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Kayhan and I decided to take a trip to Cambodia in December 2013. It was technically our first travel after we had gotten knotted ;) We had contemplated tying it up with Vietnam and Laos, but decided to explore one country in-depth. Cambodia has only recently opened its door to tourism. Even though the Khmer Rouge culminated its rule in 1993, the aftermath has been felt in the country till long after. The rule of Khmer Rouge is one of the most shattering human tragedies in the 20th century. While traveling through Siam Reap, Sihanoukville and Phnom Penn and engaging in dialogue with the local people, we got an opportunity to learn more about Cambodian history and life as it is today.

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Our first sojourn was Siam Reap, which houses the Temples of Angkor. The pride of Cambodia, this town is visited solely for the temples. One can get a three-day pass, and I would highly recommend hiring a tour guide for insightful historical tidbits. We decided to carry our lonely planet and read up on the stories as we visited each temple. However, on gatecrashing some tour groups we realized that the anecdotes were so interesting and distinctive to the tour guides locale knowledge. An interesting myth that we heard was that Cambodia came into being when an Indian Brahmin fell in love with a princess, who was the daughter of a Naga. He wanted to marry her and asked her to cut her fangs. Even today in marriages, the tradition continues and the groom holds the bride’s tail (as if she is a snake) while announcing unison and the bride eats bitter nuts to clean her teeth / remove her fangs :)

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From the 1st - 7th Century (Pre-Historic), Hindu Gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Lakshmi, Durga, Narasimha were worshipped in Cambodia. Thereafter, from the 8th – 14th century, the Kings were Hindu followers, which is why Jayavarman V, who built Bantey Srie the Lady Temple, included Sanskrit carvings and engravings of the Ramayana. Suryavarman II, a devout Hindu commenced building Angkor Wat, but was unable to complete the temple. It was Jayavarman VII, a Buddhist, who completed it, which is why Angkor Wat has an amalgamation of both Hinduism and Buddhist influence. Jayavarman VII also built Bayon Temple for himself, where he is omnipresent, with 216 of his heads smiling at you. He created Preah Khan Temple for his father and Ta Prom was dedicated to his mother. As a side note, Ta Prom the jungle temple is where Tomb Raider was shot. It's expansive and the majestic trees embrace the concrete structures. It's easy to get lost in the all-pervasive bifurcations. Each temple is extraordinary in its own way and one walks back in time, re-living the yesteryears. Watching the sunset at Angkor Wat is a unique experience and amidst the crowd, I embraced the magical sight and internalized the moment, forever. 

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Cambodian cuisine is delightful. Amok is the traditional dish of Cambodia, curry cooked in banana leaves and thick coconut cream, which only leaves you craving for more! Amok Restaurant and Khymer Kitchen Restaurant on Pub Street are worth trying for the Amok, Green Kyhmer curry and bar-fish with pineapple. Cambodia is also known for its bar-be-que, I took a stab at trying Kangroo, Ostrich and Crocodile :P Pub Street is inundated with bars, restaurants and shops and it’s a great place to unwind. Across the street, there’s a flea market that is organized everyday, where I got the best foot massage.  

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The next destination was Sihanoukville. It’s an hour away by flight or an overnight bus journey. We stayed at a place called Queenco, and the beach was at the brink of our doorstep. This haul was immersed in vanishing into a black hole called relaxation, along with experimenting with a range of fantastic food. Grand Kampuchea for grilled prawns, beef luk lak and New Sea View Villa for pork in mustard sauce and lamp chops are places worth trying. I was intrigued by Lonely Planet’s description of JJ’s Playground as being debaucherous and it sure did live up to its name. Nevertheless, it’s a great place to meet travelers from all across the world as well as local people from Sihanoukville. Through JJ’s Playground, ended up going for a Booze Cruise which was to say the least, highly eventful ;)

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The last leg of the trip culminated with Phnom Penn, the current capital of Cambodia. Angor used to be the capital, but because of the religious war that broke out between Hinduism and Buddhism as well as trade that was initiated with China, the capital shifted from Angkor to Phnom Penn in the 15th Century. We visited the German Center, where they were screening a film on Cambodian history and got an opportunity to interact with the director of the film as well. Through conversations, we learnt snippets of the horrors that Cambodian people have confronted. This article too, articulates the rise and fall of Khmer Rouge, http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/history/cambodian-history/khmer-rouge-history/. French Colonization and the IndoChina War in the 1950’s gave rise to the Cambodian communist movement. By staging a coup, Prince Sihanouk was deposed as Head of the State, with Pol Pot being appointed as the party secretary and leader of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in 1963. He ended up becoming one of the most perilous dictators. From 1963 – 1975, Cambodia was in the midst of civil war, after which the Khmer Rouge came into power. Inspired by Maoists, they did envision a classless society, however, took a radical approach and eradicated schooling, property, money and traditional culture. Public spaces such as universities, government buildings and places of worship were converted into prisons and re-education camps. If people were gathered in numbers of three or more, they were arrested or even executed. Everyone was expected to be in black and there was no concept of leisure. In fact, people were forced to work for 12 hours a day without food or sufficient rest. Moreover, according to Khmer Rouge, it was only ‘pure’ people, who could fight the revolution and as a result, genocide followed and over the next few years, thousands of people who were considered impure or perfidious were killed. Due to execution, starvation, diseases, mines, millions of people died, with the country becoming a graveyard.

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Year’s later people are still picking up the broken pieces and trying to put together everything that they have lost. Many families suffer from bereavement and remain traumatized by the terrors to which they were subjected. However, Cambodians haven’t given up hope. The first elections happened in 1993, with Prince Norodom Ranariddh winning 58 seats in the elections. He served as the first prime minister of Cambodia. The local people we talked to at Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, expressed their relief at the fall of Khmer Rouge and were looking forward to re-building their lives, with new opportunities and unfeigned possibilities.

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The Silver Pagoda has numerous Buddha statues. There’s a small 17th century Buddha known as the Emerald or Crystal Buddha of Cambodia, and the other massive gold statue is called Maitreya Buddha. It has 9584 diamonds, the largest of which weighed 25 carats. The Buddha itself weighed 90 kilograms. During King Norodom Sihanouk’s Pre-Khmer Rouge reign, 5000 silver tiles covered the floor, of which we got to see a few, close to the entrance. We didn’t get a chance to visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum, which used to be a high school and was used as the Security Prison (S-21); I would like to go back there, and honor the memory of all who suffered.

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Cambodia is an exquisite country and it’s a place well worth visiting. The people, architecture and food are all incredible and I loved every moment of it. If you would like more information about the places where we stayed, # of people who drove us in their tuk tuk’s, detailed itinerary I would be happy to share, please feel free to get in touch.

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- Kamiya Kumar