Trip Report: Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap was an adventure!

I took a bus from the city of Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.  Siem Reap is in northern Cambodia.  Siem Reap is the perfect base town to visit one of the seven wonders of the world, the ruins of Angkor.

I decided the best way to see the ruins was by bicycle.  I jumped on a rented road bike and left at 4AM to catch the sunrise over the temples.  The ruins are about five miles north of the city of Siem Reap. I've complained in previous posts about spending time seeing temples and different religious structures, but I could spend weeks at the Angkor ruins.

The Angkor ruins were built between 1000-1300 A.D. They were built by one of the strongest empires in the world, the Khmer Empire, there are over 1000 temples of Angkor.  Angkor is the largest preindustrial city in the world.  It is said that over a million people lived around in and around the temples.

Equally as impressive to the temples is the water management system.  Massive barays, or large reservoirs, are built around all of the temples that help control the water levels.  Every temple had places for large public baths, basically huge swimming pools for people to escape the Cambodian heat.

This is a public bath inside a temple.


The temples were without a doubt the most impressive thing I have seen in my life.  The most popular and best kept temple is Angkor Wat (so impressive the Cambodian flag is an image of the temple). Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world.  A two mile long moat surrounds the monument.  The architecture and design carved into the walls of the massive complex are stunning.

 Another very impressive temple in the Angkor ruins is called Bayon, or the faces temple.  The temple has massive stone faces carved into it's towers.  They are in very impressive shape for being nearly a thousand years old.

I spent the entire day biking around the temples.  I ended up biking nearly forty miles in the Cambodian heat (103F at two).  I thought I was going to die on the ride home, but I made it back safely.  The workout was well worth it!

I spent my second day in Siem Reap touring the largest lake in South East Asia, the Tonle Sap.  The Tonle Sap is a very interesting lake for two reasons.  First, twice a year the source of water to the lake changes direction.  During the dry season the lake drains into the Mekong River towards Phnom Penh.  But, during the monsoon season the river flows backwards into the lake.  The lake grows from 2,700 km in surface area to a stunning 16,000 km.  The dark blue is a picture of the lake during dry season and the lighter blue is during the monsoon season.

Floating preschool, only not during dry season

I was visiting Cambodia during the dry season.  The lake has many people who live on it year round who live in floating villages.  Some people spend their entire lives on the lake.  The floating villages have schools, stores, restaurants, karaoke, and even a basketball court.

 A floating crocodile farm in the middle of the lake...

Floating basketball court.

I spent my last day in Siem Reap travelling north an hour in a tuk tuk (motorbike with carrage) to visit the Land Mine Museum.  The land mine museum was incredibly interesting.

It is a small museum set up by a Cambodian man named Aki Ra.  Aki Ra's story is unreal.

Aki Ra is the definition of a hero.



The following photos are Aki Ra's story.

A child soldier turned savior.  The museum is also a orphanage.  Kids who have been injured in land mine accidents or just need a safe place to call home live in a few houses behind the museum.  They help out in the museum and go to school with funds raised at the museum.

The two pictures on the right state some very stunning facts.  It is estimated that there are between 6-8 million land mines still in Cambodia. 

Aki Ra has cleared more then 50,000 land mines and bombs. 

Many blame the United States for the raise of the Khmer Rouge.  The pictures below tell the story, but I had no idea how huge of an impact we had on the country of Cambodia during the Vietnam war. 

The first picture is a chart showing US bombing location in Cambodia.

The story below is riveting. 

There were hundreds and hundreds of bombs and land mines throughout the museum.  All brought there by Aki Ra.  Many different countries bombed Cambodia.  There were US bombs, Russian, Vietnamese, and Chinese bombs.

 

Stories like Aki Ra's can be found all over Cambodia.  Nearly every man over the age of forty fought on one side of the war or another.  Many fought for the Khmer Rouge and now live as normal citizens in the city.  The Cambodian people have been through some very tough times recently, but are very strong and resilient.  It was so inspiring to talk with them and hear about their life dreams.  Many only want peace for the world and to perfect their English so they can one day work in an office or own a business.  It is currently believed that over 60% of Cambodians still live off sustenance farming and have zero daily income.  Cambodia has came a long way since the rule of the Khmer Rouge, but still has a long way to go.  I loved my time spent there learning about the history, culture, and people.

Cambodia will forever be in my mind and hold a place in my heart.