Aside from the atrocities that happened under the Khmer Rouge in the 1970’s, little and less is known about the Cambodia. Wedged in between Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia and it’s history is often overlooked. It was our mission to educate ourselves during our brief week visit.
We arrived via airplane to Siem Reap, which is predominantly known for its main attraction, Angkor Wat. From the moment we arrived, the problems began. We had booked our reservation after phoning the hotel, Champey Sor Angkor Boutique Hotel, to confirm whether they indeed offered 24 airport shuttle service. The gentleman on the end of the line confirmed the ride, took down our names, our flight information, and assured us we would have transportation as soon as we left the airport. Aside from the couple extra bucks it cost to hire a tuk tuk on the spot, having a designated driver is certainly convenient when arrived at 22:00 as we did. Also, there is something special about having a driver waiting on us with our names printed boldly on it that gives us a warm tingly feeling inside. Tonight, however, it was not to be so. There was no driver. There was no sign with ours names on it. There was no warm tingly feeling.
It took 5-6 attempts to get the hotel on the phone, and even when they did answer, little was down to further our cause. The hotel host couldn't speak a lick of English, and our combined Cambodia vocabulary is hovering around zero words. Somehow we mutually arrived at the conclusion that no, there was no taxi, tuk tuk, carriage, or horse coming for us. By the graces of the gods, the host said he would send us a ride now, just wait around another 20 minutes. Perfect! We had nowhere else to go anyway!
In the end, things worked out, as they always do. We made it to the hotel, whose provided orange juice and banana chips waiting as a form of apology. Forgiven, but not forgotten. When there is smoke, there is fire, and we knew more issues would arise in the days to come.
Seeing we were tired from our day of travel, one of the hosts presented the option to receive massages in the morning. There was nothing more we wanted or needed, so we scheduled a 10:30 time, said our goodbyes, and were taken to our room to retire for the night.
The next day, following a pleasant poolside breakfast, we anxiously waited in the lobby for the masseuses to arrive at our scheduled time. Nobody home. The hotel host told us they should arrive within 10-15 minutes. 10:40..10:50..11:00. We inquired again, to which the host responded that NO ONE WAS COMING. We asked why didn't he tell us before. Crickets. No answer. There is absolutely no logical reason why we sat there like schmucks when the host apparently was aware the plans fell through. A wasted hour the night before and a wasted hour that morning. Rough start to Cambodia.
The hotel it self was very nice. If you move past the service, it is a beautiful and inexpensive place to stay in Siem.
There isn't much to say about Siem Reap that can't be shown through the few pictures we took. It's a tourist town that was built around Angkor Wat. Not much else to see there. There is a main tourist strip called Pub Street that is simply that, a street with pubs. Overpriced food, drinks, and massage parlors can be found on every street corner. The highlight of the town for us was a 30 minute peaceful, A+ foot massage we received our first day.
The only interesting activity we found in Siem Reap was a de-mining center of an NGO called APOPO. In the 1970's, the communist party of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge, indiscriminately placed over ten millions mines within and along the borders with Thailand and Laos. Those who placed the mines are either dead or have since forgotten where the mines are placed. As a result, an estimated 4-6 million active mines are still buried underground. It is impossible to speculate how many people have died from exploding mines, but to this day dozens of people are killed every year from the minutes. Casualty statistics show Cambodia has having one of the highest casualty rates in the world. Over 40,000 Cambodians are now amputees from the mines. Combined with disease and malnourishment, 1% of the entire population is blind, also the highest rate in the world.
APOPO is a Belgian NGO that trains African giant pouched rats to detect landmines, as well as tuberculosis, in Tanzania, Mozambique, Congo, and now Cambodia.
To read more about them and the methods in which they train the rats, click here.
In short, the cat-sized pouch rat has an incredible sense of smell and can be trained to sniff out landmines. Due to the fact that they weigh 1.5 kilograms on average, and the mines are set off with 3 kilograms of pressure, the rat is able is seek and identify without the threat of getting blown up.
The APOPO visitor's center provides 45 minute tours that lay out in detail the problems Cambodia still has with active landmines, as well as a live presentation with one of the rats. See interesting video now:
The rest of the day was spent sampling Cambodian cuisine, relaxing by the pool, and receiving free massages in our room, 50% off courtesy of the hotel for their past sins.
Our second and final day in Siem Reap was dedicated to visiting the storied Angkor Wat.
I know we bring up the topic of money a lot in this blog, maybe more than we should, but the entrance cost of Angkor Wat needs to be mentioned: $37 for a one day pass per person! We can't find a verifiable list of most expensive of the 878 UNESCO World Heritage sites, but $37 must be right near the top. On top of this, it is near impossible to enter the park without renting a tuk tuk driver, many of whom will rip off the tourists left and right. Our driver cost $13 for the entire day, and lucky for us, he was honest and was there when we needed him.
The most frustrating part is that, once again, Cambodians can enter for free. Not merely residents of Siem Reap, all Cambodians. Only foreigners are required to pay the entrance costs. Fortunately for us, we do have some money, but this system is heavily based on the assumption that foreigner tourists are wealthy, which is not always the case. In fact, it deters many tourists who come from poorer countries who may not be able to afford the high costs from visiting at all. We have heard the phrase many times from other travelers that this concept is known as a "white tax," to rip off white people as opposed to sharing their culture. To us this defeats the purpose of allowing people visit one your heritage sites to begin with. Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century. What gives the Cambodian people the right to charge foreigners astronomical amounts and profit to visit a temple that was built and paid for by one individual 800 years ago? This is not to say there shouldn't be an entrance fee at all, but such a large discrepancy between predominantly white tourists and the local people feels wrong and left us with a bitter taste before we even entered the site.
Within the confines of Angkor Wat are probably a dozen or so temples, ranging in size. Prior to visiting the main temple, we visited five others beforehand.
Was it worth $37 a person? For yes, sure. Angkor Wat is unique and special. Some lists have it as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, some don't. We couldn't call it a must-see, but definitely worth it if in the area.
Next stop:
Phnom Penh!
Comments