Because our team (Bam Bam Bigelow) was technically a school sponsored sport we were lucky enough to leave for Cambodia a day before spring break actually started. We showed up in Cambodia on Thursday night and had the night and next day to explore while we waited for our friends to show up. Upon arrival Renae was already at the 'German' bar across the street and we joined her for some beer towers and ear-numbing spicy food. From there we headed out on the town and hit up some shady hooker bars, including one in which Brad accompanied the music on a set of drums. The next day we grabbed lunch on the Mekong, went to the Russian Market and got massages. That night we went out again, met up with some other teams, but were back at the hotel at a relatively decent hour and generally got enough sleep to function in the tournament the next day. The other teams were all really laid-back and fun. Everybody there pretty much as much for the drinking and hanging as for the rugby.
The next morning we woke up early, grabbed a few tuk-tuks and headed to the field. It was a small pitch hidden behind a local school with a tent set up next to us. The air was about 104, with heat index near 114 and humidity about 99%. It was brutal. We were all so used to the dry heat that the humidity was killing us. Everybody was stripping down and using huge chunks of ice to try and keep themselves cool. We were a little shaky in our first game and ended up tying the local team. After that we got our stuff together and won the rest of our games. Unfortunately due to the tie, we only got second place but once we got on our roll, we definitely looked like the best team there. Everybody played really well and despite how hot it was, we all seemed to have a good time.
After the tournament we went back (I got a life-saving massage after the 5 games) showered, relaxed in and around the pool and then headed out to the social gathering right down from our hotel. The teams at the social were nice enough to recognize us for traveling so far for a 1-day tournament and signed a banner for us, presented our trophy and even gave Renae the female MVP award. After the social we headed to a few other establishments and ended up in a chlamydia infested escort bar singing karaoke at 3am on a Sunday. (At this point I can't even remember if it was the same night or not, but I do remember being at that karaoke bar before we said goodbye to Nicole.)
The day after the tournament we headed to see the Killing Fields and S-21, a school that was used for imprisonment and torture during the Khmer Rouge reign. The killing fields were extremely sobering and powerful. I'll never forget the sight of human bones popping-up out of the ground and a huge tower filled with skulls of the deceased. S-21 still had the remnants of blood on the floor below bed frames used for torture and still has the 1mx2m wooden and brick confinement cells still standing. After another sobering tour we met and purchased a book from, one of the remaining survivors from S-21.
Following Phnom Penh most of us headed up to Siem Reap to see the ruins in the area. As far as ruins go, Angkor Wat has always been something I wanted to see and it definitely did not disappoint. It was enormous, and even more impressive was the water-works dug around the temples including huge reservoirs and canals. It was so ridiculously hot in Cambodia during April that we could pretty much only make it for about 4-5 hours of sight-seeing each day before we need to go cool off and relax. Despite the heat, we still saw a dozen or more different sites including a nice riverbed-carving site that was only accessible after a short hike into the forest.
The most memorable moment for me there was not watching the sun rise of Angkor Wat but actually just enjoying a beer at one of the vendors inside the park as the sun set. By hanging out at one of the restaurants we were able to avoid all the calls for departure and got to stay around after everybody left.
The nights in Siem Reap were spent downtown on Bar Street with some $0.75 drafts, some karaoke and lots of fish tanks. Whenever we felt a little hot, we would go sit at one of the exfoliating fish tanks where for $2 you get a beer and a 30 minute soak in the tank as the fish nibble the dead skin off your feet. The fish felt really odd at first, but I got used to it after a few minutes and then just enjoyed the beer and the cooling water. Siem Reap is a pretty cool town with a great mixture of historic sites, nightlife and shopping. I would definitely like to get back to Cambodia at some point and see a little more of the country side and may hit up the beach as well. It's another country I could see myself living in.