Ta Prohm temple, Siem Reap
We started our holiday in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. Cambodia is very much a developing Asian country - far behind its neighbours Vietnam and Thailand due to the civil war and reign of terror that Pol Pot instigated in the 1970's. There is a lot of investment now flowing in from neighbouring countries, such as China, South Korea and Malaysia, and Phnom Penh is a good representation of the crossroads that the country is at. Towers of glass and steel are going up at a rapid rate next to old French Colonial traditional dwellings and shops, street markets and ageing infrastructure. The typical tangle of electrical wires running overhead, the open sewers in some sections of the city (to be fair, these are reasonably hidden from view - our Tuk Tuk took a short cut one day which was fairly eye opening), the small rubbish piles in the street waiting to be collected, the snarls of traffic and motorbikes with multiple passengers clinging on and interesting things being carried on them...all scenes that are typically Asian- city chaotic, although this is a far smaller capital city than places like Bangkok or Saigon (the population is around 1.5 Million).
Golden Buddha in Wat Phnom
outside the coronation pavilion at the Royal Palace, no photos are allowed inside of the richly decorated interior, throne and ceiling depicting the story of Cambodia
Royal palace, looking toward the pavilion from where the King addresses the crowds in the square outside the palace walls on state occasions.
We visited Wat Phnom, which was the founding temple of Phnom Penh located in the middle of the city at the top of a man made hill. Founded in the 14th Century it has monkeys swinging in the trees around it and the scent of incense wafting over all. There are many Buddha statues, with offerings left at his feet of food, money and incense. The Cambodians are very welcoming of the mainland Chinese tourists, who make up the vast bulk of their tourism market, and have pragmatically put in Buddhas that they called "Chinese Buddha", because the Chinese worship Buddha in a slightly different manner. Buddha is adorned in modern clothing, jewellery and lipstick, and some of them had interesting rainbow coloured LED light displays flashing behind his head. It's a slightly disconcerting clash of old and new, of consumerism and humility before a deity.
Chinese Buddha, who looked like he'd had a hard night out on the town to me, and yes, he is wearing a Louis Vuitton necklace gangsta style...
We visited the tiny National Museum, which houses may of the old statues and artefacts from temples that still remain in the country (looting has been a huge problem for centuries), we visited the Russian Market (large clothing and fresh food market crammed with factory overruns and fake designer goods as well as traditional Cambodian handicrafts), and spent the afternoons when the heat would become more intense by the pool at our French Colonial hotel under the shade of the palms.
National Museum courtyard
having a "Dr Fish" foot massage in the old town after a day trekking in the temples. The fish nibble at your feet
The old town is very clean with stall holders hosing down the footpaths every morning, it's pedestrian friendly, and lined with cafes that would look at home in any western city in the world. I was at one point actually served my drink in a mason jar while sitting on a Tolix chair which was a little disconcerting, but clearly the influence of Pinterest has gone a long way. The markets sell similar goods to those in the capital, however price wise it was far more expensive (relatively speaking - Cambodia is a cheap travel destination in general). Everything is paid in US dollars in Cambodia, and the starting price in Phnom Penh was always $5 (then you begin to bargain), but in Siem Reap it was all a starting price of $10.
inside Angkor Wat
at the top of Bayan, with its may faces
The scale is absolutely incredible and despite seeing photos, you can't be prepared for the first sight of Angkor Wat rising out of the jungle, surrounded by its perfectly straight, wide man made moat. It's the largest religious structure in the world, exceeding the Vatican or Manchu Pichu, with every surface intricately carved - an 800m long bas relief stretching around the outer edge of the main building depicts battles and scenes from Hindu mythology.
a monk blessing tourists in Angkor Wat
this photo gives some idea of the scale - my 6 year old standing under a tree root
a view out the back of a Tuk Tuk of an entry gate
Surprisingly, Australians are not as commonly seen in Cambodia as in other Asian countries in the region, and I suspect that it may be because Siem Reap is inland, and not on the coast (Australians do love a Beach destination for holidays in Asia). The majority of tourists are from neighbouring Asian countries (the vast majority coming from Mainland China), the Western tourists, who are a far smaller number, tend to be split between French, Canadian and American. At this stage the supervision of the temples is fairly relaxed - you can walk around and over most of them, without having to stick to set paths unless you're in a very ruined temple where areas may be cordoned off due to potential danger from collapse. I can't imagine that in 50 years time this will be the case, as all the foot traffic, touching of bas reliefs etc will inevitably wear down the temples. The government is also constantly working at restoration projects in various temples, so some areas are out of bounds as they are reconstruction sites.
So, if you're interested in visiting Cambodia, here are some recommendations of places we enjoyed:
Eat:
Malis in Siem Reap, our best meal of the trip
Chanrey Tree in Siem Reap, the food was also excellent
The "Living Room" at the Park Hyatt, Siem Reap
Stay:
Phnom Penh - Raffles
Siem Reap - Park Hyatt
Travel:
We flew direct from Singapore into Phnom Penh on Silk Air. After 3 nights in Phnom Penh we travelled by car with a driver and guide 5 hours to Siem Reap on the main highway (this is single lane both directions, and was finished approximately a year ago, so is new and fairly bump free). This cost approximately US$120. There are flights between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, however they are operated by Cambodian based airlines, who have very poor compliance records (no accidents, however they are all newer operators post 2010). For this reason we decided driving was safer. There are direct international flights in and out of Siem Reap should you not wish to visit Phnom Penh, and our return flight was direct from Siem Reap to Singapore on Silk Air.
Travel with children:
I'd say that our youngest child, who is now 6, was about the minimum age you'd want to take children to Siem Reap. It's extremely difficult to explore the temples if you're not able bodied - the paths and floors are uneven, there's a lot of climbing up incredibly steep steps, a lack of balustrades, and vast distances to walk. Trying to use a stroller would be impossible, and most very young children would find the walking and climbing hard going in the heat. We chose not to use tour guides, as we felt our children wouldn't have the patience for it, so we ducked in and out of the temples as we chose, which worked better for us. All three of our children (ages 6,8,11) really enjoyed visiting and exploring the temples and were quite overawed by the scale and age of them, they enjoyed bartering in the markets, and travelling in the tuk tuks. Cambodian people are lovely and very welcoming to children and made a huge fuss of them all, especially our youngest.
Shopping:
I didn't buy anything on this trip (the children bought hats and some t-shirts). The market shopping consists of factory overruns of brand name western goods made in the area, and the fake designer goods found all over Asia (Chanel bags, LV jewellery, scarfs etc). The goods that are local include very well made and delicate basketware (some of which I have seen sold in the Dior home shop in Paris), Cambodian silk scarfs, rather luridly coloured paintings, and carved timber goods. You can buy reproduction antique buddhas and temple bowls etc should you feel inspired to recreate your holiday at home, and at the temples you can purchase rubbings of temple reliefs on rice paper. There are some shops at the base of the Foreign Correspondents Club on the river in Siem Reap that have high quality items for sale, including local pottery, bronze artefacts, and a photography gallery of stunning black and white large format photos that put to shame any of the terrible iphone photos I've included in this post! Generally speaking, I found the best items to be in the shops in the Hotels we stayed at, but I will say that I didn't get a lot of time to explore the shopping in any particular detail.
We really enjoyed visiting Cambodia - it has a fascinating history, and to compare the temples with Western achievements in Architecture at the same period in history shows the incredible artistry and sophistication and wealth of the country at that time and its influence in the region. My only wish is that I had more time to explore more of the temples, however this just means that I'll have to return one day.
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About Me
- Heidi
- Architect & Interior Designer. Mother of three. A sometimes Cook, Baker, Reader, Gardener, Fashion Lover, Renovator, Writer of random things in South Australia email me on anadelaidevilla@bigpond.com
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This was an absolutely fascinating post! Living on the opposite side of the world I didn't realize at the sccale of the temples, nor at how many of them still exist and how accessible they are. My boys would absolutely love exploring, but I can't imagine we'll be able to travel there in the near future. Still, we'll get a few books on the subject, I would love to learn more. Thanks for the eye-opener!
ReplyDeleteFrankly Liene, before I went I really didn't appreciate the scale of the temples as well, and Cambodia is definitely closer to me than you! The children all really enjoyed that feeling of exploration and being somewhere so different to home, I'm sure your kids would too. Glad you enjoyed the post x
DeleteI love that place so much and Bagan was a favourite of mine. Did not like loc lac which is odd for me be I love most food. I remember having another dinner after! It's good for the kids to get that tomb raider reference too be I noticed kids really paid attention! X
ReplyDeleteI didn't find Loc Lac or Amok that flavourful either. I think the complexity of flavours is lacking when compared to other asian countries nearby. We tried it a few times too at different places, so it wasn't just a lacklustre first experience.
DeleteThat was my favourite temple, and the kids loved it too - it's quite weird with all the heads on it! x
A fabulous experience for the children that will live in their memories when they're grown-up. BTW - they've grown up so wonderfully in the last year already!
ReplyDeleteHave never been to Cambodia - it looked amazing in your photos. Former colleagues lived and worked there in the earlier days after our Embassy was re-opened - life could be quite exciting back then. There were still many landmines in those days hidden around the old temple sites and also a serious risk of kidnappings etc. There were also stunning jewels for sale (specially rubies) at incredibly low prices. Believe nowadays many of the "jewels" for sale are fakes, even those in what appear to be good shops. Or if not fakes, not good quality at current prices.
The hotels looked a lovely relaxing respite from the heat, dust, traffic and noise. Unless you're a teenager or a hard-up student it's always worth paying for really good accommodation in most Asian regions. You need a lovely place to come back to at the end of what can at times be quite confronting days. Otherwise you might need a holiday to recover from the holiday. Good Asian hotels are truly beautiful, particularly when they have a real local flavour as the ones you've chosen did. My favourite hotel in Bangkok (though it's at least five years since we were last there) is the Sukhothai with its beautiful pools and gardens for reflection - a real oasis in a city of frantic traffic and crowds of tourists. Also the bathroom of our junior suite (they always gave us a complimentary upgrade as I'd stayed there so many times) was bigger than most Paris hotel bedrooms. Then of course there were the beautiful pots of white orchids placed strategically around the room. Of course, in Singapore, we love Raffles. Pammie xx
They are getting so tall P that the oldest is going to overtake me this year I think!!
DeleteI think Cambodia has come a long way in a short time, so when your colleagues were there it would have been very much just coming out of the terrible war period.
I always love all the thoughtful local details in a good hotel in Asia, and agree that a good hotel is a great respite from the bustle and heat of the streets. I love Raffles in Singas as well, the rooms are such a great size, and it has a lovely old world feel to it. xx
Agree it would be hard to explore on foot with young children, I travel there occasionally, just adults, I would find it very stressful looking out for children. Traffic rules are so chaotic, and challenging.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been a little wary of taking them to the cities up until now and didn't attempt when they were toddlers that ran everywhere. Far too stressful! Hope the renovation is going well, it's all looking very good on instagram! x
DeleteI went to Cambodia nearly 10 years ago now, it really got under my skin. The temples are mind-blowing. We did go to some of the darker attractions related to the Khmer Rouge period - very confronting and probably not something you wanted to take your kids to. I would like to go and do some work over there.
ReplyDeleteIt would have changed enormously in 10 years I think Cilla. We found Vietnam very different last year after a 12 year break, so I can only imagine how much Cambodia would have changed in that time.
DeleteWe didn't go to the genocide museums as it's really not age appropriate for the kids as you said, interestingly all the locals were keen to talk to us about the Pol Pot reign and what happened, so it's clearly a very fresh scar. We were constantly asked if we'd been to the genocide museum, far more so than other attractions.
The temples look beautiful ! so pretty x
ReplyDeleteThey were incredible in real life - I really was blown away by them x
DeleteHappy New Year! Love this post Heidi - brings back happy memories of our trip to Cambodia in March last year. We also stayed at the Park Hyatt and loved the Chanrey Tree too. In Phnom Penh we had high tea at the Raffles and watched a Khmer puppet show (but stayed on our cruise boat for two nights we were there - we did a Scenic river cruise). My husband chose to do a tour to some of the Genocide stuff but I chose to do a French Colonial Architecture tour (by Tuk Tuk) hosted by a young local architect and some wandering around at the Russian Market. We also travelled by road to Siam Reap (by coach - everyone was so excited because there was wi-fi during the 5 hour trip!!). We loved the temples and Angkor Wat. We went there twice - once in the day light and god forbid got up at a time no man should to watch the sunrise the next day!! Would go back there in a heartbeat. Hope your children settle well back in to school this week. I noticed there was more traffic this morning! Have a great week - enjoy this slightly cooler weather. Jo xx
ReplyDeleteYour trip sounds so fabulous Jo! Needless to say we skipped the sunrise tour, although to be fair the kids were usually up before sunrise - I hadn't realised how far behind Cambodia was compared to Australia! It took a while to adjust...
DeleteI would have loved that French Colonial Architecture tour of PP though, sounds wonderful!
So thankful for the cooler weather this week - it's made Back to School a lot easier I have to say! xx
So glad you had such a lovely trip! How wonderful for the children to have this exposure. I always learn so much in your posts! Love how heavily layered the architecture is. Hope your garden fared well without you!
ReplyDeleteThe garden loved me being away I think - it turned into a jungle!! Honestly only 10 days and the growth was incredible. It had rained a lot and been really hot, so off it all went. I've been pulling up weeds ever since it feels like! xx
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