Cambodia - Siem Reap and Phnom Penh

Cambodia has been high on my list of places I’ve wanted to travel to for quite some time. From the photos I’d seen, I’d always been intrigued with Angkor Wat and the beauty of the natural environment of Cambodia. We were treated to the most vigorous downpour of monsoon rain as we landed in the Siem Reap airport, but the skies were blue by the time we reached our hotel, which was lovely. Cambodia is a country still recovering from an incredibly painful period of genocide that virtually left no one in the country unscathed. Our tour, guide, Bun Rath, shared with us how he had lost his mother, father, sister and brother during the Khmer Rouge regime. He was very young and remembers very little – just that he grew up without his family. The town of Siem Reap is slow paced, simple, calm and thriving off tourism generated by Angkor Wat. We spent four days touring the surrounding temples (which I had no idea existed!) of Angkor Thom, Preah Khan, Ta Phrom, Banteay Srei, Bayon and the Elephant Terrace and Leper King Terrace. Of course, the highlight was Angkor Wat which was just beautiful, magical and impressive. I was really taken with Angkor Thom, the temple with the smiling Buddha faces on the towers. You could just feel the happy spirits all around you. Bayon temple was draped with banyon trees that have literally climbed on top of the temple walls and spill down from the wall edges as their roots reach for the ground. It’s quite alien and mysterious. Most of the temples were originally built as Buddhist temples, then at some point, as leadership changed, converted to Hindu temples. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Buddha images and carvings that have been removed and replaced with Hindu Aspara dancers. But, Buddha lives on in Angkor Wat and even though the temple is originally Hindu, you can stop and give offerings to Buddha in a stupa in the middle of the temple. Alex had a really special experience when a sweet, elder Buddhist monk took her hand and invited her to pray with him. He gave her incense and had her kneel with him as he chanted a prayer for her. She placed her offering in the sand in front of Buddha then the monk invited her to sit with him for a while as he read her good fortune and tied a red string bracelet around her wrist as he chanted another prayer of protection and good luck. It was so cool to watch and the two of them have obviously connected before in some other lifetime. Very sweet and moving.

We also took a boat tour out on the Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It was fascinating to observe “life on the lake”. There’s quite a bit of poverty and it was incredible to see how resourceful people can be when they have so little. Families live on small wooden fishing boats, covered with tree branches and palm fronds and most of them sleep in hammocks. They have so little, but we were amazed by how many boat huts were equipped with modern day TV’s! Pretty crazy. Sadly, the lake is used for every part of their daily life – washing, cooking, fishing, and eliminating. Very sad.

We loved the Cambodian people – especially the children. We all noticed how easy it was to catch someone’s eye and get a huge, warm grin from them as they passed you on their motor scooters, or just walking down the streets. The kids are playful and generous and very smart and engaging. It’s a sad reality that so many Cambodian’s are missing limbs due to the millions of landmines that were planted during Pol Pot’s regime, but it doesn’t stop them from playing music, selling books and being productive. It’s pretty inspiring and another reminder of our own good fortune.

We only spent two nights in Phnom Penh, but we managed to get out to the Killing Fields with the Bones Memorial, S-21 which was the high school turned into an interrogation center, the Grand Palace and Independence Memorial. Again, it’s hard to comprehend the senseless killing of approximately 4 million Cambodian men, women and children – and to think it all happened while I was going to the drive-in movies, playing soccer and finishing high school. I read another great book called “When Broken Glass Floats”, by Chanrithy Han, which is the story of a Cambodian girl’s survival of the Khmer Rouge. It’s a really well written account of what the Cambodian people were experiencing during this time. Very sad, but very enlightening.
Cambodia has so much to offer, but I’d have to say, its greatest asset is its people. I’d return to Cambodia just to visit the people.