ANDYBROUWER.CO.UK
CAMBODIA
TALES 2003 - DEC
Return
to Kampot
more photos to
follow
Cambodia
here we come, trip number ten beckoned in December 2003. On the
flight out from England, I chatted to Kerry from Romford who was
on her way to Australia and we had a coffee when we touched down
at Kuala Lumpur before going our separate ways. I was met by
Phalla and five of the younger girls from the Tuol Kauk family
when I arrived at Pochentong, and driven to the Dara Reang Sey
hotel in Phnom Penh, to be greeted warmly by Reangsey and her new
baby. Also staying at the Dara were Don from the Lazy Mango 
bookshop as well as Val and
Jane, who'd helped out at my last Magic event, back in England.
All three of us were invited to the Tuol Kauk house for a welcome
party and Phalla returned at 5pm to collect us. We enjoyed a
massive feast, at least twenty-five people came and went during
the evening's festivities including Ara and Lina who'd arrived
back from Sihanoukville in time, and we rounded off a great night
with tikaloks on Monivong Boulevard. The next morning the three
of us shared a taxi to Kampot, 150kms to the south, leaving at
8am from the Damkor market, stopping off at Prasat Neang Khmau
for a photo with the monks and to show Val and Jane the two old
brick towers located just off the main road. We also had to wait
while a house, yes a house, was carried across the main highway
on wheels! We made Kampot by 11.30am and met Dara at the
taxi-stop as arranged - Dara had been recommended as a guide and
is a fountain of knowledge - before a fresh-prawn lunch at the
home of Kong and Naisim, family friends I knew from a previous
trip. Also joining us was Ann, a teacher I met at Tima's wedding
in January. I booked into the Kampot guesthouse ($10 for fan and
shower) before returning to Kong's house at 2pm.
Over
lunch I'd asked Kong to take me to visit the burial stupa of my
close friend Sok Thea, who died in 2000 and he was very happy to
accommodate my request. I'd made a promise to Thea's family in
Phnom Penh that 
I would pay a visit to his stupa, and the pagoda at
Wat Kabal Romeas, was a six kilometre ride on the road towards
Kep. The stupa was a colourful affair just behind the main vihara
and within sight of Thea's actual birthplace just a few hundred
metres away, and despite the crowd of children that descended
upon is, it was an emotional reunion for me. I'm not usually one
for sentiment, but Thea's enthusiasm, adventurous spirit and
friendship had been a metaphor for my love of his country and its
people and I will always miss his presence. I was really pleased
to say hello to my friend again. I was back in Kampot by 3.30pm
and took a ride around town with Dara, and his Dutch girlfriend
Henrika, stopping off at the derelict city hall, where we found a
mountain of abandoned official papers and a rusty hand-gun. Dara
reminded me that the nearby Governor's house was used in the
recent Matt Dillon movie, City of Ghosts, as we headed out to the
Tek Chhou rapids eight kilometres outside of town for a paddle in
the refreshing water. We met up with Jane and Val, who were
enjoying a swim, before returning to the riverfront in town to
watch the sun set across the river and to meet a few high school
students who stopped to say hello. For our evening meal, we
walked to the Ta Ouv restaurant, out on silts over the river,
with the local bug population for company, though the sweet and
sour chicken was pleasant enough. Tikaloks at one of the drinks
stalls on Bridge street rounded off the evening, though I lost my
bearings walking back to the guesthouse and the walk took forty
minutes instead of ten! I arrived back at the Kampot GH just
after 10pm, annoyed with myself as I'm usually very good with
directions, even in the pitch-black darkness.
Day 2 in Kampot began with an omelette breakfast and
at 7am I was collected by my moto-driver for the day, Chok, with
whom I was going to investigate at least three cave sites where
in Angkorean times, temples were erected in the cave itself.
Extremely unusual but very intriguing. My research showed that
the farthest one away was near the town of Tuk Meas so that was
our first target. Taking the Kep road, we forked left at the
white horse and took an hour to reach Kompong Trach, before
taking a left turn at the Kanthor health centre and carrying onto
Tuk Meas, which we reached at 9am, with Phnom Trotung as our
actual destination. The hill was another twenty minutes away,
over the main railway line where we declined the offer to ride
the 'rail-lorry' back to Kompong Trach, though I was sorely
tempted. This platform on wheels is propelled by a small outboard
motor engine and is a neat way for the locals to travel between
destinations on the railway line. They just have to remember to
dismantle it when the train is due. The guys at the cement
factory directed us to the monk's houses and the first of the 200
steps up the hillside leading to the cave entrance. Phnom Trotung
is the easiest of the caves to visit, with a couple of steps
before you see the modern shrine, immediately behind which is the
square brick tower, in remarkably good condition, accompanied by
the squeal and flapping of the many bats who share the cave. With
my torch I could see a large stalactite descending into the top
of the tower, which didn't have any decorative carvings, though a
well-worn lintel sat on the floor near the doorway. I guessed the
lintel style to be around the seventh century. We returned to Tuk
Meas and Chok took a supposed shortcut before realising he'd
taken the wrong route and we backtracked, before reaching Phnom
Khyang an hour later. The hill was behind a school and we
scrambled up the slippery slope to the mouth of the cave and
descended the rickety ladder into the darkness. We then had to
squeeze through a gap in the rock and into a larger cavern where
the brick temple in immaculate condition, was standing. Whilst I
couldn't see any carving, there were recesses built inside the
tower wall for offerings. I climbed out of the sweltering hot
cave and rested at the village school nearby, handing out sweets
to some of the children brave enough to say hello.
Riding
into Kompong Trach at noon, before stopping for a bite to eat we
visited Wat Kirisan at the foot of a rocky limestone outcrop. The
resident monks were eating their lunch so Sovan and three small
children, guided us through a series of caves into an open green
space in the hollow centre of the outcrop, with a reclining
buddha in one corner and rock formations in the other,
accompanied by a myriad of bird-calls. The formations Sovan
explained to Chok, who translated as best he could, were in the
shape of a huge fish, an elephant and a monkey. There were also
musical stalactites, which resonated when struck and rock
patterns that resembled one hundred small rice fields. I didn't
have the heart to disagree. After some noodles in a Kompong Trach
eatery, we raced back towards Kampot dodging a series of
road-widening schemes, turning off the main road near a Cham
fishing village and travelled five kilometres before parking up
in a house and walking through rice fields to the foot of another
limestone hill. It turned 3pm as we climbed the 200 steps to the
wide cavern entrance that led down to a large brick temple, where
a Khmer family were lighting incense sticks and playing
traditional music on a battery-powered radio. The prasat inside
Phnom Chhouk was in good condition with some detailed carving on
the walls and half a lintel in situ, with a large stalactite
growing into the roof of the temple.
Back in Kampot a little after 4pm, I stopped at
Kong's home to practice English with his young daughter Soriya
and then had an ice-cold drink at the Bokor Mountain Club before
I sat on a bench on the riverfront to watch the sun set across
the river. At various times I was joined by Watha, a primary
school-teacher and Socheat, a photography shop-worker, who asked
me all the usual questions. I was then joined by Jane and Val at
the Prochim Mith restaurant, with Dara and Henrika also arriving,
and then enjoyed tikaloks at the stall of Nee, of the gorgeous
smile and tasty fruitshakes. Val and Jane were great company and
it was a pleasure to spend time with them before their departure
to Kep the next day, and I recommend Nee's stall on Bridge street
for the best tikalok in Kampot. First thing the next morning, Ann
popped round to my guesthouse to see me off at 7.30am,
apologising for not joining us the previous evening, as my
share-taxi collected me for the three hour ride back to Phnom
Penh. Back in the city, I visited Sopheap and his wife Serey and
child Sottary at their home in the southern part of the city,
before a jacket potato at The Rising Sun pub served by the lovely
Samnang. Excellent food and excellent company. Say hello to
Samnang next time you're in the Rising Sun and definitely try out
the pub grub. At the Dara, I had a chat with Reangsey and her
husband Srun before bed at 10.30pm, ready for my trip to the far
north of the country early next day.
Here's links to the rest of my Cambodia
Tales:
Cambodia Tales
Cambodia Tales 2
December 2003 marked my tenth trip to
Cambodia since my first-ever visit in 1994. It's a country
that has a special magic all of its own and which draws me
back every year to venture out into the Cambodian countryside
in search of new adventures, ancient temples and to catch up
with the friends I've made from previous visits. Each trip is
full of laughter, smiles and a host of fresh experiences and
my latest expedition was no exception.
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