Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Day 2

I really treasured my time in Cambodia and saw it as one of the highlights of my trip. I enjoyed exploring the temples in Angkor Wat and valued it more on my subsequent trip as I could appreciate some of the minute details that I missed the first time while battling temple fatigue, oppressive heat, and throngs of tourists.

On my second day in Phnom Penh, I spent time at the killing fields and the S21 high school. The Khmer Rouge turned a high school into a torture facility and holding pen for prisoners before shipping them by the bus loads to the killing fields for mass executions. In some cases, the Khmer Rouge wanted to save bullets so they would beat the victims over the head with shovels and buried some people alive.

The bifurcation between the amazing culturally breathtaking monuments at Angkor Wat and the horrific destruction brought upon a cruel dictator in a country which once ruled most of what is now south east Asia is stunning. The fact that the Khmer Rouge ravished the country less than 30 yrs ago and that the country is still trying to replace the void left by the educated doctors and scholars being whisked away never to return is heart wrenching. The somberness is taken to another level when you experience the genuine joy, hospitality, and sincerity of the Cambodian people while living with meager trappings, few material luxuries, and in some cases downright squalid conditions.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Day 2

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Day 1

I hung out with a group of 4 Estonians in Sihanoukville who were also going to Phnom Penh so we decided to meet up to do some sightseeing. They were carpooling in a taxi and I was going to take the bus which was only suppose to be a 3-4 hour bus ride. The thing that they forgot to tell me at the bus station was that they would be blaring Cambodian karaoke music the entire time and that the air conditioning wasn’t working. It was maybe 90 degrees outside and about 110 degrees inside the sauna on wheels. Even the climatized Cambodians, who wear long sleeve shirts and pants in the 90 degree heat and never sweat, were perspiring profusely. The bus driver was also driving rather unpredictably and even though it was pretty much on straight road, he would spend most of the time in the opposite lane passing cars, trucks, motorbikes, people, animals, and the occasional gaping hole in the road. So to add to the din and oppressive heat, we also had 3 people throw up on the bus due to the motion sickness brought on by the erratic driving. I promised myself to never again take a bus trip in Asia over 4 hours.

When I finally arrived in Phnom Penh blue faced and dehydrated, I went to go check into my guesthouse along the river. I took a quick shower and grabbed some lunch in the restaurant on the first floor before meeting up with the Estonian group to go to the royal palace. Who should I run into while eating but another Estonian that I had met on the island tour in Sihanoukville about a week prior. For some reason Estonians’ seem to love Cambodia.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Day 1

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 6

On my last day in Sihanoukville, I rented a motorbike and biked around the town to venture off the proverbial beaten path. I went up to Wat Leu, a temple on the top of the only hill in sihanoukville, and went around a bit. I’ve seen quite a few temples going through southeast Asia central but this one had statues of old men leaning on canes that didn’t appear in any of the other temples that I visited.

On the way down the hill I took a different path down the hill. I stopped to take a picture of a statue and this adorable little girl came running out of a house at me. I guess she doesn’t see too many foreigners on bikes. After standing in front of me for about 2 minutes and smiling, she runs over to the statue that I was taking a picture of and poses in front of the statue for a couple minutes while also trying to get her brothers attention to come over from the door step of their house, which was about the size of a large shack. When her brother finally came over, she wrestled him to the ground and then made him stand up and pose for more pictures. She’s in the running for the cutest kid award on my travels although she’s going to have plenty of competition.

Then I biked to the Kbal Chhay waterfalls about 20km away. Apparently it’s a popular weekend picnic and relaxation spot for the locals but I found it rather lacking. Not much of a waterfall although the hammocks looked rather comfy.

Finally, I drove around the rest of the islands and checked out the other beaches that were further from my hotel before meeting up with some Estonian friends for dinner. We went to a local popular Cambodian seafood restaurant where we were the only foreigners amongst a ton of locals. I was a little wary as the menu didn’t have any prices which was a prime opportunity to get charged foreigner prices, but we ordered a ton of food and it came out to be about 4 dollars each. We were hanging out at the guesthouse, which ironically is partially owned by an Estonian, and he went and got some local Cambodian specialties for us to try – a chicken egg with a developing chicken inside. It was two eggs with some lime and pepper but when you peel away the egg shell there’s a definite skeleton structure of a baby chicken with a head and the normal egg whites around it. It was like a soft boiled egg with tender bones in it – tasted like chicken. I wouldn’t order it at a restaurant but it was a peculiar delicacy to try once in your life.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 6

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 5

I took a cooking class the day before and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to come back for a second day. I liked it because it was a true cooking class where we had to prepare our own ingredients and not merely a cooking demonstration or a class where all the ingredients are already prepped. The instructor was also very friendly, informative, and spoke English well. For the second day, I asked to make some traditional Cambodian dishes like nam pah jook and caw. She was a bit surprised that I knew about these dishes as they aren’t the ones that are westernized and served at the local restaurants but more of the home cooking, but she readily agreed. We didn’t have the glossy laminated recipe cards that accompanied all of the other regular dishes, but it was much more interesting as it felt like a more authentic cooking experience as she taught me how to make the dish that she had for dinner the night before.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 5

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 4

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 4

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 3

I took an island tour of Bamboo Island which is about 1 hour away. The waves were rather choppy and at least one girl regurgitated her breakfast for the fishes. We went snorkeling near one island and then had lunch on the beach at Bamboo Island. After lunch we hiked through a small forest and the discovered a uninhabitated beach on the other side of the island where we had the entire beach with pristine soft white sand and surfer worthy waves all to ourselves.

On the way back through the forest, we came across some locals who had smoked out a bee's nest and were enjoying the fresh honey straight from the honey comb. The honey was obviously amazingly fresh and included complimentary burnt bees as an extra protein supplement.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 3

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 2

I went on a tour to the Siem National Park where we rode out on a wooden boat through the park to this small fishing village. We hiked through the woods to a deserted beach which was beautiful.

Then it was more relaxation on serendipity beach next to my resort.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 2

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 1

I took what I thought was an 8 hour bus ride from Siem Reap in northern Cambodia to the beaches on the gulf of Thailand. I would have taken the 1 hour flight but they discontinued the flights during low season. So the bus ends up taking 13 hours and was excruciatingly long, but I made it one piece.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 1

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 5

I took a cooking class today and learned how to make tom yum soup and fish amok. Then I walked around and got a massage. While walking around a night market I managed to find grilled snake on a stick.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 5

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 4

I spent the day relaxing, eating, and updating my pictures.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 4

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 3

Jason's last day in Siem Reap and we spent some time chilling. We went to the gym and walked around the markets in town. We tried these "special eggs" which we thought were the fertilized baby chickens but they ended up being similar to salted hard boiled eggs. They were pretty good but there definately weren't any bones there...although I ended up trying the fertilized chicken egg in Sihanoukville later in the week.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 3

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 2

Amazing, Stunning, one of the Highlights of my trip. If you haven't been, GO!

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 2

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 1

I had a buddy Jason fly down from Korea to go temple climbing with me at this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Day 1