Carpooling with Chickens in Cambodia

After touching down in Phnom Penh, the capital city, we were immediately reminded we were back in SE Asia. Tuk Tuk drivers clambering for your business at the airport, crazy roads, low infrastructure, and random cows crossing the road. There was one strange difference though - the majority of cars on the street are mini SUVs from the late 2000s- mostly Lexus mini SUVs, Toyota Rav 4, and 2008 Priuses. It almost felt like driving in 2010 back in the Bay Area! No doubt, Phnom Penh is a bit rough around the edges, with cracked sidewalks (if there are any), minimal streetlights, and loads of trash scattered along the street.

We got ourselves out for a sunset run (a rarity after long travel days!) along the waterfront. Bustling with street stalls, kids playing soccer barefoot on the concrete, and old men drinking beers overlooking the river. The sun quickly set, and running back was quite the challenge dodging shitty sidewalks made of rubble and the occasional wrong turn (Sam of course always knows the way back - until he doesn’t). A 3-mile run quickly turned into 5+.

Phnom Penh is often overlooked (and avoided) by tourists who choose to only visit Northern Cambodia’s popular Angkor Wat and Siem Reap (see below). But, spending time in Phnom Penh allowed us to learn about the terrifying, but extremely important recent history.

HISTORY LESSON FROM SAM:

The Khmer region (Cambodian people speak Khmer and consider themselves 'Khmers', not Cambodians) has been a tumultuous piece of land that's experienced long periods of peace and tragic calamities.

In the 12th century, Khmer people mass-converted to Buddhism. Over the subsequent 600 years, their land and dominance in SE Asia slowly diminished as larger more powerful nations, Thailand and Vietnam, encroached on their land. Their borders remain in a constant state of flux, with the popular island of Phu-Qcoc switching from Cambodian to Vietnamese rule as late as 2005. In 1863, the Cambodians sought refuge with the French as they grappled with conflicts on their own soil against Thailand and the looming threat of a total Thai takeover. The French willingly extended protection, but this evolved into a full-blown colonial rule, lasting until 1953. After independence, the Khmer people experienced 15 years of prosperity before becoming involved in the Vietnam War.

This is where many of you may recognize Cambodia’s history. Effectively, the US was bombing Cambodia “unintentionally”, destroying farmland in the North and killing many Cambodians. Hearsay goes America was worried about the growing communist threat in Cambodia through a communist group called the Khmer Rouge (led by a man called Pol Pot), who was gaining popularity in the northern region near the Vietnamese border. The Cambodian government, headquartered in the capital in the south called Phnom Penh, was pro-America during this period.

After the war ended in 1975, the US abruptly withdrew from Cambodia, and the situation rapidly took a harrowing turn. Within days, the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh and claimed ownership of the country. They were unchallenged. They had gained unequivocal support across the country at this stage, with most people favouring this 'liberation' due to what they perceived as suppression by their existing government, which had allowed their people to be bombed by the US.

The Khmer Rouge then embarked on a horrifying 5-year tyranny of their own people in the name of achieving complete communism across the country. Within days, all private ownership, including houses, cars, and businesses, was abolished, and all currency was confiscated by the Khmer Rouge. The country’s history and religion were renounced, and 'Liberation Day' was announced as Day, 0, Month 0, Year 0. Job titles and qualifications were stripped away from the 'new people’- typically those with education and professional jobs who lived in cities. They were forced to leave their city homes, walk on foot for days, and eventually settle in 'villages', where they toiled in rice fields for 14-18 hours a day, living off a daily bowl of rice. Monks were treated the worst, often used as the transporters of equipment and goods on the 'farms' - effectively doing the work of horses.

From there, the Khmer Rouge swiftly started separating families, first taking men and women to prisons that had been set up in the cities. Here, they endured brutal interrogations and were tortured up to three times a day. They were coerced into signing fake 'confession' letters, falsely admitting involvement in plots against the Khmer Rouge, and were spies for intelligence services like the CIA. Once ‘confessions’ were signed, civilians were taken to what became known as 'the Killing Fields' to be murdered, often on the same day. Orphaned children were initially taken in by the Khmer Rouge as child soldiers, but later they too were transported to the Killing Fields and murdered with their parents. The Khmer Rouge claimed leaving any trace of a 'traitor’s' family would pose a risk, as they feared the children would seek revenge. The details of what went on at these 'Killing Fields' are truly harrowing and visiting one was a shuddering experience.

Not to mince words, the Khmer Rouge conducted a systematic genocide of its own people between 1975 and 1979. In 5 years the Khmer Rouge killed 1.5-2 million people - the population at the time was 8 million. Not only that, those people were the educated, skilled, 'intelligent' portion of the population. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, monks, etc. If you wore glasses, no matter who you were, you were interrogated and eventually killed.

The undercurrent of all this was the Khmer Rouge was threatened and intimidated by the educated and intelligent, worried that they could overthrow their communist idealistic utopia at any moment. Luckily, by 1979, the Khmer Rouge was falling apart. They were starting to torture and kill a large portion of their own supporters (claiming they were also 'spies'), so a separation effort formed within, and in partnership with the Vietnamese army, they overthrew the Khmer Rouge and once again 'liberated' the country.

5 years of genocide was over. The Khmer Rouge leaders (including Pol Pot) fled to Thailand, and a new government backed by the Vietnamese took control of the country. Fighting continued for the next 10 years, with Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge continuing guerrilla operations from hiding. They regularly received arms from China and public political support from the United States. Here's a Washington Post link from 1980 showing the US continuing to support Pol Pot’s seat in the United Nations. The rationale was the US did not want to advance Vietnam's position or power - allowing them to occupy Cambodia would do that.

By 1991, a peace agreement was signed and Cambodia was officially recognised by the United Nations and given support. The first democratic general election was held in 1993 (supported by the UN) and by 1999 they had become a member of ASEAN. Pol Pot never spent a single night in prison for his crimes and died in 1999.

So, where are they now? Well, in 1985 a gentleman by the name of Hun Sen became Prime Minster - while they were still under Vietnamese rule. He lost the first general election in 1993, before quickly regaining it in 1998. Since then, he has 'won' every single election, more often than not by a 100% majority. He was the world's longest-serving prime minister until he finally moved on last month. Guess who took over? His Son. Undoubtedly, Cambodia is a troubled country routed in corruption. Their people are some of the warmest and kindest we've met, but we haven't felt much in the sense of optimism or positivity, more a state of acceptance and static-ness. Their shining light in Industry has been textiles, but big fashion brands are slowly turning away due to government corruption. In a common theme we are seeing, their hopes seem to rely on tourism, where numbers have dropped significantly since COVID and are yet to recover.

While in Phnom Penh, we visited the S21 prison, which was a school-turned-torture prison by the Khmer Rouge during their tyranny. We spent hours on the grounds listening to the audio tour, which left no detail spared as you stood in the same cells where thousands of people had been tortured and killed just a mere 40 years ago. After S21, we headed to the Killing Fields, which was the largest, and most used, mass grave/ killing site of its kind during 1975-1979 (there were estimated to be 300 killing fields around Cambodia). Frankly, the Killing Fields was the heaviest thing we’ve ever experienced - we were told going in to not freak out if we saw bone remnants in the now-covered mass graves due to the heavy rain.

An incredibly moving day no doubt. If you are interested in learning more I’d recommend watching the Netflix film ‘First They Killed My Father’ or reading the biography, in which the movie is based, by Loung Ung. The movie was directed by Angelina Jolie as one of her children is Cambodian and she learned all about the genocide while filming Tomb Raider in Cambodia back in the day.

Southern Cambodia

The next day we traveled to the south coast to visit Koh Rong Saloehm, a tiny island with 3 distinct beaches that you can only access by hiking 30 minutes through the island forest to reach each one - (no cars or scooters are allowed on the island) Upon arriving at the ferry port to catch the boat there, we were humbled by Cambodia’s rainy season and got stuck in the worst thunderstorm we’ve seen to date. Our ferry was canceled due to the weather conditions, but we begged another company to allow us on the final speedboat of the day which was pressing on regardless of conditions. We managed to get on and strapped in for a bumpy ride. The boat ride was CHOPPY. At least for the tourists it was… As we all cracked up and broke out in various gasps as waves crashed high above the ferry windows causing us to catch air from our seats repeatedly, the locals treated it as a luxurious peaceful ride along a lazy river. One woman in the back row was even shoveling down her fried rice with CHOPSTICKS!!! The waves eventually calmed down and as we arrived at the island and walked the beach looking for a place to stay, we realized when they say low season… they mean it.

There was virtually no life on the island. Only 3-4 hotels/guesthouses/hostels were successfully operating with tourists so we checked in to one of the small resorts and waited for the rain to stop... It never did lol. We managed to venture out for one hike to the more remote beaches on the Island one day (in which we found the ‘forest’ is quickly being chopped down to make way for new resorts) - but other than that it was relentless. ‘Manifesting’ sunshine unfortunately didn’t help, so by day 3, we decided to get the heck outta there. From the port city, Sihanoukville, we needed to take a 4-hour bus to Kampot, which is further south.

We arrived at the bus “station” and met 2 Israelis and an American girl who were tackling the journey with us. We boarded our janky bus and Sam and I were sent to the last row. About 30 minutes into our ride, we abruptly pulled off to a random parking lot and were greeted by a cage of chickens and a mysterious cardboard box (which we later found out was a rooster) waiting for our arrival. Fuckkk… I had heard horror stories of travelers' bags getting drenched in fish juices or other nasty things while traveling in dodgy buses across Southeast Asia, but I wasn’t prepared for this. As the driver re-arranged our bags to fit the chickens into the trunk, the stench quickly filled the car and they started bocking clearly uncomfortable with the upcoming travel. The American girl next to us was screeching while Sam was dying laughing.

Thankfully only about 45 minutes later we abruptly stopped again and the chickens were transferred to another bus. Thinking the journey was smooth sailing from there, we were quickly humbled by Cambodia’s dirt roads and were forced to drive 80 km on the bumpiest, most horrible road I’ve ever experienced. We only later found out the move was to take the train and NOT the bus.

Kampot is a coastal town cut by a sprawling river with a lot of French influence from the colonial era. It has become increasingly popular with expats. The main strip of bars had a slightly seedy undertone to it - they were lined with elderly Western men in the company of young Cambodian women (make of that what you will!) I wanted nothing to do with these bars, but of course, Sam saw one of them playing the Rider Cup on TV so we ~had to go in~.

That’s when we met Horny Harry (he literally called himself that), an 80-year-old Vietnam war vet hippy from Santa Cruz, California who moved to Cambodia 15 years ago and lives off $6k/month from the Vet organizations. He’s really enjoying his last bit of life (he literally had a bandage on his ear from getting cancer removed earlier that day). To put it bluntly, Harry didn’t give a fuuuuuck. He was flirting with the 23-year-old waitresses, grinding up on them, spanking, groping, and kissing, them all while smashing tequila shots and constantly whispering dirty sexual innuendos into our ears. My jaw was on the floor. He saw nothing wrong with it, and the women allowed him to do it. Partly because he’s a regular at the bar and party because he shares his monthly vet stipend with them to buy new phones and other luxurious gifts. He was actually very appreciative when we came into the bar, claiming all the tourists look down on the bars and are scared to come in - I wonder why lol. I grinned and bared it until the end of the golf but gave Sam THAT look as soon as it’d finished and we quickly left.

Low season made for a pretty local experience around Kampot and its surrounding areas. The local expats we met (mostly bar, restaurant/ guesthouse owners) said that they go days without seeing customers and tourism hasn’t recovered since Covid. It was sad to hear but made us glad to be contributing a bit to the struggling businesses that deeply need customers. We actually had the best Western food during our time in southern Cambodia, creamy Turkish hummus and pita, handmade Italian gnocchi, and the freshest seafood by a southern Portuguese woman. They also were happy to chat with us and give insider tips about Kampot’s hidden gems.

A French woman recommended we visit some waterfalls frequented by locals that are deep into the jungle. Her instructions led us to scooter an hour outside town on bumpy ass roads high into the hills. We then trekked into the jungle along the waterfall where we ran into a group of monks who lived literally in the middle of nowhere and were heading to the waterfalls to bathe. Just in the moment where we thought we were truly alone, bam. A monastery. With monks glued to their phones!!! Crazy.

Kampot also has a winding mangrove where many guesthouses have been built along and offer free kayaks to guests. These days, water is a gross murky brown that led me to believe it was crocodile-infested. We were assured it was only brown due to the rain, but that didn’t convince us enough to go swimming in it. There's a handful of riverfront bars you can kayak right up to (run by more expats) so we stopped for sunset drinks and learned more about expat life while chatting over ciders. Once the sun was fully set, Sam and I had to venture back into the scary water in the pitch black (I made him paddle as I aggressively used my headlamp in search of creepy creatures).

The next day we scootered to a neighboring coastal town, Kep, and went to the local crab market to enjoy our very own Kampot Pepper Crab. (Please look at the helmet they gave Sam below 🤣 )

We saw Bourdain went to Kampot/ Kep so this was high on my list. The market was bustling with locals and we were swarmed by the saleswomen to pick their crab to prepare fresh for us. We really loved our time in Kampot, definitely our favorite city in Cambodia since it has so many activities to do in the surrounding areas. Bourdain did not lead astray (does he ever though!?!).

Northern Cambodia

We then headed up to Siem Reap for 5 days and noticed the roads were completely different than in the south. All the tourism dollars are clearly used to keep Siem Reap and its surrounding areas in perfect condition. The city itself has a lot of French influence and is set up with a bustling “Pub Street” that comes alive at night with tourists who swarm looking for cheap happy hour deals after spending their days at Angkor Wat.

Despite saying we would be avoiding temples after Sri Lanka, we were excited to see Angkor Wat and spent our last day motorbiking around the entire area. I thought it was one of the 7 wonders of the world, but was disappointed to find out it actually is not..(but it should be! hahah). It’s also where they filmed Tomb Raider!

Just for some context, Angkor Wat is HUGE. There are over 50 temples scattered amid 155 sq miles of jungle and forest. We decided to get a guide for the main temple to do it a bit of justice, and were glad we did! (Me mostly because our tour guide kept forcing us to take the CHEESIEST pictures that Sam couldn’t refuse ;) )

We ended up only seeing 4 temples before getting fed up with the heat so we admired more temples from afar while scootering around. For the temples we did see, we entertained ourselves by pretending to be in Tomb Raider/ Temple Run. Gotta occupy yourself somehow.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fun fact: we tried acupuncture every day while in Siem Reap, which has properly sorted us out! I had needles injected in my jaw/cheek area (I’ve been clenching a lot in my sleep) and Sam on his neck & shoulders. The doctor was the sweetest Chinese woman and she loved seeing us come back every day. I’m a new fan of Chinese medicine (For $10 a session, how could we not be!).

We then drove from Siem Reap to Bangkok (well one bus to the border, walk across the border, and then board another bus to Bangkok!) Walking across a border was a first for us! We met a hilarious 70-year-old Australian woman, Kaz, on the bus to Bangkok who shared wild stories of having to eat a friend's dog while in Laos and more outrageous stories that had us cracking up for the day-long journey.

As some of you may know, Sam’s grandad, Geoff, passed away while we were traveling in Taiwan. Geoff was 92 and had been struggling with Parkinson-Plus for 2 years and was able to pass peacefully in his sleep. We headed to Bangkok as Sam was flying back to England to attend his grandad's funeral and be with his family. I ventured up to explore Northern Thailand and had my first ~ solo traveler~ experience. More to come on that!