Cambodia: Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples

Siem Reap is an enigma. The roads are riddled with potholes the size of water buffalos but are flanked by four star resorts on either side. Tourism is booming and there is a relatively significant daily fee to see the Angkor temples but trash is everywhere, infrastructure is lacking, and blackouts are common. Nonetheless, Siem Reap is ever charming and the Cambodian people are so caring, hospitable, and hugely optimistic. We really loved our time there, and wish we stayed just a bit longer.

Where We Stayed

We were pretty sick of disappointing Airbnbs by this point so we opted to stay in a hotel in a family suite. We stayed at La Palmeraie d’Angkor for 7 nights. The hotel is owned by a really nice French man; it was beautiful and peaceful, and we are pretty sure we were the only patrons for a few of the nights we were there. It was a little far from the center of town, but the hotel’s tuk tuk driver took us wherever we needed to go.

Landmine Museum

The first thing we did was take an hour tuk tuk ride through the Cambodian countryside to the Landmine Museum. It was founded by a Cambodian man named Aki Ra, who was taken from his family at the age of 5 by the Khmer Rouge. He was given his first gun at the age of 10, and became a child soldier for the Khmer Rouge, placing thousands of landmines throughout the country. He was “very good at using landmines and learned all about them as a soldier.”

After ten years as a soldier for the Khmer Rouge, he defected and fought first with the Vietnamese Army and then with the Cambodian National Army to defeat the Khmer Rouge. In the 1990s, he used his knowledge of landmines for good by training with the UN to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) throughout the country. He removes each landmine by hand with handmade tools, and it can take him 4-6 hours to diffuse a landmine. He has cleared over 50,000 mines and UXOs. No small feat, but there is still much work to do – it is estimated that there are still 3-6 million active landmines in Cambodia, and tons and tons of UXOs dropped by the US during the Vietnam War.

Many Cambodians have been, and continue to be, wounded by landmines and UXOs. They are often hidden or they look like toys so kids are apt to pick them up. Our volunteer guide through the museum was a victim of a landmine. He was playing in the woods with his brother and sister when he was 11 years old. He stepped on a landmine, which blew off his foot, but the worst of it is that the debris from the mine hit his brother and sister behind him and killed them both. This is unfortunately an all-too-common story, and there are still about 100 landmine casualties each year.

It was a pretty heavy day, and it set the tone for discussions about what life is really like for Cambodians outside of the tourist bubble. There are so many NGOs and non-profits in Cambodia, and it was not hard to find activities in Siem Reap that simultaneously entertained us and supported education and local causes.

Phare Circus

One such activity was the Phare Circus. Its origins can be traced back to a refugee camp following the Khmer Rouge years, where nine refugee children from a drawing class were taught to use art as means of recovery from the trauma they experienced during the genocide. Years later, they founded the Phare school, a free school aimed at empowering other vulnerable children through art. Most of the proceeds from the circus go to supporting the school.

It is not a circus in the traditional sense. The troupe uses music, dance, and acrobatics to tell traditional Cambodian stories. The show was spoken in Khmer but there were English subtitles on screens. It was funny, the acrobatics were incredible, and the performers didn’t take themselves too seriously, which made it really fun. The show entertained us all from beginning to end.

Making Crossbows

There is another pretty great organization called Backstreet Academy that aims to acquaint travelers in Southeast Asia with locals who have unique skills. Through them, we found a local hunter who taught Reed and Robby to make their own crossbows. They each started with a block of wood, and they chiseled and sanded with traditional, simple tools (not a single power tool), and they also made their own arrows. The crossbows are completely functional and authentic, and the accuracy is remarkably good; Reed hit the target on his first try.

After making the crossbows, they met me and the little kids at an indoor playground in a shopping center. They tried to waltz right into the shopping center with their bows and arrows but were stopped by guards who said no way could they enter with their “weapons.” We realized there was no way we could travel with the crossbows so we shipped them home.

Angkor Temples

And finally, the pièce de résistance: Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Robby and Reed took a 30 km bike tour of the temples through Grasshopper Adventures. (I have been to the Angkor temples twice on previous trips, so the little kids and I spent the day in the pool.) They biked through the jungle and local villages to get to Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Phrom (where the trees have overtaken the temple), and Angkor Thom. It was a pretty epic day for them. It was hard to be selective, so here are a lot of pictures.

Thoughts and Musings

There is a restaurant in Siem Reap called Pyongyang Restaurant. We passed by it and spent the next several minutes pondering who – other than the North Korean government – would open a North Korean restaurant in Siem Reap (or anywhere). Turns out no one; it is owned by the North Korean government. We found this interesting blog post about the “bizarre experience” of dining there.

We did not take a cooking class in Cambodia. We were pretty underwhelmed by the food. One of the more well-known dishes is fish amok, a traditional Cambodian curry made with lemongrass, chili, coconut milk and amok “ngor” leaves. It’s good, but lacks the bold, spicy flavors we found in other parts of Asia.

We are currently in Sri Lanka, and mosquitos are the bane of our existence these days. They bite through clothes, and no bug spray or chemical or essential oil is keeping them away. It is impossible to count how many we each have. They especially love Ari, who has 15-20 bites on each leg.

We all have a pair of sneakers, but for daily wear, Ari and I have Tevas, Robby and Reed have Keens, and Miles has Crocs. None of these shoes will ever win “best looking,” but despite near-daily wear for almost 6 months, they all look brand new.

We are halfway through our trip. China feels very far away, but the end feels just as far in the other direction. It’s a strange feeling to know that this trip will be a memory soon, and that life as usual will resume. We’re talking a little more about what will happen when we get “home home,” as the kids call it (one “home” refers to our current hotel or Airbnb).

After Cambodia, we spent 5 weeks in Penang, Malaysia and then a month in Bali with family (my mom and sisters and brothers-in-law and nephews). Our focus was on family and not on the blog, which is why we are very far behind. We hope you had a very happy holiday season and we wish you a very happy new year, and we so appreciate the time you are taking to read about our adventures. Look out for posts coming soon about our time in Penang, where we left our hearts.

Cheers!