Siem Reap, Cambodia & Temples

We had decided not to bike here, but to instead come only for a few days to see the temples. You can’t win them all.. it would have been fun, and relatively safe, to bike from downtown to the temple complexes, and enroute to explore villages, and the country side. Instead we spent money on remorks (a Cambodian tuk-tuk, the main form of tourist transportation, aside from large tourist buses). We walked as much as we could, but communication  with the drivers was difficult, and in the end it was easier to just take the established routes they are used to, from one temple to another. Angkhor Wat is the most famous, but there are dozens more, some bigger, some more interesting. They were all impressive, and I also enjoyed visiting them despite not being interested in history or religion. The restoration work continues, with the help of various foreign groups, and countries.

Link to Temples and their surroundings

Link to Siem Reap

It seemed natural to compare Siem Reap (population ~ 200 000), to Luang Prabang (~56 000). They are both the 2nd cities in their respective countries. The touristy downtown area in the former is much more cosmopolitan, and bigger. Driving from the airport when we arrived at night, we saw large, ultra modern hotels, I noticed several hospitals and clinics, and the central part of the city, where LOTS of tourists come, is booming.
But twice I saw cows on the road among the cars, motorcycles, bikes, pedestrians, and remorks. I had read one should avoid the local, or district hospitals. There are nice lanterns and lit up bridges on the river (now low in the dry season), and it looks better at night. But there are narrow unpaved alleys, chickens and roosters, dogs, kids, street food, stalls, people leading their lives in the open parts of their homes next to the side walk - just like in Thailand and Laos.
One sees trash everywhere, despite people regularly sweeping up dead leaves, and presumably trying to manage their trash. This has been a constant here in SE Asia.
Very friendly people everywhere - showing a high level of customer service.
English is spoken much more widely than in rural Thailand, or Luang Prabang, and on a short drive our first day, I saw several signs for schools advertising English, incl. an ‘American International School’, and a ‘Florida English School’.

We went back 3 times to the restaurant we tried our first evening.
Tasty food, lots of options. No prior research - I wanted to check out Khmer food, which they advertised. Similar to Thai food, but Craig had a casserole with lots of cheese, something we never saw in Thailand. All their meals allowed you to choose between various meats, and tofu, and all included veggies. Clearly much more reasonably priced, and tastier than what we found in Luang Prabang. $4.50 - 5.50.  Less spicy, and less variety than in Thailand. Craig gets extra points for spotting Old Gold Jamaican Rum Raisin chocolate in a convenience store our first day, so I have had my fair share (had discovered this in Australia). There are many French Bakeries, but only 1 of the 3 pastries we tried was great.

This is the first time I am in a foreign country, where USD are used some 80% of the time. You get your small change in Cambodian Riel bills, as they have no coins. You can combine currencies when paying. We didn’t have to learn to be millionaires here,  $1 = 4000 Riel, because you get dollars from the ATM.

I wanted to see the Phare Circus (dance, theater, acrobatics, circus, original music..), performed by students and graduates of a free school for disadvantaged children. It was established by 9 young Cambodians from a refugee camp, in 1993. They felt they had benefited from art therapy there, and have had guidance of a French Arts Instructor. The focus is mostly on the performing arts, but also on music, highlighting traditional Cambodian instruments and tunes, and painting. There were maybe 20 performers on a small stage, and the hall was full despite there being a performance nightly. Lots of power, speed, agility, and they told a story with 2 musicians accompanying them.
The school now has 1200 students, and several hundred, I believe, have graduated from its vocational programs. It is based near Siem Reap; the circus has toured internationally, and I saw online that 2 alumnae have performed with the Cirque du Soleil.

The school is one example of a few young survivors of war, making something of their lives, by helping others, and their country. Another example is The Land Mine Museum. The founder was orphaned around age 5, became a child soldier at age 10 with the Khmer Rouge, then escaped, and fought with the Vietnamese, and other groups. After the wars he became an expert clearer of land mines, and he continues this work today. He has established a home and a school for kids injured, and orphaned, by the mines. 1/300 Cambodians has been affected - we saw no details about how closely. Significantly fewer people are getting injured now; last year there were ~ 150 victims, compared with tens of thousands per year in the past. Trump has proposed ending US aid here, so if this happens, I hope Americans, in the millions, will make (even a token) contribution to a Cambodian charity! We dropped hundreds of thousands of bombs here, and I want to see the PBS show on the Vietnam War when we get home. The photographs of live devices found while Craig and I have been traveling, really put things in perspective - worrying about this is reality for many, many people, and not only in SE Asia.

From Craig: Seeing these countries really brought home the insanity of the wars we fought here. The US bombed 65,000 targets in Cambodia. How did anyone ever imagine anything good would have come from B52s bombing villages consisting of wooden shacks and farmers tilling their rice paddies using water buffalo?

We again were annoyed by the European (mostly) smokers - young backpackers at the ‘hotel’, and people of all ages in the restaurants. Fortunately they have non smoking areas. None of the hotel staff smoked (maybe it’s their policy in front of guests), and our remork drivers also never smoked. This is different than in Thailand and Laos, but we certainly saw also Cambodians smoke on the streets.
We saw many more helmets in 6 days, both on cyclists and motor cyclists, than we have seen in Thailand and Laos combined since early December.

We just landed in Hanoi, and hope to bike south of here. I will post this once we get the pictures uploaded, and as our internet connections allow. On February 15 we fly to Bangkok, and then to New Zealand, where we arrive at midnight on the 16th.