Top Takeaways - Eighteen (Cambodia)

We are leaving Cambodia feeling a bit sad, confused and awestruck. The country's tragic history and current plight are impossible to ignore, especially when juxtaposed with the kindness of the Cambodians we met on our trip. Angkor Wat is an incredible sight - one that justifies the trip to this country itself! Here are our top takeaways.

The bridge to Angkor Thom.

1. US dollars are accepted - and preferred - everywhere. This was especially strange to us because English is not spoken widely and the Khmer Riel currency isn't pegged to the dollar in any way. Easy exchange rate math! (And lesson learned: don't take out Khmer Riel at the ATM!)

2. Surprisingly, Cambodia was more expensive than we expected. For some reason I thought prices would be lower than Vietnam and Thailand but they were definitely higher, albeit not much: $1 beers were still widely available. I think we were a bit spoiled by just how cheap everything was in Vietnam!

3. We are still having a hard time grappling with the genocide that occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime. 40 years is really not that long ago (only a decade removed from our lifetimes) and we just cannot understand how a quarter of the country's population was massacred so brutally without the world taking notice. Having said that, every time we see ISIS mentioned on the news we're reminded that even today atrocities are still being committed.

4. Cambodia is by far the most undeveloped place we've been. Infrastructure is nearly nonexistent and garbage is everywhere. Most people live in poverty that we just haven't seen before and it's even more heartbreaking because it doesn't seem to be getting better.

5. We tried really hard to enjoy Khmer food, despite hearing that it was just sub-par Thai food, but we just didn't care for it. Sadly, we ended up seeking out Western food more often than in previous locations.

6. Angkor Wat is as incredible as we hoped. We were struck by how beautiful the temples are and how incredible it is that they are still standing almost 1,000 years after being built. We hope that Cambodia and UNESCO are able to preserve this wonder of the world for many years to come.

7. A tour guide at Angkor Wat is a must. We have normally avoided tour guides - due both to cost and our preference for self-exploring - but we wanted to make sure we saw everything during our brief stay. Once I found AboutAsia, who promised to "avoid the crowds," I was sold. Our guide, Hong, was the best - showing us all of the most famous sites, avoiding the many massive tour groups, pointing out the best photo-ops and taking our picture everywhere! We learned a lot from him and have some great shots of the two of us!

8. Relaxation after Angkor Wat is also critical! Between the early wake-up calls, the heat, long days and uneven terrain, we were pretty tired after a couple days in Siem Reap. We have never been happier to have a hotel with a pool!

9. Don't feel the need to see the countryside in Cambodia by taking a bus. We did this on our way up to Angkor Wat and it took all day. A private taxi would have taken only five hours. The cost difference is relatively substantial, but still very affordable in absolute terms. Hire a taxi or fly if you're looking to get around Cambodia quickly.

10. Many locals make their living off the tourists in the places we visited in Cambodia. That said, we have never felt so harassed by tuk tuk drivers! We would hear "Tuk tuk!?" shouted at us at least three times on every block. Fortunately the drivers left us alone after I made eye contact and shook my head no. (I think Alex's beard is working in our advantage in this department!)

Peak: Angkor Wat

Pit: Alex's cold and eye issues (hopefully all behind us now!)

Next Stop: Krabi, Thailand

Phnom Penh, Round Two

Sarah and I returned to Phnom Penh on Wednesday via private taxi. The cost for the trip was pretty reasonable, and was advertised as much faster than the bus – after the day-long bus trip up to Siem Reap, we were eager to pay a bit more for a faster ride back south to Phnom Penh. Though our driver broke basically all traffic laws that exist in the United States, he got us from our hotel in Battambang to our hotel in Phnom Penh in under four hours.

We spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool and later, after the temperature had cooled a bit, we walked around to find a bar with a view to watch the sunset. Fortunately, there are tons to choose from along the Mekong River and we settled in to watch the sky fade to black.

Dusk in Phnom Penh.

After sunset we walked a bit further to Hummus House for some Middle Eastern food. The hummus was (seriously) the best we’ve ever had. The rest of the things we ordered were good too, but the hummus was amazing. Stuffed with chickpeas, we got a tuk tuk to take us home and went to bed.

We had another clear, but hot, day on Thursday to explore the city. However, I didn’t do much of that. My right eye has been bothering me for a couple weeks – well, not my eye, more so my eyelid – and I finally decided something had to be done about it. The skin above my right eye had become red, swollen and itchy…and Sarah had had enough of it! So I relaxed at the hotel in the morning and saw a doctor in the afternoon while Sarah explored some more of the city’s sights. She had a good time walking around and I had a productive meeting with the doctor (he says I got bitten by a beetle and the bite got infected…I’m not so sure about the beetle part but the antibiotics should help regardless). We met up for a late lunch around 4pm at Cadillac Bar & Grill before meandering back to our hotel.

A view of the Independence Monument, celebrating independence from France in 1953.

All hail the king. This was displayed right across from The Royal Palace, home to King Norodom Sihamoni.

Entrance to The Royal Palace. I didn't go inside because it was closed (and even if it were not, tickets were nearly $20 an we've seen quite a few temples in Southeast Asia).

Outside of Wat Botum.

We are heading to Bangkok this evening, but our flight doesn’t leave until 5pm – so we decided to take a tuk tuk to the Choeung Ek Genocide Center (aka the Killing Fields) for a few hours to learn more about the horrible Khmer Rouge period in Cambodia. This site was only one of over 300 similar “killing fields” throughout the country but given its proximity to Phnom Penh it now serves as the primary monument to all who were slain during Pol Pot’s four-year reign. The admission includes an audio tour, which gave us a good mix of history and personal stories about the site. It was a very somber visit – about 2 million people were killed during this time, or about a quarter of Cambodia’s entire population – but we’re glad we took the time to see it.

The grounds of the Choeung Ek Genocide Center mostly contain marked mass graves where bodies were dumped. In what I'm sure was a particularly grizzly scene, 166 headless bodies were found here after the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

Bones and tattered clothes were scattered everywhere. Here a jawbone was placed on one of the exhibits.

Other times we could just see bones in the ground. There were signs that literally said “Please don’t step on bones.” Not all of the graves were excavated here and new bones are often found after heavy rains disturb the soil.

Tragically this is where many children were killed. The soldiers usually killed their victims by beating them in order to save bullets. So hard to imagine this happened only 40 years ago.

A commemorative stupa built to house the remains of the bodies in the graves that were exhumed here and to pay tribute to all the victims of the genocide.

Skills inside the stupa.

Like I said, it was a depressing couple of hours but very informative.

After a quick lunch, we took the tuk tuk back to our hotel, grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. It is a quick flight to Bangkok and our time there is short – we fly to Krabi for some R&R on the beach on Saturday morning.

Battambang

Unfortunately we don't really have much to report from Battambang. We were pretty exhausted after a few hot, long days exploring Angkor Wat and since Alex was still battling a cold we were content to sit around the pool at our hotel after arriving on Monday.

Not a bad place to relax.

We did head into town for dinner at Café Eden, and enjoyed a great meal by the river. We walked around town for a bit, but there really wasn't much to see in the dark.

Battambang is touted as a more remote location to view the authentic Cambodian landscape as well as a handful of historic sites. While we definitely got a chance to see some of the countryside - and how much of the population lives - the sights weren't nearly as impressive as the mighty Angkor Wat.

On Tuesday, we spent the morning lounging at our hotel again but decided to venture out to Phnom Sampeau in the afternoon. The hill is home to a couple of temples as well as the Killing Caves, another area that the Khmer Rouge used to torture and murder innocent Cambodians.

A somber depiction of how the Khmer Rouge pushed people off the cliffs to their deaths inside the caves.

Entrance to the temple at the top of the hill.

Looking up at Phnom Sampeau Temple.

These monkeys were not messing around - they stole food and chased people around!

After a sobering experience exploring the caves, we walked down the hill to the infamous "bat cave." A phenomenon that no one can really explain, over a million bats leave this one cave right before sunset, every day. We gathered with a handful of other tourists - and tuk tuk drivers - to watch the bats and were amazed as they all flew out of the cave right on schedule. 

Apparently this scene continues for 45 minutes but after about 15, we felt like we had experienced the phenomenon!

All of the bats flying together at once created the image of a black snake crossing the sky!

While the bat cave was a pretty cool experience, I'm not sure it warrants a special trip to Battambang, especially after seeing Angkor Wat.

This morning I went for a quick run and was treated to quite an amazing sunrise. We're getting another taxi to take us back to Phnom Penh in an hour or so - we're both looking forward to getting back to a bigger city and seeing some of the sights we missed on our first few days in Phnom Penh.

Pretty great start to the day!

Angkor Wat

Sarah and I spent the last three days in Siem Reap, the home of the famous Angkor Wat temple complex. Angkor Wat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a runner-up on the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World (though many here claim that it is indeed one of the seven wonders). Regardless of its official (or unofficial) title, Angkor Wat deserves its reputation as one of the most amazing places in the world!

We booked a two-day tour of the area through AboutAsia Travel. There are probably 100 tour companies to choose from; we decided on these guys because they advertise a tour of the temples "without the crowds." It cost more than we were expecting but booking the tour with AboutAsia turned out to be one of the best decisions we've made on the trip. The schedule was a bit tiring (in order to beat the crowds, we had to get up very early!) but it was well worth it - we got an incredibly intimate look at some of the most popular temples and our very helpful guide, Hong, explained a lot of the area's history along the way.

Here's most of what we saw, in the order we saw it.

Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm, aka the "Tomb Raider Temple," was our first stop on Saturday. As its nickname suggests, this is where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider in the early 2000s. I thought the locals might resent this new common name, but most of them embrace it - tourism increased dramatically after the movie's release! True to his word, Hong got us there well before the big tour groups arrived and we had an hour or so to marvel at the interwoven trees and temples, practically by ourselves.

This corner of the temple was in Tomb Raider and it's one of the most popular spots to take a picture. On our way out there was a line 50-people long waiting for a shot!

One of the corridors of the temple.

Panoramic view of the temple grounds.

Walking through the temple complex we saw moss growing on almost all the ruins.

Buddha faces on one of the gates to the temple.

Ta Nei

Our next stop was at Ta Nei, a smaller temple that is secluded in a quiet forest. I doubt this temple gets many visitors during peak times since it’s so far off the beaten path, but at 8am we were literally the only people walking around. Because this temple is less popular among tourists, less has been done to restore it than at some of the other temples; however, there are some very well preserved carvings on the walls (and it was nice to see what a temple really looks like after almost 1,000 years in the forest).

The entrance to Ta Nei.

One of the elaborate carvings that stood the test of time.

Looking back at the outside of the temple.

Ta Keo

Ta Keo is a much bigger (and much taller!) temple close to Ta Nei. It is made entirely of sandstone and rises five levels above the ground (you can actually see above the tree line from the top). Ta Keo is a Hindu temple (there are both Hindu and Buddhist temples in the area here) that was never actually completed so it was very different than what we’d seen so far.

Ta Keo emerging out of the forest.

It was a steep climb up to the top!

Victory Gate & Death Gate at Angkor Thom

We drove through Victory Gate, as many cars do, then headed a few minutes south to the east gate (aka Death Gate). The east gate acquired its more ominous nickname because dead bodies were cremated here “back in the day,” according to Hong.

As always, Hong led us in the right direction – there was no one at Death Gate so we were able to explore the ancient gate in peace. We walked along the wall back to Victory Gate and snapped a few pictures here before hopping into our van and heading to Angkor Café for a much needed coffee break.

Standing in front of Death Gate.

One of the Buddha heads on Victory Gate.

Angkor Wat

Rested and re-caffinated we headed to Angkor Wat around 11:30am. As we learned, this is actually a pretty good time to visit Angkor Wat because it coincides with the lunch break of many of the larger tours. It was still the most crowded temple we saw but we’re not that surprised – this is the area’s main attraction, after all! We were dropped off at the east gate and walked west toward the main temple complex. We explored the temple for about two hours before heading back to Siem Reap to eat lunch, cool off and relax for the rest of the afternoon. Fortunately our hotel had a great pool and we spent most of our free time there.

Posing for a picture (at Hong’s instance!) just inside the east gate of Angkor Wat. An unexpected benefit of touring with Hong was his insistence on taking photos of the two of us and his knowledge of all the best photo ops!

Approaching Angkor Wat from behind.

As we walked along the outer walls of Angkor Wat we were amazed by the detail (and quantity!) of the carvings in the stone. Scenes like this lined the entire wall!

By one of the old pools on the first level of Angkor Wat.

Even though there were hundreds of tourists around, Hong still worked his magic and showed us the least populated areas!

Angkor Wat and its reflecting pool.

Later in the day we wandered over to Pub Street, the appropriately named area where you can find many bars and restaurants. We had an obligatory Angkor Beer then walked to Georges Rhumerie for dinner. This restaurant is known for their homemade rum and sausages…and neither disappointed. It’s not an authentic Khmer meal but it sure was good!

Colorfully decorated (and well labeled) Pub Street.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Our day on Sunday began even earlier than on Saturday. Hong met us at our hotel at 5am – well, technically, he was there at 4:55am knocking on our door to make sure we were awake! – and we headed to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. Unfortunately the day started out pretty overcast so our “sunrise” pictures don’t look like anything special. Oh well, can’t win with the weather all the time…

“Sunrise” at Angkor Wat.

At least the water lilies opened up for us.

Bayon

Despite the sunrise fail, we were still at Angkor Wat very early and there weren’t many other tourists around. Hong took us next to Bayon, the main temple within Angkor Thom. Also known as the “Smiling Buddha Temple,” Bayon is often described as many tourists’ favorite spot in the area. While it’s hard to pick a favorite, this is definitely one of the coolest places we saw. There are hundreds of smiling Buddha faces throughout the temple – you see one practically everywhere you look. We explored this temple for about an hour, at which point many more tourists began to show up so we decided to move on to the next one.

On our way to Bayon we stopped at Angkor Thom’s south gate for a picture. Most of the statues here are very well preserved, as opposed to Victory and Death gates (where almost all the statues are missing heads and one or more limbs).

Sarah and one of the smiling Buddhas.

Like I said, smiling Buddhas everywhere!

All smiles.

Hong said this “nose-to-nose” shot is very famous, maybe on the cover of a Cambodia guide book? Regardless of its notoriety, still a very cool shot.

How many faces can you count in this photo?

Looking back at Bayon from just outside the temple.

Baphuon and the Royal Palace

Our next stop in Angkor Thom was not far at all: after a two-minute drive we arrived at Baphuon. Hong likened this temple as a “mountain” and I think that’s a pretty good description. It’s also notable for the long walkway leading to the temple’s base. Hong walked us around the grounds for a few minutes, but declined to hike up to the top – it’s a pretty steep climb and he’s done it hundreds of times before so I can’t say I blame him!

Walking to Baphuon.

The sun almost came out on our way up to the top.

View from the top of the temple, looking back on the walkway.

We met Hong back on the ground and he took us to the grounds of the Royal Palace. There isn’t much left here, unfortunately. This area, even more than others, was dug up by people looking for valuables after the temples were discovered. Hong knows a friend-of-a-friend’s-grandmother who found a gold ring here (or so he says). Regardless of his story, it’s obvious that the grounds have been thoroughly picked over. Phimeanakas Temple is still standing as well as some of the gates, but we weren’t as impressed by this area as some of the others we saw.

Hong snapped a picture of us in front of Phimeanakas.

Some of the destroyed statues nearby.

The Royal Gate.

The wall surrounding the palace was pretty cool – elephants were engraved along almost all of it.

Hong dropped us off back in Siem Reap to get some breakfast and relax for a few hours. Our tour would resume at 2:30pm – just enough time for some food and quality pool time. We had brunch at Sister Srey, which is owned by some Australians who imported the wonderful qualities of Australian brunch to Cambodia. They even had flat whites! Definitely a must-visit if you’re craving some western comforts in Siem Reap.

Prea Kahn

Hong picked us up right on time and we headed back to the temples for the last time. Our first stop this afternoon was Prea Kahn, also known as the “Sword Temple” (because that’s what its modern name roughly translates to). Similar to Ta Prohm, this temple has trees growing throughout and, in many cases, the trees are an important support structure that keep the temple walls from collapsing. We also thought this temple was interesting because it had basically a Hindu side and Buddhist side. It was originally constructed as a Buddhist temple but Hindu features were added on after it was completed.

We walked to the temple through the west gate because not many tourists visit this area. Hong really knows the area well!

Standing by one of the many trees throughout the temple.

Walking through Prea Kahn.

Panoramic shot of the temple’s main grounds.

One more with a tree (and its massive roots!).

Ta Som

I think Ta Som was the most recently restored temple we visited – the World Monuments Fund just completed work here in 2012. It’s not a big temple, but we didn’t mind because that meant there weren’t many tourists around. We strolled around for half an hour or so before heading to our final destination to watch the sunset.

Standing by the west gate, which has almost entirely been taken over by a tree.

The west gate from the other side.

Ta Som temple.

Pre Rup

Our tour concluded at Pre Rup, a medium-height temple made of brick that is a popular spot to watch the sunset. Hong has led us to all the best places for the last two days, but we were both a little disappointed by his choice to end here. We still enjoyed exploring the temple as the sun slowly set, but we both thought it would’ve been better to see the sunset at one of the larger temples. Can’t really complain though!

Pre Rup. The brick makes the temple appear very red at sunset.

One of the many lions around the temple.

Watching the sunset.

Our time in Siem Reap was incredible (albeit a little bit tiring!). Angkor Wat (and the temples around it) deserves its spot on many people’s bucket list. We had a great time and would highly recommend it to everyone!

Tomorrow we’re taking a taxi to Battambang, a smaller town in western Cambodia. We’re both looking forward to having a slower couple days there after the hectic schedule we had here in Siem Reap.

Phnom Penh, Round One

Unfortunately, Sarah and I do not have much to report from the last three days in Phnom Penh. We arrived on Tuesday in much less dramatic fashion than we left Ho Chi Minh City (which is to say, no scissor-wielding cabbies looking for a fight…) and checked into the TeaHouse Asian Urban Hotel. Though it’s a bit of a mouthful to spit out, I was really glad we had such a nice place to say while in Phnom Penh.

We settled in quickly and walked over to Eclipse in order to catch the sunset from one of the city’s best vantage points.

Sunset over Phnom Penh on a “clear” day…glad we didn’t arrive on a “hazy” day!

Looking the other way toward the river.

After darkness set in over Phnom Penh, we walked to a local restaurant, Domrei Kitchen, that Sarah found on TripAdvisor – we wanted to dive right in and try Cambodian food and this place was well reviewed. Sadly, TripAdvisor let us down. The food was bland and the service mediocre; that said, we were still excited to be in Cambodia and explore the city over the next two days.

Like I said at the beginning, though, we have little to report…because things didn’t work out exactly as planned. I’ve had a cold that’s been bothering me for a couple days and it kept me out of commission for most of our time in Phnom Penh. I knew when my masseur was sneezing on me during our Halong Bay cruise - lower spa standards in this part of the world! - that I might catch what he had, but I didn’t think it would turn out to be this bad. Oh well, considering we’ve both been healthy for the majority of our trip, it’s hard to complain.

We spent most of our time relaxing by the pool at our hotel. Having a couple lazy days reading and soaking up the sun was probably good for us anyway, given how much we’ve been on the move lately. I ventured out a few times per day for meals, Sarah explored more of the neighborhood to do some shopping and even stopped by the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (which, as its name suggests, is a pretty heavy experience).

From Sarah: The Tuol Sleng Genocide museum is located at S-21, the former prison and torture-house used by the deadly Khmer Rouge regime during the late 1970s. During the genocidal rule of Pol Pot, it is estimated that nearly two million Cambodians - approximately 25% of the country's population at that time - were slaughtered. The museum is a harrowing look at a (fairly recent) historical travesty in Cambodia and calls to mind the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Worse still, the government that has since ruled the country is horribly corrupt and Cambodians continue to suffer from a lack of education, infrastructure and basic human rights. You can learn more about all of this here.

One of the prisoner torture rooms. This was substantially larger than where most of the prisoners had to stay, chained at all times.

Looking down the hall at the prisoner cells.

It's hard to tell but each of these is a small chamber that held multiple prisoners.

The museum tour ended with a peace bell...surrounded by skulls and bones from those who were massacred here.

From far away the building looks much more like it's original intended structure - a middle school.

It's too bad that we didn't get to see much in Phnom Penh. Fortunately, though, we're planning to spend two and a half days here at the end of our time in Cambodia, so we'll be able to see the city next time we come through.

We woke up early today so we could catch the bus up to Siem Reap. We have three days there to see Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples – fingers crossed that I've kicked this cold by then!