Siem Reap, Phanom Phen, Cambodia

Let’s Go Cambodia… Much the same as most of our travels have been so far, this one too was quite long. We were picked up from a travel agency near our hotel first thing in the morning and then driven to the border at Cambodia. No trip is ever very direct in Thailand and there are always many stops along the way. Needless to say it took us much longer than was necessary to arrive in Cambodia. Once at the border there were three excruciating check stops that were outside and very hot. With our now very large backpacks and our two new additional front packs we were melting in line and the fun continued as we then had to wait for a different bus that would take us from the border to Siem Reap. For some reason after waiting for the bus and everyone to get through the various checkpoints the organizer then decided to put Stijn, myself and one other guy in a taxi rather than on the bus- despite the driver picking up several people en route this turned out to save us a few hours as the people on the bus didn’t arrive until much later.

When we finally arrived we had just enough energy to arrange for a tour guide and a driver for Angkor Wat the following morning and grab something to eat before heading to our hotel room for some much needed rest.

We met our tour guide at 5 a.m. the next morning in order to be able to capture the amazing sunrise at the main temple at Angkor Wat. It was a magnificent sight to see- as the sun creeps up from behind the ancient temple slowly revealing itself to you, nature comes to life. Crickets sprung into high gear and it was as if we were transported into an auditorium where they were singing just for us. The viewing area is filled with people though everyone appeared to be just as enchanted as we were so aside from the shutters of camera and the birds and crickets, there wasn’t much noise. The early start turned out to be great and allowed us to stay ahead of the large crowds of tourists later in the afternoon that typically return to bed after the sunrise- and even more importantly, it saved us from being outside too much in the hotter hours of the day. The heat and humidity is almost crippling as it is the height of summer here and even with the early start, we were still dripping with sweat before 9 a.m.

Angkor Wat has several sections- all of which are truly amazing. For those who have been there they’ll understand when I say that words simply won’t do it justice. Most of the awe-inspiring temples were built in and around the twelfth century though some were built even earlier in the ninth. As an offering of good karma many of the buildings have buried gold at the entrances and in some cases surrounding the building on all four sides. Sadly during civil war much of these treasures were stolen along with a good portion of the statue heads and sold on the black market. Today there is much higher security as a result but Stijn was enchanted with the idea of prospecting for gold and I’m certain heard very little of the history after the word gold was mentioned!

Having our personal guide was fantastic and allowed us to move at our own pace. We were able to see all of the most famous temples, including the one that Angelina Jolie jumped out of in the movie Tomb Raider, which also happens to be famous for the giant Banyan trees that are growing within the building itself. Many of the structures were being repaired which is a constant effort in the area as well as many excavation sites as they continue to find new buildings and artefacts. It was amazing to see how they could put together intricately carved stones back together in their original position.

Following the tour at Angkor Wat we went to an art school that teaches local children traditional skills such as wood carving, silk weaving, gold leaf painting, etc., that are used to make a lot of the souvenir’s that people buy in the area. We were taken on a tour through the various shops where the students were practicing their crafts- many of the students have special needs and the majority of them are from rural areas. The skills that the students learn here enable them to remain in their villages and provide for their families while at the same time slow the rate of urbanization. At the end of the tour we were able to see all the final products many of which were truly amazing and best of all completely authentic.

Following the art school we had a far less authentic experience when we hired a boat to take us to the local floating village as the guide recommended. Many families, most of which are poor Vietnamese immigrants, live on small boats with shanty roofing. There are floating schools, churches and even community water stations but the tour boat immediately take you to a floating restaurant/souvenir shop where children try and get you to give them money for a picture of them holding a snake while floating in a large cooking pot. We had been told about this prior to coming but it was even worse in real life. Our experience included a mother (presumably) sleeping in a small boat while her five or six small children floated about trying to earn a few Cambodian Riel. For more fun the restaurant had a pit of crocodiles which they kept in a cage solely for the purpose of killing for souvenirs such as skin, teeth and jaw bones. Needless to say we weren’t impressed and didn’t stay long. We were taken back to shore as soon as we finished at the ‘restaurant’ without seeing much else of the village. It was probably for the best as the early morning made for a long day. We were able to find a few great restaurants including a fantastic French bakery to indulge in before heading back to the hotel.

The Khmere Rouge committed this genocide of their own people in the hopes of building a communist country and in order to do so needed to exterminate all of the educated, intelligent, opposing or otherwise threatening people within their borders. Over 3 million people were rounded up, in prisoned at various torture facilities, then sent in trucks to me executed and dumped in mass graves at the site now known as the Killing Fields. We then made our way to S-21 which was one of the largest torture facilities where the cells and torture rooms remain nearly as they were when they were liberated. We were told by other travellers that blood sprays still exist on many of the room walls but we didn’t look too closely as it all becomes overwhelming and a bit much to handle- the thousands of photographs and torture tools were more than enough for us.

The next day we headed back to Bangkok to end our quick adventure into Cambodia. We have some more shopping to do in Bangkok before we head to Koh Tao where I will be taking my open water dive course.

 Having our personal guide was fantastic and allowed us to move at our own pace. We were able to see all of the most famous temples, including the one that Angelina Jolie jumped out of in the movie Tomb Raider, which also happens to be famous for the giant Banyan trees that are growing within the building itself. Many of the structures were being repaired which is a constant effort in the area as well as many excavation sites as they continue to find new buildings and artefacts. It was amazing to see how they could put together intricately carved stones back together in their original position.