Taking a Break from Diving in Cambodia

Aquanauts internships are not just about diving, they’re about having an enjoyable time in a far-away, exotic part of the world. We encourage everyone to take some time away from diving and see the sights in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Earlier this month, four of intrepid interns did just that, heading out for a tour of Cambodia.

What follows are excepts of intern Grant Cauley’s first-hand dispatch to his friends and family and some great photos.

The first morning “we boarded a boat and took it along the coast to Sihnoukville, where we spent the next three nights. There was a little exploring of the town but mostly we hung out at the beach supporting the local bar industry.

After dealing with a cab drivers scam in the middle of nowhere, we got to Kampot, home of the best pepper in the world! We hired a tuk-tuk to take us out to the caves so we could see a 7th century Hindu temple inside one of the caves.

Figuring that we were just going to walk a few steps into the cave and see the temple I was wearing sandals. When we got there our driver/guide told us about another cave and asked if we wanted to explore it. Duh… After going into a few caverns my sandals decided to have a blowout. Barefoot spelunking! At this point we were fairly deep into the system and my flashlight kept losing its connection. The passage from one cavern to the next kept getting tighter and tighter.

Eventually our guide pointed at a hole and I just started laughing. Since I was the largest in the group I was volunteered to go first(after our guide who is half my size). Lying on my stomach I pulled and pushed my way through a crevice that if it was any tighter I would have needed lubrication. We made it through and then saw the temple.

The next day we took a very bumpy ride in the back of a pickup through Boker National Park. We went through an abandoned town that was a French resort and then became a stronghold for the Khmer Rouge. Saw the old kings residence, went on a short hike through the jungle and finished the trip with a boat ride down the river.

Next stop, Phnom Penh. First things first, I need new sandals; Goretex hiking boots are a little warm to be worn when you don’t need them. At the market there were a bunch of stalls that sell just sandals, but not for 6’4″ westerners. One of the shopkeepers looked at my feet, laughed, and turned around before I could even tell him my size. Finally I found a pair of imitation Nike soccer sandals that almost fit.

Complete with new footwear we headed to the National Museum. Then we spent the next day learning about one of the most horrific events that humankind has witnessed. The regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. First we went to Tuel Sleng, otherwise known as the S-21 prison. This is where the prisoners were kept and tortured before being brought to the killing fields.

Exact numbers are impossible to obtain because the Khmer Rouge destroyed all government records but estimates range from 750,000 to 2,000,000 million people that died as a result of the genocide performed by the Khmer Rouge.

We headed out to the killing fields. When you first get there you see a large memorial stupa. As you get closer you realize that there are layers of skulls lining the inside of the stupa. 17 layers of over 8,000 skulls because the Khmer Rouge gained power on April 17th, 1975. Needless to say we were all in a pretty somber mood after that.

The next morning it was back to the shops where it took about an hour to find sandals that fit. $2 later I had a pair of very ugly flops. Then I strolled the grounds of the royal palace. Our final stop in Cambodia was Siem Reap, home of the famous temples of Angkor and a fun little bar scene. We did a couple of sunrises at the temples and a whole lot of temple touring. The first day we started at 5am and didn’t head back until 3pm. Amazing temples. Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Ta Keo, Preah Khan, and a whole lot more over the course of 3 days. It turned out to be one hell of a good trip.