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It was a tough choice to sacrifice some of the time the ship was docked in Vietnam to visit Cambodia’s temples, but the lure of Angkor Wat was too much to resist. Especially after visiting my first of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Great Wall while in China I was eager to see another iconic site.
Packing for Cambodia
Packing was actually pretty difficult since we were going to be visiting Cambodia’s temples and other sites with dress codes requiring knees and shoulders to be covered. Sounds simple, but the temperatures hover at a constant 80-100 degrees Fahrenheit with 90% humidity in this part of Southeast Asia at this time of year. It didn’t help that I waited until the morning of the trip to pack and that I only had access to a limited wardrobe during my voyage.
Just a Quick Hop
On the way to the airport Semester at Sea provided boxed lunches which made everyone feel like we were in elementary school again, but in a fun way. Getting through the airport was a pretty simple process since we weren’t allowed to check any baggage. The flight to Phnom Penh was only 25 minutes long, but it would have been a 5.5 hour drive so I’m glad we flew instead of taking a bus to maximize our time in both Vietnam and Cambodia.
Hit the Ground Running
Upon touchdown in Phnom Penh we went right to the National Museum of Cambodia where we had a very knowledgeable tour guide telling us all about the Khmer artifacts and artwork housed there. The architecture of the museum was nearly as much of an attraction as the collection inside. Designed during the French colonial era, the museum’s architecture is based on Cambodia’s temples as depicted on ancient bas-reliefs.
Next we were treated to a sunset cruise on the Mekong River. I found this a bit funny considering we spent the majority of our time during Semester at Sea on the water. Nonetheless the cruise and sunset were lovely and provided a different perspective of Phnom Penh.
Semester at Sea Alumni Give Back
After the cruise, we visited the Palm Tree Orphanage which was founded by Semester at Sea alumni. The children there were able to speak quite a bit of English, and were very excited to practice it with us. We were shown around the school there by the kids, and some of the older ones were able to tell me that they learn English, history, music, dancing (traditional Cambodian dances), and hospitality.
At first I was surprised to hear that hospitality was a subject they learned, but it’s a big industry and would help them find jobs in the future. Palm Tree Orphanage also has a workshop where the children learn sewing and sell handicrafts to raise funds. It was wonderful to see Semester at Sea alumni go back to a place they visited on their voyage to try to make a difference and I’m glad this was included on our itinerary.
Our dinner was at the Khmer Surin restaurant which serves Khmer and Thai food in many small courses as I’d become accustomed to in Asia. Afterwards we finally went to our hotel to get some sleep before our early wake up the next day.
It was an early start the next morning, with everyone checked out of their rooms and loaded onto the bus by 7:00am. We were in for a busy day as this was our only full day in Cambodia.
Cambodia’s Dark Past
Our first stop was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. This had originally been a high school that the Khmer Rouge regime turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21) during its reign of terror. Barbed wire fences still surround the property and much of the prison has been left as it was at the end of the Khmer Rouge rule to preserve the site as a museum. It was terrible to learn about the atrocities committed there as prisoners were brutally tortured until they confessed to crimes against the Khmer Rouge. Once confessions were recorded and signed the prisoners would be sent to be executed. Of an estimated 20,000 people who were imprisoned at S-21, there were only twelve known survivors.
Following their ill-fated path, we next visited the Choeung Ek Memorial which is one of the Khmer Rouge’s Killing Fields where collectively over a million people were executed. Without going into too many details, this was a very disturbing place (as it should be), and you could almost feel the presence of so many deaths. Before visiting Cambodia, I was completely ignorant of Pol Pot’s cruel Khmer Rouge regime, and the millions of deaths that occurred during that time. While I found these sites disturbing, I also think it’s necessary to preserve them to educate future generations.
Palaces and Pagodas
Thankfully the rest of our tour wasn’t quite so heavy, and we headed back into the city of Phnom Penh to visit the Royal Palace. It was more of a complex instead of one grandiose structure, with many beautiful golden buildings of traditional Cambodian architecture. Among the buildings we were able to see was the Silver Pagoda with more than 5,000 silver tiles making up the floor. The majority of the floor was covered with carpets that I assume are meant to protect the floor. Unfortunately we were unable to spend as much time at the Royal Palace as we had planned because it was closing to the public for the day. This is likely due to the fact that the palace is still in official use by the King of Cambodia.
Menu Mystery
Our lunch at a local restaurant in Phnom Penh was nice, but we were puzzled by our dessert. It looked a lot like jell-o at first, yet did not have the same consistency nor flavor. We later learned it was a sweet bean paste dessert. It wasn’t really to my taste, but I did try it despite its acid green color and paste-like consistency. I was definitely getting more adventurous with foods I was trying so I’ll consider the sweet bean paste as an eating adventure.
Market Madness
For the afternoon we were turned loose in dangerous territory: the Central Market. I’ve decided I should not be allowed to set foot in markets where I can bargain the prices down to a couple of dollars… I didn’t actually spend that much money, but I did buy a lot of souvenirs.
Siem Reap
The market was our last stop in Phnom Penh, and from there we went to the airport to board our flight to Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat. At the airport I had my first experience of walking out on the tarmac to the small propeller plane (also a first), which made me slightly nervous. Our flight was only 40 minutes, but they still provided us with snacks of muffins and water which was a nice surprise and they were probably easier to pass out the way they were boxed up.
I was happy when we safely landed and went to our hotel, the Borei Angkor Resort & Spa, for a chance to freshen up before dinner. Beyond being a beautiful hotel, this accommodation stood out to me for having re-fillable toiletries in their rooms to help eliminate plastic waste.
Dinner and a Dancing Show
For dinner we went to Koulen Restaurant where there was a buffet and a performance of Apsara dance. Apsara’s roots are found in Hinduism where this passionate dance is performed by Apsara fairies to entertain powerful gods. I really enjoyed the show since I love watching the dances of different cultures. The ornate costumes and headpieces worn by the dancers for some parts of the performance beautiful. The Royal Ballet of Cambodia was inducted to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2003 so hopefully it will be preserved for many generations to come.
On the way back to the hotel, we were given the option to either be taken straight back to the hotel or to be dropped off by the Night Market and Pub Street. Deciding to live dangerously, I took this chance to go to the Night Market where I picked up a handful more souvenirs. After we were done shopping and wandering, a friend and I took a tuk tuk (rickshaw pulled by a motorbike) back to the hotel. This was an inexpensive way to travel since you can bargain with the driver and a lot of fun to ride in an open-air tuk tuk. We wanted to go to bed early since there was an optional sunrise tour the next morning to Angkor Wat that we planned to get up for.
Early to Bed, Early to Rise?
Alas travel doesn’t always go according to plan. A group of us missed the bus to go on the sunrise tour by all of two minutes, so we decided to go back to sleep until the tour returned for breakfast. We were disappointed, but people who actually went told us the day’s sunrise wasn’t that spectacular and to not be overly upset we missed it. The worst part was that we’d gotten up and were ready to go at 5:00am, only to miss the tour anyway.
Welcome to the Jungle
After eating breakfast at the hotel, the whole group got back on the bus to visit the Angkor temple complexes. Ta Prohm Temple, also known as the Jungle Temple or the Tomb Raider Temple thanks to Angelina Jolie, was our first stop of the day.
It was amazing to see how the trees were growing right up through and over top of the temples and structures. In at least one section the tree roots were holding a portion of the hallway up when the rest of it had collapsed. In other areas the trees had caused the buildings to collapse, which was a shame to see. However, there were areas that were under reconstruction to rebuild sections that were in disrepair. I was in awe of the carvings that were on every surface of the stone you could see. Even though much of the area was damaged, there were also a lot of carvings that were in beautiful condition.
Monkey Business
The forest surrounding Angkor Wat is also home to monkeys which some students in our group tried to approach, but when they got too close the monkeys charged. It was rather amusing to see this group of guys come running out onto the road from the monkey that they had thought was so cute. If you visit, it’s best to just leave the monkeys alone if you see them around Cambodia’s temples.
Angkor Wat
Finally it was time for the main event: Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. We entered from the East Gate instead of the official West Gate, and the walk leading up to the temple was surreal. As you got closer, the temple appeared to just rise up from the surrounding forest. Angkor Wat was stunning as it emerged from the forest and I ended up taking over 300 pictures this day.
We toured and climbed all over the vast temple complex until it was time to return to the hotel for lunch and to check out. It had been so hot that I decided to take a shower before we checked out, but then I hated putting my sweaty clothes back on. My limited wardrobe included a lot of cotton which doesn’t do well at wicking away sweat.
More of Cambodia’s Temples
After lunch we went to the South Gate of the ancient capital city of Angkor Thom, Bayon Temple, Baphuon Temple, Terrace of the Leper King, and Terrace of Elephants. Bayon was really interesting and one of my favorite out of the temples that we visited. The whole temple was designed with faces in the stone everywhere you looked. A couple of monks happened to be visiting at the same time we were, which definitely made the temple feel more sacred than the ruins had before.
I would highly recommend Cambodia’s temples at Angkor Wat to anyone visiting Southeast Asia, although perhaps in November when our tour guide suggested was the best time of the year since the weather is cooler (temperatures are only in the 70s instead of 90s).
Back to Vietnam
Sadly our time in Cambodia had come to an end so we took the hour flight back to Ho Chi Minh City and the ship. We had a very busy itinerary in Cambodia so I definitely felt like I saw a fair portion of the country for the short time I spent there.
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