REPEAT WARNING: Once again, this is not a sailing related entry. This, as well as future entires through April/May 2025, reflect our effort to capture our experiences while we explore Australia, New Zealand and other places (now Southeast Asia) across the world from the country we call home by land with some air travel assists. We are metaphorically putting our memories in a bottle to savor on some future date. If you are not interested in reading an amateur attempt to document travel experiences you may wish to skip these entries. No offense will be taken. You were warned!
When we hit the “publish” button on our last blog entry we had just arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia after a delightful 6 nights/5 days in Singapore. We were not quite ready to leave — we really enjoyed our time there and felt there was a bit more to explore (and more food to try!) — but we were excited about our upcoming trip. As you know from reading our blog, we love learning about local history and culture and we heard over the years from family members and friends who had visited Cambodia and Vietnam that these countries were rich in both. Plus we had booked a Mekong River Cruise in Vietnam — definitely an experience on our bucket list — and we were meeting British friends of ours from the rally, John and Susie (SV Casamara), in Cambodia who were joining us for a portion of our trip. So farewell Singapore; hello Cambodia!
We arrived in Siem Reap, our first stop in Cambodia, late afternoon on February 2. We had little time to do anything other than eat dinner and go to bed. That was okay — we had a lovely reunion with John and Susie and we were tired from our travels. Turns out it was a good thing we rested up because over the course of our next 2 days in Siem Reap we got up both mornings to watch the sunrise (one morning over Angkor Wat) and visited 7 different ancient temples. Before we get into all the detail, a little information on Siem Reap. Siem Reap is the second largest city in Cambodia with a population of ~245,500. Our guide for the Siem Reap portion of our tour, Hok, share with us that the name Siem Reap literally translates to “Siam’s defeat.” It originates from the conflict between the Siamese (now Thailand) and the Khmer kingdom. The exact defeat of Siam that gave rise to the name is not entirely clear but there are several options to choose from in the 1500s.
Siem Reap (formerly known as Angkor) is most famous for the 72 major temples located in the Angkor Archaeological Park. These temples were built between the 800s and 1400s by the kings of the Khmer Empire that reigned during that period. (This period, spanning 39 rulers, is known as Angkorian period in Cambodia.) The empire ended in 1431 when the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya successfully attacked and captured Angkor, the Khmer capital. At that point, these temples were largely abandoned with jungle reclaiming the land all around them. They were forgotten until the early 1900s when the French got involved in Cambodia politically and rediscovered the temples during an expedition from Cambodia into Thailand (then still known as Siam).
As you can imagine, it is not possible to visit 72 temples over the course of 2 days. With the help of Hok we selectively visited 7 of them: Ta Prohm (built in the late 12th century and famous for its use in the Tomb Raider movie), Prerup (10th century), Banteay Samre (early 12th century), Banteay Srei (10th century, known as the Lady Temple due to its intricate wall carvings — thought to be too fine to have been made by a man), the iconic Angkor Wat (early 12th century — both then and now it is famous as the largest, and one of the most beautiful, religious structures in the world), Bayon temple (built in the late 12th century within the large walled city of Angkor Thom) and Ta Keo (built in the late 10th century and known as the Pyramid Crystal Palace).
The kings during the Khmer empire built these temples for the same reason that kings have built them around the world for centuries — to show their legitimacy and claim the protection of god, demonstrate their vast wealth, create a legacy and preserve their divine status, control local resources (in this case, water) and create jobs for the people of the kingdom (if you keep a large percentage of your subjects busy with a major architectural project there is less time for organizing an uprising). There was almost continuous construction during the reign of the empire. We are very fortunate that this empire was prolific in its temple building. Most of what we know today about this time period in history comes from the stone carvings found on temple walls. This includes the evolution from Hinduism to Buddhism that occurred during that time period with some flip flopping from one to another. The adoption of Buddhism and conversion back to Hinduism is particularly evident in Ta Prohm. That temple was built as a Buddhist temple by the then king but converted to a Hindu temple by a later king who had all the carvings of Buddha’s face in the temple destroyed.
It is not possible (without writing a short book) to cover each of the temples we visited individually so instead we will highlight what we found awe inspiring — there are many common themes. First, even the smaller temples are massive. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of builders and artisans worked along with thousands of elephants to construct the temples and transport the materials. Each temple took years, or in the case of Angkor Wat, decades to build. The largest site we visited was the walled city of Angkor Thom (which translates to “Great City”). Angkor Thom, which spans 9 square kilometers (~5.6 square miles), was the capital of Angkor at the time and contains a palace along with numerous temples. All the temples were visited were constructed using large blocks made from sandstone and lava rock. With their sprawling courtyards, tall steep staircases and towering spires it is hard to wrap your mind around how they were able to construct these temples — with such precision — without our modern machinery. Even the engineering was impressive. These structures sit on land that is prone to seasonal flooding. To ensure that the foundation could withstand the impact of rising and receding water they were constructed with blocks made from a combination of porous materials including clay and bamboo.
Second, every temple we visited was covered with exquisite intricate carvings. There were entire walls — one in Angkor Wat spanning the size of a football field — with detailed carvings depicting historical and religious scenes. Throughout all the temples there were carvings of gods and goddesses, Buddha, real animals (living and extinct — the stegosaurus surprised us!) and mythical creatures. They told stories about religious legends (such as the gods and demons churning the ocean of milk and the conflict between Hindu gods and demons), wars and everyday life. Even stone hallway walls were covered with etched designs — kind of like ancient wallpaper. And when we say intricate we mean it. The carvings capture every detail of the form depicted — strands of hair, fingers and toes (including nails), decorative details on a headdress, fine pedals on flowers and veins on a leaf. We could go on and on.
Finally, the temples were all filled with symbolism from the Hindu and Buddha religions and designed to be aesthetically pleasing. For instance, the temples incorporate tower structures called “mountain” towers. These are an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Likewise, the temples are enclosed by a series of concentric walls that represent the mountain ranges around Mount Meru. Many were built with 36 towers reflecting the 36 levels of heaven. Finally, the gates of the temples face west, the direction of sunrise and life. The temples are also highly symmetric with balanced proportions, giving them a very harmonious look.
After 2 full days exploring temples, we capped our stay in Siem Reap with dinner at the Mansion. The restaurant was set on two levels with a lovely bar in a courtyard at street level and the dining area located on a terrace, overlooking the bar, filled with trees adorned with twinkling lights. The food was excellent and, unbeknownst to us, dinner included a dance show. We got to enjoy several traditional Cambodian dances while finishing our meal and sipping the last of our wine.
Hok was an amazing guide who spoke impeccable English and was a fountain of knowledge. Without consulting any material, he knew the years that each temple was constructed, the king in power at the time and key facts about each king’s reign. (Was he a good king or a bad king?) Encyclopedic is the word that comes to mind. We learned so much about Cambodia’s ancient history during our time with him. Sadly, we also learned a lot about the atrocities suffered by the Cambodian people in just the last 60 years from his first hand account. For instance, when he was a boy he was with a group of friends when they unknowingly entered into an area with active landmines. (These landmines were first planted by the North Vietnamese army in 1967 which continued throughout the Vietnam War. Later, from 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge used mines to create a “prison without walls.”). After the landmines exploded, Hok woke up to find himself injured (blood coming from his ears) but, thankfully, with his body intact. His friends were not so lucky. Many of his friends had lost limbs or perished. Unfortunately, many active landmines remain in Cambodia today. US aid had been funding efforts to deactivate these landmines but the funding abruptly stopped when President Trump shut off all US aid to foreign countries. Not only did this important work stop suddenly but it left thousands of workers dependent on that work unemployed without a safety net. In addition to Hok’s experience with the landmines, his father (ethnically Chinese and a member of the opposition party) was killed by the Khmer Rouge during the genocide they perpetrated from 1975 -1979. Hok, a very young man at the time, had to support his family.
Following our 2 full days in Siem Reap, it was time to make the 5+ hour trek to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on February 5. Along the way we visited the pre-Angkorian capital of Isanapura, known today as Sambor Prei Kuk. The pre-Anglorian period, dominated by the Chenia Kingdom, started around the year 600 and lasted until the 800s when the kingdom was overtaken by the Khmer Empire. At that time the Chenia Kingdom was unstable due to internal strife and power struggles making it easy for the well organized Khmer Empire to swoop in as it was consolidating power across the region. Of course, our visit to the area revolved around the temples built during that period. There were 293 temples constructed in this area and the ruins of 64 of these remain. Those remaining were in various stages of reconstruction through on-going preservation efforts.
Having spent a few days visiting the temples of the Angkorian period it was very interesting to visit the temples built in the period that preceded it. These temples, more than 1,200 years old, could not be more different. First, they are all Hindu temples. That was the dominant religion at the time. The shift to Buddhism did not occur until the middle of the Angkorian Period. Hindu symbolism — carvings of various gods, demons, and mythical creatures as well as the orientation of the structures and their doorways — is replete in these buildings. Second, they used more rudimentary construction methods. Rather than using large blocks made of sandstone and lava rock, the pre-Angkorian temples were constructed out of fired brick with sandstone detailing, giving them a less grand and powerful look. Finally, while they contain beautiful, detailed, carvings, being made of brick they could not carve the hardened brick after it was laid in the structure. The brick was carved when it was still soft before it was dried by heat and set into place. This made it more difficult for the artisans to create relief carvings at the scale of those in the Angkorian temples. There was one commonality, however, between the temples of the two time periods. In both the pre-Angkorian and Angkorian temples sites we came across structures completely overtaken by strangler fig trees making them look like something out of a Peter Jackson movie. In one case the twisting roots and gnarly vines enveloped the entire structure with only the original doorway, exposing the hollow interior, still visible. Nature’s art can be so exquisite! (Another commonality was the families of monkeys that resided near the ruins. Though we were there to see the temples it was hard to not allow ourselves to get distracted by their antics. Any day seeing wild monkeys is a good day!)
We were very fortunate to have a resident from the local community, Rotha, serve as our tour guide as we visited the pre-Angkorian temples. Rotha was in her early 20s and was just starting out as a guide. She was excited to share her knowledge with us and also to practice her English. Rotha was clearly very bright and we learned that she wants to go on to university. For now, however, she is working to support her family, including her younger siblings, while they are still in secondary school. We hope that she is able to continue her education at university as her siblings leave home. Rotha charmed us with her earnest and shy demeanor, a smile that could light a room and her intellect. It is no exaggeration to say that we all wanted to take her back with us so that she could have the opportunity to pursue a degree and achieve her potential and dreams.
At the end of a very long day touring the pre-Angkorian temples and traveling, we arrived in Phnom Penh just in time for dinner. As we approached the city we were struck by how tall and modern some of the buildings were. As mentioned above, Phnom Penh (population of 2.5 million), is the capital of Cambodia. It is located in the south-central region of the country, at the confluence of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong, and Bassac rivers. Its economy, which has experienced double digit growth over recent years, is based on commercial interests such as garments, trading, and small and medium businesses. This growth triggered an economic boom in Phnom Penh fueling the construction of new hotels, restaurants, bars, skyscrapers and residential buildings that are interspersed throughout the city. (They are not concentrated in a business district.) Unfortunately, this has made the city increasingly unaffordable for local residents and little, if any, of this new wealth seems to have trickled down to the local residents.
Though the tall, sleek, buildings that now dot the city give Phnom Penh a cosmopolitan look, there are reminders that you are in a poor 3rd world country. For instance, when you walk the streets, you take life into your own hands. There do not appear to be traffic rules as cars and scooters speed down the street weaving in and out of free form lanes. Crossing the road involves dodging moving vehicles, like a real life video game, until you reach the other side. And our lovely hotel, the Poulo Wai Hotel, had an interesting process for accessing hot water in the guest rooms. We had read in the reviews before our arrival that it sometimes took a while for hot water to reach the rooms after you turned on the shower so we ran the shower and waited (and waited, and waited), on our first morning for the water to reach comfortable shower temperature. That never happened so we skipped the morning shower. That afternoon, desperate for a shower, we tried again and we got the same result. In frustration, Jill called the reception desk to see if there was a particular time of day that worked best for hot water and, to her surprise, the receptionist responded that he would be sending engineering right up to our room. We wondered what engineering could possibly do to make hot water appear but we clearly need to have more faith. When the engineer arrived to our room he immediately dispatched to the bathroom where he not only turned on the shower but also turned on the bathtub, full power, so that water was running out of the faucets in copious amounts under high pressure. Low and behold, after a few minutes we had hot water. Maybe just a tad hotter than lukewarm but adequate for our needs. (In fairness, Zack — following the same method — had a really hot shower mid morning the next day. We guess showering outside peak bathing hours helps!)
Despite the long travel day from Siem Reap and late arrival we mustered up the energy to go out to dinner. On the recommendation of Hok we tried a beautiful restaurant across the street from our hotel with the tables set in a lovely courtyard surrounded by trees and string lights. And somehow we got a second wind, heading upstairs to the rooftop bar at our hotel before retreating to our respective rooms.
The next day, February 6, was the only day we had to explore Phnom Penh and we had a half day tour of the city planned. We met our local tour guide, a lovely woman named Sokaary (pronounced Sukari), at 9:00 AM. The itinerary developed by the company we worked with had us visiting the Royal Palace, the Silver Pagoda (a Buddhist temple on the palace grounds that gets its name from its silver floors) and the National Museum. We enjoyed visiting these tourist sites which allowed us to gain a deeper appreciation for Cambodian history, past and present. One particularly poignant moment for us occurred when a man, about our age, overheard our accents and approached us in the National Museum to ask if we were American. It turned out that he is from California but was born and raised in Cambodia. He was in college in Thailand when the Khmer Rouge took control of the country. He finished his schooling and never returned to Cambodia until this visit. He got choked up as he talked to us about his pride seeing how far Cambodia has come since he left the country. Though Cambodia is still a very poor country without the freedoms we take for granted in the USA, after learning more about the genocide that took place during the Khmer Rouge regime (more on that below) it is easy to understand why the contrast to him between his then and now is very stark.
Though it was a lovely leisurely morning, Sokaary was not pleased with the glaring omission in our program: it did not include a visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. This museum serves as a memorial to the genocide that occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime, preserving evidence and testimonials. It is built around a prison known as S-21 where innocent civilians were taken for interrogational torture before being sent off to the killing fields. Of the ~ 20,000 people who passed through S-21, only 7 survived. Sokaary convinced us that we should visit the museum that afternoon and, though walking through the exhibits — seeing the faces of those killed, the tiny cells, shackles, chains and torture devices — was very heart-wrenching, we were glad that we decided to learn more about this sad part of history and that Sokaary served as our personal guide.
As she led us through the exhibits, Sokaary began to share her own story which is quite miraculous and a true testament to the strength of the human spirit. Born in 1970, she was just 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge seized power. Initially, Cambodians viewed the Khmer Rouge coup as a liberation. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth and the reality of their rule soon became abundantly clear. As the Khmer Rouge took over the cities, including Phnom Penh, local residents were forced to leave their homes. Sokaary and her family moved to a village far from town with little more than the clothes on their backs. Her shoes quickly gave out and she didn’t have shoes again for the next 4 years. Her family and the rest of the villagers lived on what they could farm, barely producing enough to eat. Sokaary said she was just skin and bones. Children could not be children — she was severely punished for simply playing. Everyone had a job to do. Hers was collecting animal manure to use as fertilizer. Living conditions were not sanitary. Several times she developed what was probably a staph infection from bug bites. Fortunately, her father developed a relationship with a Khmer Rouge general who gave him penicillin so they could treat the infection. Without antibiotics, the infection would have spread and Sokaary would have died. She showed us the large round scar from the infection. When she was little the wound covered a large portion of her lower leg. As noted earlier, the Khmer Rouge planted landmines all around villages (this included hers) to create a prison without walls. When Jill mentioned she had read that the Khmer Rouge did that Sokaary responded that “You read about it. I lived it.” During the genocide, the Khmer Rouge often told people to board buses under the guise that the bus was going to transport them to a new, much nicer, village that would have everything they needed. This was a lie. Those that got on the bus were taken to prisons (like S-21) for tortured interrogation before being taken to the killing fields where they were killed, often with pickaxes so the Khmer Rouge could save their bullets. Somehow Sokaary’s family were able to remain in their adopted village in the countryside though many relatives and friends moved on, ultimately, facing their death. She doesn’t really know how or why she and her immediate family survived. The Khmer Rouge killed 1.5 to 2 million people, about 25% of the population. Though she didn’t expressly say this we got the sense that she believes she survived to tell the story of these atrocities which includes her personal story. It is clear she feels a strong obligation to keep the memory of the Khmer Rouge regime and ethnic cleansing alive. We understood why it was so important to her that we do the tour of the prison and, particularly, that she served as our personal guide. As we said, it was not an easy tour, but we needed to hear Sokaary’s story as well as the story of the millions of others who suffered unimaginable hardship and torture and/or perished.
After a sobering day, we needed some levity. Sokaary had strongly recommended to us that we visit the riverside area in the evening. As the name implies, this is an area along the river which has a plethora of restaurants, cafes and bars. At night it comes to life — filled with people and vibrant from the bright (and often colorful) city lights as well as from the glow from the Royal Palace. We dined at a local establishment, Phnom Penh Three Rivers Restaurant, in the heart of this food and entertainment center, and ended the evening in a nearby skybar where we had incredible views of the city. After 9 drinks between us (but who’s counting), we flagged down a tuk tuk and made our way back to our hotel where fell into bed and were out, like they say, like a light.
The next day, February 7, it was time to catch a speedboat on the Mekong River to cross the border into Vietnam. It was there that we would meet Dragon Eyes, our home for the next 5 evenings as we cruised north up the Mekong River. Guess we didn’t read the fine print carefully enough. We had been expecting to board Dragon Eyes in (or near) Phnom Penh. Instead, we would board a crowded “speedboat” with 40 of our closest friends and travel for 3-4 hours to until we reached the border crossing. It was a chaotic process that involved a lot of loud screaming from a worker that spoke very little English. He yelled about where we should place our luggage and why he needed to physically take our passports and eVisas to check the details (even though they had been meticulously checked before we boarded the boat). His raspy voice had only one volume (high) and our throats became sore just listening to him. About 3.5 hours after boarding the boat we arrived at the border. Our first stop was the Cambodia check out point. The second stop, just 15 minutes later, was customs and immigration for Vietnam. We did learn that our our friend with the loud grating voice — who seemed unnecessarily officious — had a playful side. As he was redistributing the passports at the Cambodia checkout point he looked at Jill’s passport photo and then her face. He did that several times before shaking his head that the faces didn’t match and then flashing a big smile and handing Jill her passport. (Admittedly, world traveler Jill, without makeup and her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, looks a bit different from the passport photo which was adapted from Jill’s last professional headshot at Anthem.) After completing the Vietnam check in we had just 25 minutes left to go to our destination. By now it was 5:45 PM. As we approached our stop we spotted a boat that looked suspiciously like our boat for the Mekong River cruise, Dragon Eyes. It was! The speedboat pulled right along side Dragon Eyes and we did the transfer directly from one boat to the other. We felt like celebrities as the remaining passengers saw us get on our private (albeit small) cruise ship.
Though we know we said we would publish just one blog entry covering our complete tour of Cambodia and Vietnam, after seeing how long this entry has become we decided to split this trip into three parts: Cambodia; Mekong River Cruise and Vietnam land tour. Having just completed Part I (Cambodia) we are publishing this entry now and will be back at you with another entry following the Mekong River Cruise — which we are sure to describe in detail.
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