Cambodia
24th March - 1st April 2006
Cambodia was an experience. We spent only 10 days in the country and managed stops at the two main tourist destinations, Phnom Pehn and Siem Reap (the temples of Angkor).
The capital Phnom Pehn was quite an attractive city in parts but you only had to turn a corner to see devastating poverty or feel a little threatened for your own safety. The country has an extremely violent past, which never felt that far away. For me, this feeling was reinforced by the billboard posters that attempted to encourage a better future with the slogan "We no longer need guns".
The most moving day of our trip was the day we visited the Killing Fields and S21, a junior school, which became a Khmer Rouge prison and interrogation/torture centre. Thousands of people were viciously murdered at the killing fields and were buried in mass graves. In the 1980s - a decade later - the graves were dug up and the skulls were placed in a large glass tower, to commemorate those who died there. The skulls were labelled according to age and sex and ranged from children to elderly people. It was certainly a horrific sight and one which I will never forget.
Our second spot in Cambodia was Siem Reap, where we spent a couple of days exploring the Temples of Angkor. We hired a lovely driver for two days and he took us around to visit the sites, as well as giving us a bit of history about each of the temples. We bought a 3 day entrance ticket and packed our days with exploring but there were so many to see that plenty more lay undiscovered to our eyes.
The most famous of the temples is Angkor Wat and it appears on absolutely everything in Cambodia from T-shirts to banknotes, so when we did actually see it, I already felt as though I'd seen it before. It was however, the most popular for good reason. It is very well preserved compared to many of the demolished piles of rocks that make up some of the other temples and is a formidable construction from all angles. The best way to enjoy and experience all of the temples was to find somewhere quiet and just reflect on them for a while, in an attempt to take it their vastness and magnitude. Unfortunately, this was impossible at Angkor Wat, as there was a continuous procession of tour buses that piled through, behind a guide with an their umbrella in the air. Nonetheless, we managed to pose for the classic 'in front of Angkor Wat' picture and did manage to appreciate the temple in all its incredible glory.
Cambodia was an experience. We spent only 10 days in the country and managed stops at the two main tourist destinations, Phnom Pehn and Siem Reap (the temples of Angkor).
The capital Phnom Pehn was quite an attractive city in parts but you only had to turn a corner to see devastating poverty or feel a little threatened for your own safety. The country has an extremely violent past, which never felt that far away. For me, this feeling was reinforced by the billboard posters that attempted to encourage a better future with the slogan "We no longer need guns".
The most moving day of our trip was the day we visited the Killing Fields and S21, a junior school, which became a Khmer Rouge prison and interrogation/torture centre. Thousands of people were viciously murdered at the killing fields and were buried in mass graves. In the 1980s - a decade later - the graves were dug up and the skulls were placed in a large glass tower, to commemorate those who died there. The skulls were labelled according to age and sex and ranged from children to elderly people. It was certainly a horrific sight and one which I will never forget.
Skulls in the Killing Fields
The afternoon was spent at the former prison, which is now a very effective museum. The displays were simple and powerful and the place was eerily silent, despite the number of people that were visiting. The former classrooms were now used to display black and white photographs of all those who were imprisoned - most of whom were later killed. The exhibits told the varied stories of the people who lost their lives during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Exhibit at S21 museum
Our second spot in Cambodia was Siem Reap, where we spent a couple of days exploring the Temples of Angkor. We hired a lovely driver for two days and he took us around to visit the sites, as well as giving us a bit of history about each of the temples. We bought a 3 day entrance ticket and packed our days with exploring but there were so many to see that plenty more lay undiscovered to our eyes.
Catherine, our driver, Sotera and his tuk tuk
Beautiful faces that marked the entrances to Angkor Thom - one of the most impressive temples
Catherine in the rain with a young local
On the second day, there was a torrential downpour and all the dirt streets were flooded, so we had to paddle through knee deep water - that contained who knows what but there were definitely things floating in the dark - back to our guest house.
Posing monk
This was a most friendly monk that started chatting to us and then invited us for lunch! Females are not meant to touch monks, although I'm sure that Catherine casually reached out a hand to stroke the fabric as our posing monk swirled for the camera!
This temple, Ta Prohm, was known locally as the 'jungle temple' as in the most part, it has been left as it was, when it was discovered. It is one of the most popular temples but thankfully we timed it right and had the place almost to ourselves, which made a huge difference to our enjoyment. The walls have almost entirely been swallowed up by the surrounding forestation and as you stepped inside, it was as though you were entering the world of Indiana Jones - although I think that it was Tomb Raider that was filmed here. It was apparently a glimpse of how all of the early adventurers - who rode on elephants the 6km from Siem Reap - would have discovered the temples, before the endless restoration work commenced.
It was this big!
There was always time for a photo whilst exploring Angkor Thom!
There was always time for a photo whilst exploring Angkor Thom!
The most famous of the temples is Angkor Wat and it appears on absolutely everything in Cambodia from T-shirts to banknotes, so when we did actually see it, I already felt as though I'd seen it before. It was however, the most popular for good reason. It is very well preserved compared to many of the demolished piles of rocks that make up some of the other temples and is a formidable construction from all angles. The best way to enjoy and experience all of the temples was to find somewhere quiet and just reflect on them for a while, in an attempt to take it their vastness and magnitude. Unfortunately, this was impossible at Angkor Wat, as there was a continuous procession of tour buses that piled through, behind a guide with an their umbrella in the air. Nonetheless, we managed to pose for the classic 'in front of Angkor Wat' picture and did manage to appreciate the temple in all its incredible glory.
Angkor Wat and the standard visitor photo
We spent a final and very relaxing day in Siem Reap, before retreating to - what on comparison felt like - the safety of Thailand. We had exceedingly bad experiences both entering and exiting Cambodia, with corrupt officials, the buying of bus tickets, where no bus existed and a driver that took us out of Siem Reap on our way to the border and tried to charge us $60 each, to complete the journey. Despite all this, Cambodia was an incredible learning curve. We met people who had lived through a horrific past but finally had hope that the future could and would be better. I have mixed feelings about returning to the country but without a doubt, I'm glad that we went.
# posted by Laura & Catherine @ Monday, April 03, 2006 
