SwiftRambles

Operation: Give Cambodia A Chance - Kampong Cham, Cambodia

After feeling that Phnom Penh was out to get us, our initial thoughts were to just high-tail it out of Cambodia to Vietnam.  But, Amber and I both agreed that we were likely missing out on seeing what Cambodia is really like.  We stayed in touristy Siem Reap and the tourist section of Phnom Penh and these places hopefully were not what the country was about.  Therefore we launched Operation: Give Cambodia A Chance.  We decided to venture to a less visited town and see what it had to offer.  Our guidebook mentioned a city called Kampong Cham that was on the Mekong River, less developed for tourism, and only 3 hours away from Phnom Penh.  We then booked our bus there and tried to find accommodation once we arrived.

Getting Pickpocketed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We needed a Vietnam visa so we headed to Phnom Penh to get one.  We haven't heard the ravest reviews of Cambodia's capital as it has the reputation for being a dirty, crime-ridden, chaotic place, but since we had no choice we had to head there.

We got off the bus and were immediately surrounded by touts offering moto and tuk tuk rides to our hotel.  Since we were only 2 blocks away we wanted to walk but it was tough telling this crowd that!  When we arrived at our hotel and Tom went to empty his pockets, his heart sank when he realized his little camera was missing.  After an exhaustive search, we realized it must have been pick-pocketed while Tom was surrounded by the touts when getting off the bus.  We had been lucky so far on this trip in this aspect and we were disillusioned and disappointed in our fellow man to be a victim of a crime.  Not having the little camera has really taken away from the spontaneity of the photos on this trip because toting my big camera around can be a bit of a drag.  On the bright side, we did recently download the pictures from the camera so we didn't lose any memories, which of course are irreplaceable!

Where Silk Comes From - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Looking in our guidebook, I idly mentioned to Tom that I would be interested in visiting a silk farm to see where silk comes from, but I also told him I didn't expect him to be interested in it as well. Tom just grunted so I took that as disinterest. However, a couple of days later, Tom confessed to me that he wanted to visit the silk farm too as he has always wondered how silk was made but he didn't want to admit it!  So since we were templed out and on the same page, we decided to take an afternoon and visit a local silk farm. 

First of all, I learned silk worms are not actually worms but caterpillars.  The farm we visited grows mulberry leaves to feed the caterpillars for the few weeks they are alive before they start weaving their cocoon.

When the caterpillar is ready to make its cocoon they are moved to baskets. These cocoons are yellow because of the type of mulberry leaves they eat but usually the cocoons are white.

Temple-itis Part 2, Angkor Temples - Siem Reap, Cambodia

After our long, hot day seeing Angkor Wat and Bayon temples, the next day, we decided to take a tuk tuk tour of the temples.  You can get a tuk tuk and driver from sunrise to sunset for $10 -  a pretty good deal!Much is said about seeing the sunrise from various locations around the complex and we decided to see it at from an ancient platform built next to a small lake.  When our hotel told us we'd have to be ready at 4:45 am in order to see the sunrise on time, we had a few second thoughts!  However, we decided to buck up and do it - after all, how many times would we be able to to see the sunrise from an ancient place in Cambodia?  But when we struggled awake the next morning and noticed the RAIN we were sorely disappointed.  Tom wanted to go back to bed but feeling bad our tuk tuk driver was up we decided to move forward.  But it was probably the most underwhelming sunrise you can imagine:

Temple-itis Part 1, Angkor Temples - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Our Thailand visa had run out so it was time to make a move and head into Cambodia, specifically to the town of Siem Reap.  While crossing the sketchy land border to get there, we already felt as if Cambodia was going to be different than Thailand.  Our feelings were confirmed when the border guards on the Cambodia side asked for an additional $5 to help make our "application go quicker" (luckily we didn't end up paying it). 

Although the drive through the rice paddies and countryside was beautiful, as soon as we arrived in Siem Reap we knew we were in a town for tourists and not in a good way!  As we walked through the town, we were constantly barraged for tuktuk or moto rides or to give money or to buy something.  Serves us right for staying in the touristy section of town but without transportation our choices were limited.

So why put up with such a touristy place?  To see the top attraction in Cambodia, the temples of Angkor!  Angkor Wat is the most famous temple but actually there are a lot more temples spread out around Angkor Wat and it's impossible to see them all in one day.  In a nutshell, the temples were built from the 9th to 15th centuries to honor certain gods by various Khmer kings.  Although they were built as part of big cities, only the temples were made of stone so the other wooden buildings didn't survive. To really appreciate the whole complex we decided to get a three day ticket.

The first day we rented bikes ($1.50 each for the day) to see a small portion of the temple complex.  We got a late start and after a hot 40 minute bike ride we arrived at the most famous temple, Angkor Wat.  As soon as we pulled our bikes over, we were rushed by offers to "watch our bike" (what would happen to them if we didn't pay?!) and bombarded with pleas to buy books, water, jewelry - you name it.  Shoving past the crowd, we made our way to the first gate of the temple.  I don't know if it's because we've seen so many pictures of it, or all of the touts, or because there was work being done on it and therefore there was some scaffolding, or because it was so damn hot, but we didn't enjoy this temple as much as we though we would.  Were we already suffering from temple-itis after our first temple?!   We did enjoy seeing the details in some of the bas-reliefs and we climbed up to the top to enjoy the view from one of the towers.  

Tom on his bike:

A mystical serpent called a naga; we would see a ton of these throughout Angkor: