Cambodia - Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

Phnom Penh seemed to a typical city with tuk tuk drivers and traffic at every hour. Being July the temperature was hot and blazing. In Phnom Penh, two days are good enough to explore the main sights of the city. The days can be split to visiting Royal Palace, Wat Phnom, Independence Monument, Riverside Promenade and National Museum of Cambodia. The second day can be visiting the S21 Prison and Killing Fields.The museum also hosts an art and culture show for one hour at a decent price of 15$. So visiting the museum towards end of the day makes sense, tickets are available to purchase there itself or can be bought from any local travel office. The Royal Palace shuts at 5 p.m., so it should be planned accordingly. Since my day started late, I decided to do Royal Palace on the second day. I got a English speaking Tuk Tuk driver who charged me $6 for covering the above mentioned places and waiting till I finish.

Independence Monument

Wat Phnom

The independence monument is a decent memorial followed by Wat Phnom which is a temple on a foothill. Be wary there are decent no of steps to climb, however it’s a must visit. 

The National museum is very interesting as there is an audio guide available for purchase which gives exquisite detail about almost each and every specimen in the museum. It's a must visit for art and history buffs. This place is good to get started with to know Cambodian culture, how Buddhism came to place and before that how Hindu Gods were worshipped. 

Buddha in all five stances

As mentioned earlier, once done with Museum tour, the art and culture show is must. They have Apsara dancers, Ramayana episodes, traditional village customs all covered in this and the music is brilliant and comforting. This is one of the best ways to experience hands on Cambodian culture. After this, one can head for dinner to any restaurant along riverside promenade and walk along the active street lanes (104-130) which are buzzing all night. Restaurants differ from street food to high end joints, serving Khmer, Indochinese, Indian, Italian and American food.  A good club to visit is Pontoon which is open till 4 a.m. and is most popular night spot.

I started second day sharp at 9 a.m. with visiting the Royal Palace. As the name suggests it's the royal residence of the king. Whenever the king resides here, the Cambodian flag is raised in the building he is staying. A wonder place to click pictures in the morning. The entry is $10 and an official guide charges another 10. It’s worth it, since a lot of information is interesting to listen to.

Main Entrance of Royal Palace

The palace has several buildings including the famous Silver Pagoda which has silver flooring till date. Also the Royal throne is a must visit which has Brahma's (Hindu God) vision overlooking all directions. There is a wall inside which covers the entire story of Indian Ramayana although the twists and turns are Cambodian. One can capture a good picture of the palace from outside as well from the river end. The gardens outside are open to public without any cost.

Silver Pagoda

From here, I headed to S21 (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) which is bit far from city centre. This place has ticket inclusive of audio guide which comes for $6 and the audio guide is pretty well recorded. You get a map, so you go step by step sequence wise. There are three buildings inside. It’s a prison where people were tortured during the civil war in 1970’s. The stories of this place are horrible and not for light hearted people, however it’s sad but true history.

One of the prison rooms
with shackles and waste box

There are stories that say the prisoners were banned from killing themselves and there were precautions taken. The prisoners wanted early death rather than the torture where their legs were tied to shackles. There are pictures of all the events taken place and they definitely will remain with you for a long time. I hesitated to take pictures of the cells, as even as of today there are blood marks.

From here I headed to Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) which is quite far away from the city and is on the outskirts. The killing fields are where the tortured prisoners from S21 were bought for death sentence. Most of this place is destroyed as the people who found it in late 80’s were so angry that they destroyed the buildings and posts. Again there’s an audio guide which takes you sequence wise included in $6 entry fee. Very fair and again well recorded.

The most gruesome place is the burial ground where children below the age of two were killed and buried. There is a killing tree here against which children were beaten to death. At the end of the tour there is a memorial stupa where all the skulls recovered from the bodies of the victims are stored in display. The cause of death is mentioned. Again not a place for light hearted people. Stepped out and had a traditional Khmer lunch. By the time this got done it was already 4. For the entire day the Tuk Tuk driver charged me $20.

If one does not wish to visit the killing fields and prison on second day, the alternative is to take a tour of silk villages which are located on small islands. There are boats that leave from riverside promenade (mekong) on hourly basis.

In the night, after going at the end of the promenade, there is also a lively night market which I found good for shopping souvenirs and local stuff. Silk is the speciality of Cambodia and the usual Buddha artefacts. Also paintings on rice paper are quite common to be found.

For going to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh, there are various bus and comfortable mini vans available. There is a night bus which departs at 11 pm and covers the distance in six hours, so early morning you are in Siem Reap. Otherwise during the day the bus or minivan start departing from 6:30 a.m and are available at half n hour intervals. They all offer pickups from your hotel location. The price ranges from $6 to $12. I booked a minivan which had a nice comfortable single seat and departed at 9 am. The minivan covered the distance in a comfortable 5 hours with three stops.

Siem Reap as a city seemed to be more classy than Phnom Penh and was well maintained. Good to even ride around in a rented bicycle (Just 1 or 2 dollars a day). Parklane hotel on street Taphul seemed to be pretty decent and was better than the hotel in Phnom Penh, shockingly it was same price. Now at the reception, I acquired information on how to visit Angkor complex. They suggested starting with Angkor Wat at sunrise and then visiting other temples in the complex. For visiting the Angkor Wat at sunrise you need to pay extra bucks to driver as well as the guide and many tourists visit this place at sunrise, so its very crowded. However the place looks magnificent in the morning, so what I recommend is go here at sunrise and have a picture clicked from the main spot where reflection falls on the lake but do not enter inside. Head to Angkor Thom for exploration which is one of the largest temple complexes. The one day pass for Angkor complex is $37 now (earlier $20) and is checked at all entry points. The tuk tuk drivers know exactly where tickets are sold and the counter starts at 5 am. I decided to start the tour next day at 9 and not sunrise.

Night life in this city is also pretty good. Siem Reap has more massage parlours than restaurants & bars which offer one hour full body massage at a decent cost like 5-8$. Also just a foot massage would be beneficial, since the next day visit to Angkor complex will be very tiring.  An hour or two of this of this followed by a short walk to the pub street is worth it.

Pub street has it all…restaurants, clubs, market and nightlife. All expats and tourists hang out here in the night. The street is very lively and gives you a feeling that the night shall never end!

I hired the tuk tuk driver to take me to the Angkor complex for $13 (whole day with waiting cost), started at 9 am next day with purchasing the ticket and then headed to
Ta Prohm which is referred as the Tomb Raider temple since the movie was shot here. It’s an amazing place with old trees growing out of the ruins. It’s a Buddhist temple which will take a good one hour to explore.

Once you enter Angkor complex or any of the temples your photography passion with outgrow itself. Every point is worth getting a click. There are children selling souvenirs and books outside who will chase the hell out of you, so be wary. Refreshments are available all across the temples, coconut water is the best rescue during the hot day. It’s available for $1 and is served cold. It does not seem to get over as it's so filling.

After this temple, headed to Takeo which is on a foothill. The steps here are very steep and do test your stamina. But view from top is worth it. Just a few minutes away are two temples on opposite sides of the road. Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda. Both are unique and offer quick exploration. There are souvenirs available here. One guy particularly was selling painting made on rice paper for quite reasonable price. Once framed they will look quite classy. The painting is traced from the walls of the temple complexes so are quite unique. One with Apsara dancer are more interesting.

After this came the Angkor Thom which is so superb. Can’t describe in words. The complex is huge and can take a good two hour to cover by foot. Start with Bayon temple which has the smiling Buddha face on towers looking at all four directions.

Bayon Temple

Old Palace Entrance

Then head to the royal enclosure and Phimeanakas. The paths leading to these buildings are so interior that one feels like you are on an expedition.

During noon, I visited finally the Angkor Wat temple-the most awaited and popular site in Cambodia. As it was noon there were very few tourists around. Here guide is a must, who are available for $15. I bargained one for $10. Audio guides are available at just $6 however they demand passport and $100 deposit which seemed to be stupid. So I decided to go for a live one. You enter the temple complex via floating bridge which has been recently built. There are three entries..one for the king, one for priests and commoners and third for elephants.

You should walk down the king’s path. There is a lake in front of the temple in which all towers are reflected well. People wait for these shots to be taken in the morning. I got a decent one in the afternoon too. The inside has all carvings of Ramayan as this is a Hindu temple built before Cambodians converted to Buddhists.

The temple inside has centre of universe where if you hold a compass, it will show all four directions precisely. It is now the so called selfie point. The entire temple has been built well and you get an immense feeling that yes I am visiting one of the wonders in the world. After all it is the biggest religious complex in the world. Once done here, next to Angkor Wat is Phnom Bakheng which is a sunset point. Line starts from 5pm so it’s a good thing to go here early to avoid que. From this point, the entire Angkor Wat complex can be seen. It’s the best way to end the one day visit to Angkor complex. There are other temples to explore as well which can be done additionally.

Finally the trip ended with a comfortable flight hours back to Mumbai. The memories of this short yet sweet trip will always remain fresh.