With heavy hearts, we left Sri Lanka….Heavy hearts, that is, until the kids saw the amazing inflight entertainment options on our Sri Lankan Airlines plane. And again, it was a red-eye with not a wink of sleep to be had. So many movies, so little time.
We landed in Bangkok and had a few hours in the airport before catching our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Originally quite an inexpensive fare, it turned into a bit of a debacle when my sister cleverly pointed out that I’d booked it for the wrong day. Ooops. Travelling fail. The airline refused to budge, despite my sister’s travel-agent-y exhortations and the airline formerly known as Thai Smile will be forever known to me as Thai Frown.
Cambodia was one of Mike’s non-negotiables, much like Sri Lanka was for me. He was itching to see the ruins and visit the temples of Angkor Wat, the largest religious complex in the world. We thought long and hard about visiting the Killing Fields near Phnom Penh as well, but in the end demurred. The kids (Lucy and Tom, at least) are still little and given Tom’s “too much sadness” pleas in Normandy, we decided that it might be too much. They’ve had their eyes opened wide – witnessing the extreme poverty of northern Namibia, hungry children in the streets of Marrakech and the horrors of war in parts of Europe. So, with some regret, the Killing Fields were scratched from the itinerary.
We landed in Siem Reap and our collective state can only be described as one of pure exhaustion. Several long days of continual, relentless travel had finally caught up. We were bundled into a tuk-tuk at the lovely, modern Siem Reap airport and whisked to a little hotel just outside the centre of town. We climbed into our beds and slept for hours.
After our lengthy hibernation, we emerged ravenous. We made our way to the spectacle that is Pub Street and took in the chaos and mayhem. Bugs on sticks! Fish spas! Food carts and karaoke and rickshaws and tuk-tuks and neon lights and grubby backpackers as far as the eye can see. It made Sri Lanka look pretty tame. And Mike couldn’t wrap his BC Hydro-mind around the electrical wires bundled together at every corner.
We found ourselves a Mexican restaurant amid the madness, settled in with our $1.50 margaritas and watched the hectic world go by. The kids snacked on a few bugs and Tom chewed his way through a very tough snake-on-a-stick. They watched, wide-eyed, as a food cart lady scraped and churned them each a handmade, delicious ice cream. Awesome.
We had fewer days in Cambodia than originally planned due to my booking snafu, but we made the most of it. We quickly became pals with our hotel’s tuk tuk driver and he, in turn, adopted us. It made getting around very easy and very inexpensive. But still, clearly, tiring in the extreme.
early in the day….
later in the day…
We spent three days exploring Angkor Wat’s various temples. We not-so-cleverly managed to time our visit to coincide with Chinese New Year, so we were not alone. Hordes of tourists at the temples, all trying to take countless selfies with the oddest props – parasols, red lipsticks, puckered lips, wedding dresses, selfie sticks flailing and whacking everyone within arm’s reach. Actually, odd doesn’t come close. Nor does pushy. As in, get your hands off my kid and stop elbowing me out of the way to get your bloody selfie. Gah.
We woke the kids at 4:30am one morning to catch sunrise over the temples. They were NOT impressed. The sun came up. The kids groaned, “is that IT?” and that was that.
But at the end of the day, we managed to find a few quiet corners in some of the lesser known temples. Angkor Wat is over 400acres and feels vast. The sheer scale and incredible detail make it abundantly clear why it’s is a must-see pilgrimage for millions (?) of tourists every year. You can still scramble over the buildings, get lost in the labyrinthine ruins and watch the sun set over the temple. Mike loved it. I think he could have happily spent a year poking around. I see a retirement PhD thesis emerging… The boys loved the Indiana-Jones/Tomb Raider-ishness. Lucy loved the smoothies. I was happy to amble along behind everyone, as long as I had a coconut juice in hand.
I think we took a thousand photos and yet never managed to capture the enormity and beauty of the temples. Trying to weed through them is daunting, so am hoping not to overdo it here…
Ok, maybe just a few more….And yes, it doesn’t look as though we were being suffocated by masses of tourists, but they were there. I promise. Look closely and you’ll see the selfie sticks.
so peaceful and serene…
Every day, after spending hours at the ruins, we’d return to Viva!, our favourite Mexican restaurant on Pub Street. By the fourth day, the servers would see us coming and the drinks would be sitting at a table before we’d managed to sit down. And who can resist a $1.50 frozen margarita in 35 degree weather? Not me. And definitely not Mike, who is still trying to live down his out-of-character lushy-Dad Cambodian ways.
Aside from visits to the temples, we managed to cram in a few different excursions. Seeing as we weren’t venturing to Phnom Penh, we made a detour to the Cambodian Landmine Museum just outside of Siem Reap. It turned out to be a highlight of our visit.
We were lucky to meet up with the American director, Bill, who spent a lot of time helping us understand the dangers of the countless unexploded landmines littering the country. Not a month goes by that farmers, children or other innocent civilians aren’t killed or maimed by the Khmer Rouge’s buried souvenirs. Still today, someone loses a life or a limb every 3 days in Cambodia. Still.
The centre was started by Aki Ra – a former child soldier who later became a UN detonation expert. It not only raises landmine awareness but also has, on its grounds, a residential school that provides housing, food and education to children who are orphaned, at-risk or otherwise vulnerable. If you have a moment, check out http://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org. It’s chilling and yet hopeful. Sad fact: it takes $1 to make a landmine and $1000 to clear one. I was moved nearly to tears (yes, yes, again) when I learned that it was Canada that first initiated and drafted the UN’s Treaty To Ban Landmines. More than 150 countries are now signatories. The USA still hasn’t signed.
On a lighter note, we also made time for some fun while in Siem Reap. Lucy and I got a foot massage and we all tried out the fish-pedicure. It was hilarious and we couldn’t stop laughing as the fish ate away all of our gross dead skin. Mike’s feet were clearly in need of some fish-love because he was practically swarmed by the hungry schools nibbling at his tender tootsies.
PS. Sorry, fish.
On our last night, we managed to score some tickets to the Phare Circus on the advice of another travelling family we’ve become pals with. It was phenomenal. Better, I think, than Cirque du Soleil in so many ways and made even more incredible because the troupe is composed of former street children now schooled in circus arts. Our kids still laugh because while everyone else was clapping furiously, I was bawling. Again. But they were incredible athletes. Joyous. Talented. Funny. Charismatic. We loved every minute.
And then, whoosh, it was over. Time to move on to Thailand to meet up with our good friends, Brent and Steph. So many great memories of our short time in Cambodia and, once more, so many smiling, friendly faces and small kindnesses that make this whole trip worthwhile.