We’ve been in Cambodia just over a week now and are really enjoying it. It’s a quirky place, where the motorbikes are powered by vegetable oil (usually in the form of old pop bottles) bought from roadside racks, and you can’t walk down the street for more than 2 minutes without being offered a tuk-tuk or moto – they don’t understand our fondness for walking!
We started off in Siem Reap which as the gateway to the temples at Angkor is on the touristy side; the markets are filled to overflowing with the kind of purchases you only ever seem to make on holiday; they have a pub street – but it’s expanded a little these days to include a lane and alley too; and there are an awful lot of restaurants. It’s a fun place but the real draw of course is the temples. They are amazing. We spent 3 days exploring the different sites and being amazed at what had been created – a little bit more ornate than the castles we were building in the UK at the time! Unsurprisingly we also ended up climbing a lot of steps; they were incredibly steep and a little bit broken in places so it was harder than it looks in the photos, but worth it for the views.
Next we went to Kompong Thom, a provincial town next to some Pre-Angkor ruins, which isn’t really on the tourist trail yet. Sambor Prei Kok should be more famous and visited than it is but it was good to visit somewhere and not be one of many. This place was the capital before Angkor in around the 7th to 10th century (the dark ages back at home) and in amongst the jungle you can still see some impressive temples and carvings. You can also start to see the hand of Pol Pot here as many of the altars have been broken in his (and his cronies) search for treasure and statues were looted. There are a few bomb craters around the place too…
Then we came to Phnom Penh, where we are now. It’s a small, bustling city where the French influence can be seen in the wide streets and buildings but it’s very much Cambodian with life being lived in the streets and a need to dodge the motos wherever you are (pavements are just a short cut after all and if you can get there quicker by going the wrong way up the street…) We continued our education on the Khmer Rouge atrocities by visiting the Killing Fields and S21 yesterday – a truly heart-wrenching experience.
Sarah
xxx
