Cambodia

Cambodia as Ryan describes it is like the “Wild West”… anything goes. My first experience of this tiny country was on my birthday, in Phnom Penh. Much like Ed and Tim, I wanted my birthday to be remembered for something other than the standard b-day celebration. Since, Cambodia experienced one of the world’s worst genocides in the past century I wanted to go see the devastation firsthand at the Killing Fields. Located about 30 minutes north of Phnom Penh, the Killing Fields mark a location where thousands of people were massacred. Most had ties to the previous regime that had been overthrown, while others simply became victims for not having a strong enough voice to stop the violence. The Killing Fields is a somber place, but I highly recommend this visit for anyone visiting Southeast Asia. It won’t be the most scenic place you visit, but much as the Genocide Memorial was for me in Rwanda, it was very impactful and enlightening history that I feel that everyone should experience. My cultural birthday also included shooting a Russian machine gun at a firing range (before the Killing Fields thankfully), visiting a prison used during the war, getting caught up in a political parade which was incredible (check the pictures), walking by the river and Presidential Palace, and sharing a meal of Mexican Food (or a good attempt at it) for my official birthday dinner. We stayed at 88 BackpackersHostel, which has a nice heated pool, restaurant/lounge area, and cheap comfortable rooms… I definitely recommend this place.

Phnom Penh is not exactly the most happening city but the beaches of Sihanoukville are much more suited for that, specifically Otres Beach. About 7km outside of the main town, which is significantly noisier and more crowded, Otres Beach is truly one of the last untouched places I’ve visited here in Asia. A long dirt road full of bungalows, restaurants, and tiny beachside bars all made from bamboo and wood make for quite a serene environment.  At $3/night for our own single room and probably some of the best food I’ve had in Asia, Moonlight Rock Resort was the perfect place to stay and relax for several days.

Anyone that knows me well knows I prefer to be alone the majority of the day. Despite Ryan’s pleadings and my multiple attempts earlier in the trip to go off on my own, I finally made the decision to take off solo. Leaving early one morning, I took a bus to Kep, a quiet seaside village about 120km from Sihanoukville. I stayed in the Treehouse Bungalows which were slightly worse than advertised and tried some crab at the famous “crab market,” which again was a little disappointing. My two-hour long bike ride around the island and sitting up listening to the rain pour down at night more than made up for everything else though and gave me the peace and solitude I had been seeking all trip.

The reason most people visit Cambodia is Angkor Wat. I can give you a pretty extensive history on the place if you are ever interested, but the abridged version is this: Angkor Wat is a large archeological area in Northwestern Cambodia where the ruins of a bizarre mix of Hindu and Buddhist temples lie. The sheer size and age of the structures (most dating back to 1200AD) are what impressed me most about this place. Fortunately, I managed to find three entertaining English guys to spend the day and tuk tuk around the sites with. One thing you don’t get when traveling in a group all the time is the random people and small groups you’d come across traveling alone. I feel very fortunate for being able to spend the day with Dario (my appointed ringleader of this crew) and his mates. I did my best to capture Angkor Wat with my iPhone but it really is one of those places that you can’t truly photograph.

By the time you read this I’ll be back in the U.S., however, I am committed to finishing up my blog on the rest of my trip. So come back for one more post highlighting me meeting up with friends in Thailand and preparing for home to come!

Sunset at Angkor Wat