Cambodia

For this stage of the blog we should probably change the name from ‘Bitches be tripping’ to ‘Bitches and co be tripping’ as our whole trip through Cambodia was accompanied by Elton and Peter. We had actually pretty much travelled the majority of Laos with Elton, meeting in Vang Vieng while tubing and again later when we were at 4000 islands. We met Peter for two seconds at the waterfall in Luang Prabang and then again in 4000 islands..little did we know what an impression he’d make! If two slightly hyperactive and highly excitable Irish lassies traveling together wasn't enough trouble, throw a gangster Canadian cracker (Elton) and a crazy "hello kitty" loving German (Peter) into the mix and we had quite the crew. Peters translations directly from German to English leading to many legendary quotes and the introduction to some new songs such as " you put it in the wrong whole" were definitely a highlight of trip. Look this song up its a guaranteed howl :)

So the two of us and our newly found friends, very groggy from the bus ride, arrived at the hostel in Siem Reap to find that there was no rooms available. We were supposed to arrive at 9pm but in true Asia style it was past three in the morn before we got there. We were planning to go to Angkor Wat (our wonder of the world for this week!) at sunrise the next morning but decided we might as well suck it up, stay awake and just go now. A couple of coffees, or in Peters case a hot chocolate (we should have known then he was a pussy!) and we had a new lease of life. We watched the sunrise at the main temple and WOW is all we can say. The photos speak from themselves, it was so striking. Our morning was spent in the tuk tuk going from temple to temple until we were all templed out. Our favourite temple has to be the tomb raider temple, where the roots of trees are wound around the structures. After running around Lara Croft style with our finger guns at the ready for any photo ops that may arise, the lack of sleep had eventually caught up with us- Time for a power nap!

The afternoon was spent in the markets, which are a crazy mix of shoes, clothes, live fish, chickens and creepy crawlies, pungent smells, noise and some more live animals. We may have gone overboard on the shoes, but every good international traveler must have at least six or seven pairs of sandals, now where they were going to fit in the backpack was another issue. Luckily in true Asian style/quality most of them broke within the week and this was never an issue. As it was full moon party time in Thailand we decided we would hit pub street that night for our own mini full moon party- Just getting practice in for after xmas. Boozed up and body painted to the nines off we went, buck wild is the only way to describe us that night! We tried to destroy the evidence but Elton was on hand to publicise our shenanigans! Thanks for that! Let's just say there was a lot of hair whipping, crazy dancing and singing ( even the local shop keepers were serenaded).

Our next stop was Sihanoukville at the bottom of the country and like we had several times before, we got the overnight bus. In what is probably the most terrifying experience of our lives, four hours into the journey our driver who had been falling asleep hit into a parked truck while overtaking a car and swerved the bus across the road, crashing into piles of rice bags that were stacked along the roadside. Tragically the impact of hitting the rice bags, crushed the front of the bus killing two crew members. May they rest in peace. The majority of the details about how the crashed happened we got from one girl who was awake and sitting up the front of the bus and had witnessed the whole thing. Our beds were further back and we were asleep. With the initial impact we were flung from our bunks and were woken by smacking our heads off the roof. The next 20 seconds as we swerved across the road, not knowing where we were or what was going on were the longest seconds of our lives. Even worse was the panic afterwards, with the screaming of the men who had been hurt, windows being smashed, people fainting. What would have happened if we hadn’t hid the rice bags and if the bus had turned over doesn’t bare thinking about. Luckily the majority of us escaped with nothing more than bruises and cuts. In tough times, you see peoples true character and two people were amazing that night. We don’t know either of their names and never met them again, but an elderly English man who guided us out of the bus, making sure we didn’t see the extent of the mens injuries and then lifted us off the bus and a young german guy who sat with the crew members while they died will forever be remembered by us.

Unfortunately crashes like this are common place in Cambodia and the bus company barely batted an eyelid at the news, just shipping us onto another bus. Needless to say everyone was terrified and didn’t sleep a wink. We eventually made it to Sihanoukville, and stayed at the quiet beach front where we took time out to wrap our heads around what had happened and how lucky we were.

For the next few days, we were all in a dream like state and spent our time lying on the beach in the day, and at night going through a routine of playing kings in one bar, heading to the next for pizza and then to Richie's bar for more beer or in Annie's case Mai Tai's. There were so many Mai Tai's consumed on the first night we got there, that the name on her tab was Mai Tai girl! Elton on the other was known as Korean, Japanese guy. Sherry was known as Sherry (shes world famous!). You can’t mention Richie's without mentioning Taka, the barman who not only is the nicest man you’ll ever meet but he can make a mean Mai tai and sing every verse of Seven drunken nights- Legend! The last night before we left the four of us along with Elton's friends who had been traveling through Vietnam and our new addition to the crew, Jarred (who travelled with us through Vietnam) gave Richie's the send of of all send offs. Tabs should be illegal, its just not fair giving drunken people free beer! Damn you Riches. Also for everyone's future reference ten in a tuk tuk just ain't comfortable :)

Time to get back to reality, we left Sihanoukville and headed to Phnom Penh, the capitol. Going to the killing fields, one of many mass graves throughout Cambodia, a result of the genocide (That only happened 30 years ago), was a very eerie experience. Listening to the life accounts of some of the survivors and how they families were killed and they lived in famine conditions for years was numbing. Its hard to believe that this atrocity happened so recently. While we sang in the tuk tuk on the way to the fields, we definitely weren’t on the way home. 

Despite the tragedy of the bus crash, its fair to save we made the most of our time in Cambodia, well under the circumstances anyways. We had great company, great times, met brilliant new people and definitely got some perspective. On to Vietnam next with along with Elton, Peter, Jarred (the worst kings player ever!) and our new perspective! The first stop was Ho chi Minh city, known for being one of the craziest, busiest cities in the world..a far cry from the sleepy world of Richies bar! Eeek gonna be a shock to the system!