After an emotional goodbye to the country that we'd lived in for 2 years and learned to love, we departed for Cambodia, our first stop. We flew to Siem Reap from Daegu, via Shanghai. We wanted to see the sights surrounding Siem Reap in a few days and head on to Phnom Penh. We stayed in the wonderful Gloria Angkor Hotel which I would recommend if you're not looking at hostels.
Siem Reap
We landed in the evening, so had to wait until the next morning before we began to explore. We arranged a tuk-tuk driver to take us to Angkor Wat for sunrise, which meant a 4am start. It was an amazing sight to behold and the morning sun gave us a beautiful backdrop and meant that the temperature wasn't too uncomfortable. This is one of the biggest and most famous temples in the world and a true historic gem. I believe the ticket for the Angkor Temples was $20.
After seeing the sunrise and taking part in the applause, we began to explore the ancient ruins. I was quite surprised to see that although this is a protected UNESCO heritage site, there were little restrictions about where you could, and couldn't go.
The Angkor Temple complex is set out on around 400 square km of land and because of the vast temples and nature, you don't always get a full idea of how big the place is. Looking from entrance to Angkor Wat, back towards the entrance drive makes you realise how big and vast the place is.
It began to get hotter and hotter as we walked around the temple to the back...
Our trusty tuk-tuk driver, Nith, then took us deeper into the Angkor complex for us to look around Angkor Thom (The Bayon Temple), the last Captial city of the Khmer Empire. Again, this was an ancient and wonderful temple, characterised by many figures in the rock.
Shortly after these pictures were taken, the heavens opened. Then it rained, and it rained, and it rained. The next stop was to be Ta Prohm, which was used in the Lara Croft - Tomb Raider movie. This was easily my favourite temple in the Angkor complexes, yet due to the weather, we got the least photos here...
Whilst in Siem Reap, we were told about the Phare Circus which was well worth the money and night out. The acrobatics were great and very entertaining. It was also a kind of charity, which took talented people out of poverty and trained them to be performers and make a living from performing in the circus. You get a great night, they get paid. It's win-win.
Another day was spent doing a quad tour through fields and small villages. Not only was this fun and enjoyable, it was also eye opening. We were taken away from Siem Reap town and into the small villages where people lived under tin roofs and lived off the milk from the family cow, who ate small portions of food and where children worked on the farm so the family could survive. Along the way, children stopped to wave and smile at us, and sometimes even try to squirt us with water. An experience that I'd definitely recommend.
On our last night in Siem Reap, we hit the local markets and ate our weight in delicious street food. The rain was coming down heavily but the locals did their best to keep the water away and the punter dry. Then the morning after, we made our way, via bus, to the capital, Phnom Penh ($12).
In Phnom Penh we stayed in Eighty8 backpackers. It was comfortable, cheap and clean. We'd been advised to spend more time in Siem Reap than Phnom Penh so we actually only had 2 days here.
I believe it would be a catastrophe to visit Phnom Penh without attempting to understand the country's unfortunate past. We were interested in visiting both the Toul Sleng Genocidal Museum (S-21) and the Killing Fields. These are, no doubt, the most popular attractions of Cambodia's capital, yet they are depressing, upsetting and sombre locations that provoke thought, sadness and a feeling of fortune to have been born in the west.
Toul Sleng was a former High School that was used buy Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s as a prison and concentration camp. Having worked in education for over 7 years, it was heartbreaking to see a high school, a place of enjoyment, youth and aspiration turned into a place of death, suffering and loss. Classrooms were turned into torture rooms, corridors into cells, and swings into frames for public hangings. For the whole time we were there, I don't think Winnie and I said more than 5 words to each other (the following images may be upsetting).
The next stop on our journey into Cambodia's grim past, was a the killing fields, where over a million people were killed by the Khmer communist regime and dumped (I would say buried, but that suggests it was a dignified ending) into holes and covered up. There are lots of such fields around the country but the Choeung Ek memorial fields near Phnom Penh are the most famous. We took an audio-guided tour around the various sites. Again, it was not a nice place to be.
A prominent point on the tour was the Killing Tree against which the Khmer soldiers killed babies by hitting them against the tree.
It's hard to imagine this was happing as recently as the 1970s. You tend to think things like this aren't possible in today's society. Before our flight to our next destination, we had time to check out the Royal Palace and surrounding area. We needed a change of scenery and a change of mood. The rest of the day was spent exploring the Palace area and stuffing our faces at the local night market.
Next stop, Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam.
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| When first arriving around 5am. |
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| Sunrise |
After seeing the sunrise and taking part in the applause, we began to explore the ancient ruins. I was quite surprised to see that although this is a protected UNESCO heritage site, there were little restrictions about where you could, and couldn't go.
The Angkor Temple complex is set out on around 400 square km of land and because of the vast temples and nature, you don't always get a full idea of how big the place is. Looking from entrance to Angkor Wat, back towards the entrance drive makes you realise how big and vast the place is.
It began to get hotter and hotter as we walked around the temple to the back...
Our trusty tuk-tuk driver, Nith, then took us deeper into the Angkor complex for us to look around Angkor Thom (The Bayon Temple), the last Captial city of the Khmer Empire. Again, this was an ancient and wonderful temple, characterised by many figures in the rock.
Shortly after these pictures were taken, the heavens opened. Then it rained, and it rained, and it rained. The next stop was to be Ta Prohm, which was used in the Lara Croft - Tomb Raider movie. This was easily my favourite temple in the Angkor complexes, yet due to the weather, we got the least photos here...
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| A wet arrival at Ta Prohm |
Whilst in Siem Reap, we were told about the Phare Circus which was well worth the money and night out. The acrobatics were great and very entertaining. It was also a kind of charity, which took talented people out of poverty and trained them to be performers and make a living from performing in the circus. You get a great night, they get paid. It's win-win.
Another day was spent doing a quad tour through fields and small villages. Not only was this fun and enjoyable, it was also eye opening. We were taken away from Siem Reap town and into the small villages where people lived under tin roofs and lived off the milk from the family cow, who ate small portions of food and where children worked on the farm so the family could survive. Along the way, children stopped to wave and smile at us, and sometimes even try to squirt us with water. An experience that I'd definitely recommend.
Tonle Sap
Another trip taken with Nith, our trusty tuk-tuk driver, was to the floating village on Tonle Sap lake, the largest fresh water lake in Soouth-East Asia. The fishermen on the lake catch over half of the fish used in Cambodia! Despite the poverty and the threat of water-born diseases, the community remain resilient and almost jovial. We stopped at a floating convenience store and en route I got a neck massage off an accommodating Cambodian boy (for a price)!
On our last night in Siem Reap, we hit the local markets and ate our weight in delicious street food. The rain was coming down heavily but the locals did their best to keep the water away and the punter dry. Then the morning after, we made our way, via bus, to the capital, Phnom Penh ($12).
Phnom Penh
In Phnom Penh we stayed in Eighty8 backpackers. It was comfortable, cheap and clean. We'd been advised to spend more time in Siem Reap than Phnom Penh so we actually only had 2 days here.
I believe it would be a catastrophe to visit Phnom Penh without attempting to understand the country's unfortunate past. We were interested in visiting both the Toul Sleng Genocidal Museum (S-21) and the Killing Fields. These are, no doubt, the most popular attractions of Cambodia's capital, yet they are depressing, upsetting and sombre locations that provoke thought, sadness and a feeling of fortune to have been born in the west.
Toul Sleng was a former High School that was used buy Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s as a prison and concentration camp. Having worked in education for over 7 years, it was heartbreaking to see a high school, a place of enjoyment, youth and aspiration turned into a place of death, suffering and loss. Classrooms were turned into torture rooms, corridors into cells, and swings into frames for public hangings. For the whole time we were there, I don't think Winnie and I said more than 5 words to each other (the following images may be upsetting).
The next stop on our journey into Cambodia's grim past, was a the killing fields, where over a million people were killed by the Khmer communist regime and dumped (I would say buried, but that suggests it was a dignified ending) into holes and covered up. There are lots of such fields around the country but the Choeung Ek memorial fields near Phnom Penh are the most famous. We took an audio-guided tour around the various sites. Again, it was not a nice place to be.
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| Remains from the killing fields |
A prominent point on the tour was the Killing Tree against which the Khmer soldiers killed babies by hitting them against the tree.
It's hard to imagine this was happing as recently as the 1970s. You tend to think things like this aren't possible in today's society. Before our flight to our next destination, we had time to check out the Royal Palace and surrounding area. We needed a change of scenery and a change of mood. The rest of the day was spent exploring the Palace area and stuffing our faces at the local night market.
