Come to Cambodia

Picturesque Cambodia, it starts with the beautiful features of its people and gains emotional stickiness with its antiquities and chilling history. Like Bhutan, there is a recurring display of high cheekbones and deep soulful eyes. Virak greets us with a toothy smile on arrival at Siem Reap, only minutes from the breath taking temples and ancient city ruins of Bayon and Angkor Wat.

Check in to Hotel de la Paix when you’re in Siem Reap. WOAH. Fantastic oasis of style smack in the centre of town! Sweet—Cambodia is a must for sooo many reasons. It’s a verb, merging the past with the present and providing all its audiences with memorable take-away bang. More equipped for tourists Siem Reap has countless little bistros/cafes—yummy fresh tastes at Chamkar (vegitarian Cham cuisine) and Kamasutra (Indian), old markets and boutiques entertain you after walking your feet off in the fields of antiquities during the day.

Don’t ask which temple is the best, just get yourself over to each of these countries and see for yourself—in Siem Reap make sure you don’t miss: Bayon Temple, Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom Temple (still mostly covered by growth) and you must make an early morning trek to Banteay Srei, a beautiful pink sandstone temple and gasp at the Khmer sculptures and the preserved carvings of Garuda, Shiva and the Nagas—all so Pretty in Pink.

Oh yeah, and allow half a day for touring the massive fresh water lake by boat. Don’t be stupid and ask about safety, life preservers and if it’s safe to sit beside the ancient and exposed car engine propelling the boat forward, just go with the flow… Past bamboo homes on stilts that reportedly move on average 8 times a year due to monsoons, typhoons, tides and anything else that huffs and puffs and blows your house down. The floating villages seem more efficient, as long as you like living on a houseboat rafted next to five others.

Tourist tip, when you’re out on the big lake and see the little girl with the python approach don’t look in her direction unless you have a dollar to keep the snake off your long boat while she encourages you to take a photo. And, if you happen to make eye contact, as the python gets closer to you… be smart, pay in full or… ouch!

After the action packed days of studying carvings and climbing through ruins our feet welcome the in-flight rest as we make our way to Phnom Pen. Meet Kol, gentle and handsome he shares the grizzly horrifying history and accounting of events during the Khmer Rouge reign. With only a day to visit the Presidential Palace, Silver Temple, Emerald Buddha and S21 Detention Centre and Killing Fields we feel anxious before we start. Kol helps us understand and digest the stats by communicating many of the facts in relation to his personal experience. “I was only a young boy when they rounded me and the other 5 and 6 year old kids up and sent us to the camp to live and learn that our people were not pure and Cambodia needed to be cleansed. Only the teachings of the Khmer Rouge are right”. “My brother, worked for the government at the time, he was 18 years old when he didn’t come home and the Khmer Rouge was ‘inviting’ all the people who worked for the government at that time to come and talk with them, we never saw him again. That was 30 years ago.”

The day was enlightening, sobering and as Alex said, “ I almost cried about 18 times today.” I think if we had moved any slower (Kol, reminded us that we had much to cover if we were going to see everything), it would have been messy. The VIP cells at S21, Building A and the photo collection of torture and ‘mug’ shots is overwhelming, only surpassed by walking in the Killing Fields. Past the trees darkly stained from countless bloody beatings to death of children and women left for dead and over the bones and shreds of clothes emerging from the dusty paths with each step that wares away the top soil that sheepishly tries to hide these sins of humanity.

As we pause and listen to Kol answer our many questions with first hand knowledge, personal experience and facts on events found in recovered records I numbly gaze at the temple to commemorate those murdered. I watch a rat run up the stairs and only hope its not able to get into the glass shrine seventeen stories high and full of skulls.

I’m confident we’re fuzzy on many of the facts after our brief day in the Killing Fields, yet I know Kol’s compassionate ability to recount the past, transform hopelessness into a national soccer career, an international relations posting and freelance tour guide for Cambodia has tattooed a memory on us for a lifetime. In the morning, as I enjoyed the sun rise over the Mekong, watched an elephant walk to work and packed for our departure I realized Cambodia was a very special place. As time passes the bonds of trust between Cambodians is rebuilt and people like Kol help foreigners and locals alike remember that life is for living…

A potent and memorable last stop on a wonderful and invigorating journey, which is only beginning to sink into our consciousness. We can hardly wait to enjoy the fruits of its subconscious effects… next?

WAHOO… Daddy and the uber-lux amenities at Sala Resort, on Mai Khoa Beach, Phuket…Merry Christmas!