Angkor What?

Sorry, I know it's a little cliche for a title...but I couldn't help it :)


Arati and I are now in Siem Reap have spent the last 2 days exploring as many temples as possible in this absolutely incredible place. Before I get into that though, let me back up a little bit to when I last wrote.

After we left Sihanoukville, we took the bus (Mekong Express ROCKS!) back to Phnom Penh. At first, we were both a little angsty about getting back to the hustle, bustle, smog, and smells that encase the city, but we slowly found our groove again and laid out what we wanted to make sure and see during our last time in the city.

Our first afternoon, Friday, we went to see the Royal Palace and the Tuol Sleng Museum--two completely different sights that evoked two completely different reactions.

First, the Royal Palace is really big, impressive, fancy and fun to walk around and explore like a small child. Similar in many ways to the Thai Royal Palace, the compound had beautiful gardens, really intricate pagodas, and lots and lots (and lots) of Buddha statues with incense. One marked difference was the large amount of mirrors everywhere "for good luck." Unfortunately, the mirrors meant that you couldn't easily hide from your haggard, disheveled traveler appearance, BUT it's good to stay humble, right?! The other highlights of the Royal Palace for me were the ornate elephant mounts that the King rides on for different occasions, the "typical Cambodian house" with Cambodian musicians playing traditional instruments and a weaver working on her silk loom - really cool to watch.

After the Royal Palace, we went to the VERY sobering Tuol Sleng Museum. What is now a museum used to be a high school that became a prison and torture center during the Khmer Occupation in the late 70s. It was incredibly eerie and intense to enter, look around, and imagine the atrocities that went on in what used to be classrooms. There were many, many photographs of some of the 2 million people that died under the Khmer Rouge, many which depicted children, women, and babies. There were also many pictures that showed the torture techniques, skulls of victims, etc. and the explanations printed for visitors to read did not "gloss over" anything at all. It definitely shed a new light on Cambodia's (very recent) history, and gave me a lot of insight as to why the country is still so young and in many ways in recovery mode even now. The next day we went to the Killing Fields, where many of the prisoners from this place were taken to be tortured, executed, and dumped into mass graves. Again, really intense, firsthand history lessons. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all.

After these experiences, we added one more bout with children to our time in Cambodia, and we volunteered at an NGO-run orphanage for street kids. We went for 2 hours to visit, play lots of "monkey ball" and just talk with the kids who live there. There are 29 kids who live there all the time, and the majority are between 10 and 16 years old. There were also 3 very young kids, maybe 3 or 4 years old. The kids were really great, and we had a blast with them. It was also really great to see how well some of the NGOs are succeeding in their endeavors, as these kids had definitely been given access to many opportunities that they wouldn't have otherwise had. For example, they take Japanese, English, and dance lessons on a regular basis, and they had been taken on a group trip to Singapore! While there are certainly millions of other street kids who need to be helped, our time at this orphanage was really inspiring and my heart goes out to them and the people that look after them. I only hope that they continue to thrive and do well...and that I am correct in saying that their orphanage is doing so much good. I really do think that it is.

After a morning at the Killing Fields, some wandering/shopping at the famous "Russian Market" with lots of sub par brand-name clothing, watching fisherman on the banks of the Mekong, and then our nice afternoon with the kids, I went to mass in French to top off my experience in Phnom Penh. There was definitely an upswing at the end, and I left with a pretty good feeling about the city. OH WAIT! I almost forgot! One of the BEST things ever about the city. There are these little areas, usually small parks, or in the Olympic Stadium, where tons of people cluster to exercise.

BUT, the types of exercise are the best part.

Imagine throngs of people doing strange, impromptu aerobics moves (with OR without music), alongside tai chi, badminton, all kinds of calisthenics, soccer, hackey sac, you name it.

Plus, Phnom Penh gets up super early, so all this excitement starts before the sun comes up.

I went for a few runs in these areas, and there was not a moment that I wasn't entertained watching the "athleticism" all around. Some of the guys definitely have more sway in their hips than I do - that's for sure.

Okay, so on to Siem Reap.

We arrived in Siem Reap after a 6 hr. bus ride on Sunday. Since this post is getting a little long, I will conclude today by saying that it has been utterly amazing and breathtaking.

We have biked around and around for hours, and it never gets old or boring. It's not like walking around a huge museum for days at a time when everything starts to blur together...or at least that happens to some of us (obviously me). But here, that hazy feeling doesn't really takeover so easily...at least it hasn't yet - and we've seen a LOT of ancient ruins!

The temples make you feel like you are the size of an ant, and each one is completely unique. Each has its own architecture, carvings, overall shape and size, environment (types of plants, trees, water, etc), and colors. As a result, each one puts you in a totally different mood. One minute you feel like you are in The Secret Garden and the next you are in Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. Get my drift?

So, we have 2 more days here before we board a VERY long bus all the way to Ho Chi Minh City (almost 12 hrs I think...ugggh), and perhaps I'll give a temple update before we leave. If not, please know that there is NO DOUBT why Angkor Wat is one of the Ancient Wonders of the World, and if you were hesitating about whether or not you should try to see it at some point in your life, stop wondering--it's definitely worth it!