Cambodia

What a difference a dozen years can make. Mark and I were in Cambodia 12 years ago and came up to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat, the 12th century Buddhist temple (originally built as a Hindu temple, but later converted to Buddhism) that to this day is the largest religious monument in the world. At the time Cambodia was still emerging from decades of war, both civil and with Vietnam. At the time it was a dusty backpacker haven and while we had heard about the growth over these years, we’ve been blown away by the change. Quite honestly, even looking at pictures of the town back then, we don’t see anything recognizable.

And quite unlike what we experienced back then, there are a number of very classy hotels – a Park Hyatt just opened, while the Aman resort goes for just over $1,000 a night – and nice looking bars. We stopped in one the first night and discovered two important items: the bartender made a very respectable Perfect Manhattan, and it was a gay bar. Who’d have expected either in Cambodia?

One other change that surprised us: the 900-year old temples have changed. In the years since we were last here a number of countries have undertaken projects to restore various sites – in our brief visit we saw projects currently underway sponsored by Japan and India – and we saw noticeable changes. As you walk by these mounds of old stones waiting to get put back up you just wonder, “How do they even know where to start?”

And then it was off to dinner and a drag show. In Siem Reap.

We traveled from Battambang to Siem Reap on a boat, with amazing views of river life in Cambodia

Everyone is on a boat, young …

… and old alike

Traveling monks staying out of the sun

One of countless homes along the river

Our boat from the roof deck, where Mark & I spent most of the six-hour trip

We got up at 4:15 AM to get to Angkor Wat for sunrise. After touring the site we biked for a few hours around other temples in the area

Three towers at the main site

The Government of India is sponsoring a project to restore this temple area. When we were here 12 years ago it was significantly more overgrown than it is now.

The modern way of paying homage at a temple – taking a photo

Posing with a rocky face watching. And no, I’m not at a conference; that thing around my neck is the photo ID they give you when you pay the entrance fee.

From the spiritual to the profane - a drag show in Siem Reap

From the sacred to the profane – a drag show in Siem Reap

One more beauty

Our first stop in Cambodia was Battambang, an old colonial town and the capital of Battambang province (“the rice bowl of Cambodia) in northwestern Cambodia. This was very much a low-key, stop – a little biking, a little time at the pool, and lots of good food.

Mark and I spent a week in Cambodia in January 2002 after having traveled through Vietnam. I remember noticing two things then: I’d never seen so many amputees and the people just didn’t seem as happy, didn’t smile as much as the Vietnamese. Both of those, I’m sure, were related to the then still recent history of the murderous Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. As many as 3 million people – out of a population of 8 million – died during his reign of terror, and even after the Vietnamese ousted him from power in 1979 he still operated near here in northwestern Cambodia until 1997. After one stop so far, things seem quite different, or at least different from my memory. People are poor, to be sure, but we encountered lots of smiling people. Perhaps time does heal eventually.

At any rate, here are some pictures of the area.

The border crossing in Pailin. There are legendary stories of hours-long lines at the border crossing a little south of here, but the crossing at Pailin – Pol Pot’s last refuge and pronounced the same as the name of the former half-term governor of Alaska, proving nothing good comes from a name like that – took but minutes as we walked from Thailand into Cambodia.

SIgns for the Cambodia People’s Party were everywhere – as in easily five or more per kilometer as we drove towards Battambang. We’re going to suggest to the DNC that they do the same. Maybe if there were signs that said “Democratic Party” with pictures of Barack Obama and Joe Biden every 200 yards or so along highways the Tea Party would love them. Right?

The food has been great. One or the other of us had this dish – fish amok, fish in a spicy peanut sauce, served in a banana leaf “bowl” – every day at lunch. Dinners were around $24 total, including wine!

Mark’s view of the pool at our hotel

I met these kids while biking outside of Battambang. They had a bug that they were very happy with.

The rice bowl of Cambodia

This was the river I was biking along, and this is how residents move from one side of the river to the other.

Lots of temples along the bike route

Mark and I weren’t the only lazy ones in Battambang…

Putting the Bat into Battambang, we went to a Bat Cave. Yup, a cave outside of town where, at sunset, millions of bats fly out for their nightly feeding.