Abridged trip to Cambodia: Angkor and Killing Fields

Due to our lengthy love affair with Vietnam, our time in Cambodia was significantly cut short. Nevertheless, we hopped on a bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap to make the most of our eight day trip there. This particular journey involved two bus rides, a tuk-tuk ride, a shared taxi and two typical tourist scams. The first was an attempt by our tuk-tuk driver to sell us fake visas, which we anticipated and were able to avoid. The second was with the real Cambodian immigration officials who demanded extra money for our visa for no apparent reason. When we respectfully protested this minor extortion, they just told us to wait in a corner where we were ignored until we gave in and paid up some extra baht. Effectively defeated by the all-powerful customs official, we reluctantly loosened the purse strings and were on our way.

The next day at the crack of dawn, we were off to see the Temples of Angkor, a system of  ancient hindu and buddhist ruins that collectively sprawl for 1,000 square kilometers making it the largest preindustrial city in the world. The region thrived from the 9th to 15th centuries as the capital of the Khmer (ethnic Cambodian) Empire. Today, the jaw dropping temples quietly stand among glowing green rice paddies and are enveloped in dense jungle as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While we were a bit sleepy from our late arrival into Cambodia the night before, we were quickly energized upon meeting our guide Kamsan, whose humble physical stature was countered by a huge smile and a warm, enthusiastic presence. Not being huge 'temple people', Zach and I were incredibly thankful to have a guide as engaging, passionate, knowledgeable and fun as Kamsan. If you are planning an Angkor trip, check out Kamsan at Happy Angkor Tour and you won't be sorry!

Angkor Wat: the Mother of Angkor's temples. It was built in the 12th century and is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world. We went here first thing in the morning as about 10,000 visitors flock here each day.

Grazing the temple grounds.

Bayon Temple was one of our favorites and unique among the Angkor system for the enormous, enigmatic faces carved into the pillars.

Ta Prohm, or the Jungle Temple, was another favorite. It was a beautiful and breathtaking demonstration of nature reclaiming its ground.

Another shot of trees consuming Ta Prohm.

Walking with Kamsan at Ta Prohm. The 900 year old temple has certainly begun to succumb to the forces of nature.

After A LOT of persuasion from Kamsan that this hole in the tree was not infested with Cambodia's infamous spiders and other creepy crawlers, I hesitantly jumped into the tree for a photo op.

One of many mentioned above creepy crawlers that we came across.

Beautiful end to day one of tour.

The Banteay Srei or Lady Temple was carved from red sandstone which allowed for intricate carvings that were remarkably well preserved despite being over 1,000 years old.

Many of the temples were set against vibrant rice fields. A common view in Cambodia and this region of the world, but it never gets old.

After Siem Reap, we bussed to Cambodia's present capital Phnom Penh. From the bus station, we grabbed a tuk-tuk to drive us to the hostel we had selected from our guide book. When we told him the address, he replied "You no want that hotel. Is place where old men take young women." Assuming he simply wanted to take us to a hotel where he could receive a commission, we thanked him but politely asked he take us there anyway. This time we were not getting scammed, and the driver could not have been more accurate. The hostel was above a straight up brothel. Needless to say, we thanked the driver for his initial warnings and asked him to take us to some alternative hostel we had ready. 

If Siem Reap was our crash course in ancient Khmer history, Phnom Penh served us with a heavy dose of Cambodia's recent history. Our only full day was spent touring Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields which together relay the tragic events that occurred under the Communist Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979. Disgusted by years of foreign rule over Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge sought to become an entirely agrarian, self-sufficient nation. When they came to power, all citizens were forced from their homes in the cities to countrysides to labor from dawn until dusk, often with little or no food. As well, all intellectuals, religiously affiliated individuals, soldiers or anyone remotely associated with the former regime and way of life were executed along with their entire family. This in addition to death by starvation, disease and being overworked led to the killing of 2 million Khmers during the four year reign. 

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was a high school in Phnom Penh that the Khmer Rouge converted to a prison and interrogation center. After some weeks or months of torture and forced confessions, prisoners were taken straight to the Killing Fields in the middle of the night where they were thoughtlessly killed using shovels, clubs or hammers, as bullets were considered too valuable to waste on executions. Of the 17,000 people that were cycled through this particular center, only seven men survived because the prison depended on their talents as mechanics, carpenters, painters and photographers. One of the survivors was present at the prison the day we visited. Never in my life have I become so overwhelmed by respect, sorrow and awe in someone's presence. I felt rather ashamed by my speechlessness, but to this day I am not sure what the appropriate words would have been.

High school converted into prison cells. Razor wire was added to prevent individuals from committing suicide.

This tree at the Killing Fields was devastatingly discovered to be a tool that Khmer Rouge executioners used to kill the babies of parents they had executed. An infamous quote of the Khmer Rouge regime read, "To kill the grass, you must also kill the root."

A memorial containing more than 5,000 human skulls excavated from the mass graves at these Killing Fields. This was one of hundreds of fields used across Cambodia, many of which cannot be accessed to this day for investigation due to millions of remaining land mines and unexploded ordnances across the nation.

One week is not nearly enough time to experience the ancient marvels and recent tragedies of this remarkable nation. I loved Cambodia, but left with a void. I want to go back. I want to see more of Angkor and visit Kamsan to hear how his children are doing. I want more nights out in bustling Siem Riep. I want more time to understand fast paced and utterly complicated present day Phnom Penh. Hopeful to return sooner than later.