Asia Destinations

From the archives: Cambodia

March 24, 2015

I think no other nation is as proud of its national monument as Cambodia and surely there’s a good cause. The temple city of Angkor is really huge, with endless numbers of ruins to explore in a mystic jungle setting. Also moving around can be quite an adventure: Cruising the Tonlé Sap lake to Battambang on an old, improvised boat (breaking down a few times) takes you through floating villages and dense thicket. And the bamboo train is probably the simplest form of riding the rails. In contrast to the rich cultural heritage, there is a lot of poverty unfortunately. I especially noticed the massive number of children, who were either selling souvenirs or begging on the streets – always with a heartbreaking facial expression and some surprisingly good english phrases. Despite the humble living conditions and the cruel history of the Khmer Rouge era, the warmth and friendliness of the people is even more overwhelming.

Siem Reap Angkor Wat Bayon Temple Bayon Temple Kids playing at Angkor Wat Angkor ruins Ta Prohm Temple Ta Prohm Temple House boat, Tonlé Sap So little, but they know how to pose! Bamboo train, Battambang Cattle transport on the bamboo train, Battambang

 

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10 Comments

  • Reply shootingvienna March 24, 2015 at 8:40 pm

    I went there in January and loved every moment of it, especially watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat is such a great experience 🙂

    • Reply Sileas March 25, 2015 at 8:41 am

      Wow, I wish I could have done that, but I was there during rainy season, so it was cloudy all the time…

      • Reply shootingvienna March 26, 2015 at 10:13 am

        Oh yes I noticed that in your pictures the grass is so nice and green but I did not know that the sunrise would not be possible to witness. What a shame 🙁 but good to know, next time I have to come in the dry season again!

  • Reply maomau March 25, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    I caught the sunrise & sundown at Angkor Wat many years ago and both were amazing! I had to sit on the rooftop on those boats traveling between Battambang to Phnom Pehn, that was interesting. It did breakdown a few times from being stuck in the shallow waters of Tonle Sap. its a fun memories. 🙂

    I was just there this Jan and they’ve managed to build a gigantic mall in Phnom Penh that wasn’t there 2yrs ago. It’s definitely changing.

    • Reply Sileas March 25, 2015 at 9:24 pm

      Haha yeah the boats are quite adventurous! I hope the country is developing in a good way, it has suffered too much in the past…

  • Reply Paleica March 26, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    das muss schon sehr, sehr beeindruckend sein dort.. stefan würde ja dort unbedingt mal hinwollen, da wir aber beide nicht so die großen abenteurer sind, weiß ich noch nicht, inwieweit sich das mal verwirklichen lässt. aber sag niemals nie 🙂

    • Reply Sileas March 26, 2015 at 4:37 pm

      Genau! Mittlerweile kommt man echt gut hin und es ist eh alles schon so auf Touristen ausgelegt, dass man auf keinen Komfort verzichten muss 😉

      • Reply Paleica March 26, 2015 at 4:57 pm

        das klingt vielversprechend. wenn wir uns noch ein paar jahre zeit lassen, dann ist es vielleicht sogar für mich vorstellbar 😉

        • Reply Sileas March 27, 2015 at 1:05 pm

          Na klar, das sieht wilder aus als es ist. Vom Kleinkind bis zum Opa ist dort alles unterwegs, also das schafft ihr 😉

          • Paleica March 30, 2015 at 7:37 am

            😀 na dann 😀

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