A planned trip. 1 week and 2 cities. This could be fun.
Three days in Phnom Penh
A relaxing schedule. Definitely more than enough to visit all the well known places of interest. That includes the infamous Killing Fields, the S21 detention center, their Royal Palace, National Museum and Silver Pagoda. Not to mention their commercialized Russian market and Central Market.
Phnom Penh was the capital of Cambodia and there are not much temples to speak of, everything of culture had been destroyed by the Khmer Rouge regime. Their army had been particularly cruel to the Cambodians. And really for no perceivable purpose. Just destroyed lives and broken families and a failed push into an outmoded ideology.
So far, my impression of this place is its a rather unfortunate country. The place was HOT! I was not sure about other people, this place was a sauna. Every one hour or so, I will be tempted to buy another bottle of cold beverage to down. The people didn't seem to be affected as much though, one thing though, they are friendly or maybe its just for the more touristy places.
Tuk Tuk guys are always saying "hello! Tuk tuk?" everywhere you go. Most people there don't speak English anyways, but then ones I need services from, they mostly already speak enough English for me to get what I needed. One more thing, the driver kept bringing me to the more expensive restaurants to eat.
The whole three days I was in Phnom Penh, I stayed at this little hostel I booked on the Internet. There was a young boy there, and he shared his life story with me on his life. He was twenty two, and he was studying at the university for English Literature and was fortunate enough to be on scholarship, he needed that as his family are poor. Kind of sad really, but its good that he found a job that gives him enough time and ample opportunity to practice by speaking with the residents of the hostel. But it was a shame how he sleeps behind the counter every night and eats in the lobby everyday. I guess his job was to guard the entrance.
The pubs there could be quite nice though. The drinks were cheap, there was one beside the river and every night, I was sure to spend my time over there drinking half a jug of their Ang Khor beer. I guess investors were starting to move in very quickly.
Four days in Siem Reap
First impression was its incredibly dusty. However finding another dedicated Tuk Tuk with an english capable driver was just as easy as in Phnom Penh. Four days booking at 60 USD.
First destination. To Ang Khor Wat to see a sun set. Seems the driver knows his stuff and was always ready to propose some new place to visit or some thing to see whatever the time. Typically when people visit Cambodia their main goal is to see Ang Khor Wat anways. This is one the historical megastructure left behind by the Khmer civilization. A three days pass, there goes another 40 USD. Really got me interested when I first saw the feature on National Geographic.
The small lookout area sits atop a small hill. Not a bad beginning. It is just a short walk up a little winding road. A few steep flights of stairs and i already am standing on top of the structure. Not bad. Different from that of a coastal sunset. Robbie, the name of the driver, had proposed for us to join him on a trip to join him at a village for a Khmer new year's celebration.
4/14
Second day. Robbie took us for a sunrise at the famous temple at Ang Khor Wat, this was the most famous and largest temple that was featured on so many a painting that was on display in Phnom Penh. After that, I was on my way to the village, it was unexpectedly long (1.5 hours) ride behind a motorcycle without a helmet. The people there were friendly, it was the really close encounter interacting with true villagers in Cambodia. They were playing music and drinking and dancing and rubbing talcum powder on each other's faces. After that, was another long journey back to the Hotel. There goes one more day.
4/15
We visited yet another temple. This one was different. For one, a gigantic tree was sitting atop the entrance gate. The roots spill over the walls behind, nice. Seems that this trip would be a series of temples. Their New Year's the day before proved to be a rather interesting bonus for this holiday. Not every would be as lucky.
4/16
Tonle Sap, the Cambodian for fresh water river. Where the floating city is. Here they survive on the produce of the Tonle Sap. We used a man made water way from Siem Reap. Amazingly, there are schools, churchew and even a crocidile farm cum tourist shop. Nice photo taking opportunity for me. The balcony was open for access atop the two storey flotsam. From here the entire village could be seen. It was unfortunate in one respect however. The boat driver brought us to a boat where pencils and books were being sold at ridiculous prices and the purpose was, according to the driver, to donate to the orphans in the village. One could not be too sure about that.
On leaving Tonle Sap. It also seem that the water way was not deep enough as some of the bigger boats were halted in situ when they travelled over the shallower parts. On the Tuk Tuk again. To the next temple. I think I must have gotten used to the heat by now. I was still sweating not stop and downing bottle after bottle of H2O. But it was bothering my less now.
The second last temple, Neak Pean (pronounced Nippon), is definitely note worthy. It had one of those amazing island temple. When there is water, it would sit in the middle of a man made pool. Also, thanks God! For once, there were no high mountain style steps to climb. A refreshing experience.
It is the last day of my holiday, there was a strange feeling. Cambodia definitely is place worth visiting at least once! It provided enough content to fill my memory. There were the ruins from advanced ancient civilization lost, a feeling of their accomplishments that stood a few centuries of time, a mystery of what was it like then, the arts, the intrigue and their life.. Perhaps they were the jungle warriors who also fought against Alexander the Great? No bother, next Monday is another work day.
Goodbye dear Cambodia.
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