Siamese Defeated

Cambodia Fact File:

Country Name: Kingdom of Cambodia
Capital City: Phnom Penh
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Important/Major Cities: Siem Reap (gateway to the temples of Angkor), Sihanoukville (port and beach town), Battambang, Kampong Cham
International Airports: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap
Language: Khmer, secondarily English and French
Ethnic Groups: Khmer (90-95%), ethnic-Chinese, Cham, ethnic-Vietnamese, several ‘hill tribes’ in the northeast
Religion: Theravada Buddhism (97%), Islam, Christianity, Animism
Population of Cambodia: 13.1 million (2001 estimate)
Land Area of Cambodia: 181,035 sq. km.
Land Area of Siem Reap: 10,299 sq. km.
Currency: Riel (US$1=~4100R). US dollars are as commonly used as riel

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Thank goodness the Philippines and Cambodia are ASEAN member countries. While the passengers from non-ASEAN countries aboard our flight (or about 98 percent of the passengers) lined up to get their visas, we humble citizens of the Philippines were led straight to the immigration counter for the stamping of our passports.

The 3-month old Siem Reap International Airport is small yet charming and pristine, easily putting all the Philippines’ airports to shame. As a gateway to the provincial capital of Siem Reap Town, it offers a very enchanting welcome to its guests and gives a very a unique and local touch to what is otherwise a borderless, international, and cosmopolitan structure. They may be poorer than the Philippines, but their airport still does very well in welcoming and whetting their guests’ imaginations. Maybe it’s because the airport is brand-spankin’ new (it opened just last August 2006), but still, we believe this doesn’t give Philippine airports a very good excuse for looking so sloppy.

The Siem Reap International Airport's architecture touches on local culture

Buddha installation (made of wrought iron or some similar material) adorning the airport's ceiling

Clean and spacious, the airport features a number of real artifacts from the temples

The tuk-tuk ride to The Villa, our home in Siem Reap, took about 30 minutes from there, courtesy of our beloved tuk-tuk driver, Mr. Lim Hav. (The airport is 6 kilometers from the town center.) Early mornings in Siem Reap are cool, albeit dusty, because most of the town’s roads are only partially paved -- revealing the deep, rich red clay soil that would be as common a sight to us as the temples. Riding the open tuk-tuk during the duration of our trip meant dealing with the dust clouds head-on, which was probably the only thing we didn’t find so endearing about Cambodia.

Our purple tuk-tuk

The airport as gateway to the provincial capital is of course, rather deceiving, as we soon found out. Along the dusty road the scenery resembled that of rural areas in the Philippines, with little wooden stalls selling various knick-knacks, gasoline in soft drink bottles, and other such small items. Here and there were tents housing various celebrations, most probably weddings, because November is wedding month there, we were told.

Further on we entered what seemed like the tourist belt of the town, a great contrast to the rural offerings of the road behind us. The change in scenery was anything but slight. Suddenly there were more people on the road, most of them on bicycles (just like in China or Vietnam). On each side of the road hotels seemed to have sprouted one after another, each boasting grand – sometimes to the point of being gaudy – structures, akin to the designs of the more popular temples. If anything, these hotels are sure indications that tourism is the lifeblood of the city.

As we approached the town proper the neighborhood again turned into a rather rural setting, but this time with the big, swanky hotels side by side smaller guesthouses, souvenir shops, restaurants, markets, etc. It was here where life in Siem Reap Town was abuzz, and where the influences of varying cultures converged. (The town is actually a cluster of old pagoda villages later overlain with a French colonial-era center. Colonial and Chinese-style architecture can be found in the town’s Old French Quarter and Old Market.)

Aside from its architecture, Siem Reap is indeed a town of irony and contrast – of the old and new, the resplendent and shoddy all sitting side by side. It is a poor city rich in heritage, blessed with the gift of proximity to the old Khmer civilization’s temples; a poor city rich in heritage but blessed and kept alive mostly by what comes from outside – the aid it receives and the visitors it welcomes from countries the world over.

There is something sad and ironic in this picture, especially for a town whose name commemorates the defeat of invaders from outside.

Prologue to the Trip

Thank the movie “In the Mood for Love” – no, not the more popular “Tomb Raider” – for planting in Nins’ head the idea of visiting Cambodia; and the added thought that time is running out for us, what with climate change and all, to get close to Cambodia’s spiritual history and culture made the prospect even more appealing, the splendors of Lara Croft’s adventures notwithstanding.

For sure, Nins knew what she wanted to do and see when she broached the idea of flying to Cambodia. Ever the happy traveler, Charlie seized the opportunity to travel – just to travel, never mind where – and discovered Cambodia as serendipity waiting to happen.

There is much to love in Siem Reap – its proximity to the intricate and majestic temples, its warm and friendly people, its quaint and charming culture. It was a trip worth remembering and savoring, and one indeed worth sharing. Although some have asked us upon our return if, “Once you’ve seen one temple, you’ve seen them all,” the only reply they will ever get for this rather dismissive question is a smile. No amount of words can do justice to the experience of being at the temples. More than just saying we’ve been there, seen them and done that, we prefer to say that we’ve experienced them -- plus a whole lot more. (We, of course, do not discount the fact that appreciating the temples is a matter of taste and interest.)

Although the experience we boast of may be incomplete, it is one we are greatly enamored with and proud to have. Our stay in Cambodia would not have been the same without The Villa Siem Reap staff, whose graciousness, hospitality and warmth made our stay even more wonderful. We don’t know if all Cambodians are like them, but if they are, we must say Cambodians are a very lovely people.

To everyone reading this, we hope the chronicles of our trip to Cambodia will somehow invoke in you the same passions it did in us (but we definitely recommend first-hand experience!). We would have camwhored ourselves to death during the trip, but fortunately for whomever, the temples were much more beautiful than we were.

Starry-eyed tourists? Perhaps.

But definitely, Cambodia is love.

A Toast to Cambodia