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Good Morning Cambodia!  I’ll be honest that line worked far better back in Vietnam!  It’s another beautiful day here in Siem Reap and who knows what lies in store today! 

Just an FYI, I’ve got to make more of an effort to put the hard yards in, because you (Siem) reap what you sow.  😬 (I know that was terrible – apologies).

Before we get into the interesting stuff – it’s eggs for breakfast.  2 hard boiled eggs, 2 fried eggs and a slice of toast.  That’s the dangers of the buffet, you never know what’s gonna end up on your plate.  Am I proud of it – no, but hey what’s the point living a life of regret.

Ok… plan for today is Phnom Kulen Mountain.  I hear it’s Phnominal (that’s 2/2 – I just can’t help it!).  We are joined once again by Kachhel the tour guide.  Lik le yesterday, he’s sat in our hotel reception when we come out of breakfast at about 7:50.  The driver isn’t far behind and we’re then ready to go!  

It is about an hour and 40 minutes to the mountain, and the drive is interrupted by an impromptu stop to the side of a field.  Here we find 8 people harvesting rice.  

Expecting some kind of explanation, we look round to find Kachhel, who has now vanished.  They’re just a bit too far away to make out, so the three of us (mum, dad and I) awkwardly stare into the field and wave, while one of the farmers stands up and looks at us.  

As it so happens, Kachhel had disappeared into someone’s house to use the toilet.  I don’t know whether it was a friend / family /  total stranger, but when you’ve gotta go, you’ve got to go.  

We get back into the car and continue on our merry way.  Obviously I can’t get into the heads of others, but it must have been so patronising, three white tourists staring over a hedge while they did their work. 

A little further up the road, the car pulls over and out we all get against. This time, it is to look at a sugar stall.  We are given a demonstration in the different stages of sugar production – from the raw sugar cane, to squeezing out the sugary sap, then boiling to bring out the sweetness.

Here, Kachhel gives us a demo on a bamboo ladder, explaining how they pick the fruits from the trees.  He whizzes up and down that thing in a matter of seconds like a young kid.  He’s very agile for his age!

We later arrive in the wider Kulen area, at a viewpoint overlooking the countryside.  Here, visitors are jostling for the prime photo position at the edge of a rocky cliff.  When our turn finally comes up, Mum is getting a bit worried that we’re too close to the edge!  I discern that now isn’t the time for a practical joke.  

There is an incredible richness to the greenery below us!

Kulen is 487 metres tall, and is referred to as the Lychee Mountain.  This is after abundant lychee once covering its slopes.

It is considered a sacred mountain in Buddhism – and it was from the top in 802 AD, than king Jayavarman II proclaimed Cambodia’s independence from the Javans.  

Since then it’s been a place of pilgrimage by Buddhists and Hindus alike.  

Somewhere on Kulen, sits the Preah Ang Thom temple.  Here, a dramatic, long stone staircase leads past tiger, lion, elephant and deer statues to reach the temple at the top.  

If this was an African safari, we’d be absolutely flying… but it isn’t and we aren’t.  Instead, asphyxiation is more the feeling as I struggle for breath climbing the stairs.  

This temple was built in the 12th century, and inside contains a 15 metre long reclining Buddha.  I’m finding all of this Buddha stuff very strange.

After a quick look around the temple, we stop for some drinks at a market area.  The amazing thing is that there’s almost a town within the temple boundaries. 

Over drinks, Kachhel whips out his map, and gives us another run down of Cambodian history.  After this, conversation turns to his own experiences and family, and we’re fascinated by what he has to say. 

I mentioned yesterday that he’s had a hard life.  His house burnt down in 1993, and his wife Soka (meaning peace) isn’t well.  He says that she has a dry brain, but I don’t really understand what he means by this.  The doctors aren’t really sure what is wrong with her.  Kachhel has to work tirelessly to provide for his family.  

Soka came from a Buddhist family and Kachhel (who is a Christian) asked her to pray to God.  That night she had a dream that she was touched by Jesus and in the morning she felt much better.  Since then, doctors have given her some medication to much is working and she’s doing ok.  It has stopped her falling down.

We move on to the living conditions in modern day Cambodia, and compare and contrast with back home.  There are many living below the poverty line, and he says that the government means well.  They want to help and offer financial aid to those struggling.  Some end up getting it, but for some reason, many do not.  

Back home, I would say that we (as a society) don’t have the same work ethic of people here.  The people here have to work hard because they have no alternative.  They simply cannot afford to live without work, whereas we find ourselves with a benefits culture, where people find every excuse not to work.  I know there are many genuine cases where people are medically unfit to work, but there are definitely people abusing the system.

In Vietnam, we heard that people are worried about China.  They owe them a lot of money, and are worried about China trying to expand their territories southwards.    Kachhel doesn’t seem to have the same concerns, he thinks they have no interest in Cambodia.  

Kachhel thinks that while life today is much better than it’s been, there are still problems with the government.  It’s refreshing to hear a tour guide speak so candidly and without fear of consequences, after feeling like the guides were resting off a government propaganda script in Vietnam.  

Now moving onto the Cambodian Genocide, Kachhel went to Phnom Penh to find his father and grandfather’s pictures in the S21 Genocide prison after the war.  He never found any trace.  It’s highly probable they were killed, but he will never likely know where and how.  Can you imagine the torment that this must bring?  How is it possible to find peaceful closure?

In 1977 the Cambodian prime minister and 4 others went in the night to Vietnam to ask for help.  Both countries weren’t really on good terms at the time, so if they had been caught they would have certainly been killed.  If they hadn’t gone, the Khmer Rouge would have killed many more people.

Thankfully they met without any escalation, and persuaded the Vietnamese commander to come and bring support.  But, it was a further two years before the country was fully liberated from the Khmer Rouge.

Kachhel was one of 10 children, and three of his siblings died very young.  His family fled to the jungle after Pol Pot took control.  He was used as a labourer for Khmer Rouge boiling sugar and gathering rice.  If he had made any mistakes, he doesn’t know what they would have done to him.

One day he lost his cousin, she was beautiful he says.  He couldn’t find her.  One of his friends went into the forest and found her naked and dead.  He couldn’t show any emotion, and understandably couldn’t eat dinner that night, but had to act normal.

At this time, girls had to work through periods.  With headaches and cramps they would ask for a day off, but were brandished lazy by the Khmer Rouge.  They would then drive them up a mountain to the Siem Reap killing fields.  They didn’t come back.  He saw all of this with his own eyes.

Kachhel’s youngest brother was 5 years old.  He wanted to work to get a better meal.  One day he didn’t come back.  His mother, friends an himself went out in the town to look for his brother.  They found him gagged and bound but managed to bring him back to safety.

He says his experience of working with sugar cane trees saved his life.  Without that, his whole family would be dead.

After the war ended, he became a primary school teacher.

We are in absolute awe & respect of this man and people like him, who were forced to endure so much trauma, fear and torment at a very young age.  Life has been far from easy, but I pray that he will know peace, relaxation and happiness one day.

After leaving the temple, we are whisked away by car to view the River of a Thousand Lingas (officially named Kbal Spean).

Do you know what a Linga is?  No…? Nor did I!  Kachhel whispers into dad’s ear in a cheeky tone:  “it’s a penis!”

At this river, there are 1000 phaluses shaped into the river bed.  It’s interesting to know that cocky school kids aren’t the only ones who like to creatively illustrate male appendages, it’s been going on for almost 1000 years (at least!). These ones are neat little bumps dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.  I think they are believed to purify or sanctify the water as it flows downstream through the lingas.  (Sorry these don’t photograph that well).

There are some interesting patterns semi visible below the surface, but after viewing the Angkor temples yesterday, this all feels a bit ‘after the lord mayor’s show’.  I think this one is a sculpture of Vishnu.

Just a little further up a gentle hill is a blue pool which is the source of the river.  Some people are washing themselves in the water – which again is a form of spiritual cleansing.

Today, Dad has been promised a swimming opportunity by our guide, but he’ll have to wait until after lunch to do so.  Today’s lunch is at a very basic restaurant which I forgot to note the name of.  The walls contain similar wallpaper to my granny and grandad house 30 years ago, and there are thick cobwebs hanging over each of the hanging lights.  A Michelin star dining experience, this most certainly is not, but I could maybe let it slide, so long as the foods good.  Sadly by the high standards of this trip, it’s definitely in the relegation zone!  

I choose Lok Lak on the menu, following its successful debut in Phnom Penh last Sunday, but this one is incomparable.  The whole thing is stone cold, and the beef is tough. I’m chewing and chewing for several minutes.  Eventually I give up and splutter the remains from my mouth back to the plate.  It’s ok, I can wait until dinner.  

Hoping no one will notice, and trying to avoid a diplomatic incident, I cover the chewed remnants with a leaf of lettuce.  Job done!  Funny, this was one meal I didn’t take a photo of!  

We’re joined at the table by two small cats.  Sending they wouldn’t get any food from us, they scarper up a beam and into the attic.  Trust me, I was doing them a favour!

Let’s quickly move on from that.  The Kulen Waterfall is seriously impressive, and split into two levels:  upper and lower.  Mum, Kachhel and I let dad wade through the water, and just take in our surroundings.  

Beside the waterfall, I spot a large group of people enjoying a picnic lunch.  I wonder if they have any food going spare?  🤤 

A flight of stairs takes us down to the lower waterfall – but for anyone with vertigo or struggling with heights, I don’t recommend this.  Between each step is a huge gaping hole, with a sizeable drop below.  

It’s so bad, that it makes you overthink every single step.  Halfway down, I stop – almost like I have forgotten how to safely descend a flight of stairs.  But the view from the bottom is well worth the elevated blood pressure.  

There’s a lot of dadbod flesh on show here, so it’s hard to know where is safe to look.  I can even feel the spray splashing back off the waterfall, and I must be a good 50 metres away, at least!  

Dad tells me the water’s warm, but there’s a strong current and I have absolutely no intention of joining him 🙅🏻‍♂️ 

Walking back up the death stairs and through another market, we spot some T-shirts with strange text.  

It’s almost like someone has stuck a Cambodian slogan into Google translate, and got “world famous brand pop fashion institutions of our dream and hope.”  This makes absolutely no sense in English.  But I’d be curious to know what this is meant to mean.  I know it’s a wonderful tool and most of the time works very well, but that my friends is the pitfall of Google Translate

Driving back out through Phnom

Kulen, we pass a lot of security officers – at least one on every corner.  They don’t seem to be doing anything, just merely 

sitting there.  I get that this is a protected area, but surely these people could be put to better use?

When arriving back at the hotel, we’re not particularly hungry, so I suggest a round of Crazy Golf at Angkor Wat Putt.  With the prospect of a free beer for every hole in 1, it’s all to play for.  

The holes are dotted with stunning miniature recreations of the Angkor Temples, and it’s as much a visual treat as a  sporting challenge.  

Dad and I are neck and neck through the first 9 holes, with mum lagging quite far behind.  There are 14 holes in total.  Lo and behold, the old man hits a hole in 1 on 10, and aces the last 5 to secure the win.

I blame the power going out mid round for ruining my flow. 

It’s 8pm at night in the middle of November and let’s face it, this isn’t exactly physically demanding, but I am sweating profusely in the heat.  It really does get much!

A tuktuk driver returns us to Siem Reap centre and we walk around in search of dinner.  We settle on ¡Viva! Mexican restaurant and order pizzas (as you do!)

Interestingly, this restaurant claims on a banner out the front to have ‘since 2006 the best Mexican food in Asia’, and ‘sold the most frozen margaritas in Siem Reap’.  They’re quite the claims!

On the way back, I make a quick detour to the market to buy a canvaspainting for my house.  No idea how this one is getting home though!  Wish me luck!