Category: cambodia

the very impressive temple of angkor wat is the reason most people visit cambodia. angkor was a vast city and the center of the huge khmer empire about 1000 years ago – indeed, with about 1 million inhabitants at the time, it was the largest pre-industrial city in the world. angkor wat really is unbelievably impressive.

the surrounding area is scattered with many other temples, which one can visit in a few different circuits. the most famous are ta prohm, which is being overgrown by massive tree roots, and bayom, the architecture of which evokes a sense of mysticism and has carved facades of faces of the gods.

toward the end of the day i found myself at a relatively simple temple called east mebon, which is flanked by stone elephants. this would undoubtedly be a world heritage site in its own right if it were anywhere else in the world, but because there are so many other more famous temple sunset views close by, i was there completely alone as the sun set:)

i went on a day-long scooter trip to the north of siem reap.

the first stop was a fascinating landmine museum, which was started by a now-famous deminer named aki ra. cambodia has unfortunately been ravaged by multiple wars and over 1 million of its people were murdered by the khmer rouge alone. multiple local and foreign powers have planed millions of landmines over the decades, and it remains one of the most heavily land-mined countries in the world. 1 in 300 cambodians today is a landmine survivor – tragically they are designed to maim. aki ra took it upon himself to deactivate as many mines as possible, and the museum tells the story of landmines in general and his story in particular. though much of cambodia has now been demined, there is still much work to be done. he would deactivate mines by hand which was a very dangerous undertaking; in other parts of the world now groups are using robots and even rats to sniff out mines, and they are now typically exploded in a controlled way rather than being deactivated. the museum is staffed entirely by landmine survivors/amputees. i learned a lot and it is a very well done museum with an amazing cause.

i then continued north to a an ancient temple called bentai serei – a small, red-hued and extremely intricate temple about 1 hour north of angkor wat.

then, i headed to the east, along a long and completely empty road to an overgrown temple called beng malea. this was one of my favorite temples of the bunch, and it is overgrown by the jungle and able to be explored, and basically empty of tourists because it is so far out of the way.

i then took another road back to siem reap, stopping for the sunset at a final temple group just west of the city called the ruluos group and its centerpiece bakong, the oldest temples in the region, built in the 9th century.

my first day in siem reap i scooted out of town to the south. cambodia’s largest lake – tonle sap – is about 45 minutes away down a nice, curvy paved road lined by pop-up private crocodile zoos and food establishments. along tonle sap there are floating villages built over the water on stilts, which depend on fishing (and increasingly tourism) for their livelihood.

i also chanced upon a deserted temple called phnom krom, which is at the crest of a free-standing hill in the middle of a plain. i was supposed to have the comprehensive temple pass which i hadn’t yet purchased, but the cop guarding the road up the hill let me pass for $1 if i promised not to report him. there were great views over tonle sap and distant siem reap from the top of the hill, a buddhist temple, and the ancient, completely empty ruins of phnom krom.

i went to siem reap cambodia for 4 great days at the end of my trip to asia! the first thing i did was to rent a scooter for $10 per day, which is definitely the way to go, as distances are actually quite large. the only caveat is that the city has a rule against foreigners driving scooters. the lady renting the scooter to me told me which intersections to avoid, as there are only a few cops who enforce the rule and they always hang out in the same place, and all worked out! it was no problem at all riding my scooter to any of the temples!

the city of siem reap is now the second largest city in cambodia, and has grown to provide the visitors to angkor wat whatever they may need or want. the city centers on pub street, which as the name implies is pretty backpacker party centric, but there are many nice, quieter establishments in the blocks around it as well, and lots of great street food!

also of note, the tiny siem reap airport also had one of the nicest lounges ever!

one of the coolest things in siem reap is “phare,” a modern cambodian circus. it is held in a round-topped tent, and is an amazing combination of acrobatics and live music, all performed by specially trained young people from a nearby city who would likely be on the streets without this opportunity. highly recommend!