Cambodia

Oh, Cambodia! What can I say? I finally made it there after all these years of coming to Southeast Asia and only visiting Thailand and Laos. I had originally planned to go to Cambodia at the very end of May, but ended up rescheduling because of a festival in Nong Bua that I didn’t want to miss. I knew I would be disappointed if I didn’t travel to Cambodia before returning to the States. And I am glad I made that choice.

I began my Cambodian vacation in Siem Reap, the town that serves as the launching off spot for the Ankgor temples and ruins. Angkor/Siem Reap is one of the hottest tourist spots in Southeast Asia, and it shows. The central part of town is booming with fancy buildings/bars/restaurants and there seem to be hotels going up all over the place. Siem Reap is a nice town and I wish I had had more time to spend exploring it.

I got into the Siem Reap airport around 4:30 in the afternoon, so I didn’t see much my first day. I just walked around to try to get myself orientated, then ate dinner and pretty much went back to my room, watched some TV (a luxury!), and went to sleep. I didn’t feel the culture shock that I did when I went to China earlier this year, probably because Cambodia shares so much with Thailand and Laos, not to mention the fact that so many Cambodians in the touristy areas speak English pretty darn well. I can say it was difficult to speak only English. Typically here in Thailand or in Laos, even if I speak English with someone I will use Thai words, or if I am practicing English with a Thai or Lao I can rely on my knowledge of Thai to help explain what something means. No such luck in Cambodia, and thus I found myself longing to speak Thai. Strange. I had made plans with my driver to meet at 8 am the next morning to begin exploring Angkor. By “driver” I mean motorcycle driver, and this is not an uncommon thing to have in Cambodia, especially Siem Reap. It is a convenient way of seeing as many sights as a person could want, especially those further away, and for me it was nice not to do everything totally on my own as I am used to doing (it does get lonely). Also, there is no motorcycle rental in Siem Reap, so to get around tourists have to either go by foot, bicycle, or hire someone. I hired Hout, who had been my motorcycle driver from the airport. He was 24 years old, and had already been driving tourists around for 5 years, and his English was very, very good. Another nice thing about having a “driver” is that I didn’t have to think too hard about where I wanted to go and I definitely didn’t have to think about how to get there. The only complaint I have is that I know Hout overcharged me, and I could not bargain him down, no matter how hard I tried. But he knew I liked him as a driver, since I hired him for basically all of the time I was there. I had originally planned to hire him for 2 days, then rent a bicycle on my third day to go back and see some of the more popular Angkor sites a second time (such as Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat), but I didn’t, and I am glad. It was very, very hot in Cambodia (hot and humid; the sun was quite intense), and I was pretty worn out anyway, so I think it is better that I didn’t do the bicycle thing. I even got to go have dinner and a drink with my driver at his friend’s house. That was great for me, because it was just getting to go into a Cambodian home and eating with them, sharing a little tiny part of their life. It’s my favorite thing to do, and I jumped at the opportunity. Cambodian houses are very small (obviously a generalization, but overall a very true statement), and many people live inside. Remember that most Cambodians are very poor, like the Lao, and make do with what little they have. The food was delicious and the hosts very hospitable, but I wasn’t very hungry as I had eaten a heavy lunch of Indian food.

I intended to keep an ongoing list of all of the temples and sites that I saw when I was in Siem Reap/Angkor, but it got so overwhelming so quickly that I didn’t. All I know is that I saw a lot, the majority of the greater Angkor area. I have to admit, I was nervous when I got to Siem Reap, and when I started out on my first day. What was it going to be like? Would it live up to the hype, to the expectations?? I knew there would be a lot of tourists, but how many? As an aspiring art historian, I was particularly anxious. Angkor is supposed to be one of the most incredible sights in the world, it’s in the part of the world I study, but what if I didn’t feel the enthusiasm I was supposed to feel? What if I just plain wasn’t impressed? Basically, I was worried it would not live up to all of the hype. Because there is a lot of hype. I needn’t have worried. Angkor was awesome. From the second I walked up to the Bayon (the first temple I visited at Angkor), I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed, and would be very, very pleased. In fact, as I stared in awe at the stone reliefs covering the walls, I contemplated changing my research focus. OK, that isn’t exactly true, but for the first time I could truly and totally understand why/how people could dedicate their lives to studying that kind of thing. And to think that these things were made 700-1000 years ago!!! Unbelievable!

As I write this, I am not sure how to describe being at Angkor. Most likely this is because too much time has passed since I have been there, but it could be due to any number of reasons. All I can say is that there was never a lack of interesting and beautiful things to look at and marvel over, and that true to their reputation the Cambodian people were just lovely. There was a large number of tourists at Angkor every day, but apparently nothing at all compared to high season, and according to my driver there were less than the normal amount for this time of year – I had excellent timing since I traveled during the World Cup when tourist numbers go way down (something to note for those of you planning on traveling abroad in 4 years). The majority of tourists that I saw (by far) were East Asian (that is to say Chinese, Korean, or Japanese), most specifically Korean. It was crazy at some times when my path overlapped with theirs as I ventured though the temples. Crazy because there were just so many people! But overall, the crowds didn’t bother me, as they really only stuck to the main sites around Angkoe, so it was easy to get away or avoid them. And I couldn’t complain much anyway – I love it when people (tourists) are at a place where they can only learn, about history, art, whatever. That is definitely a good thing.
During my days in Siem Reap, I wore myself out. I climbed around so many of the temples, etc., in the hot sun that each evening it was an accomplishment for me just to eat dinner, check my email, and get back to my room. I know I saw so many temples, palaces, whatever, and I was overwhelmed by what I saw. I tried to not go overboard taking photographs since so much of the area is already represented generously in books, but I still ended up taking 800 photos when I was in Cambodia! That just seems ridiculous to me!

After 4 days/5 nights in Siem Reap (not including the 1st day), I traveled to Phnom Penh. I had bought my bus ticket the day before and when I woke up that morning I really regretted that decision, wanting to spend one last day just exploring around Siem Reap. I had gone to a nearby wat the day before and got to talk to a few of the monks who were excited to practice their English (which was very good). I didn’t have enough time to do things like that, but I figure next time I go, I can spend more time exploring the town and the wats. I spent 4 nights in Phnom Penh, which is quite a big and bustling city! It was slightly overwhelming at first, and I still don’t feel like I saw too much of it, but I think that’s OK. I had picked out what looked like it would be a nice area to stay from reading my guidebook on the bus, but when the bus pulled into Phnom Penh, it was swarmed with people trying to get the farang to go to their guesthouse, take their motorcycle, whatever. Too much!, and although I typically ignore these people when I travel, this time I thought whatever, just take me to your cheap guesthouse in the backpacker ghetto. So I ended up staying in a different area than I had anticipated, but it worked out well since I only had to pay $3 a night for a clean room with its own bathroom. Once I heard $3, what could I do?
I traveled to the National Museum (which is just fantastic), the palace, riverfront, Wat Phnom, Tuol Sleng, the killing fields, and some markets while I was in Phnom Penh. I had contemplated whether or not to go to Tuol Sleng (the former school where the Khmer Rouge tortured and killed tens of thousands of people) and the killing fields for many reasons – what if it was too overwhelming/overpowering for me? Then afterwards I would have no one to talk to about it (traveling alone) and might have a hard time adjusting. I also could rationalize that since I have studied so much about recent history in Cambodia and Southeast Asia in general that I was already far more well informed than the average tourist and thus didn’t need to see everything to know what happened there. But I realized that I had an obligation to the Cambodian people to see these things. I mean the genocide and civil war are as much a part of Cambodian culture as the temples and things I ran to see in Siem Reap. And I am glad I went. Although I didn’t really learn anything new, I was able to see all of these things firsthand, and I spent a lot of time contemplating what one earth makes a society devour itself as happened in Cambodia. What makes people resort to such horrible acts, and how can others just stand idly by and watch it happen? (By others I am not merely referring to people, but other countries who knew what was going on but did not want to get involved because of the tangled political mess that was Asia in the seventies.

I can say that my trip to Cambodia was rewarding and relatively pain-free. What I mean to say is that I enjoyed myself and didn’t have to experience any broken-down buses. I do feel like I could have done so much more or learned so much more, but then I realize it was my first trip to the country, and I was only there for 9 days. Perhaps on my next trip I can delve further into Khmer culture and religion/art/textiles…