SLIPPERY ROAD TRIP IN REMOTE CAMBODIA

It doesn't get much more remote than this

I'm riding shotgun with my faithful driver Shanghai, heading out on another road trip across northern Cambodia. We're headed to the ancient temple of Preah Vihear, which is still a conflict zone. Local news has been dominated by a recent battle there between the Cambodian Army, and the even more powerful Thailand Army. Both countries claim the old temple.

But it's far from Anlong Veng, and first I have to get there. As soon as we leave the former Khmer Rouge stronghold, the blacktop runs out, becoming bumpy dirt road. Our ride for this long haul is Shanghai's ancient rickety ’85 Toyota Corolla. Bouncing over the ruts, I ask him if we'd be better off with another vehicle.

“No problem,” Shanghai says in his heavy accent. I’m not so confident. I’ve heard some of these roads are best covered only with a 4X4.

After two hours, we swing through the junction town of Sra Em, and turn north. The countryside is flat, scattered with brush and trees. This remote region is sparsely inhabited; dotted with thatched shacks and simple stilt homes. There’s neither cell phone coverage, nor electricity. This is one of the poorest provinces of Cambodia.

Soon, it starts to rain. Shanghai has already warned that if it rains, this road gets really bad. Uh oh, I will soon find out what he means.

We start swerving, and Shanghai slows down. It’s not the ruts or potholes causing problems anymore, we're on a flat stretch. But here the road is under construction, being prepped for blacktop. Now the problem is the reddish, clayish soil. When wet, it’s like driving on snow or ice! Shanghai isn't even driving very fast, and we’re sliding and fish tailing all over the road. In all my years driving on dirt roads in poor countries, I’ve never seen anything like it!

Cambodian Army soldiers slog through the muddy road

Now I'm really worried. We pass a parked convoy of government SUV’s, and a deminer's truck. They're worried about the slick roads, so they parked their four wheel drives! And we're only in a two wheel drive, decades old Toyota Corolla. Shanghai says again, “No problem!”

The rain continues, and after sliding from one side to the other down the highway for a few kilometers, the government convoy of fancy SUV’s passes us. I can see that we’re not the only ones with traction problems. Even though they have 4X4's, they’re spinning wheels and sliding all over the road just as badly as we are. Finally a white SUV swerves sharply, nearly ending up in the ditch. Everyone stops for a few minutes. The driver slowly pulls back from the edge, and we continue.

Then the rain worsens. Uh oh. As Shanghai shifts gears, the Corolla stalls. Then it won’t start!

“No problem,” Shanghai says again, repeating one of his few complete English phrases. With the rain still pouring down, he gets out, pops the hood, and the trunk. I breathe a sigh of relief; he’s brought a spare battery.

But my relief doesn't last long. He hooks up the spare, and turns over the engine. It doesn’t start! That extra battery isn’t powerful enough either. Now we’re really in a fix. Those other SUV's we were tailing are now long gone. We’ll be here a while. I won't make it to Preah Vihear.

Then a white pickup stops behind us. They’re Cambodian Army! Shanghai talks to them, and they agree to give us a jump start. They pull up next to us, almost hitting our car from the slick road. Out come the jumper cables, the Toyota breathe to life, and we’re off again.

Troops on a truck head for the temple

We round a hilly curve near bridge construction, to find more ruts and puddles, and soon we’re stuck in a rut.

“Uh oh,” he says. We’ve had lots of 'uh ohs' today; we’re really stuck this time. But he quickly slams into reverse and guns it. The engine whines as we inch back, wheels spinning, mud spitting in front of us. Then he slams it into first, and slowly, the Corolla climbs the small hill, up and over. I clap my hands in applause. Shanghai laughs. I love this car.

Driving on we pass Cambodian soldiers lugging heavy packs trudging along in the rain. An overloaded pickup truck passes, packed with more soldiers in combat fatigues. They are all headed for the temple. We pass several Cambodian Army bases, some with buildings, others with tents. More are under construction. I see Russian, Chinese, and US made army trucks parked in makeshift shelters. We're getting close.

I spot bunkers made of dirt and logs. I wonder why they aren’t manned, until I see signs warning of landmines. Nearby trees have red marks painted on them, another common warning for mines. There is still a lot of demining needed here.

The rain reduces to a sprinkle, and Shanghai points to a far off ridge, saying, “There it is.” A tree covered ridgeline known as the Dangkrek Mountains rises off the horizon. At the highest point, 550 meters up atop a cliff, is the Preah Vihear temple.

Arriving at my destination - the Dangrek Mountains

We arrive at the village of Kor Muy near the bottom of the mountain ridge. Kor Muy doesn’t have much to offer visitors except a few simple guesthouses and primitive restaurants. It’s a ramshackle village, built in the shadow of Preah Vihear. Shanghai says this is as far as he will go; I think he's afraid of more shooting up by the temple.

We climb out of the old Corolla, to find its silver color has turned brown. Speckles of dirt and clumps of mud cover the car from one end to the other. I'm thankful; somehow, it got me here.

Since the fire fights started between the Khmers and the Thai Army, all of the tourists and many of the villagers left. Still, the village population has increased five fold, from the arrival of Cambodian Army reinforcements.

I look up at the ridgeline, and wonder if there will be more gunfire today. Should I continue on? I've come a long way to get here, and it's a long way back. 

I'm heading up. 

(*NOTE*- This post was written several years ago when the temple conflict occurred.)

THE VIETNAM - CHINA BORDER

Rugged mountains line the border of Vietnam and China

I’m where few tourists venture: in the far north of Vietnam, way beyond Hanoi. Trudging up a hill I pass a line of trucks, idle as they await loads of commercial cargo. Hammocks hang from the undercarriage beneath a parked truck. With hours to kill, two drivers are sleeping in the shade, their sandals on the curb beside them. Continuing, I walk towards the pass ahead. The air is thin up here; this region is full of rugged mountains. On both sides of this roadway, green mountain ridges reach for the skies.

Walking past a guard post I reach a roadside building, where a stray dog shuffles around meekly. Just ahead, a red and white gate post has been lowered down across the road, blocking passage from both directions. A sign next to me says, “Passport Control Exit”. 

I can go no farther. Beyond that barrier, is the People’s Republic of China. 

2 drivers sleep in hammocks beneath their truck at border

This quiet crossing is ‘Friendship Pass’, near Dong Dang, a border town in the extreme north of Vietnam. Back in 1979 this pass was anything but friendly, when the Red Army of China poured south across this border crossing, in a punitive invasion of their former communist ally. Vietnam and their mammoth northern neighbor had renewed their centuries old rivalry. Unknown to the western public, firefights along this mountainous border had already begun to erupt as early as 1974, before Vietnam’s war in the south had even ended. From then on, confrontations across this border increased.

Tensions also grew between the two over Vietnam’s opression of their ethnic Chinese minority. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese fled Vietnam as refugees. Many that had been forced from their villages in the north, passed through this border as they fled to China. 


The final act that infuriated the Chinese government, was Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia, caused by the Khmer Rouge’s massacre of Vietnamese civilians in the south. As murderous as the Khmer Rouge were, they were still China's allies. As Deng Xiaoping himself said, China wouldn't allow Vietnam, “to go swashbuckling in Laos, Cambodia, or even in the Chinese border areas.” Deng warned that

Vietnamese soldier in Lang Son '79 (Photo:Vtn archive)

China was going, “to teach Vietnam a lesson.”

That lesson was to be taught by the Chinese Army, which sent 200,000 troops into Vietnam. They pushed southward all across the rugged border. This pass was the most strategic invasion point, since Hanoi is less than 100 miles away down the highway.

When this border war began, some westerners could hardly contain their glee. Two major communist armies were at war, and they weren’t fighting the west, they were fighting each other! The Vietnamese Army had taken weapons given to them by China, and turned them back on the Chinese. Although both countries were communist, the rocky relationship between China and Vietnam has its roots from back before communism existed. In centuries past, China occupied and dominated Vietnam for nearly 1,000 years, until the Vietnamese finally forced them out to regain their independence in the 10th century. The two countries have never liked each other since. 

While Mao Tse Tung was alive, China was glad to supply Vietnam with weapons and aid during the war years, in order to take on the Americans. But it was

Chinese POW's captured in Vietnam '79 (Photo:Vtn archive)

really a relationship of convenience. After the US withdrew and Vietnam became friendly with the USSR, Sino-Viet relations quickly soured. Before long the old adversaries were fighting again. Initially having the edge in their invasion, the Chinese advanced south and laid siege to Lang Son, the provincial capital I passed through on my way here. After taking that city on the 17th day of the campaign, the Chinese surprisingly announced their mission 'completed', and that they were returning to China. As they retreated, they destroyed almost everything of use on Vietnamese territory. All bridges were blown, and village after village went up in flames. In nearby Dong Dang, just about every building in town was destroyed. 

Although material losses in Vietnam were high, the Chinese Army still got the worst of the fighting. China had underestimated the Vietnamese military; already experienced and battle hardened from fighting the US for years. The invading Chinese soldiers on the other hand, had little combat experience. Their last major invasion had been in 1950's Korea.

When the last Chinese tank retreated north across the border, the month long war was over. Both sides claimed victory. As both countries guarded their casualty numbers, a reliable count of those killed was never made public. Estimates ranged from 30,000 dead, to as high as 90,000. Most analysts believe that the casualties of the Chinese Army were far higher than the Vietnamese.

Whatever ‘lesson’ the Chinese wanted to teach the Vietnamese, it remained unlearned. Vietnam didn’t withdraw from Cambodia, and remained there for another decade. Vietnam’s oppression of their ethnic Chinese minority also continued, and 300,000 of them still live as refugees in China today. They are unlikely to return.

Lang Son 1979, destroyed in Chinese invasion(Photo:Vtn archive)

Lang Son today

As for this contested border, the fighting didn’t stop after Red Army troops crossed into China. Occasional firefights and artillery duels between the two angry neighbors continued across this border well into the 1980’s. Finally, as Vietnam withdrew its troops from Cambodia in the waning days of the cold war, the frontier finally quieted. 

Dong Dang border crossing; past red & white gate is China

Peace has been good to both countries, but China continues to be Vietnam's greatest fear. On my way here from Hanoi, our bus passed a couple Vietnamese army bases. I spotted two sets of anti-aircraft guns visible, and both were pointed north, towards China.

The simmering antagonism towards the Chinese continues. I once had a taxi driver in Hanoi, who told me that he liked Americans, but hated the Chinese. He said it would be good for the Vietnamese and the US to join up, and together win a war against China. Now there’s a scary thought.

Fortunately, these two old communist countries found capitalism more profitable than conflict, and relations are far improved. Friendship Pass is now the busiest border crossing between the two former foes, and trade between the two is booming, increasing year after year. There are even trains crossing Friendship Pass. Twice a week, a train boards in Hanoi and after clearing customs at this border, it continues all the way to Beijing. 

Trucks line up at border; Vietnam - China trade is booming

A major thorn in their bilateral relations has also been removed; defining where the border actually is. After 10 years of work, and with help from the Global Positioning System, demarcation of the border was finally completed in 2009.  The Sino -Viet border is finally defined and accepted by both sides.

This border has long been quiet, but Beijing and Hanoi still find land to argue over. Political rhetoric continues over possession of the Spratly and Paracel Islands, where Vietnam and China last fought each other out at sea in 1988. If there is ever another war in Vietnam, it will probably be with their powerful northern neighbor in a fight over undersea resources. 

Today relations continue on a positive trend, and business ties between Vietnam and China have never been stronger. Perhaps the profits of peace will keep this border from ever heating up again. The Vietnamese have endured so many wars, over so many years. Hopefully they have embarked on something that they haven’t had in centuries: a long era of peace.