Week 14 - Cambodia

Cambodia might be the strangest country I have visited in South East Asia. On the one hand it has a level of poverty I have not witnessed in its neighbouring countries; that is to say children on the street and prostitutes heckling me at night. On the other hand it seems to have amazing facilities for those who can afford them; luxurious hotels and massage centers, impressive parks and water fountain displays. Cambodia absolutely knows how to do tourism. For a start its principal currency appears to be the Dollar, with the Riel being used only as petty cash. This makes bartering that bit more difficult, as somehow asking for a Dollar off seems more petty than asking for 4000 Riel off. 

Phnom Penh

The capital of Cambodia, pronounced Puh-Nom-Pen (as far as I can figure). The streets are, by and large, refreshingly spacious and clean, with the exception of the highly congested and smelly markets (which are interesting in their own right). At night the parks come alive with hundreds of people doing synchronised dance classes. Simultaneously the water fountains dance hypnotically to a show of light and sound. I'm actually really annoyed not to have captured this, one of my favourite city scenes in Asia, on camera. Alas, I had been warned not to take valuables out at night.

Just this once I have cheated and used google images (http://www.asia-trip.info) - Phnom Penh at night

Where have I seen this before? Oh that's right, everywhere else in Asia - Royal Palace

Aforementioned smelly dirty (interesting) market. Pretty sure I had me a dog baguette here

Obviously you can't come to Cambodia without learning a little bit about the atrocities committed by Pol Pot and his party, the Khmer Rouge. Between 1975 and 1979 almost 3 million people were savagely slaughtered by fellow Cambodians. Often their crimes were as trivial as wearing a pair of glasses or knowing a foreign language. I had found the war museums in Vietnam depressing enough, but even those seemed tame in comparison to the unimaginable wickedness on display at the ""Killing Fields" and "S61 Prison". 

I found it particularly strange to realise that anybody over the age of 45 in Cambodia lived through a genocide and likely knew of someone who was murdered. I decided the best way to contemplate all of this was yet another (rather intrusive) massage.

A cabinet of the skulls of victims recovered from mass graves at the Killing Fields.

Siem Reap

Siem Reap, the legendary home of Angkor Wat and numerous other ancient temples dating from between the 12th and 14th centuries. For some reason the done thing is to torture yourself into getting up at 4am in order to catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. 

A tuk tuk will then take you to visit all the other temples. In the end, the temples start to seem increasingly similar and you wonder how some people do this for an entire week. I also couldn't help but wonder how the Cambodians built them in the inexorable heat, when I could barely even bring myself to climb another flight of stairs.

 The so called 8th wonder of the world - Angkor Wat

I forget which temple this was, but it got included because of the elephant

Angkor Thom - I remember this one because I was cursing its name with every sweaty step to the top

 Ta Prohm - film site of Tomb Raider

After a long day of site seeing I was most relieved to relax by the pool. In the evening I explored the touristic streets of the city. This place serves extraordinary food. Don't get me wrong, food across South East Asia has been consistently good, but here I got something that looked like it had come from Master Chef - chilies delicately peeled and sculpted to look like flowers and then placed on top of my dish. Unfortunately I did not recognise them as chilies until it was too late. The night market is also well worth a look. 

They know their audience alright - Pub Street

Perhaps because I didn't give myself long enough here, Cambodia has been the most exhausting place I have visited so far. Within a week I have had three "nights out", two night buses and one 4am start. I have met, learnt the names of (well mostly) and travelled (however briefly) with a record breaking 40 people and seen both the 8th wonder of the world and a genocide site. I only wish I had longer here!

Trip Statistics

Places visited: 2 (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap)

Distance Covered: 550km