The Varmans, their sandcastles and the French Colony.

 The Kingdom of Cambodia is little known to many. Terms like Khmer Rouge, Pol pot might sound familiar to some but despite its recent violent history, this nation has so much more to offer. Angkor Wat the world famous ancient Hindu Temple is located near Siem Reap in Cambodia.  Siem Reap is a small city in the North Eastern part of Cambodia and lies north of the Tonle Sap lake; One of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia that spans over 2500sq.km and can span up to 12,000sq.km during the rainy season.

Siem Reap

There is basically only one reason that you would want to visit Siem Reap; Angkor Wat. This is the 12th century ruin of a Hindu temple built by Jeyavarman. History will tell you that the Varmans are basically descendants of the Chola Empire after their conquests in Indonesia, hence the spread of Hinduism. The area has a dozen other such ruins all built around that time period from the 9th century till the 14th century. Below is a list of the notable places and in the order that I visited them. Buy a 3 day pass at 40 USD to make the best use of time. Most of the places below can be visited with the Pass. Tonle Sap Lake and Kulen mountains have separate entry charges.

Day 0 -- (5PM to 7PM)

01 Phom Bakeng(45 mins) - Sunset

Day 1 -- (9 A.M. to 8 P.M.)

01 Preah Khan(1 hour)

02 Neak Pean (15 mins)

03 Ta Som (1 hour)

04 East Mebon( 30 mins)

05 Pre Rup (30 mins)

06 Srah Srang, Banteay Kdei, Prasat Kravan (30 mins)

07 Tonle Sap Lake(3 hours)

Day 2  --  (5 A.M. to 4 P.M.)

01 Angkor wat sunrise

02 Angkor Wat after breakfast(1.5 hours)

03 Angkor Thom (1.5 hours)

04 Ta Prohm (30 mins)

05 Thomannom (30 mins)

06 Chau Say Tevoda (30 mins)

07 Ta Keo (30 mins)

Day 3 -- (9 A.M. – 3 P.M.)

01.Banteay Srei (45 mins)

02 Kulen mountain (1 hour)

03 Banteay Samre (30 mins)

04 Roluos Group (30 mins)

* I’ve mentioned the time that was spent at each place beside it. These are rough figures and include time spent on taking pictures. Does not include travel time.

On day 1 we returned after nightfall as we saw the sunset from the lake. It’s a massive expanse of water and I imagine the sun set would have been spectacular. But dismal weather and the fact that we went during the end of the dry season meant that it was cloudy and the water was murky. The fishing village at the lake is an interesting place to visit. Imagine finding schools, shops, and even a restaurant all on water. Scenes of people cooking and living on water are a sight to see. There isn't much to say about the temples at Siem Reap actually. They are all similar and run down in many cases but magnificent in their architecture and the workmanship. Numerous restorations projects are on-going in an attempt to bring the temples back to their former glory. One thing that will definitely engulf you is that these majestic landmarks were all constructed centuries ago when there was no access to the modern construction technologies that we have today. Be prepared to do some heavy duty climbing if you want to see all the temples. They are worth the climb too. The sunsets and sun rises were much talked about, but we were rather disappointed on those counts. Blame the clouds for that.  Most of the places are a stone’s throw away from each other so getting around is quite easy. Some are really small and just require a quick walk around while some can be quite extensive. For example, this region was supposedly home to almost One Million people during the peak of the reign, so you can imagine the vastness of the area. On days 2 and 3 we returned back to the city by 3-4 in the afternoon. But of course we skipped breaking for lunch and survived on packed food so as to stay on the road continuously. A Lunch break would have definitely extended the itinerary well up to 5PM on both those days.

The town of Siem Reap is busy at night as all the tourists flock in. Pub Street is lined with restaurants and bars to unwind. The layout and architecture of the city is very quaint and has a European feel to it, if you ignore the weather that is. It’s a good place to go shopping and relax as well.

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is a bustling city but does not have much in store for the tourist. It is a great place for shopping as you can get great deals at the Russian markets and central market. Clothes and accessories are damn cheap but you have to haggle really hard. As a rule always start bargaining at 30 percent of the price they quote and finish at 50 percent. By the looks of it, I’d say they make a reasonable profit with that price too, but by our standards it’s a bargain anyway. But if you’re the kind that likes a good bargaining session where the other party gives up all hope in life, by all means, this will be your orgasmic zone!  One ‘to visit’ place is the killing fields south of Phnom Penh. A sad memory of a horrific past, this will open your eyes to a lot of historical events of the 1970’s and 80’s. In addition important attractions would include the Palace and National Museum. There apparently is another Museum at S21 but we decided we had had our fix of visiting sites of death and decided to skip it.

Getting around

Getting around anywhere in Cambodia is relatively easy. You just flag down one of the contraptions known as a Tuk tuk. These are basically motorbikes that have carriage trailers fitted. Rates start at 1 USD but given the size of the cities like Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, you can pretty much get around with that 1 dollar. Full day charges vary from 18 to 25 dollars. Be prepared to haggle though. Moving from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh or anywhere around the country is reasonably easy too. There are numerous bus services that charge around 10 USD per person. If you have a group of 4 or 5, you can hire a car. That would cost around 50- 60USD in total and cut your travel time by an hour or two. I find Cambodians to be a very friendly lot. The people we met at Siem Reap were very polite, humble and hugely friendly. Most people can understand English if at least vaguely and reply in jumbled words. You will have to speak a little slowly though :P.

Money matters

The most interesting part about this country is that everything is quoted in USD. You can forget about going to the moneychanger for Cambodian Riel. Even if you did, be prepared to do some serious counting because the exchange rate is 4000 Cambodian Riel to 1 USD. Yep, no typo there! Everyone deals with USD and if the amount to be dealt with goes below a dollar, out come the 1000/2000/500 Riel notes. One advantage; no heavy currency to lug around.

Eating out in Cambodia

You may be surprised to hear this, but we found it rather easy to pick out vegetarian restaurants in Siem Reap. If you are vegetarian, the places that you should check out are Chamkar, Chusska and Peace Café. Chamkar is a Cambodian style vegetarian restaurant run by a French guy Very unique menu of traditional Cambodian fare. You will find this place located in an alleyway off Pub Street. Chusska is a vegetarian restaurant run by a Pakistani but it serves pretty good South Asian fare. Located near Pub Street as well. Peace Café on the other hand is across the river and away from the busy night crowds and hence exudes an atmosphere similar to Atmos(Coimbatore) or Amethyst(Chennai). Their menu focuses on all things vegetable and has a nice choice of vegetable based juices and snacks. But their food menu is good too. I will put up a separate post on all the restaurants on my ‘dying’ restaurant blog :D. For the foodie who loves good food along with a good drink, Siem Reap is no longer a temple town when dawn falls. It’s a night out haven.

Unfortunately I can’t say the same about Phnom Penh. It’s a larger city and hence one has to travel further. There are lots of Indian restaurants but I spent my dinner at the Pizza Company and came out completely satisfied. Thanks to the generous toppings unlike Pizza Hut in India.

To Wear

I would advise a good pair of sports shoes for the walking and climbing part. Sandals would be good too. Light clothes are best so you will a lot of shorts, short skirts and sun dresses being worn. Most people travel light and buy cheap clothes there.  That is a pretty good idea I’d say. Phnom Penh is a more regular city so seem less touristy, regular casual wear there is good. Again all that can be bought there at really good prices too. I picked up Jeans/pants for 15-20USD and Polo/Round Neck Tees for 4-5 USD. Buy ONLY bottled water. Keep lots of water handy because the sun tends to have an affinity for roasted people.

Tipping is not generally expected in Cambodia, but is most definitely appreciated. One guy looked like he might fall at my feet any moment and that just goes to signify how humble and friendly these folk are. For more info on Cambodia, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, well Google it. :P Or be nice to me and give me a call. For more detailed pictures watch my Facebook photos space. Coming Soon. :D