bring a passport size photo. Piece of cake. Continue the stroll into Cambodia.

Part 5: Taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap

Basically, everyone takes taxis. There's a 'free bus' to the bus station out of town but no one really goes there. And if they do, they don't get anywhere else. Taxi intermediaries tried to negotiate with us while we were waiting for our visas. Starting price is $15/person and they'll take groups of 4.

Finding friends at the crossing is not hard. Everyone (the backpackers) are excited to share what they read or heard or where they've been, etc. It is quite understandable since traveling alone or even with just 1 other person can leave people sort of deprived of social interaction (in english). It is just really funny to observe.

There's really no need to negotiate with an intermediary b/c that's not helping the price go down. My partner and I found the two only other people willing to walk down the road and find the taxi drivers and deal with them directly. Some people didn't even want to negotiate. Our taxi buddies turned out to be inspirational negotiators. The taxi driver followed us for 1 or 2 kilometers while we discussed the price and told him we didn't mind walking. Our biggest accomplishment of the day was talking him down to $25 for the whole trip. That's $6.25/person instead of $15. We got to Siem Reap in under 3 hours with only one unplanned stop. As always the transpo guys stop at a store or restaurant where the passengers are supposed to buy stuff. With a little preparation, it's always possible to avoid spending any money on overpriced food. The road is absolutely fine. It's a little bumpy during one little part, but we chattered away oblivious to any discomfort.

Part 5: Success

My border crossing experience included one weak attempt at charging too much money for the visa. Based on the ease of the crossing and the much lower transport prices for independent travelers I wonder how so many people actually get ripped off. There is so much information online- including current road status updates. Doing a little research can really go a long way. Oh and I just looked at the newest Thailand LP which details this entire journey. HA

Market Day (Bangkok)

Markets have become a happy place for me. Whenever I am annoyed with the locals for trying to rip me off or I am feeling overwhelmed, I find myself gravitating towards the market. Normally, it is just a typical fruit and veggie market where I can ogle the vegetables, haggle for fruit, find a sweet iced coffee, and try some new foods that can be described only through sharing pictures.

I landed in Bangkok on the weekend so I headed to the Chatuchak Market. Getting there involved taking a local bus and so on the way, I couldn't´help thinking about the Brady Bunch scene where one of the parents says ¨Ok kids put on your Sunday best, weŕe going to sears. Like the Bradyś, I put on my Sunday best and headed to Chatuchak. What an amazing place to spend the day.

There were tons and tons of stalls. There was actually some organization with maps color coding the different sections. My favorite part was the trendy clothes and housewares part. Most of the little stalls looked like an artist type started creating jewelry or clothes or whatever and they were using the market as their outlet to reach customers. With low overhead, I think it is a really great way to get started. All of the goods had a really trendy, funky style about them.

Of course, there were some stalls with the oh so famous thai pants as well. I splurged and bought 1 pair of thai pants and 1 cute dress. This almost doubled my wardrobe. I had been thinking about buying each of these items for a long time and it was really fun to negotiate and then complete the transaction. Later that night and for days afterwards, I felt guilty about being such a consumer again. The clothes hardly add any weight to my 10 kilo (22 pound) pack but I just felt sort of indulgent for having so many clothing choices. ( Skirt, shorts, button up shirt, tank top, thai pants, dress. Thatś my wardrobe) How am I going to be able to reconcile a whole closet of clothes when I get home???

Ok, back to the market. My partner dragged me away from the furniture, lamps, etc. You could seriously outfit an entire house (including a pet) at this market. We decided to spend more time trying out food because our packs are obviously too small for any couches or real shopping. One of my favorite foods of the day was ice cream. It was divided into little cubes (the size of cheese cubes) and you got to pick out all sorts of crazy flavors. Of course, we had to try the durian. Also, coconut, coffee, pandanus, taro, black bean, etc. The crazy flavors of asia don't seem quite so crazy anymore.

My favorite drink included a performance where the server wore a costume and twirled around while pouring pulled tea. It was the yummiest teh tarik (cousin of indian chai tea) that I'd had in while. We sampled what looked like tacos but turned out to be orange grated coconut (not cheese) with a dollop of cream and a raisin. Mano and papaya salad rounded out sushi lunch. At 5 baht per piece, we couldn't´ say no. (35 baht = 1 dollar). Plus, the whole experience of picking out pieces with little tongs and placing them on a little tray was part of the fun.

I think we spent 6+ hours at the market and I could have gone back the next day and spent 6 more hours. I was struggling with the thought of buying unnecessary goods but the entrepreneurial spirit provides a feeling in the air that I can appreciate and relate to. From the funky fresh hipsters to the waffle makers who put their own logo on the perfect size and shape little waffle bags, this was truly a great market day.