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Asia » Cambodia
July 4th 2007
Published: July 4th 2007
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We've spent the American and Canadian national days wandering through the morass of temples at Angkor and the streets of Phnom Phen. Cambodia was a country that neither of us knew much of beyond the names Angkor Wat and Khmer Rogue, ironically representing the best and worst of the country.

Siem Reap

- Siem Reap has a small downtown catering to tourists (every cuisine food, lots of fun bars, great massage, fair trade gift shops etc. etc.) and then the "real" town of Siem Reap some distance away, where all of the locals live. The tourist portion of town is blast and we really enjoyed our stay there. We were surprised out how warm and gracious the Cambodians were, contrasting sharply with the streets of Vietnam and (less so) Thailand. The reason most people (including us) come to Siem Reap though, is of course for the nearby temples of Angkor.

The Angkor Temples

- This was prominent both of our "to see before I die" lists. At the height of their empire (12th century) Angkor had one million inhabitants. London had 50,000. The temples of Ankgor are the successive efforts of Ankgors kings to out-do the previous ruler and mark their place in architectural history. Ankgor Wat (meaning, Angkor "monastary") was the second to last to be built, and is the most famous. The last major one though was massive Ankgor Thom along with its central temple, the Bayon temple and its multitude of smiling faces. The movie Tomb Raider was filmed partially here, and it really does have an other worldly, ancient mystique. That is when you can escape the hordes of other tourists. We were best able to escape the other touristas at the remote Beng Mealea which had virtually unconstrained access. LP correctly describes it as very Indiana Jonesesque and was probably the temple we enjoyed visiting the most.

Phnom Phen

- After a 5 hour bus ride east (including several hours of Cambodian soap operas and famous karaoke hits like "happy birthday") we arrived in Phnom Penh. We had heard very mixed reviews of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Phen including that it was not that pleasant and even dangerous. To our surprise, we really enjoyed the city with its strong French influence, interesting (though chilling) history and wide variety in culture (mostly due today to the multitude of NGOs there).

Of course, much of the recent history there is VERY unpleasant due to the Khmer Rogue and company who killed 25% of the population between 1975 - 1979 in a quest to create a pure, agrarian communist society. We visited S21, a former school turned prison, where 18,000 people were held and tortured before being taken to the Killing Fields. In tragic irony, the guards/torturers were 10-15 year old kids who actually did belong in the school, sadistically conscripted and brain washed. After visiting S21, we then went to see the actually Killing Fields which were chilling. The lowest moment for us, was when our Tuk-tuk drive cum guide, Lan, pointed out the bones, teeth and clothing that were sticking up through the path we had just walked down. Lan actually lost his father in the purges because he was a doctor, and his mom ran away with Lan and his two siblings into the jungle for a year. Lan was actually an amazingly intelligent and fun guy who, despite having every reason to be bitter, was amazingly upbeat and nice. Highly recommended as a guide/driver should anyone be in Phnom Phen (Po Lan can be reached at 855-12-992019 or polan11sg@yahoo.com). These places were of course, quite depressing to see, but important too.

This stop brings our trip to a close! Thanks for sharing our adventure with us and we can't wait to see all of friends and family soon.


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4th July 2007

Thank you for sharing your journey with us! It has been great to see where you both are at and your experiences. Have a safe trip home and see you soon!
4th July 2007

cambodia
You guys have set the path for me! I cannot wait to go anymore! Thanks for the great descriptions and pictures.
4th July 2007

Wow!!
What a thrilling end to your trip- living in history!! Thank-you for all the research and poignant pictures. We are so blessed that you have taken the time to keep in touch and informed about all your area of travel. I have had an amazing adventure thanks to you both Love MUM
4th July 2007

Hi Guys, Jackie doing great and loved the flowers! Miss you. Can't wait to hear more about the trip.

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