Cambodia

Flight 5 of 17

Monday, March 26 – Thursday, March 29

We arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the early evening, at the same time as (who we believe) was an important diplomat or maybe even a Cambodian pop star.  As we left the plane about to enter immigration, Ryan was following the crowd and just about boarded the diplomat’s private bus.  Luckily, Kristen stopped him before the security guards intervened.

After we checked in to the hotel, we met up with Veronica & Keith, Ryan’s friends from high school.  They are working in Cambodia to establish the Bronze Lake Resort, which is a huge waterpark and recreation complex in Kampong Thom, halfway between two major Cambodian Cities – Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Outside the new Bronze Lake Hotel, with Ryan & Veronica

Veronica and Keith took us on a tour of Phnom Penh via tuk tuk.  We had Thai/Cambodian fusion for dinner as we sat on the floor on an outdoor terrace catching up.  Later, we enjoyed dragonfruit and passionfruit cocktails on a rooftop bar, walked the streets of Phnom Penh, and stopped by a few bars where we tried the local favorite, Angkor Beer.  We continued the tour with Angkor Beers in-hand as we rode around town on the tuk tuk, while Veronica and Keith pointed out local landmarks.

We woke up to breakfast on the top floor of the hotel, with great views of the Mekong River.  We met Veronica and Yo Yo (the family driver), and we visited the S-21 Geoncide Museum.  This is the actual site where 20,000 people were killed by the Khmer Rouge, in a high school turned death camp.  The Khmer Rouge was in power in the 1970’s and led by Pol Pot, who believed Cambodia should be returned to its agricultural roots by purging the nation of its educated people.  Over two million Khmer people were killed during its reign of genocide.  The rooms in the high school were eerie and powerful, and it was almost hard to believe this was a site of such inhuman acts that happened less than 40 years ago.

After a somber start to the day, we had lunch at an all-you-can-eat Cambodian buffet.  We tried many traditional foods, and Ryan ordered a fresh coconut with a straw sticking out.

It was time to head to Kampong Thom to see the resort.  The best travel option was by taxi.  This is not your normal taxi, however.  Imagine a Toyota Camry with up to five passengers in the back and four in the front.  The three of us (Veronica, Ryan, & Kristen) paid a premium fare of $20 total so we could reserve the entire back seat for ourselves.  To our dismay (or relief?), only three full-grown men occupied the front seats that morning.  Had another person squeezed in, one would have sat on the far left, the driver would have straddled the gear shift, and two people would have shared the right seat.

The journey took us through the Cambodian countryside, as we listened to the driver’s mixed CD with the song we can never fully get out of our heads…. “I Am Sorry.”

Three hours later we arrived at Bronze Lake, and Veronica gave us a tour on a surrey (foot pedal-powered bike for four).  We saw the lake, pool, gallery (for Veronica’s upcoming photography exhibit), giant waterslides, hotel accommodations, and the restaurant under construction.  We can’t wait to come back and visit once more sections are complete!

It was time to head to Siem Reap.  We were joined by Thoik, Veronica’s Cambodian co-worker who had never visited Siem Reap.  Thoik knew about as much English as we did Khmer, so it was fun watching her and Veronica communicate.  (Note to self: Always be on Veronica’s team for charades.)

Yo Yo’s brother picked us up and we visited his family’s gas station, where we figured out how to get to Siem Reap.  As they were talking, we watched the last bus of the night fly past us.  We jumped in Yo Yo’s brother’s car and sped down the street, waving down the bus which finally pulled over to let us in. The whole event lasted about three minutes, but it was exhilarating!  We were on our way.  After a few hours, we reached a bus stop and bought some fresh mango and delicious banana chips.  (Thoik talked them down to about 8 cents per mango… go Thoik!)

We arrived at Siem Reap about 10pm.  After some bargaining with the Tuk Tuk drivers, as well as bargaining with the hotel (Who knew 4 people couldn’t share two twin beds?), we were down for the night.  We also learned Kristen’s sister, Susie, was having a boy – Yay for nephews!

Temple Time!

Kristen & Ryan Exploring the Temples

On Wednesday, we woke up at 5am and traveled to Angkor Wat to watch the sun rise above the 900 year old temple complex.  Seeing this Wonder of the World was truly a sight we’ll never forget.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat (~5:30am)

Over the day, our personal tuk tuk driver Juan (not his actual name, but it sounds close) took us from temple to temple.  Siem Reap is actually a huge area with dozens of enormous temples.  Who knows how many thousands of steps we climbed that day!  We visited only a handful, but spent from 5am to 5pm exploring the grounds.

Kristen at the 900 Year Old Temple of Angkor Wat

Bayon Temple: Faces Everywhere
("Legends of the Hidden Temple," anyone?) 

Some of the temples we visited were:

• Angkor Wat (featured in Lora Croft: Tomb Raider 3)
• Angkor Thom
• Bayon, and surrounding temples
• Phnom Bakheng (temple on top of mountain – we rode up on an elephant!)
• Ta Prohm (temple entangled in trees, also in Tomb Raider)

Ta Prohm Temple: Trees Everywhere

We ended the day with a swim in the hotel pool, and then went with Veronica & Thoik to the Night Market/Pub Street area to see modern-day Siem Reap after hours.  We introduced Thoik to her first slice of pizza, and then distributed flyers to the locals to promote Bronze Lake.  We said goodnight/goodbye to Veronica & Thoik and prepared for an early morning of travel back to Phnom Penh.

Our Transportation Up the Mountain to Phnom Bakheng Temple

The six-hour trip back to Phnom Penh was long, hot, bumpy, and painful – a true adventure!  The best way to describe it is a mix between the Knight Bus from Harry Potter and off-roading with ATVs.  (We literally collided heads a few times!)  We definitely took the road less traveled back to Phnom Penh … since at times, we weren’t driving on the road!

When we made it back to Phnom Penh, we visited the yellow Central Market to shop for souvenirs.  We took a tuk tuk to the airport, and then we were on our way to Singapore.