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A last morning in Siem Reap. We largely spent our time plotting next moves. To compensate for a rushed timeline in Laos, we’d decided to slow down in Cambodia. But as each action has a reaction, this meant Vietnam would be the dream deferred. Most of our family and friends seemed most curious about Vietnam, and our detour is not just about being dissidents. It is quite likely we will come back to Asia and be able to dedicate more than 5 days to Vietnam. Plus, our Chiang Mai experience of pollution in towns with limited public transport made us wonder whether Ho Chi Minh/Saigon will be less hectic by 2018 when a metro will theoretically be functioning.

But on to food. Our farewell Siem Reap lunch was at the booked-up Haven Restaurant. Known as a training ground for future chefs, wait staff and support staff, Haven would make Chef Ramsey proud. In addition to being a well-oiled machine, the food was delicious. Cambodian food has been a highlight, and we have done a lot of comparison shopping of Fish Amok and Beef Lok Lak. We’ve seldom been disappointed. Just in case you are in the area or looking to get inspired:
http://www.havencambodia.com/en/about-haven/

That said, arriving in the big city of Phnom Penh, we diversified our cuisine intake. When the Vietnamese banh mi sandwich shop had run out of baguettes, we moved on to Mexican. Sadly, the chef’s motorcycle also moved on while we were eating, which lead our waiter to give caution about dangers of the big city. So we fled to the fringe of the city proper and to what seems to be T’s favorite beer here – Kingdom Pilsener. Seemed the brewery conveniently sponsored a First Friday beer and burger night. We and every Peace Corps volunteer in town were in! Turns out that chef Mike is a Cambodian who took refuge in L.A. and now maybe 30 years later has returned to Phnom Penh with his improved version of In-n-Out burger. A refugee from the Khmer Rouge, then a postal worker in L.A., and now a burger entrepreneur running two restaurants in Phnom Penh. This city was intriguing from night one.

And the beer was good 🙂

We had one day left in our three-day pass to Angkor Wat, so we set out for the more distant temples and ruins in hope there would be more carvings than cameras.

We arrived at a well curated Banteay Srei, known as the Citadel of Women or Beauty and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Supported by Swiss aid, the ruins have a cloak room, restaurants and shops which are missing at larger sites near Angkor – for better and worse. For better, Banteay Srei has conservation lands surrounding it, with local farmers, water buffalo, chickens and the like which make it a peaceful setting.

Aside from this good marketing, the children here have better skills. Two girls selling postcards glued themselves to T, and when their first sales tactic didn’t work, they went with this:

That’s right – Hey, Mr Handsome Man!

We also went to the Cambodian Landmine museum, to show respect for more recent history. As my dad had pointed out prior, the US was responsible for intensive air bombing campaigns over Laos and Cambodia in 1969. The museum had remnants of these bombs and primarily focused on the problem of land mines and land mine removal. It was overwhelming and sad to see.

I’d been reading First they killed my father about the history of Cambodia and it is painful to imagine such recent war and genocide. I found myself reassessing the age of our hotel staff, local restaurant workers and others in terms of how old they’d been when the Khmer Rouge was in power. As a driver pointed out on the way to the temples, Cambodia only started stabilizing in 1999 and tourists coming more since then. And were Cambodians coming back yet? The local paper still reports on daily trials related to the Khmer Rouge, and that past suddenly didn’t seem so distant. The day following our visit to the museum, the paper reported a farmer was killed by a landmine. Thirty years in the past seem remarkably present.

Processing the glory of Angkor Wat’s warring empire of the 1100s, its disappearance in the late 1300s, the American bombings starting in 1969, the Khmer Rouge reign from 1970-5, the fighting and chaos which followed…maybe it can’t still be processed. We tried, while walking around that night, to understand why we glorify temples built by slave labor to ancient warring empires and why we pay to visit museums decrying bombings we carried out. I wondered how long tourist hotels and restaurants will exponentially grow in a country that 30 years ago killed professors, doctors and anyone seeming foreign while aspiring to notions of equality and communalism.

Maybe the answers are back in Thailand along the path to the Buddhist monastery and shrine. Maybe they are all concealed in the same jungle that obscured Angkor Wat from its decline in the late 1300s to its “rediscovery” in the 1860s. Maybe….

We had the bikes for a day, so to maximize it, we got up early. Not as early as those who wanted to see an Angkor Wat sunrise, as biking in the dark did not appeal to us! Our timing was good, as we arrived at Angkor Wat when the sun was rising and the crowds leaving on their way home to breakfast. We ate our breakfast on the steps and enjoyed being in the minority.

Onwards, we explored some smaller spots, enjoying Preah Khan which formerly was a university for monks, a temple of the sword and small community. It is in a state of ruins with some restoration going on, including the Adopt-a-Garuda program!

Our back roads took us to smaller temples and even over a bridge being occupied by a model doing a photo shoot! We landed back with the masses at Ta Phrom, the temple made famous by Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. Or, for the nature lovers, famous for the impressive way trees have usurped ancient cities.

As our bikes were due back, somehow the return seemed longer in the midday sun. But recovery time by the pool corrected that, and got us the necessary relief before a night at the Phare Cambodian Circus.

Phare Ponleu Selpak is a local program establishing a school for performers and artists. They staged a mesmerizing, high energy show under a big top under the full moon. A must see, so here’s a clip:

Embracing new experiences, we got up before 7 AM to go to a Mexican bar to watch the Super Bowl! Seahawks fans were louder and prouder than the Patriots, and I’m not sure how much their shouting helped the local staff and bystanders understand the game! Strangely, the TV feed had no commercials during possibly the only time I wanted to see them!

With a championship under our belt, it was time to head to the temples of Angkor Wat where fighting traditions and dancing girls were also revered. Built between 800-1350 A.D. Angkor Wat is actually only one of about 1000 ancient temple remains in the 390 square mile area. Angkor Wat itself is surrounded by a 2.2 square mile moat, which is but one feature making it a favorite sunrise destination. Our dilemma was how to get there on this 90 degree day. Eventually we set out on bikes to the temple complex about 5 miles from our Siem Reap hotel.

The heat hadn’t stopped the other 6000 visitors a day from enjoying Angkor Wat. Though initially congested, we were able to find a quiet spot to take in the beauty. We’d read up a bit on the history of changes from Buddhist to Hindu temple, and about the carvings of legends in the walls leading up to the main temple.

Bikes gave us flexibility to explore further, so off we went to other temples. En route we spotted elephants, a way cooler way than bicycles if getting around. Wild monkeys were also about, and one enormous wild pig! Not to get templed out, and more so not to be biking in the dark, we headed back. Maybe it was rush hour, as the local road became a free for all! Watching a twelve year old on a bike navigate a sea of scooters, cars and buses, I gathered my courage and followed T back to the hotel.

I was rewarded with the pool and dinner at George’s Rhumerie.
http://www.georges-cambodia.com/html/#.VNVbGdkazCQ
George has specialized in making various fruit rums and chutneys and offered tastings of all. A heavenly way of ending a day of temples!