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Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s Capital

Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

After spending a record 5 days (and nights) in Siem Reap),we left for the capital city, Phnom Penh. We arrived in the middle of Saturday afternoon at the Central Market, which also serves as a bus station. Phnom Penh immediately reminded me of South American cities like Santiago,Chile with it’s endless rows of 5-6 storey buildings which were originally attractive architecture and now in various states of disrepair mixed in with new modern buildings. The sidewalks were full of food vendors and shops that had pulled their goods outside to catch the eye of the passersby. The roads buzzed with scooters, bicycles, rickshaws and the occassionally SUV, all overloaded with people and goods.

On arrival, we had a small, but important errand to run. We had to pick up our passports from a travel agency who was arranging our Chinese visa. We went straight to the travel agency, and after 30 minutes of the staff rummaging through their desks in search of our passports, our hearts began to sink. The ordeal of having to get a new passport, plus reapplying for the Vietnamese and Chinese visas, would surely put a damper on our visit to Cambodia. Finally, they realized that our passports had been delayed a day at the embassy due to an official visit from the Chinese prime minister. They would be ready on Monday. Partially convinced, we decided not to worry and enjoy the weekend in Phnom Penh.

We found a hotel in a bustling little neighborhood near one of the city’s big markets. Then we took a walk to the impressive riverfront, where the Mekong, the Tonle Bassac and the Tonle Sap join together. The riverfront is lined with a wide esplanade on one side and pretty hotels and restaurants on the other. The Royal Palace and the National Museum sit near the riverfront. As we sat by the river, watching the boats go by, we were approached by a couple of Cambodians who wanted to practice their English. At first we were a little weary that they were trying to sell us something, but after a bit, we realized they were just looking for some nice conversation.

Sunday, we woke up refreshed, and ready to visit some of the sites. We started with the serious sites, the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Memorial (known as the Killing Fields.) These two somber places are testaments to the horrendous torture and killings that happened during the Khmer Rouge. Between 1975 and 1979, between 1 and 3 million people were ruthlessly murdered at the hands of this regime. Toul Sleng was a high school that was converted to a prison. The prisoners were photographed and had their autobiographies taken (often including confessions given under torture.) 99% of the prisoners here were killed. Now their photographs are displayed in the museum to remind us of the loss in humanity. Choeung Ek (about 15km out of town- Fab and I took a moto taxi),was an extermination camp; now there is a large pagoda with the skulls of thousands of victims serving as a memorial. What’s haunting is that many of the Cambodians you meet on the street today lived during this atrocious period. What’s even more haunting, are those you don’t meet, 40% of the country’s population is under 14.

On a more positive note,today there is a lot of vitality in Phnom Penh and the country seems to be moving in a positive direction. On Sunday afternoon, we visited the Royal Palace,partially comprised of the royal activity buildings and partially comprised of Buddhist buildings (including the Silver Pagoda.) The palace was built at the end of the 19th century by King Norodom under the French protectorate; some of the buildings date from the 20th century. The grounds were pleasant, but quite artificial compared to the bustling and noisy city around.

Finally, Monday rolled around along with our passports and Chinese visas. (YES, major travel mishap avoided!) We spent the morning visiting the National Museum, which is home to a lot of the sculpture from Angkor Wat. After spending so much time at the ruins, it was nice to see that some of the sculpture had survived, beautifully. The museum itself is quite impressive, painted a rust color, with an imposing multi-tiered roof. The gardens were also quite pretty. We spent the rest of the day, walking along the waterfront…a small visit to Wat Phnom, the founding place of Phnom Penh and the Central Market to check out their souvenirs.

After 10 busy days in Cambodia, we left for the Vietnam Border, and the the Mekong Delta.

Posted in BIG TRIP 2005-2006, Cambodia, In English 2005-2006 | 1 Comment »

Ancient ruins, strange cuisine, natural beauty…Cambodia

Monday, April 10th, 2006

Kratie is a little town on the Mekong, popular with tourists because it is another place where you can see the Irawaddy river dolphins. We passed up a second viewing, and spent a day and half there just taking it easy and checking out the town. We stayed in a pretty hotel right on the waterfront, so we had a view of the river from the hotel balcony. We ate dinner at one of the food stalls selling soups and noodle dishes next to the river and explored the market, selling all kinds of exotic fruits (like star fruit and dragon fruit, not to mention the pineapples and melons.)

From Kratie, we traveled by bus to Siem Reap.(The buses in Cambodia are more comfortable than Laos, but unfortunately our air conditioning broke about 40 minutes into the trip.) We had a two hour stop in Skun for lunch and to wait for our connection. Skun is famous for its deep-fried spiders, yes they fry spiders and then eat them like crabs, pulling off the legs and cracking them for the meat. At first I didn’t know what it was, but after watching a few girls run by with trays piled high (some they were carrying on their heads), I recognized the hideous black creatures. We also saw another delicacy being served up, stuffed frogs. I chose a more standard lunch, fried rice with chicken.

We finally arrived in Siem Reap around 6:30 in the evening. We were a little bit in shock by the contrast between the calm and authenticity of Kratie and the Vegas style bright lights of Siem Reap. Partially thrilled to have of our Western comforts and partially disappointed that this was the gateway to the ancient world of Angkor (we were picturing something like Indiana Jones), we settled into our little room at the Continental Cafe Guesthouse and set out on the town to find a place for dinner and trade off a couple of books.  We chose a cozy little resto that offered both, Le Papier de Tigre, which doubled as a French bookstore (of course the English selection was good as well.)

We decided to explore the temples by bicycle (the most economical solution, and for us the way with the most freedom)…the only draw back was the intense heat, sunny days around 96 degrees (36C.)  Angkor Wat is the largest religious structure in the world. It was built in the 12th century, but was unknown to the Western world before it’s discovery by Henri Moulot at the end of the 19th century.  The area is comprised of many temples built between the 8th and 14th centuries, stretching over an area of 40 miles.  We started with Angkor Thom (or Angkor city) built in the 11th century.  It is enclosed by 5 gates, one at each of the cardinal points, and the 5th, a special victory gate. The top of each gate is decorated with 4 carved faces. The approach to each gate is impressive, as you pass a bridge lined on each side by statues of divinities (in various states of disrepair.) Inside of Angkor Thom, the largest and most impressive temple is the Bayon.  The 3rd level of the temple is covered in mysterious carvings of a face (it is debated whether the face is Buddha, or King Jayavarman VII who commissioned the temple to be built.)  The interior is covered in bas-reliefs, depicting ancient battles and daily life from the 11th century.  The temple is still used as a place of worship, and female monks can be seen giving incense to the Buddhists who come to worship inside the temple. 

We purchased a 3-day pass to the site, to be able to visit the temples at our leisure. It was the single most expensive thing we have purchased on our trip so far, $40 per person for 3 days. It’s definitely worth having the the time as visiting the temples takes quite a lot of energy, climbing up and down worn, steep steps, over ruins and  through dark passageways. Not to mention the bike ride between.

We visited Angkor Wat on the second day. As we began the approach from the main causeway which crosses the moat, we were not immediately impressed, but after we passed through the main gate and the famous towers came into view, we finally caught a glimpse of what has been so widely acclaimed…the dark towers jutted up against the blue sky.  We started with the bas-reliefs which encircled the perimeter of the first level, depicting scenes from the Ramayana, other Hindu legends and numerous battles. Then we climbed up to the second and third levels, to get a closer look at the towers and the delciate carvings of Aspara dancers. Angkor Wat, a Hindu temple, is also used by Buddhists, and various images of Buddha appear in the various levels.  During the three days of visiting the ruins, we saw Angkor Wat from various vantage points. From a temple on a hill top nearby, we could see the towers of Angkor Wat jutting up through the jungle. At sunset, we watched the colors change behind the building and admired her reflection in the reflecting pool on the main lawns.

Among the many other temples we visited, the most interesting was Ta Prohm, a temple left partially unrestored and surrounded by jungle. You can marvel at the gigantic silk trees (some hundreds of years old) whose roots and branches are entangled with the ruined structures. It’s no wonder, they chose this temple for scenes in Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones.

Just outside the entrance to the Angkor ruins is the Cambodian Land Mine Museum.  A local man, founded the museum to help educate Cambodians and foreigners about the dangers and effects of land mine accidents in the country.  On display are numerous types of mines and ammunition that have been found and diffused. The owner also takes in orphans or children who have been injured or someway affected by landmines, and helps them get a good education so that they have a future off the streets. Everywhere in Cambodia, you can see amputees (from landmine accidents) begging on the streets. Unfortunately, there are countries in the world (including the United States) still producing and using these horrible weapons.  For more information, you can visit the museum’s website, http://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org.

After three full days of ruin exploring, we spent our last day in Siem Reap relaxing and exploring the great Tonle Sap lake. The lake is a natural wonder, losing half its perimeter during the dry season. Apparently the Tonle Sap River changes the direction of its flow depending on the season; during the wet season, the river flows into the Mekong and during the dry season, the Mekong flows into the Tonle Sap. This has created a beautiful wetlands full of birds and fertile plains for growing rice. We visited a floating village, made up of ethnic Chams…complete with floating markets and restaurants. Their main source of income is through fish farming. 

Posted in BIG TRIP 2005-2006, Cambodia, In English 2005-2006 | No Comments »

Welcome to Cambodia…an unusual border crossing

Sunday, April 9th, 2006
From southern Laos to Stung Treng, Cambodia, it is possible to cross the border (and despite all of the published information, it is possible to get a Cambodian visa.) We actually got our Cambodian visa in Vientiane, so we were ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in BIG TRIP 2005-2006, Cambodia, In English 2005-2006 | No Comments »