To be honest, I wasn’t sure how the girls were going to receive Cambodia. I was a little nervous but Sera and Yasmin were great! Ok, Sera asked to go back to Dubai about three times during our travels but Yasmin was our super trooper. She loved every second of our trip and if anything, she suffered Cambodia blues our travels ended.
So we started our journey from Siem Reap to visit the beautiful Angkorian temples, built between 9th and 14th centuries AD. They still remained as mesmerizing as I remembered 8 years ago but the one very, very jarring difference was the onslaught of mass tourism that has unfortunately descended to Siem Reap. I still remember, walking with my travel friend then, how it felt to walk through the ancient temples. I do not lie when I say there were goose-bumps on my skin … it felt almost magical. Alas, this time, it felt different. Too many tourists jostling and behaving like paparazzi at the temples wherever we went. The cruel irony about tourism in Siem Reap is that despite the millions of tourists she receives every year, it remains the poorest province in Cambodia.
When we were temple-d out, we explored Siem Reap. Siem Reap has a beautiful country side and an entire network of floating villages on the Tonle Sap. We visited the not so typical attractions like the War Museum which was essentially a junkyard of old, rusty war artillery. We even visited a crocodile farm, though I was initially against it because I suddenly had frightening images of Yasmin eagerly climbing into to the crocodiles’ den. Johan probably had the same thoughts because he imprisoned her in his arms.
After 4 days in Siem Reap, we drove 3.5 hours to Phnom Penh, the capital city. Phnom Penh is typical of most Asian cities. It is overpopulated, polluted and oh so noisy. But if you’re willing to look beyond the utter mayhem, the city has pockets of charm and uniqueness to it. As planned, we didn’t stay long in the capital but we visited a museum, the Royal Palace and had absolutely delicious Khmer dinner with our friend Krisna and his wife, Srey Houen.
At a local orphanage
We had a lovely stay at Indochine Pavillion
Dinner with Krisna and his wife, Srey Houe at the Khmer House, Phnom Penh
Our final 4 days, we snuck into the hillside of Kep. Originally, we had planned to go to the Sihanoukville, where the beaches are. But thankfully, a traveler had advised and strongly suggested that we escaped to the quiet of Kep, where there were beaches and mountains minus the notoriety of beach tourists. Wonderful, we thought. Kep was exactly what she promised and it was exactly what we needed after Phnom Penh. We checked ourselves into; I have to say, one of the most beautiful resorts I’ve ever stayed in. It was called the Veranda Natural resort and true to its name, it was as natural as could be. The resort is built on a hill top in the midst of all the natural vegetation around it. The individual bungalows snaked out of the main building like tree branches, blending with the natural environment. We didn’t stay in the bungalows because again, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to find Yasmin hanging over the balcony and flying down hundreds of feet into the jungle … so we opted for The Cave. Our cave was just what we needed. You walk into your private terrace that is enclosed by lush tropical plants and flowers, you open the door and lo-and-behold, a spacious enclave literally dug out from a mountain. The only difference is that once inside the cave, you experienced all the amenities of a 4 star resort! Ha ha. An absolute hit with the girls, no doubt.
At Kep, we very quickly and easily spent our days in a truly laconic fashion. In our tuk tuk, we visited caves, beaches and the local markets. We also took a boat ride to Rabbit Island, no rabbits there, where Sera and I were lazing in the water for almost 4 hours. Needless to say, we became brown as roasted chestnuts.
Our travel in Cambodia was so satisfying. Yes, it was tricky and tiring at times, but it was so worth it. What made it so meaningful was how my Khmer friend Krisna, whom I met 8 years ago in an orphanage, travelled with us, and bonded readily and easily with the girls. To all our happy memories of Cambodia … aw kohn shruan!
1 comment:
Great pictures, sayang ...! The girls must have enjoyed the tuk-tuk very much.
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