A SHORT STOP IN PHNOM PHEN

The country of Cambodia has about 16 million people spread over 167,000 square kilometers. 75% of the population were born after 1980. Just to put this in context, Canada has just over 40 million people spread over more than 9 million square kilometers! In other words, we have a small population given the size of Canada.

The capital of Cambodia is Phenom Phen, a big city of approximately 2.5 million people. The city was built around a royal palace and pagoda. For a long time, an attraction was the royal ballet until the performances were restricted to royalty only. Now the city is known as a centre for commerce and trade area. Major trading products are fish, corn, cotton and pepper. The major trade partners are Thailand, Veneman and Laos. You can get there by highway, train or planes all of which converge in the city. We stayed at a hotel called Bali Resort which was near the airport.

We mostly came for the international airport but there is also a museum dedicated to the history of genocide in Cambodia and other sites to visit. The museum is held in an old secondary school which was closed and repurposed as a prison when Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge regime, took over naming 1975 as year 0 of his communist ideals and new country. You may remember from our earlier post that Khmer Rouge forced marched urban populations and professionals with families into the countryside to engage in agricultural projects. Many people died of starvation and labour – as many 3 million Cambodians died because of Khmer Rouge. 

Our guide was a child of 8 at the time and marched out of the city with her family of 6, her father and two siblings were killed but she escaped to Vietnam with her mother and one sister. At the museum, classrooms were turned into cell blocks with barbed windows - we are attaching a few pictures to show you how small the cells were. It is a sad and somber place, connected to a killing field which opened in 1980 to the public. Sometimes whole families were imprisoned, if they were suspected of some wrongdoing. Sadly, only 12 of the estimated 20,000 prisoners survived and 4 of these were kids at the time who hid in a pile of discarded clothes. We met these men, now in their 60s with our guide.  One of the survivors Van Nat has a notable story, he survived because he was making portraits for the Khmer Rouge leaders.

There is a lot to learn about here, it is awful but also awfully important to see this history, which did not happen so long ago and to carry messages about peace and hope into the world.

We also visited a visitors centre and shop called Daughters of Cambodia who helps women who have been forced into bad situations. There we learned about a group helping these women, aged 15 into their 20s to rebuild their identity and develop marketable skills. It was heartbreaking to hear their stories. We are glad that there is a group like this providing help: 

https://www.daughtersofcambodia.org/visitor-center

We also visited street markets and walked for hours... (well it felt like hours but it might not have been quite that long). We discovered there is so much to see and do as long as you pay attention and look around - Daddy got hit by a scooter when crossing the street (he is fine) but is sure is a busy place! We went near the Royal Palace as the sun was setting and had some incredible noodles at a cafe for dinner. 

Everywhere we went today we travelled by tuk tuk, the prices were very fair and it was easy to feel like you were part of the city action, even as we zoomed passed. Thankfully we have another day to explore before we head back to Canada! 

VISIT TO A PEPPER FARM

The next day in Kampot area we went to visit a pepper farm about an hour from the hotel property. A driver, Mark picked us up in a tuk tuk for our 3pm sunset tour. We spent an hour walking the farm property to learn about the harvesting process and then enjoyed a pepper tasting before heading to a high platform to watch the sunset over the farm and countryside. The pepper plants do best with shade and grow quite tall and grow for 4-5 years! We had to suit up to go into the production areas, it was an advanced facility but there is still a lot done by hand.

At the farm we learned that a lot of different kinds of pepper can come from the same plant depending on how it is processed. For example, red pepper comes from a ripe plant, black pepper comes from a young peppercorn that is dehydrated and sun dried. White pepper is the inside of the green pepper and is bathed in a different process. We also learned about other spices, including lemon grass (photo below) and fruits when we met some of the farm workers who were harvesting long chilies. The property is owned by a foregin couple who run it as a social enterprise producing not only quality products but also contributing to local economy and education.

There are over 100 workers, with accommodation and meals provided for those who want them. Plus, beyond supporting teachers and students at a nearby school, they provide scholarships for advanced study for promising students to go to university and they offer free English classes at the farm on weekends in the ‘children’s house’. You can see La Plantation, the pepper farm we visited in this video:

La Plantation Pepper Farm

Our last night in Kampot we returned to the city centre to enjoy a pizza and pasta! This was our first non-Cambian meal and it was delicious, the couple who owned the restaurant were from Venice. We ate too much and played euchre before heading back to the hotel to pack! Kampot is an interesting place looking to develop its tourism more so if you are thinking about a trip check it out. 

Thanks for reading!!!!

ARRIVING IN KAMPOT AND VISITING A SALT FARM

The town of Kampot was recommended to us prior to our travels. It is a mid-size city about 3 hours from the ferry port of Sihanoukville. In advance of our travel day, we hired a driver to meet us at the ferry. After a quick grocery shop (at a 7-11) we made our way out of town towards our destination. We were warned the road would be VERY bumpy – despite the warning, we were unprepared for the length and bounce! There seemed to be a road widening project underway so for an hour we bounced along on the shoulder of the road, avoiding soft spots and navigating dips while sharing the road with other vehicles, tuk tuks, transports and motorcycles – it was a relief to get back on a surface again as we got closer to Kampot!

Kampot was the original seaport for international trade in the 1840s on the Koh Sla River. The city of almost 50,000 people is connected to Sihanoukville and Phenom Phen by major roads (about 3 hours from each). Famous aspects of the city include durian, bananas, fish sauce and peppers. In fact, there is a big durian statue in the town centre which we visited when we checked out the local night market. Fun fact: durian's are very popular here, they are known as the 'king of fruits' and are very nutritious but they have a strong smell and many hotels ask you not to eat them in your room!

Other attractions in the area include learning about salt farming and visiting a pepper farm. On our first day at the Komsan hotel we took bikes and went out for a 10km ride to see the salt farms. It was a hot ride but very interesting as we wove through winding dirt roads past local homes. A highlight was seeing the many children grouped on bicycles heading home for lunch and later, back to school. Their white uniform tops and blue bottoms making them easily recognizable as they waved, and we exchanged greetings of “Sawasdee” (hello in Khmer).

The salt farms are large shallow basins where salt water is drained from the sea and left to evaporate so the salt can be harvested. There is a lot of manual labour involved in tending to the salt. You can see a video about salt farming here:

SALT FARMING VIDEO

Our hotel was an interesting place, it is a large complex with lots of buildings in various stages of completion and pathways. It is owned by a wealthy Cambodian man who is quite connected to the government and wanted to have his own rural property. A notable difference of this hotel from others we stayed at was the focus on activities for children – there were playground pieces, a small pond to explore with boats/water bikes, a riverfront property and a splash play area.

What was interesting was that despite meeting another family (from Australia but who are living in China) on the first night, for most of the time, we were the only guests on the whole property! We took full advantage of the amenities offered and even got some school work done!!! That was quite an experience to have the entire resort to ourselves… it reminded us a bit of being at home in backyard in the summers and we realize how lucky we are!!!!

What a lovely way to spend a few days as we make our way closer to Phnom Phen and the airplane ride home!

Last day adventures in Siem Reap area

On the last day of our day- trip adventures in Siem Reap we used every mode of transportation we could find! In the morning, we took a van for 2 hours to an area with tons of big boats. We got on the boat and rode down a small river, before it opened up into a big lake. 

The boat was bigger than some of the others in the water, but it navigated through the floating houses of our second fisherman village. The village is huge, with at least 2,000 people living there, and tons of houses and boats everywhere. This village is one of three fishermans’ villages in Cambodia. Where we went, there were only 1,000 people, making it the smallest. Other villages have 3,000 people, or 5,000 people.

The boat was also interesting, it was built of a hybrid rope-and-pulley system with old car steering wheels as the wheel. The ropes connected to the steering wheel, and ran under the floor to the back, where they joined with the motor. It was pretty loud, but we had a great ride as we navigated through the water. You can see pictures of the floating houses, store, school and church that were all part of the community.

Down the lake a bit, is a big, open pavilion-type structure, with colourful lights and huge speakers. It was clear this was the party place in the village! It also housed the kayaks we would be using for the next part of our adventure. Again, we split up. Me and my dad in one double kayak, and Alex and my mom in the other. We paddled down the lake, looking at the houses and waving at people we passed. When we got to the end of the village, we turned around and went back to where we started. When the boats were out of the water, we got back on a boat and went to the docks where we had first got on the boat that morning. 

After another long van ride, we got on our bikes and went for an hour’s cycle. While we rode, school was let out, so we saw loads of kids riding their bikes too! Some of the older kids had motorbikes, and the younger kids often doubled up on a regular bike. It was fun to ride with them, wave and smile - I think we made a few fast friends :) 

When we finished our bike ride, we went for lunch, and then back to our hotel to catch a plane back to our next destination, an island near Sihanoukville. 

Love from Cambodia!

:) ♥️ 😀

Bioluminescence is so much fun!

A highlight of our visit to this island was our boat ride and swim at night to see the phosphorus. Phosphorus, also known as bioluminescence is the emission of light during the chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. These fancy words mean that when you get in the water with a mask on and move your arms and legs there is a glow – much like a star trail in the sky but in the water. At first is was a bit scary to jump of the boat into the dark night but it was totally worth it! We thought it looked like fireflies in the water, so pretty and magical. With practice, we learned that moving slowly made for the best view and if you went underwater into the deep dark parts, it was even more visible. Later we read that researchers are working with bioluminescence to see if they can create systems for street and decorative lights! That seems fantastical and very futuristic! If you want to see what the bioluminescence looks like – check out the video – it is not exactly what we saw but you will get the idea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHmaAzV2WGs

Overall, our visit to Koh Rong Sanloem, was a nice break from our other adventures and different than other places we visited. Alex wants to say that we loved the puppy, Mandy, that was at the resort to play with and the other cats and dogs there. 

As you can see from the photos, getting to spend so much time outside, eating, walking, reading and relaxing was also nice – especially as we knew from updates at home in Canada that they were dealing with some pretty intense winter weather! Building a sandcastle was fun, even though the retriever Jenny came and took a liking to the stick bridge we made! It was nice to walk the beach to sit on one of the many swings suspended from wooden polls over the water. 

All in all, this was a great spot and one we would return to – unless we were busy exploring another island - just dreaming!!!

Arriving in Sihanoukville and Checkig out the island of Koh Rong Sanloem

After our time in Siem Reap and our day-tours, we headed to Sihanoukville, where we stayed for one night. The hotel was very nice, Alex and I each had our own bed, which was nice! One of the main reasons our family flew to Sihanoukville in the south of Cambodia was to catch a ferry to the beautiful islands we had heard much about. Although there are many islands, we chose Koh Rong Sanloem as our destination because it is small, walkable - without cars- and known for its beauty.

In the morning, we took a car to Tourism Docks, where we waited for our ferry to the island. We had read lots of bad reviews for this ferry, saying that the workers were rude, and the ferries were always late, so we had very low expectations. The boat ended up being 30 minutes late, but it was alright- because we had time to buy delicious snacks! Our boat was a 60-seat catamaran; most of the boat was filled with people there to celebrate Chinese New Year. 

The colour of the water is the first thing we noticed – the further from shore the more turquoise the waters became. The water is so pretty! Koh Rong Sanloem is 9km long and 4km wide. There are no roads but there are tractors and motorcycles that use the hard sand at the shore to move people, luggage and goods along the beach. We stayed on Saracen Bay which is a crescent moon shaped beached and main tourist area on the island. Before covid there was a lot of family-run guest houses, but most were hard hit and closed now there are 6-8 resort properties and one hostel.

The tractor, technically a rototiller, is hooked up to a wagon/wooden platform that it tows, where we sat with our luggage. It wasn’t too wavy, but we did get a little wet! :)The wagon took us to our hotel, the Sara Resort. We unloaded from the wagon, and went into our room. When we unpacked, we got right to relaxing! That night, we were all tired and fell right asleep.



On the island there are most amphibians and reptiles as well as freshwater fish and birds that inhabit the brooks and streams inland. The first morning was very windy so after breakfast we decided to hike across the island to lazy beach. Lazy beach is a notable tourist destination that is mostly empty except for a series of cottage like accommodations and one open air restaurant. We enjoyed the calm waters and went paddling out of the bay seeing local people catching crabs in the process! The hike was not difficult and it was interesting to see the inland terrain and find our way along jungle paths.

By the fourth day, something weird happened. Both my dad and I felt really bad. I had had a terrible sleep the night before, and had a massive headache, and we both felt tired and sore. We basically spent the whole day trying to nap and drink water. :(

While we were on the island, we noticed inconsistent electricity and wifi, later we found out the wifi is beamed from the mainland! We enjoyed a few lazy days here, wandering the beach, wading into the shallow shore and swimming in the Sara pool. Every night there were fireworks and often there as a fire show to help with the New Year festivities. Thanks to an accommodation glitch, we even spent one night at the nearby hostel and that was a very different experience!