Aboard a four hour bus ride slowly and bumpily approaching the border of Cambodia and Laos seems like the perfect time to reflect on my time in Cambodia.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect of Cambodia and having signed up for a tour but paid little attention to the itinerary it’s been a pleasant surprise overall.
Our initial crossing into Cambodia from Thailand was a stark reminder of the poverty that some families endure every day, their constant battle to make enough money to feed themselves, it’s truly heartbreaking. We were greeted by small children, approx 4-5 years of age begging us for food and money. We were strongly advised against offering them anything as it encourages them to beg rather then go to school where they can gain skills and an education to give them a better start in life. So hard to ignore the poverty when it’s all around you.
It became clear quite quickly that Cambodia is a poorer country than Thailand. It’s less established and tourism has only really been present here for the past 15 years. What was noticeable very early on was how much friendlier it felt here compared with Thailand.
Cambodia welcomes tourists with open arms as sees tourism as a means to strengthening it’s economy and way of life.
Our first stop was Siem Reap. Wow I loved this place. Bangkok has always been a favourite city for me in South East Asia but I’m sorry Bangkok, there’s a new kid on the block now. I’ll have he fondest memories of Siem Reap, the friendly locals, the compact layout of the city, the safe feeling you get walking around there, just the general vibe and feeling of being in this wonderful place.
Our first night in Siem Reap took us for dinner at the Hope Outreach Project. This place provides schooling for underprivileged children, training for adults and young adults in skills that can provide an income for them and their families, like teaching mothers to sew and giving them a sewing machine of their own to enable them to make money and set up a business of their own. The restaurant provides training and qualifications in waiting, cooking etc to provide the skills and experience for these guys to be able to get jobs in the cities.
They rely on charity and donations, much like many of the training restaurants we’ve visited in Cambodia where local underprivileged people are given amazing opportunities to better their lives. What an inspiring thing to do.
Day 2 in Siem Reap was ‘temple day’. Three temples, 300 degree heat (okay slight exaggeration but it sure felt like it) and a 4am start but there were some distinct highlights for me that day:
Seeing the sunrise over Ankor Wat was pretty magical, albeit super early, with barely anyone speaking as a result of sleep deprivation and lack of coffee.
Of the three temples, Ankor Wat, Ta Prohm and Bayon, the second (Ta Prohm) was my favourite. This is where some of the scenes of Tomb Raider were filmed. There were trees growing through the stones and it had a truly majestic vibe about the place.
The sheer size of Ankor Wat was impressive too and the trek up the super steep staircase to the top of the temple to look out at the views was pretty impressive too.
The remainder of our time in Siem Reap was rather more of a relaxed affair, drinking wine at Long’s bar, relaxing by the hotel pool, enjoyed a little taste of home with pizza for dinner (there’s only so much rice one can take) and went to the local circus. The circus was phenomenal, again, an organisation that provides opportunities and training for underprivileged youngsters in the city to learn a skill and be employed. Such a talented bunch of acrobats, musicians and entertainers.
Onwards to Phnom Penh (6 hour bus ride later) and a rather scary toilet stop where small children chased us with tarantulas. They just walk about the place with tarantulas handing off their t-shirts. At first I thought they kept them as pets. I later learned at dinner that night that they’re quite the delicacy - weirdos!
Phnom Penh was a funny old place. The capital of Cambodia, much bigger than Siem Reap of course which means more people but for me it lacked any character and felt rather disjointed in it’s layout and appearance. Clearly a much wealthier city with Bentleys and other fancy cars in abundance. The golden palace, home to the royal family is here too.
Our tour excursion whilst staying here in Phnom Penh was a trip to the killing fields, the site of the horrific and terrifying Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979.
What horrific events and shocking that it was so recent. A very sad start to the day. The mood didn’t lift for our next stop, the high school turned prison where the victims of that horrendous massacre were held and tortured. Such a morbid and haunting experience but an event which truly shaped the country that Cambodia is today. During this time, the educated and wealthy fled the cities for the anonymity of the countryside in a attempt to avoid capture, torture and murder. This left Cambodia an empty ghost town for over 3 years. After the end of the genocide, city folk who had been lucky enough to escape, slowly relocated back to the city to start their lives over and build their Country to what we experience today. So humbling.
To heighten the mode, we took a river cruise to see the sunset over Phnom Penh.
The tranquility of the river was a contrast from the buzz and business of the city but I felt really rather sad passing by the river side slums, seeing how little they have and how basic their lives are. As if that isn’t hard enough, right behind the slums is erected the wealthiest hotel in Cambodia. Talk about rubbing it in their faces. Made me so sad.
Dinner that night took us to a live music restaurant where we put our full trust into our tour guide to order our food for us.
I wasn’t too taken with the chicken with fire ants if I’m honest (what we know as flying ants in the UK) though I’m pretty sure frying them up is about the best use for them!
Next stop... Kratie. A small town in the countryside, situated along the riverbank.
Here we went dolphin spotting for Irrawaddy dolphins on the Mekong river. We spotted many but the sneaky b*****s were rather camera shy so I wasn’t lucky enough to capture them on camera. Luckily some of my tour mates did.
A storm came in and quickly chased us back to shore but it was amazing to experience the erratic weather of the wet season in Cambodia and how quickly scorching sunshine and high humidity turns to torrential rain and high winds. There was moment there (albeit short lived) that I’d even go as far as to say I felt chilly!
As we leave Cambodia behind and cross the border to Laos, I’m banking many more fond memories and experiences. Cambodia for me was surprising. The underdog and poor relation that oozed charm and character. I’d certainly recommend this country to experience true local Asian culture at it’s best.