DAYS 55-57 Captivating Cambodia

Cambodia is another country with an extreme history of violence, whose people have found a way to move forward with grace and dignity.  They are warm, welcoming and beautiful.  Following the Cambodian Civil War of the early 1970’s, the country was tyrannized by dictator Pol Pot, who tried to “cleanse” the country of almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government or with foreign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals. In one of the worst cases of genocide in world history, it’s estimated that more than 1 million Cambodians were executed during this time, many of whom were placed in mass graves later dubbed “the killing fields”.

Map of Cambodia – bordered by Thailand, Laos & Vietnam

Day 55:  We departed early morning from Danang Airport in Vietnam, en route to Siem Reap, Cambodia with a stop in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) along the way.  Siem Reap is home to Angkor, Cambodia’s monumental ancient capital built between the 9th and 13th centuries.  Angkor is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site, characterized by 1,000 wats (temples) scattered across an area of 400 km.  Until fairly recently, the existence of Angkor was forgotten…it was hidden by overgrown forest and “rediscovered” by French archaeologists in the late 19^th century, who began a long restoration process which continues today, coordinated by UNESCO with monies from many countries.

Angkor Temple Map

Upon arrival and check-in at Raffles Hotel, we drove to the walled temple complex of Angkor Thom for a water and flower blessing by a local monk…

Water & flower blessing by monk in Angkor Thom

…and then an exploration of the center of Angkor Thom:  Bayon Temple.  Bayon is known mostly for its huge stone faces of Buddha, with one facing outward at each compass point. There are 51 smaller towers surrounding Bayon, each with four faces of its own.  Lots of Buddhas!

Angkor Thom

Buddha face at Angkor Thom

Young monk at Angkor Thom

Corridor at Angkor Thom

Arriving back at the hotel, we cleaned up and then took off via tuk tuk for dinner at AHA restaurant in Siem Reap.

Tuk Tuk driver Siem Reap

Day 56:  We began the day with a shuttle out of the city to Kampong Klaeng, a remote town of mostly fishermen and their families.  The houses are built on stilts, as during half of the year (the wet season) nearby Tonle Lake floods and engulfs the roads allowing access only by boat.

Fishing Village in Cambodia

Stilted house Cambodia

We happened to be there during the dry season (our local guide told us there are two seasons in Cambodia:  Hot-Wet and Hot-Dry), so we had a long walk along the road through the village, which was one of the highlights of my trip.  The village is filled with the most beautiful children who are thrilled to have visitors.  As you walk by, they come running out of their homes yelling “bye-bye” with huge smiles and waves.  They love to take pictures – especially if you show them on your camera – which made for some fantastic photo ops. We were all completely smitten.

Falling in love in Cambodia

Cute Cambodian boys

So sweet

After our walk, we climbed onto a longtail boat for a rather sputtering ride along a canal into the lake…the longtail boat I think was in need of some maintenance and inched slowly through the water, sounding like an overtaxed lawnmower.  It wasn’t the most relaxing ride, but it seemed somehow apropos, so we all happily went with the experience.

Cambodia fishing village from the boat

Young fishermen

We hopped off the boat for lunch at a stilted lakeside home of a village local, who prepared a fantastic meal for us.  We sat on mats on the floor and enjoyed amazing soup (primary ingredient: eggplant…delish), curry and vegetables.

Afterward, we returned to the hotel for a cleanup and then headed out for a visit to our second temple in Angkor: Wat Ta Prohm.  Little renovation has been done on this particular temple, which actually makes it very interesting, as it is literally being smothered by the huge root systems of strangler fig trees.  In some places, it appears that the roots are actually holding the building together.  A bit of trivia…Wat Ta Prohm was featured in the Lara Croft/Tomb Raider film, during which time Angelina Jolie adopted her first son from Cambodia.

Wat Ta Prohm

Posing Tomb Raider style

Roots taking over Wat Ta Prohm

After our temple tour, we returned to Raffles Hotel for a dinner outside on the patio (great food!) featuring entertainment by local Cambodian dancers.

With trip leaders Henrike & Liz on final night

Cambodian dancers at Raffles

Day 57:  Our day began at Angkor Wat – a temple that serves as an important symbol of Cambodia and a source of great national pride…so much so, that its image is featured on the Cambodian flag.   It also happens to be the largest religious monument in the world.  The best time to view the temple is at sunrise, so we were up at the crack of dawn to see it in all its glory.  We weren’t disappointed.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Bas relief at Angkor Wat

Towers at Angkor Wat

Backroads Group (L-R) Henrike, Andrew, Leslie, Peter, Mary, Carol, Nora, Raul, Tom, Ellen, Rich, Forrest, Jill, Kate, Me, David, Colleen, Liz

After a tour through the grounds and the temple itself, our group returned to Raffles for brunch and then a good-bye slide show prepared by our leaders Henrike and Liz.

My Backroads buddies on this amazing exploration of Vietnam & Cambodia were:

Andrew – Portland, ophthalmologist

Mary – Portland, ER doctor and professionally trained pastry chef (Andrew’s wife)

Forrest – New Jersey, dermatologist

Jill – New Jersey, attorney and Forrest’s wife

Rich – Florida, radiologist

Ellen – Florida, educator and Rich’s wife

Bob – Santa Barbara, retired executive

Carol – Santa Barbara, Bob’s wife

Peter – Phoenix, Pathologist

Leslie – Phoenix,  Pathologist and Peter’s wife

Raul – Miami (by way of Buenos Aires), business executive

Nora – Miami (Buenos Aires), Raul’s wife

Colleen – Chicago, business executive

Henrike, Liz and Dragon – our Backroads leaders – a VERY strong team who did an amazing job!

Yet another wonderful group of people who helped make my trip even more enriching.  Thanks to all!