Into Cambodia

This morning I joined a different tour group to complete the final stage of my journey to Phnom Penh. I was left at a dock in the town by the last group and was soon met by another. This one was smaller still than the previous one- a female guide and two men, Kai, a sunburnt German man, and the other a retired London banker who had gone to travel the world on his corrupt riches. Not that he introduced himself like that. They too were travelling to Phnom Penh and I would be crossing the border into Cambodia with them.

First on the the itinerary was a visit to a fish farm in a floating village, a short journey by boat from the dock. Around four hundred houses made up this village, built on individual rafts on the water. Many of these were fish farms, and we visited one of them. Inside this floating building we saw fish food being prepared in huge quantities. This is a grey-brown paste made out of a mixture of ingredients including sweet potato and spinach. I saw it being pulled out of the machine, dumped onto the floor and rolled into steaming balls the size of a head, to cool. The smell was awful. There were also square gaps in the floor so visitors could see the fish flopping about in the water below. Just as yesterday's guide had done at the orchard, we threw dry pellets into the water to see the fish wriggle and fight noisily at the surface. I had to stand well back to avoid the arcs of water thrown into the air by the strong beats of their tails. Our guide gave us the dimensions of the building and the depth of the water (approx 15 metres), and estimated that there were 120,000 fish beneath the property. Later we saw a boat that is used to transport fish. It had a deep hollow bottom with wire grill windows on the sides. When filled with fish it sinks low into the water, keeping the fish alive. They will then be sold live at markets.

A little further along the river we paid a visit to a Cham family who weave scarves. The Cham people are an ethnic minority group in South East Asia that originate from Malaysia and follow Islam. We balanced along a bridge made of planks raised above the water to reach the house. It was a large house that was the home to three generations, from the old man with a long beard who wore a sarong and smoked a cigar, to the cheeky little girl dressed in pink who skipped across the house and climbed over the loom used for weaving scarves, showing off to the visitors. At one point she got stuck inside the loom, her dress caught on a nail along a wooden beam. The woman working the machine, who may have been her mother, told her off and we watched in dread of a horrible accident happening. But the girl untangled herself and slowly shuffled back along the beam, hopped onto the ground and skipped off.

From here it was a long and leisurely journey along the river on the way to Cambodia. I had been offered the opportunity to travel by speed boat for an additional $15, but I was in no hurry. The boat driver relaxed and smoked, steering occasionally with his foot. It was a really beautiful and peaceful journey and the life we saw along the riverbanks was a fascinating glimpse of the rural Mekong Delta. After two or three hours we boarded the customs building at the Cambodian border. Our passports were checked and we had an hour for lunch. The rest of the journey was done by bus, another three hours with occasional stops, firstly to go through the police check points at the border, and later to pick up hitch-hikers along the road. We were dropped off at a 'bus station' outside of the city centre, which seemed to be a road with lots of parked buses on either side. Here a tuk-tuk driver met us (possibly part of a pre-arranged agreement) and agreed to take the three of us to our separate places for $2 each. Now, I was not quite sure where I was going. The tour I booked was meant to take me to the Sinh Cafe travel agents in Phnom Penh, and I slowly realised as we drew into the city that we would not be taken there, as the group I was now with were not travelling with Sinh Cafe. I had hoped that from there I could collect some tourist information and be advised on a good hotel. As it is low-season I was told there was no need to book in advance. I asked the tuk-tuk driver to take me to Sinh Cafe, but he warned against it and showed me on a map how far away it was from the riverside where most of the budget hotels are. I had no way of knowing if he was being truthful or not, but I went with it, and he agreed to take me to the riverside so I could look for a hotel. On the way to drop off the Londoner (I don't know his name), he stopped outside a hotel and tried to persuade me to go there, but he was clearly doing so for his own benefit, for a tip-off from the owner, and so I told him I would stay at the same youth hostel as Kai was headed to. But when we arrived there it looked to be quite far out of town. I probably should have gone for it, but at the time I decided to go to the river front area as I still had my $2 of the journey left. He took me in a long circle and back to the same hotel he had tried earlier. "Here very good!". I was annoyed, especially as I'd given him the name of a hotel that'd been recommended to me, but he wouldn't take me there. In the end I agreed to look around this one, and it is fine and costs $10 a night, which seems to be fairly standard for the area. I checked in for one night to see how things go. I may decide I'd rather be at a youth hostel in order to meet some people. Most of all I regret my lack of preparation which got me into a situation where I could easily be ripped-off. When paying for my room in dollars half of my change was given back to me in the local currency, Riel, and I had no option but to trust that it was the amount he said it was (I've checked, and fortunately his conversion was accurate).

After a few hours relaxing in the room I went out for something to eat. I was surprised that it was still complete daylight at 5.30, but after a brief visit to a bookshop I came back into the street to see it has suddenly begun to turn dark. I also happened to bump into the Londoner from my trip today. He was sat outside a bar having a beer with some friends, unmistakeable in his bright pink shirt. Of course, his hotel was right next to mine. I would be grateful not to bump into him too often while I'm here. I walked along the river front as the clouds turned to a dark blue. I got lucky with my choice of restaurant- I went for the Sinh Foo restaurant because of the persuasion of the waitresses and the cheap prices. On their recommendation, I ate Amok, a fish cocunut curry with rice. It was absolutely delicious and cost me only $4. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Phnom Penh on a budget. I felt very lonely this evening but the tasty food and an Angkor beer cheered me up. On the way back I was very surprised to meet Kai again. It must be a small city!