Cambodia

Rachel and I with San and his tuk tuk

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Tuol Sleng genocide museum

Royal Palace grounds

Monks!

National Museum

With the combination of (relatively) cheap flights, friends in Phnom Penh, no final exams, and my desire to see southeast Asia, Cambodia was practically begging me to visit. Two days after returning from Cairns I repacked my backpack and took off to Phnom Penh. After connecting in Guangzhou, I arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday. I waited for Chelsea and Rachel at our guesthouse and after our long-awaited reunion (I hadn’t seen Rachel since December and Chelsea since January), we had a delicious dinner at the charming but inexpensive Khmer Surin restaurant.

Day 2 Wednesday- Since Chelsea and Rachel had to work all day, I explored Phnom Penh on my own. My first stop was the National Museum, which contained the most Buddha statues I’ve ever seen in one place. I wandered around Phnom Penh and eventually found myself in Wat Ounalom where I made friends with one of the monks. Since I was close to the neighborhood of the Central Market, I poked around there for a while before heading back toward the waterfront to see the Royal Palace. Even though some of it was under construction the compound was still quite beautiful.

Day 3 Thursday- I started my day at Tuol Sleng, the infamous torture prison used during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. It was horrible. They've left the rooms just as they were at the height of the regime in the late 1970s. Each room has a bed and some sort of torture device. On the wall is a photograph of someone post-torture in the very same room. Some of the rooms have wall-to-wall before and after photographs of some of the 21,000 torture victims. Most of those victims were trucked off to the Choeung Ek “killing fields.” Lying about 20 km outside the city, Choeung Ek was my next stop. There, visitors tour the dozens of mass graves. Bones still surface in the rainy season.

Day 4 Friday- Since today was a national holiday and Chelsea and Rachel didn’t have to work, we took the 10:00 am bus to Siem Reap. As soon as we got there we met San, who would be our driver for all of the temples the next day. We went into town for a delicious meal (and 2 for 1 drinks!) at a beautiful Khmer barbecue restaurant. If I remember correctly, 3 dinners, 8 drinks, and 1 dessert was $38.

Day 5 Saturday- San picked us up at 5:30 so we could see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. While the sunrise was more like dark turning gradually into grey, it was still pretty cool. I’m really glad we got such an early start because we got to see most of the temples while most of the tourists were still sleeping and while it was still cool (ish). By our 6^th or 7^th stop I was a bit templed-out and very grateful for a nice lunch. Afterward, San took us to the floating village. It was interesting to get a close look at the village’s way of life, but, meh, I couldn’t help but feel like we were paying to see poverty up close. 

Day 6 Sunday- Slow morning, then bussed all day back to Phnom Penh.

Day 7 Monday- Since I was feeling the crunch to prepare for my upcoming research trip, I worked in the apartment until lunch. I met Chelsea and Rachel at the Russian market for some shopping then went to a nice restaurant around the corner from their work. After dinner we went to the ex-pat organized “Nerd Night” which featured various speakers from the ex-pat community in Phnom Penh. 

Day 8 Tuesday- I did some more work this morning, signed up for my Wednesday cooking class, then met Chelsea and Rachel for dinner and, afterward, traditional Khmer massages. I’m not sure I would get another one. It was less like a massage and more like forced (and because I’m not flexible, painful) stretching. Anyways, it was $8 (with tip) for an hour, so it was still worth it.

Day 9 Wednesday- Today I had my Khmer cooking class. Before cooking, our group of 6 toured the local market. I saw some very bizarre things (think eggs with chicken embryos inside and snake blood). I learned how to make fried spring rolls and coconut amok. Before going back home I went to the Elsewhere Bar and pool. To celebrate my last evening, Chelsea, Rachel, and I went to the famous "Friends" Restaurant and ordered drinks and tapas.

Day 10 Thursday- Sydney mode. Really unpleasant flight (stomach not happy with my Cambodia trip) but finally made it in one piece.