Sunday, March 10, 2013

Recess Week: Cambodia


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This week was spring break- a very welcome break from classes and schoolwork! I spent the week travelling in Cambodia and enjoyed learning about the deep history of such a special country. We left last Thursday, flying into Siem Reap. 


This area of the country is known for the large amount of historical temples built by the Khmer people, dating as far back as 800 AD. Overall, we spent two full days exploring the temples, beginning with a breathtaking sunrise at Angkor Wat- the largest and the most popular temple. We left soon after to escape the large crowds of tourists and headed to other temples nearby. It was so interesting to see how different each of the buildings were, and the amount of detail involved in each one. I have WAY to many pictures to post them on here, so here are a couple of my favorites:

Angkor Wat

Breathtaking sunrise
Inside Angkor Wat- the sheer size of this temple is incredible

Ta Prohm

The temple where the movie "Tomb Raider" was filmed, Ta Prohm is one of the most incredible to see due to the many large trees that have taken over areas of the temple. It was absolutely amazing to see how powerful nature can be as it took over these stone buildings from hundreds of years ago. 



Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei is not commonly visited by most tourists because of its distance from most of the other temples, but our tuk-tuk driver, Sinat, said it was his personal favorite and called it "the beautiful one" so we decided to take his advice and make the trip. It was ABSOLUTELY worth it, as this ended up being our favorite temple by far! The detail in the carvings was amazing, and everything was a rusty red color. 
Such incredible detail! 

Batman's tuk-tuk
We had an excellent guide, Sinat, who drove us to and between temples via "tuk-tuk"- a cart pulled behind a motorbike. Because it was Cambodia's dry season, the day got unbearably hot pretty quickly, so we usually got an early start exploring the temples (usually around 6am) then were done by noon and ready to head back to the air conditioning in our room. 







The Night Markets! 




Siem Reap was a very cool town, and really came alive at night! Our hotel was just off "Pub Street," which was the center for food and entertainment. The atmosphere kind of reminded of a festival because they blocked off the road at night, and there were people everywhere, especially tourists. We spent the first night shopping for souvenirs in the Night Market- rows and rows of booths owned by locals selling Cambodian silk, t-shirts, jewelry, wooden carvings, paintings, etc. I got pretty good at haggling down prices with local shop owners- you don't ever want to pay the value they give you. As Sinat put it, "if you look like you have a lot of money, they'll say $100! but actually only $2." I guess we didn't look too rich, because we never had prices like that. We also took advantage of the massage shops that lined the streets, and got a 30 minute leg and foot massage with a complimentary beer for only $3! Also while in Siem Reap, we discovered their signature spring rolls! One of the most delicious foods ever, and we had them with nearly every meal :)

After three days in Siem Reap, we journeyed to our next destination: Cambodia's capitol, Phnom Penh. We got there via large minivan- not a good experience. But thankfully, the 5 hours were over quickly and everything was fine once we were safe in Phnom Penh. This city was much larger and busier than Siem Reap and there weren't nearly as many tourists, depending on what area of the city you were in. It was interesting to get to see more locals in their natural atmosphere. 

Memorial at the Killing Fields
One of the saddest, but most powerful things I did on this trip was visit the Cheong Ek Genocide Center (or the Killing Fields) and Tuol Sleng Prison. One thing I was unaware of before this trip, was the fact that Cambodia experienced a genocide that killed about a quarter of the population between the years of 1975 and 1979 when they were under control of a group called the Khmer Rouge. Specifically targeted were those with high levels of education, those living in cities, and those with influential jobs. As a result, the country was set behind greatly in terms of economic standing and development. This is an integral part of Cambodia's history, and the visit truly helped me to understand the Cambodian people a little more. It is such a terrible piece of history, and many of the commanders are still on trial for their crimes. I could go into more detail, much of which would astound you, but for the sake of cheerful travel blogging, I will limit it to this paragraph. However, if you are interested in learning more about it, follow this link







Walking through a local market- they had everything!



While in Phnom Penh, we also walked to the Royal Palace- gorgeous! and visited the National Museum, home to many artifacts found in and around Angkor Wat and other temples. I also got to experience my first "real" market- as in housing more than just souvenirs. We wandered through several of the local markets that had everything from raw meat to snails to hardware parts to bras. 



Count 'em- SIX people on that motorbike!
Not that unusual of a sight in Asia. 
Authentic Khmer massages- great way to beat the heat in the afternoon.
And only $6 for an hour!
I was born to live in a royal palace..
Way too much happened for me to fit it all into this blog, but I think I got a pretty good overview of the highlights. Overall, Cambodia was a remarkable country and I will always have a soft spot for its wonderful people :)

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