You just can’t see it all. For one reason or another, you have to make choices, prioritize and proceed. Cambodia is a country we barely gave a chance to get to know for our own reasons, staying for a total of one week and visiting only two cities. Our first impression of the country wasn’t great as immigration officials did not show us much hospitality. Secondly, it was too freaking HOT! And finally, it was getting close to our birthday and we knew Thailand’s gulf islands had something a bit more birthday oriented to offer us. Therefore, I somewhat regret to say, we skimmed through Cambodia, taking the time we needed to relax and soak in some modern Khmer culture in Phnom Penh and cramming in as many ruins as possible in three days in Siem Reap.
Phnom Penh is a capital city at very interesting time in Cambodian history. It is a huge city that doesn’t quite feel like it yet, only sporting a handful or high rises, with many more soon to come. It is expensive - all of the ATMs in the country churn out American dollars and all prices are in American dollars as well. The Cambodian riel is only used for change in most cases. From our perspective, nearly all the french colonial influence along the river has been replaced by quick, cheap development of guest houses, restaurants, bars and shops. Also, the tuk-tuk drivers in our hotel district part of town were the most persistent guys in the world. As soon as you are lured in with a ride from them, they want your itinerary for your entire city stay and would hover outside your hotel to insist on taking you to the “killing fields” (a popular tourist attraction) with some other stops along the way. Irritating to say the least. The corruption of Cambodia’s nascent government does not extend just to its immigration services but, like much of the third world, the police as well. They drive new model Lexus’ through the wide avenues among a swarm of tuk-tuks and blue collar cars.
The first two whole days was mostly down time spent and exploring a small radius around our hotel. The riverfront park and area immediately surrounding the royal palace is pretty nice but most of the city we walked through smelled like a severe lack of street cleaning and overflowing dumpsters, augmented by the extreme temperatures. In the middle of the afternoon on our second day we tried to soak up some culture. We really did! About three o’clock in the afternoon, we made our way to the royal palace. However, Megan wasn’t dressed quite appropriately and it was hovering around 100 degrees in the shade, we ditched that idea for the day and made for a nearby dairy queen (unsurprisingly popular!). Next, we went for a little shop therapy at a non-profit organization storefront called Daughters of Cambodia. There were some great gifts there with a great vocational training program for struggling men and women (some studies suggest that one third or more of Cambodians suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or other psychological maladies from the recent horrors of the Khmer Rouge). It was encouraging to find out that Phnom Penh actually has quite a few of these non-profit organizations set up to aid Cambodia’s long list of ailments. After a satisfying pizza dinner that evening, we determined to actually do one tourist attraction before our bus left the following afternoon.
Phnom Penh is a capital city at very interesting time in Cambodian history. It is a huge city that doesn’t quite feel like it yet, only sporting a handful or high rises, with many more soon to come. It is expensive - all of the ATMs in the country churn out American dollars and all prices are in American dollars as well. The Cambodian riel is only used for change in most cases. From our perspective, nearly all the french colonial influence along the river has been replaced by quick, cheap development of guest houses, restaurants, bars and shops. Also, the tuk-tuk drivers in our hotel district part of town were the most persistent guys in the world. As soon as you are lured in with a ride from them, they want your itinerary for your entire city stay and would hover outside your hotel to insist on taking you to the “killing fields” (a popular tourist attraction) with some other stops along the way. Irritating to say the least. The corruption of Cambodia’s nascent government does not extend just to its immigration services but, like much of the third world, the police as well. They drive new model Lexus’ through the wide avenues among a swarm of tuk-tuks and blue collar cars.
The first two whole days was mostly down time spent and exploring a small radius around our hotel. The riverfront park and area immediately surrounding the royal palace is pretty nice but most of the city we walked through smelled like a severe lack of street cleaning and overflowing dumpsters, augmented by the extreme temperatures. In the middle of the afternoon on our second day we tried to soak up some culture. We really did! About three o’clock in the afternoon, we made our way to the royal palace. However, Megan wasn’t dressed quite appropriately and it was hovering around 100 degrees in the shade, we ditched that idea for the day and made for a nearby dairy queen (unsurprisingly popular!). Next, we went for a little shop therapy at a non-profit organization storefront called Daughters of Cambodia. There were some great gifts there with a great vocational training program for struggling men and women (some studies suggest that one third or more of Cambodians suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or other psychological maladies from the recent horrors of the Khmer Rouge). It was encouraging to find out that Phnom Penh actually has quite a few of these non-profit organizations set up to aid Cambodia’s long list of ailments. After a satisfying pizza dinner that evening, we determined to actually do one tourist attraction before our bus left the following afternoon.
The next morning, we actually got up early enough to beat the stifling heat and toured the royal palace for a couple of hours. It housed some very beautiful temples and gorgeous landscaping where we spent most of our time admiring some unique plants (in the shade). After grabbing an early lunch, we said goodbye to this city we found hard to love and hopped aboard the bus to Siem Reap, home to the ruins of Angkor. I can’t say we got the best impression from Cambodia’s capital but it is hard to form an opinion from just a few mornings and evenings of walking around our tourist oriented district.
Our long, bumpy bus ride ended late in the evening at the Siem Reap bus terminal with a young Cambodian man waiting with a sign with my name on it. We have found out that when arriving to a new city at night, it is best to arrange a place to stay and even better when they offer free transportation. He took us through the dark, dusty streets to our hotel just outside of the heart of town and we arranged for an early pick up in the morning to start our three day Angkor adventure.
Just as light started to shine the next day, we were driven by our tuk-tuk driver, Atam, to buy our three day passes for the ruins before being ferried to Angkor wat itself for breakfast. We watched as the sun transitioned from dark red to bright orange as we ate across from the infamous temple. Touring it was pretty surreal. For history buffs, this must be a religious experience but for us it was simply phenomenal to view a piece of the grand remnants of a thousand year old civilization, or at least what time and the destructive nature of Pol Pot’s regime allowed us to see. Really makes you ponder the vastness of societal potential when starting at such a mammoth example of a flourishing empire that predates modern American history by hundreds of years. It was crazy cool to see some of the ruins in the grips of Jurassic looking trees, clutching stone likely older than the trees themselves. We spent five hours at different sites around the complex, which I won’t even try to pronounce, before heading back to our room to escape the heat of the mid day.
Just as light started to shine the next day, we were driven by our tuk-tuk driver, Atam, to buy our three day passes for the ruins before being ferried to Angkor wat itself for breakfast. We watched as the sun transitioned from dark red to bright orange as we ate across from the infamous temple. Touring it was pretty surreal. For history buffs, this must be a religious experience but for us it was simply phenomenal to view a piece of the grand remnants of a thousand year old civilization, or at least what time and the destructive nature of Pol Pot’s regime allowed us to see. Really makes you ponder the vastness of societal potential when starting at such a mammoth example of a flourishing empire that predates modern American history by hundreds of years. It was crazy cool to see some of the ruins in the grips of Jurassic looking trees, clutching stone likely older than the trees themselves. We spent five hours at different sites around the complex, which I won’t even try to pronounce, before heading back to our room to escape the heat of the mid day.
The next two days were all about sun rises. One day we went with the crowds and viewed it from Angkor wat itself before doing another full day tour of other ruins (better summed up in pictures than words). The next, and final full day, of touring the Angkor grounds, we viewed the sunrise from a popular sunset vista, atop Phnom Bakheng. It was gorgeous, calm and a somewhat spiritual experience. It was an eye opening experience to view how quickly the world is turning when the sun rises as fast as it does. There was a decent hill to climb to get up to this ruin but that view of the endless, fog draped forest stretching to meet the horizon as the sun climbed up was well worth the hike. Really helps me understand why past civilizations so vehemently worshipped the sun. When I was younger and high definition programming was still in its infancy, I used to watch a program called “Sunrise Earth” which sets the viewer up at a new sunrise vista point every morning and captures it from dawn to daylight. Beyond the inherent aesthetic beauty of any given sunrise coupled with my drooling over high definition television, there is still something more to be said of the power of a sunrise. They naturally invoke a sense of renewal, serve as a powerful reminder of how fast we are traveling, even when while our bodies sit still and, most importantly, give us a few moments of deserved inner peace since it is quite difficult to drift your attention elsewhere.
There were a few aspects of our Cambodian trip that weren't as well summed up in the pictures we took. The amount of work being done to restore and preserve the dozens of structures is staggering and a necessary annoyance. The nearly endless begging of small children and other vendors to get you to buy cheap keepsakes; one memory comes to mind when I was taking bathroom break and Megan was left alone to fend for herself among a group of small child vendors. When I left the toilet, I was targeted by a lone boy attempting to change four quarters for an American paper dollar. I couldn't help but burst out laughing, quickly realizing it was Megan who had paid for a dozen post cards with the four quarters I had been lugging around since we left San Francisco nearly three months ago.
Our trip further out to a village to see a more remote ruin gave us a brief glimpse of modern rural life. It is mind boggling to think about the extent of influence and power this civilization wielded so long ago. At its peak, it is estimated that over one million people lived in and around the ruins of Angkor itself with the empire extending its rule into modern day Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and beyond. After viewing a variety of Thailand’s wats, it is easy to see why it is commonly understood that a great deal of Thai culture stems from ancient Khmer kingdoms, among other influences. Though, without all the back and forth wars fought between the many kingdoms surrounding modern Thailand, it wouldn’t be the melting pot it is today.
Less swift and thrilling was our exit from Cambodia - it consisted of bribes, long lines in the hot sun, confusion and practice with patience. But after the 14 hour journey back to Thailand, we were rewarded with some of the most beautiful islands and nicest people I have ever encountered.
Our trip further out to a village to see a more remote ruin gave us a brief glimpse of modern rural life. It is mind boggling to think about the extent of influence and power this civilization wielded so long ago. At its peak, it is estimated that over one million people lived in and around the ruins of Angkor itself with the empire extending its rule into modern day Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and beyond. After viewing a variety of Thailand’s wats, it is easy to see why it is commonly understood that a great deal of Thai culture stems from ancient Khmer kingdoms, among other influences. Though, without all the back and forth wars fought between the many kingdoms surrounding modern Thailand, it wouldn’t be the melting pot it is today.
Less swift and thrilling was our exit from Cambodia - it consisted of bribes, long lines in the hot sun, confusion and practice with patience. But after the 14 hour journey back to Thailand, we were rewarded with some of the most beautiful islands and nicest people I have ever encountered.