Khmer Charm: The Best of Cambodia

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Date of Travel: 27-31 Dec, 2008
Duration of Travel: 5days
Main Cities Visited: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap

Decided to mark the end of a very eventful (travel wise) 2008 with a finale in the former Khmer Kingdom of Cambodia. This is one place in Southeast Asia that continues to ooze mystery,tradition,and adventure. Yet, it is also a place which seems to stand still in time. And so we headed out for a short 5day trip to enjoy the twin cities of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

We arrived in Phnom Penh in the evening, which by then was too late for any sightseeing. After having dinner at a local restaurant near the hotel, we headed back for an early night for some major touring the next day. We were pleasantly surprised that the hotel had actually upgraded us to a suite which was fairly spacious. Not that we really made use of the living room, but it was just a good start to the trip!

After breakfast in the hotel on the second day, we set off for the famous Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. Having been listed as one of the 1001 things to do and see before you die, this was a definite must. Initially, I was expecting something similar to the Grand Palace in Bangkok perhaps smaller in scale. However, the Cambodian Royal Palace certainly stood out on its own. Built in 1866, one of the most conspicuous feature of the Royal Palace complex were its own unique Khmer style and impressive color. Somehow the gold plated roof tops "synced" very well with the white marble flooring and wooden window frames. The fact that the Royal Palace is generally a small compound might have taken some grandness off its over structure. But this should not eclipse the fact that its spacious setting and arguably less touristy visited status most certainly kept its tradition and heritage in check. Apparently the Royal Palace still serves till this day as the Cambodian home of King Norodom Sihamoni. Too bad we didn't manage to catch a glimpse of this Royal family.

Within the compound lies the silver pagoda compound which consists of several buildings, structures, stupas and gardens all located within the wall grounds. I think the silver pagoda was not as impressive as writers had made it out to be, or maybe because much of the silver was not polished so it made it a very dull sight. But if memory serves me right there is actually a life-size gold Buddha, weighing close to 200 pounds and adorned with many thousand diamonds within this compound. Also worth noting were the many stupas found within the complex which I believe were dedicated to the each former king of Cambodia.

Headed to the National Museum after lunch to see a wide array of khmer art, relics and some Cham history. It was a pity the museum was somehow extremely crowded that very afternoon which made it very difficult to have a closer look at the exhibits or for photo-taking purposes. In fact I can only vaguely remember the museum guide telling us how many of the statutes left in the exhibit are without hands, legs, or their heads because when Siam invaded Angkok Wat in a very long time ago, they wanted to raise the entire kingdom down and hence the brutal treatment of all such monuments and historical relics. Nevertheless, I did appreciate the the colonial structure of the entire museum and its color combination of pinkish red certainly blended very well against its many tall palm trees grown around the complex.

On route to the Toul Sleng Museum next, we stopped by the Independent Monument for a brief historical brief. Unlike most European cities, this independence monument was actually erected fairly recently in 1962 November 9 in commemoration of their independence from foreign rule. If the first half of the day was spent basking in Cambodian glory, then the next half and the following the day represented the dark history that will continue to pervade Cambodian history and people. The Khmer Rouge Regime under Pol Pot was next on the agenda.

The Toul Sleng Museum was arguably one of the most depressing sights Ive come across in any country. Prior to 1975, this place was actually a high school, but was turned into one of the most bloody killing and torture sites under Pol Pot. Converted into the s-21 prison, this place was used to interrogate, purge and forward the genocide plan of this once power hungry mad leader. The facility today reeks of blood stained walls, monochrome photos of the thousand over victims who died under his "care" and the various torture equipment left behind. What was once a school garden and possible play field was also turned into a mass burial site. Haunted? Not quite. Depressing was the more appropriate word. At night, we took a short trip to visit the Naga Casino which was boring and quite a waste of time.

The next morning, we visited the Choueng Ek killing fields which were dedicated to the Cambodian people who were executed and buried during the reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. This were the mass graves of the victims taken away in Phnom Penh. The most notable feature here was arguably the memorial glass tower erected which contained in its glased walls the thousands of human skulls found within these killing sites. We weaved our way through the narrow guided path along the many graves wondering at each step what it must have been like in a time like this. We took a trip next to the famous Russian market for some last minute shopping which had certainly a fair range of touristy products. I think that price comparison wise, Phnom Penh is certainly cheaper than Vietnam and Bangkok for similar handicraft and lacquer items.

Took a long memorable bus across the Cambodian countryside into Siem Reap next. What was supposed to be a 6hour bus ride turned into a really painful 10hour bus journey. It all began when we started noticing that the bus continued to have smoke coming out of its engine. Surely this meant trouble. Not only did we stop along the way so many times trying to fix the engine, the air conditioners could not be switched on which made the entire bus a moving microwave. We were actually quite fortunate to have reached a small town when apparently one of the gears of the bus engine had broken. While the bus driver hoped onto a motorcycle to find a nearby repair shop to replace it, this meant that for the 30 over odd tourists traveling on the bus, all we could do was to dismount and watch the sky get darker by the minute. It certainly could have been way way worse if we were caught like this right out in the countryside as that would have made everyone the biggest mass prime target for robbery under the stars. Fortunately, the driver only took two hours (in my mind I honestly thought that it was going to be overnight camping in the bus) and by then zoom zoom he sped to try cover for the lost time. Arrived in Siem Reap really late at night and all I wanted was a nice shower. The moment I had waited for was finally here, the grand ancient kingdom of Angkok Wat was now in sight.

On the fourth day morning, it was all about embracing the Angkok charm and basking in its historical glories. First up was the Angkok Thom Area where we entered by the South Gate (there are apparently 5 gates). This ruin was lined with its series of colossal human faces carved in stone each virtually uniform in shape and size. We proceeded on to view the enigmatic smiling faces of the Bayon Temple - built by Jayavarman VII at the end of the 12th century apparently. his was in fact supposed to have been built right in the centre of the city of Angkok but due to constant fighting with neighboring states, this was apparently shifted later to somewhere else. As everything was starting to look the same after a while, quite sadly, I could no longer tell from my photos afterwhich the difference between the Royal Enclosure, Terrance of the Elephants, or the mysterious site of the Terrance of Leper King and Phimeanakas. But the Ta Prohm Temple was the most distinct. Yes, this was the temple used by Angelina Jolie in tomb raider for filming. Known now to the tourist as the "tomb raider temple", the distinctive features here are the enormous gif trees and gigantic creepers which embrace themselves within the stone foundations. I guess nature is after all taking back what we once took for them. haha. Not quite after tourism!

After lunch, the moment that I had been waiting for - we entered the magnificent Angkok Wat at last. This was one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world and I just had to be there and done that. haha. It was a real pity it rained quite a bit during lunch time which made the air very dam and the stone floor rather muddy. We toured the walls of the complex admiring initially at the wall carvings which apparently depict the beliefs, practices and way of life then. Our Angkok wat guide was really excellent and his knowledge was superb. Possibly he could also be bluffing us but it was reasonable enough to be credible. strolled around this massive site, explored its many galleries, columns, pavilions, stairwells and courtyards. There is this one huge pond right in the middle of the temple. According to the guide then, this was apparently used like a swimming pool. Im not quite sure I buy that considering that the depth of the pond must have been easily close to 4m deep!?! The best part of admiring Angkok Wat was not touring its complex but admiring it from across the squarish moat that surrounds it. I absolutely loved the way the Angkok reflected upon the waters. It seemed all so pre planned when they had built this magnificent complex and it was definitely gorgeous. I really regretted carrying only a stupid digital camera. Surely this was a breath taking experience and yet I could not even record it down in nicer pictures. Time for a DSLR man.

At dusk, we headed up the Bakheng Hill to view the spectacular sunset over Angkok Wat. It was simply too crowded to truly appreciate the views. Even then, I was not equipped to capture this moment regrettably. At night, we headed over to a restaurant right across out hotel for a buffet dinner and Apsara dancing performance.

The last day of 2008 was spent enjoying a more local feel of Cambodia. In the morning, we visited the Les Artisans D'Angkok which is an arts and craft school catered especially for some discriminated children's group. This place was in fact even endorsed and supported by the United Nations. We proceeded for a cruise along the inland sea of Cambodia - the Tonle Sap Lake. It kind of reminded me of the Mekong and again I just really could not feel a bit entertained cruising down such freshwater lakes and just watching tons of floating villages go past. I guess the only excitement came in the form of the crocodile feeding session at the restaurant where we had out lunch at. Fish heads were going at usd$2 for tourist who wanted to feed the crocodiles. Another interesting thing was that the restaurant owner's little girl of 6 had a best friend in the form of a really huge python. And how did I know of this? Well, she came up to me and asked me to play with her friend holding the snake by its head and dragging it along the floor. Wow.

By late afternoon, it was finally time to head back for the new year. It was the last day of 2008 and I signed off for the last adventure of the year.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Looks like a great trip
I hope you will start blogging again soon.