Cambodia

How such a place can hold such beautiful and devastating histories is hard to fully grasp, but it has long been a spot on the map I have wanted to visit, and Yancy was a good sport to agree to return.

Again trying to be frugal we waited till out month long visa was about to expire and found the cheapest flight from Bangkok to Cambodia. It ended up in our favor seen as Siem Reap was much more expensive we had the chance to visit Phnom Penh as well. Another travel tip, Air Asia, is the low cost Thai carrier and they fly all over. They have the same open seats as Ryan Air so sit close to the door at the gate and you get an early pick of seat and you can save a lot of money flying around Asia.

Phnom Penh is a large city, larger than it feels. I think this is because big cities normally have tall buildings, this one doesn't, there are many short buildings most 2-3-4 stories. There are a few taller but they are the anomaly. The tourist section is focused on the bank of the Tongle Sap river, also in this area are most of the temples, palaces and other sights of interest.

The city is home to the Royal Palace very close in style to that of Thai palaces this one, however, is still used as the royal residence of King Sihamoni. Being an actual home it is only partially opened to show off it's gorgeous gardens...make sure to check opening times if you want to visit. Our views were only from the outside as it closes for siesta.

The major roundabout in the city circles the Independence Monument. This originally was the monument dedicated to Cambodia's Independence from France but has since become a memorial to those who have died under Pol Pot and those referred to as Cambodia's war dead. Under the gate was a large memorial similar to the eternal flame monuments found around the world.

The temple area to be seen in Phenom Penh is the Wat Phnom, located on a hill in the middle of the city. Legend has it that the Wat was built in the 1300's to house four Buddha statues. The four statues were brought to the city by the river and washed up on the shore. The statues were dscovered by a woman named Pehn, and that is how the city got its name. Phnom Penh, the capital's name, literally means Hill of Pehn. As you walk up to the temple there is a huge clock on the base of the hill, a little out of place I think but this is a country where past and present are constantly interacting. The grounds around the pagoda are gorgeous and in typical tourist trap fashion there is a few elephants wandering around to give rides.

The city is on the shore of the Tonle Sap river that flows all the way to the Tonle Sap Lake. After arriving very early in the day we decided to go see the floating village that is on the Lake. The lake feeds and houses two groups of people the Camboians and the Vietnamese. The Cambodians live in thatch sided and roofed houses built on stilts running the entire road to the lake. The lake levels vary dramatically from wet to dry season so sometimes they are on the shore and sometimes they are a good 20 minute drive down the dirt road to the lake edge. The Vietnamese live on the lake in floating houses. We took a tour of the lake on a long boat and were able to see floating schools, hospitals, homes and businesses. The lake was full of people, everywhere you looked. Mum's would motor their little boat up to ours and the kids would swing aboard with sodas, water and snacks for sale. The kids were tiny but savy business people already, knowing how cute they were and that people would want to take their picture they posed for a dollar. We boated to the center of the lake to see a catfish and aligator farm (use that term loosely) and found fish that would go absolutely crazy for food.