Cambodia

The story · 15 days

Among the majestic ruins of Angkor, the jungle tribes of Ratanak Kiri, the decadent charm of Phnom Penh and the mighty Mekong, a journey through a nation trying to chase away the terrible ghosts of a painful past... traces of which are still clearly visible today... continues in the Thailand trip...

Day 19 Apr 2005

Bangkok

First day arrival in Bangkok and short visit to the city

Day 210 Apr 2005

From Bangkok towards Phnom Penh

With a rickety airline... we fly from Bangkok to Phnom Penh... as soon as I arrive I'm set upon by a mass of motorbike and tuk tuk drivers (motorbikes with a carriage-like trailer) who want to give me a lift

12 - Kreung village - Me and the village chief

Day 311 Apr 2005

PP towards Ratank Kiri

from PP we fly to Ratanak Kiri, the most uninhabited region of Cambodia, submerged by jungle, where a myriad of different ethnic groups live. The plane ever more rickety... and let's not talk about the airport... an empty wooden structure there was nothing at all...... without a landing strip.... we landed on packed earth... Stay in Ban Lung, the dusty capital of the region... I visit a couple of waterfalls and a volcanic lake in the middle of the jungle

Day 412 Apr 2005

Voen Sai and the villages in the Cambodian jungle

A day dedicated to visiting villages of various ethnic groups deep in the Cambodian forest. I arrived by scooter at the small village of Voen Sai and from there on a small boat we went up the Tonle San river until we reached the village of the Kachon ethnic group and a visit to the Chunchiet cemetery and its very colourful and highly amusing tombs. Note the photo of the tomb of the last village chief, depicted with a mobile phone in his breast pocket. Then a visit to a Chinese village, a Laotian one and a Kreung one. Towards the end of the day a visit to a pepper plantation

Day 513 Apr 2005

From Ban Lung to Kratie

I leave the Ratanak Kiri region and head south towards Kratie, a town on the Mekong.... A gruelling 8-hour car journey.... The guidebook said that Cambodia has the worst road network in the world along with Mozambique... I understood why... there were 7 of us in a car with a 1-year-old child who was vomiting and whose mother after a while followed suit... Chinese music blasting from the stereo....

Day 614 Apr 2005

Kratie

Lively little town on the banks of the Mekong, famous for a colony of river dolphins...

Day 715 Apr 2005

Phnom Penh

Back to the capital PP. A contradictory city where decay and luxury coexist... Where the wounds inflicted by the horrors perpetrated in the past are still open. The madness of the Khmer Rouge which in just 3 years of regime killed a third of the national population and the repeated wars have made Cambodia the nation with the most landmines per square metre. This first day dedicated to visiting the very colourful and slightly kitschy pagodas of the city. Then a visit to Tuol Sleng, the place where the Khmer Rouge imprisoned and tortured the enemies of the regime. An uncomfortable place, but a mandatory stop if you want to understand the tragedy this people has been through

Day 816 Apr 2005

Phnom Penh, Khmer New Year

Morning visit to the central market then to the beautiful Khmer museum (unfortunately photos were not allowed), to the royal palace and the Silver Pagoda (the interior could not be photographed), the whole interior covered in silver with precious stones of every kind. In the evening I took part in the Khmer New Year celebrations; people throw flour and water on each other.. a little girl gave me a bath and coated me in flour quite nicely!!!! Unfortunately the night photos I took are awful

Day 916 Apr 2005

Finally angkor

We arrive in Siem Reap near the ruins of Angkor, the place of greatest tourist interest in all of Southeast Asia. Without any doubt one of the most beautiful places in the world!!! The Angkor area is vast and includes a myriad of sites. I will spend 5 days in Siem Reap to see as much as possible. On the first day, having little time available, I limited myself to a brief taste. A view of Angkor Wat from a nearby hill

Day 1018 Apr 2005

Angkor full immersion part 1

Wake-up at dawn to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat!!! All day in the Angkor archaeological zone until sunset... Also a visit to the fortified city of Angkor Thom with the eerie Bayon!!!

Day 1119 Apr 2005

Angkor full immersion part 2

Grueling day... another whole day from dawn to 6 until sunset wandering around archaeological sites... but it was truly worth it

Day 1220 Apr 2005

Siam Reap Roulos

Visit to the site of Roulos, near Siem Reap. The archaeological remains date back to a period preceding those of Angkor.

Day 1321 Apr 2005

Floating village Chong Kneas

Visit to Chong Kneas near Siem Reap, a floating village on Tonle Sap lake. Shocking photos of children bathing in that putrid water...

Day 1422 Apr 2005

Last day in Angkor

5th and last day in Siem Reap. Visit to the most remote sites. The beautiful temple of Banteay Srei with wonderful ornaments, the very particular bas-reliefs along the riverbed of Kbal Spean inside the Cambodian jungle (unfortunately it was the dry season and the river was almost nonexistent) and to conclude the interesting ruins of Banteay Samrè

Day 1523 Apr 2005

Goodbye Cambodia :(

Reluctantly we return to Thailand, this time overland... Up to the Thai border we go in a minivan through the disastrous Cambodian roads... Once past the border a double-decker bus with air conditioning awaits us and takes us to Bangkok.... back to "civilization"