Cambodia
Officially the Kingdom of Cambodia is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina peninsula. It is 181,035 square kilometers in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Population is more than 17 million.
Angkor – Siem Reap
During a visit to Thailand in 2007, we booked a 2-day tour to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see the famous Angkor Archaeological Park. Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire, located amid forests and near modern-day Siem Reap, and flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. A Khmer rebellion against Siamese authority resulted in the 1431 sacking of Angkor, causing its population to migrate. Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world, with an elaborate infrastructure system of at least 1,000 square kilometers with temples at its core. The area may have supported between 750,000 and one million people. Angkor is considered to be a “hydraulic city” because it had a complicated water management network, which was used for systematically stabilizing, storing, and dispersing water throughout the area.
I visited Siem Reap in 2007, and re-visited in 2024 in connection with a Vietnam & Cambodia tour where we drove in from Vietnam stopping in Phnom Penh.
Day 7: From Vietnam to Cambodia, November 2024
Short video from our border crossing from Vietnam at Bavet to arrival in Phnom Penh by bus in early evening, and our dinner in Anik Palace Hotel.
Phnom Penh is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation’s economic, industrial, and cultural center.
The city was nicknamed the “Pearl of Asia” for its early 20th century colonial French architecture, which included Art Deco works. Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, are significant global and domestic tourist destinations for Cambodia.
Day 8: Red Khmer Killing Fields, November 2024
Choeung Ek is a former orchard in Dangkao, 17 kilometers south of Phnom Penh, which was used as a Killing Field between 1975 and 1979 by Pol Pot’s army, the Khmer Rouge, in the systematic persecution and killing (genocide) of Cambodian citizens.
The bodies of 8,895 victims were found being buried in mass graves on the site after the fall of the Rouge. Choeung Ek is the best-known of the approximately 300 Killing Fields, where the Khmer Rouge regime collectively executed over one million people as part of their Cambodian genocide between 1975 and 1979.
Choeung Ek was attached to the Tuol Sleng detention center in Phnom Penh.
Day 8: Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, November 2024
Tuol Sleng Genocide Jail Museum in Phnom Penh was one of between 150 and 196 torture and execution centers established by the Khmer Rouge and the secret police (known as the Santebal – literally “keeper of peace”). From 1976 to 1979, an estimated 20,000 people were imprisoned there. It is a former secondary school which was used as Security Prison 21 by the Red Khmer regime.
Day 8: Russian Market, Phnom Penh, November 2024
Russian Market also known as Psar Tuol Tom Pong is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist destinations for shopping in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Many Russians who lived and worked in Phnom Penh in the 1980s enjoyed shopping here. Today, Russian Market is the perfect place to go if you want to pick up some gorgeous trinkets as a memento of your enjoyable journey to the land of the temples.
The Russian Market is located in the right center of Phnom Penh, making it easy for you to go on foot from any central hotels in Phnom Penh City or also to catch a taxi or tuk-tuk
Day 8: Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, November 2024
The Royal Palace of Cambodia is a complex of buildings which serves as the official royal residence of the King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia. The Cambodian monarchs have occupied it since it was built in the 1860s, with a period of absence when the country came into turmoil during and after the reign of the Khmer Rouge.
The palace was constructed between 1866 and 1870. The complex is divided by walls into four main compounds. On the south side is the Silver Pagoda, to the north side is the Khemarin Palace and the central compound contains the Throne Hall and to the west is the private sector or the Inner Court. The buildings of the palace were built between 1866 and 1870, but was largely demolished and rebuilt between 1912 and 1932, and some were dismantled and rebuilt as late as the 1960s.
Day 8: Afternoon & Evening, Phnom Penh, November 2024
After visiting the Royal Palace we returned to our hotel for a relaxing afternoon. In the evening we had dinner in the Banana Tree restaurant. After a superb meal we decided to walk back to the hotel. Before going to bed we had a ‘night cap’ at the pool bar on the roof.
Day 9: Driving from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, November 2024
Starting early from our Phnom Penh hotel we headed north along the Tonlé Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Our first stop was at a rest area along the highway where the sold all kinds of fried insects like tarantula spider, cockroaches, bats, scorpions and larvas. The vendors were eager to place tarantulas on our bodies to scare us. They were harmless, our guide said, because their teeth and poison were removed, but it was a bit scary. One in our group tasted a tarantula!
Later we had another toilet & coffee stop at the Prey Pros Rest Area by the Tonle Sap lake. Before reaching our Saem Siem Reap Hotel we stopped at the large ticket office for the temple area were we were going the next day. We had a late lunch before checking in, and after a rest I had a dip in the pool and relaxed in the shade.
Day 10: Angkor Wat Temple at sunrise, Siem Reap, November 2024
Angkor Wat temple is a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex constructed in 1150, located on a 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2) site within the ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor. It consist of three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next, enclosed within an outer wall 3.6 kilometers, surrounded by a moat more than 5 km. The temple complex fell into disuse and was forgotten and taken over by the jungle, but was restored in the 20th century. It is considered to be the largest religious structure in the world, and attracts more than 2.5 million visitors every year.
Unfortunately the top level with the main temple was closed this day because of a ceremony, but luckily I climbed to the top in 2007.
Day 10: Bayon Temple, Siem Reap, November 2024
The Bayon temple lies in the exact center of the ancient 9 km² walled city of Angkor Thom, and is famous for the 216 gigantic smiling stone faces on the towers in the upper gallery. We entered through the south gate over the moat on a causeway with devas and asuras – each row holding a half-human, half-serpent naga in a tug-of-war.
Unfortunately the upper gallery was closed for restoration. We walked through a maze of rooms in the lower galleries.
Day 10: Ta Prohm Temple, Siem Reap, November 2024
Ta Prohm is the modern name of a temple approximately 1 km east of Angkor Thom. It was built in the Bayon temple style in the late 12th century, and was originally called Rajavihara – “Royal Monastery”.
The temple is referred to as the “Tomb Raider Temple” because some of the scenes from that film were shot there.
The temple was built without mortar, and after being abandoned for centuries the trees took root in the loosened stones growing braking the ruins apart, and the jungle surroundings have made it one of the most popular temples with visitors to the area.
Day 10: Cambodian Dances, Siem Reap, November 2024
In the evening we had dinner in the Aspara Theatre and watched Cambodian Khmer dances on a stage while we dined. I was a little skeptical when we entered the theater because it looked like we were going to sit on the floor to eat, but luckily there was a deep recess under the table to put our legs.
Khmer classical dance is a highly stylized dance form originating from the royal courts. Originally performed and maintained by attendants of the royal palaces, Khmer classical dance was introduced to the general public in the mid-20th century and became widely celebrated as iconic of Cambodian culture.
(Day 11: Rest day at the pool)
Day 12: Phnom Krom Village, Siem Reap, November 2024
We visited the village at the foot of the Phnom Krom mountain – a hill in the flat marshland – on our way to Lake Tonle Sap. Our local guide had grown up in this village and showed us one of the local lake-side streets where we were lucky to see real Cambodian village life and dwellings. (map)
Day 12: Floating Homes at Lake Tonle Sap, November 2024
From the village of Phnom Krom we continued to the Siem Reap River estuary where we boarded a boat – a kind of river boat with an inboard engine, but with a long propeller shaft like ‘long-tail boats’. We then cruised out through a channel between reeds in the sump area past a small community of floating houses and houseboats. Out by Lake Tonle Sap we docked at a collection of larger floating houses that served as a restaurant and shop. They had live crocodiles and some other animals in enclosures as curiosities for tourists. After a break we headed back to the mainland.
(Days 13 & 14: Return to Europe via Saigon)
Angkor Wat Temple, January 2007
Angkor Wat is a temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world, measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2). Originally constructed as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire, but was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in the capital of the Khmer Empire as his state temple and eventual mausoleum.
As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country’s prime attraction for visitors.
Ta Keo Temple, January 2007
Ta Keo has five sanctuary towers built on the uppermost level of five-tier pyramid consisting of overlapping terraces surrounded by moats. Its particularly massive appearance is due to the absence of external decorations, as carving had just begun when the work stopped, besides an elaborate use of perspective effects. The four stairways that lead on the summit are continuous and very steep. The central tower reaches a height of 45 meters.
Ta Prom Temple, January 2007
Ta Prohm is the modern name of the temple built in the late 12th and early 13th. It was founded by the Khmer King as a Buddhist monastery and university. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm is in much the same condition in which it was found. The photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor’s most popular temples with visitors. UNESCO inscribed Ta Prohm on the World Heritage List in 1992.
Bayon Temple, January 2007
The Bayon is a richly decorated Khmer built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII. The Bayon stands at the center of his capital.
The Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple has two sets of bas-reliefs, which present a combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes. It has been described as “the most striking expression of the baroque style” of Khmer architecture, as contrasted with the classical style of Angkor Wat.
Cambodian Dance, Siem Reap, January 2007
We attended a dinner dance show presenting classical Cambodian dances.