Holiday in Cambodia

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As a kid, if I ever thought of Cambodia, it was probably in reference to either the Dead Kennedy's song or the Vietnam war. Like many American's, the idea of actually going to visit a place as dark and mysterious as Cambodia always sounded mysterious and down-right dangerous. How times change...travelling to Siem Reap last weekend to visit the temples around Angkor Wat was nearly magical.

Just a day before our flight, I was still thinking we might not make it. Hundreds of people had died in the Phillipines and dozens in Vietnam as a result of a seemingly unstoppable typhoon. However the flight did land and the rain had stopped - and since the typhoon had produced the worst flooding that anyone in Siem Reap seemed to be able to remember, we were able to witness the reaction of the local population to over-knee-high water in the streets, schools closed, etc. Whenever you read about holidays to Cambodia, people always talk about how lovely all the locals are - as a cynic, you might think that this is just the face they put forward to the tourists - but when you see a people, collectively, react to a natural disaster as positively as the Cambodians did to the flooding of one of their major cities and you know that its true - they are some of the most sweet, fun-loving people you could ever meet. I didn't hear one complaint about the weather, even though it closed markets and disrupted travel / business for thousands. Instead you saw people playing / swimming in the streets - school closure was treated like a snow-day back in America/UK. It was definitely a party atmosphere.

The main purpose of the trip was to see all the ancient temples in the area. From Angkor Wat to Ta Prohm and the surrounding areas, each temple was unique. Each had a unique history and had been preserved/restored to various degrees. Since becoming a World Heritage site, the money has been pouring in to refurbish temples that were originally built as far back as the 7th century and were left to decay for the entirety of the last Civil War in Cambodia, which resulted in the Khmer Rouge finally being defeated. The Germans and Japanese seem to be the biggest sponsors of the repair work - and the Germans seem to have exclusive rights to clearing the mine fields that the last war left behind. Americans played only a small role from our observations - and the Brits don't seem to be involved at all.

My favourite temple was definitely Ta Prohm, with its Indiana Jones-like feel. Trees have grown roots over the walls of the ancient temple and you do feel that if you were alone there as nightfall approached, you might get a bit nervous. The most entertaininy story was the legend that at one time, one of the temples had played host to a serpent. The local king had to spend the night with this serpent each evening (who thankfully for the king took the shape of a woman at night) lest his kingdom suffer from incalcuable horrors and atrocities. If only Bill Clinton or Dave Letterman had a story like that to tell those that cast aspertions on their characters!

The town of Siem Reap, apart from the temples, had the feel of my trips to Cahuita, Costa Rica 15 years ago - and my first trip to Arusha, Tanzania 10 years ago - small cities where tourism is the main income generator and source of entertainment for the locals, but hasn't yet stolen the soul of the town. A backpacker town full of local shops and hotels - but with the rapid expansion into 5-star luxury and bus tours that threatens to turn the area into more of an amusement park than a living city...and we were there during low season - one can only imagine what it will be like in a few months. Only 10 years ago, there were only a few hotels in town - now they are everywhere!

Still, the hotel that we found was absolutely amazing (and cheap). The woman who ran the hotel (with her mother) was a pretty 26 year old Cambodian who also somehow managed to have a husband, 2 kids and a full time job (as an accountant) in Phnom Penh, a 2.5 hour drive away! I've no idea how she pulls that off, but, as she had some Chinese in her family, she celebrated (and shared with us) the moon festival. It was my first moon fest, and I burned incense paper and ate moon cake with the best of them (though I won't be making a regular occurance of the moon cake eating - still never found a Chinese dessert that I care for...but I keep trying!) If you are planning a trip there any time soon, stay at the Kazna hotel - its a good one!

I'm back in Singapore now and counting down the days until my next holiday now. Rose and my mom leave on Saturday for the US. They've seem some extremely different sites, between Singapore and Cambodia - but its been a great visit and I'm sure it will seem strange going from having constand company to solo travel.

This is my first attempt at a 'proper' blog entry, so hope it wasn't too long and boring for you. I want to try to get in the habit for the next leg of the adventure!

Speak to you all soon,
Matt

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Comments

[AJ]

great entry
Enjoyed the pics and descriptions of the travels; keep it up!