Cambodia, the Land Of Smiles (..and scooters!!)

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Cambodia has been very good to me. Abandoned temples, impenetrable jungles, arcing white-sand beaches full of swaying palms, funny monkeys, lovely and smiling locals, that’s what Cambodia is all about.
We left Kuala Lumpur on the 27th, quite happy to leave such a busy city and discover a truly different country. It was exciting to arrive at Siem Reap International Airport, already at that point we realized how exotic this country would be. We stayed at a very cozy place, 1 km from the center of the city, but all we wanted to see was Angkor Wat really. It was a constant thought, I couldn’t wait to see what has been the hearth and the soul of Cambodia for almost two millennia. We needed a whole day to visit most of the temples, so on our first day we decided to visit Siem Reap and only access Angkor Wat for the sunset.
We left the guest house and started walking…it only took a 10 secs to hear “do you want a tuk tuk??” I believe that tuk tuks are the best way to explore the city. We asked the driver to get us to something special, and he did. He drove 10 kms outside the city and only told us “we go to the floating village”.
Now, this was something completely new, I had never see anything like that. We sailed about 4 kms off the river bank and found an entire village literally in the river, Kompong Phluk . The village had two schools, a church, a local supermarket, and of course many houses. The pics will give more an idea of such a place I believe.
The sunset was beautiful. We entered Angkor Wat around 5pm and it was magical. We walked 2 kms in the jungle and then there it was, our first temple..and the sunset. Climbing the temple was a bit harsh, but we managed and it was worth it.

The next day was fully dedicated to exploring the temples of Angkor Wat. I will never forget the awe-inspiring sight of AW first thing in the morning. (Lonely Planet mentions that Angkor Wat has been described as the largest religious monument in the world –no doubts about that!!)It has been constructed between 1113 and 1150 . We heard that the temple is facing westward (symbolically the direction of death), so many believed that it was a tomb. However, it is nowadays considered both a temple and a mausoleum for the king. (Okay, okay, I know I’m becoming a bit too nerdy and boring, but trust me, when you see it you will be even more amazed and interested on how and why they actually built it!) We visited many temples, sotted many monkeys and elephants. The temple I loved the most was the last one we visited. I was in love with it, and only when leaving I got to know that that specific one was the temple were Tomb Raider was shot. (no wonders then ..😉 ) Puha, after a day walking under the sun, I was really tired and actually had a bit of headache, but then again, I felt so happy to have witnessed such a natural wonder.
The next day we head south, a 12 hrs TERRIBLE bus drive, which yes, had a banked beds, but it still managed to be just horrible, as the highway had no asphalt, so you could imagine. Nevertheless, we reached Sihanoukville, the country’s prime seaside resort. It occupies such a lovely site on a small peninsula whose nobly head just out into the Gulf of Thailand. Crystal clean waters, invigorating breezes and plam tress were just outside our cheap accommodation. It was finally nice to discover the Cambodian beaches, which let me tell you, have nothing to envy to the Australian coasts. We stayed at Serendipity, a big street full of guest houses, bars and restaurants. We stayed in Sihanoukville for 3 days. On our first day we discovered a peaceful and tranquil spot on Ochneauteal Beach, were I tasted my first freshly squeezed coconut juice. The next day we went around the peninsula, and again stayed in such a peaceful beach (Independence Beach). On our last day we sailed around the islands and met fantastic people. The snorkeling was ok (not the Great Barrier Reef of course, but still saw some quite amazing creatures!) and the islands were just beautiful, one in particular, Bamboo Island were we stayed for some hours and had fresh fish for lunch!=) We stayed all day with a backpacking group of 4 Australians, one Russian guy, 2 English girls and a Norwegian guy! Also, we met such a lively couple from Ohio, irresistible. We all bounded so much together, so we decided to have dinner together and out in the city on the same day. It turned out to be such a nice evening, loads of fun, and eventually an appointment with the two English girls in Vietnam!! We will travel part of the Vietnamese Coast with them, so nice!! Yesterday we left Sihanoukville and reached the capital city, Phnom Pehn. City, again…which means traffic, smog, noise and much more, but still, very different than any other capital city I had ever visited. The first sight was the Killing Fields. Now…about this, it did take me some time to decide whether I wanted to go or not. The Killing Fields, Choeung Ek is now a peaceful setting surrounded by rice fields and orchards, but not long ago (1974) was the execution ground for the torture victims of Tuol Sleng. Today a huge glass tower stands on this site, filled with cracked skulls of men, women and children exhumed from 129 mass graves in the area (which were not discovered until 1980).I didn’t want to see that. I decided to go with Oliver, I entered the site, but that was about it. I wondered around the Museum to learn about the genocide, but I didn’t manage to see what the site had to offer. I thought it was worse than Auschwitz in terms of cruelty. Exposing dead bodies is part of the Buddhism culture, as they believe that this how you prevent such things to happen again, but I just couldn’t make it. I was not sorry, as I nevertheless did pay my respects and left.
The Russian Market is the main shopping area of the city! Let me tell you, it has nothing of Russian, they just call it like that because when the market started to develop, the main tourists at the time were Russians :P I really liked it as I finally managed to buy some locals souvenirs before leaving Cambodia! Busy, colorful and very cheap, a place where the main concept is to bargaining prices.
Finally, my favorite sight of Phon Pehn, the Royal Palace, which has been home since 1991 to the Cambodian King Norodom Sihamony. The Palace is just massive. When you drive there you just see gold. Everything is made of gold and beautiful royal gardens. The fact that monkeys were going there and around made it even more magical.

I will post some pics soon, I promise -as I believe that the pictures give more the essence of what I have experienced in Cambodia.
Tomorrow we will catch a bus to Vietnam and reach in 7 hours the capital city, Ho Chi Minh.
I’ m very excited. They say Vietnam is even cheaper than Cambodia, I just cant see how
I heard that in Denmark you are all covered by snow, and that Italy is getting very cold as well. I m very sorry to hear that, but to be honest I must say that I’ m starting to miss the cold and the snow a bit.
I mean, seeing around xmas trees and jingle balls and lights just does not make any sense.
But I don’ t complain 😉
Miss you all

Xox,
Alessiya

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Comments

[Cristiana]

Che figata teso!!! Nn vedo l'ora di vedere le foto!!! :):):) vorrei tanto essere lì con voi!! Un bacio enorme ad entrambi

[Zafer]

Wowwwww
Fantastic Ale and I am so happy for you.... " who knows more in the life ? who travels or who reads more ? " and You have allready both :-))... Amazing ...

[Zafer]

Wowwwww
Fantastic Ale and I am so happy for you.... " who knows more in the life ? who travels or who reads more ? " and You have allready both :-))... Amazing ...

[Alessiyuccia]

Thank you daddy!!
Miss you so much:)