CAMBODIA 2013

Welcome to Cambodia!

Phnom Penh

Upon arriving in Phnom Penh we got a tuk tuk to our hotel. It was a terrible place in the ex-pat location, not exactly somewhere for people on a budget. After spending one night in a place you are accustomed to seeing dead bodies found in CSI we changed hotels to a much better and only slightly more expensive one. The next day we went out to see the Royal Palace and the local markets. Unfortunately the Royal Palace was still shut following the King's death even though it was supposed to of reopened by now. Anyway we still got a couple of photos from the outside.

The next day we went to see the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields followed by a visit to Toul Sleng Genocide Prison. The killing fields led for a sombre experience between the audio guide, the mass graves and the tree which still had marks and grooves in it from childrens skulls. They say that when they found the tree it was covered in brain, skin and skull fragments. Even to this day the monsoon rains unearth the bones of more victims from the mass graves. Inside the memorial complex they have laid the bones of all the victims uncovered so far in tiers divided by bone type since they do not know which bones belong together etc. They have ordered them within the memorial site by estimated age. Next we headed onto to the Toul Sleng Genocide Prison also referred to as S-21. This was one of the most notorious interrogation camps of the Khmer Rouge. Many many victims were tortured here until they confessed to whatever crimes had been placed upon them. Almost all of the victims who came here left in a body bag. It is believed that only 7 people who were ever imprisoned in S-21 lived to tell the tale. After visiting here we had had enough of death for the day. The next day we departed on a 7 hour bus ride to Siem Reap where we hoped to visit Angkor Wat.

Siem Reap

After some crazy driving and Cambodian Karaoke we arrived in Siem Reap. Our aim was to visit Angkor Wat via motorbike taxi also known locally as a "Motodup". Unfortunately no tour operators or hotels were offering anything other than a Tuk Tuk or mini bus. We were adamant that we weren't going to let this stop us from being able to see the Angkor Park the way we wanted. We ended up finding a couple of motodups who were stationed near the hotel and asked them to take us around the Angkor Park. They agreed even though it seemed like the first time they had been asked and we set off around the park with them the next day. We were lucky as our drivers took us the reverse route and this avoided the majority of the tourists throughout the day. We were also able to stop off at additional places as we had faster transport. Our drivers where very friendly although they spoke limited english and we treated them to lunch and plenty of water throughout the day.

Prasat Kravan
Our first stop on our 1 day tour around the Angkor Park was Prasat Kravan. This site while partially rebuilt and not amazing gave us a good insist into what to expect from the rest of the day, or at least that is what we thought at the time. Prasat Kravan is the only brick based structure in the Angkor Park.

Banteay Kdei
Our next stop of the morning was at Banteay Kdei. This stop was another stop which we hadn't planned to do but which our driver stopped at for us. Banteay Kdei was a real surprise and turned into one of our top three sights in the Angkor Park. It is very similar to the Ta Prohm temple which we visited later on but had only a handful of tourists and had not been restored so you could admire its semi-crumbling glory.

Pre Rup
Our sources suggested that if we had the time we should take a slight detour to see Pre Rup. We did have time so we managed to persuade our drivers to take us there. It was a very well preserved temple with no restoration it was also quite high and provided a beautiful view of the surroundings.

Ta Prohm
Next we stopped at Ta Prohm the location where one of the tomb raider films had been filmed. This of course made it exceedingly busy, even more so than Angkor Wat. We have mixed feelings about Ta Prohm since we saw other sites which were better preserved and much quieter. At Ta Prohm I can imagine if you were there at a peaceful time you could really enjoy all of the intricate tunnels and passageways but due to the crowds it has dropped down our ratings even if it did provide some eerie tree photos.

Ta Keo
Next we stopped at the little visited Ta Keo where we came across a scorpion which had been walked on and trampled to death. We then proceeded to have lunch with our moto dup drivers at a little shack at the side of the road opposite Ta Keo.

Chau Say Tevoda & Thommanom
After lunch our drivers stopped at Chau Say Tevoda & Thommanom this was another site that we had planned to stop at but that was well worth a visit. The former is on one side of the road with the other on the opposite side. One is in heavy ruin and the other is well preserved which allows for one to see how the years have affected the weathered one. We were also blessed by a Buddhist noun here and given a red bracelet one which has still not worn off as I write this almost one month later.

Phimeanakas, Terrace_of_Leper King and Terrace of the Elephants
For our next stop we had entered Central Angkor Thom. This is an area where many ruins our located and kind of resembles an ancient town centre in density and placement of structures etc. Most of these sites were either within the city walls or etched into the walls themselves. Either way this was one of the highlights of Angkor Park.

Bayon & Baphuon
Still inside Central Angkor Thom is the magnificent Bayon this is certainly the number one highlight of the Angkor Park. It is far better than Angkor Wat and is also much less visited. It is very eerie and well perserved. Also while we were here we visited Baphuon temple this temple has a long lead up to it across a moat and provides good views of the surroundings.

Angkor Wat
Our next stop was Angkor Wat. We found this to be one of the less good sites to visit since it was again very busy (as is to be expected) but also lacked a lot of the definition and character that we had seen at other earlier sites such as Banteay Kdei & Bayon. Needless to say though it was still worth a visit at the very least to buy a new pair of sun glasses and enjoy a huge coconut to drink.

Phnom Bakheng
After Angkor Wat we headed to Phnom Bakheng in order to watch the sun set over Angkor Wat, but the light was not quite right and Angkor Wat was a long way away, so far in fact that even our 21x optical zoom lens on the mSLR could hardly make it out. So we enjoyed the late afternoon here before heading back to Siem Reap as the sun was setting. This lead to a beautiful motorbike ride through local villages with a gorgeous backdrop. We have now learned that it is often best to avoid the tourist traps and to make your own experience in a country, sunset locations appear to especially apply to this.