We land in Cambodia, the first person who speaks to me asks me if I am Cambodian. The second person that speaks to me asks if I speak Cambodian. Many people during our stay think I am Cambodian. This wasn't surprising at all, I know what I look like. However, I will say, I totally do look Cambodian, more than any other group. So yeah, this was my first visit to the mother country.
People seem to love Cambodia, I'm just not one of them. To be fair, I'm sure we'd like Cambodia more if we saw more than two areas. We spent too long in the capital because we didn't have enough time to make it south, and Phom Penh ended up being our least favorite city of the whole trip.
Side note: did you know that US dollars are used in Cambodia? True story. ATMs dispense in dollars, you pay in dollars, and instead of coins you get back Cambodian currency.
I'll start with the amazing sights at Angkor. Beaaaaautiful. We stayed in Siem Reap, tourist town, closest to the temples. For a touristed-out city, Siem Reap is nice and agreeable except for the very aggressive tuk-tuk drivers. No, we don't want a tuk-tuk, not even when you ask right after we just told another driver no. Funny shirt you can buy there reads: No tuk-tuk, no massage. Ha! We spent 3 days exploring different temples in the area via tuk-tuk. It's the dry season so everything is fairly brown but still very awesome. We took so many photos but the photos do it no justice. It's impossible to get the full scope of the trees growing through the temples via photo.
Ta Prohm Temple
Angkor means "city" in Khmer, and visiting these temples and ruins makes you realize how massive this city of Angkor actually was. A survey concluded that Angkor was in fact the world's largest pre-industrial city, with elaborate systems of canals, roads, and other infrastructure connecting the various parts of the city and its surroundings areas spread out miles apart. The temples themselves are each incredible in their own right, but then you take into account how many of them there are and how vast the whole city/area was, oh and then of course there's the gorgeously spectacular way in which the ruins have been reclaimed by nature. Unarguably is one of the world's great sites (but somehow people thought that Christ the Redeemer was more of a wonder than Angkor or Bagan!!) . These are some random Angkor temples or ruins that we visited in our three days of exploring the greater Angkor Wat area.
Ta Som Temple
Preah Khan Temple
Preah Khan Temple
Terrance of the Elephants
Ta Prohm Temple
Kbal Spean - carvings in the riverbed
Angkor Wat
Beng Mealea
Bayon Temple- How many faces do you see?
Phnom Penh, the capital, our least favorite city of the trip. I thought Yangon (Burma) traffic was the most insane I have ever seen. That title now goes to Phnom Penh. Like any city, traffic is heavier in certain parts of the city, but this was the worst I've experienced. The streets are narrow, people are driving in the wrong direction, gridlock, so difficult to cross the street because lanes are ignored. Also, it was just as expensive as the most touristy city in the country, booooo! More aggressive tuk-tuk drivers which in some areas you could not avoid for more than 30 seconds. From the looks of it, the touristy part of Phom Penh seems like a good place for party people, so if that's your cup of tea, stop by the capital.
Norodom Sihamoni: King of Cambodia
the Mekong
Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument
While in Cambodia we got to learn more about its history, it's very depressing, but we're glad we know more. The sadness and disgust I felt when we visited one of the Killing Field sites is right up there with Auschwitz. It's unbelievable what happened under Pol Pot, 1 in 5 Cambodians died/were murdered. I'll try to be brief in describing the madness to give you an idea.
-Major cities were evacuated by force
-Banks were bombed, monetary system abolished
-All city dwellers forced to live in the country and become farmers (without farming knowledge)
-Destroyed many parts of major cities
-The majority of intellectuals/professionals, viewed as enemies, were murdered: educators, doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, artists, people that spoke foreign languages, etc.
-Thousands of children and infants murdered so they could not seek out revenge for parent's deaths when they became adults
Choeung Ek 'Killing Field'
Choeung Ek 'Killing Field'
Choeung Ek 'Killing Field'
All of this was done to create a better Cambodia, it's insanity. Pol Pot murdered a 1.5 million of his own people and in the process regressed Cambodia decades in just a few years. How bad was the situation in Cambodia that enough people were willing to follow Pol Pot?
Okay, I want to end on a lighter note...and pretty much everything is lighter than the previous topic...so Cambodian music! Joely was listening to some Cambodian rock from the 60s and early 70s, enjoy!
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