Cambodia is a vibrant, colourful, friendly and diverse country like no other. With a rich, bittersweet history and culture on display but with such friendly vibrant people, it is a “must visit” destination for the adventurous.
It was a 10 day whirlwind trip - visiting ancient moss encrusted Angkor temples by mountain bike, vibrant night markets sampling deep fried crickets and spiders, walking with rangers patrolling the stunning rain forest for poachers. Cycling through busy villages along the mighty Mekong river and boat trips across Ton-Le-Sap, the largest fresh water lake in Asia. Kayaking around beautiful islands in the stunning south coast.
Driving through the industrious, vibrant towns and villages and importantly the obligatory, poignant trips to the genocide sites of the Pol Pot regime to remember the troubled countries past and to share a moment of silence for the millions of victims.
The start of our journey.
As the delayed BA flight from London to Bankok touched down, we were rushed through the transit lounge by an athletic looking Thai ground staff person, who sprinted off down a corridor shouting at us to follow.
After being cooped up in a 12 hour flight, what felt like a 1km sprint from one end of the airport, weaving in and out of the throng of other passengers was a definite wake up call.
We made the direct Siem Reap flight with minutes to spare, swapping a crowded international plane for a local flight with ample leg room and a much better flying experience !
Touching down in Siem Reap which would be our base to explore the Ankgor Wat temple complex, we took a short taxi ride to the Shinta Mani Angkor for dinner and a good night’s sleep. Next morning we were up for an early morning mountain bike tour of the world heritage Angkor Wat temple complex.
Our guide took us through the quiet, back door trails as we cycled through the vast 5km sprawling temple complex which was built in the 12th century as a Hindu and then Buddhist “Temple City”. Taking nearly 30 years to build, the intricately carved building and statues were breathtaking and “other worldly” in their style.
Evening vespa tour, night markets, fried insects & local cuisine
That evening we had booked a night time Vespa tour of Siem Reap and met our enthusiastic guides who expertly drove us on scooters weaving in and out of the evening traffic. Our first stop was the large night market where we made a bee line for the food stalls. We were encouraged to try all the local delicacies from the deep fried grubs, crickets and spiders to the sour fruits.
We stopped off at several other places including a large local restaurant for dinner savouring some of the delicious dishes including fried fish, Khmer “fish Amok” steamed fresh water fish with rice in banana leaves and Khmer red coconut curry.
The next day we were dropped at a quiet, remote entrance to the main Angkor Wat temple, walking along a grassy boulevard to enter the large temple through a little know route. We enjoyed the tranquility before hitting the busy, bustling tourist part of the complex as we walked through the incredible architecture of the main temple.
Walking out of the main entrance, we had time for one last photo before jumping into the minibus and getting away from the crowds.
Tonlé Sap Lake - The largest fresh water lake in South East Asia
Our next destination was Tonlé Sap lake which is a short drive from Siem Reap and offered quiet local tranquility to offset the noise and bustle of it's busy northern neighbour.
We took a local boat for a sunset tour of the vast mangrove swamps which are home to nearly 150 species including endangered siamese crocodile, storks, pelicans and freshwater eagles. The lake is home to a large ecology which has adapted to huge changes across the seasons, growing to 16,000 square kilometres and up to 14m deep and in dry season shrinking to 20% of it's size and to 1m in depth.
We also had a first hand view as we passed local fishing villages that are scattered across this huge freshwater lake which catch a staggering 60% of Cambodia's total fish consumption. Nearly 200,000 people live in hundreds of small floating villages, many moving from season to keep their afloat and navigable.
Krabey Island on the Gulf of Thailand
The next day we flew down to Sihanoukville, near the south west coast for a couple of days relaxing on Krabey - a small island set off the beautiful coastline. A short boat trip from the bustling coast, Krabey is a small oasis of tranquillity with stunning sunsets and sea views.
Much to my delight the island boat house had recently taken delivery of some surf skis which I spent a fun afternoon showing the local instructors how to sprint paddle, recover and try to eskimo roll - with some hilarious results.
The caradamom mountains and zip lining into shinta mani wild
The four hour dusty drive to the Cardamom mountains, straddling the Phum Sankos and Aoral wildlife sanctuaries took us through bustling local towns. Finally we left the busy road behind to head up through a red mud trail winding up into the Cardamom mountains. After several kilometres, we reached the start of Shinta Mani Wild. The four wheel drive stopped at the entrance and our luggage was loaded onto an old military jeep, while we were escorted to a large tower set in the middle of the jungle.
I don’t know of many hotels where you have to zip line 400m at up to 50Km per hour above the rainforest canopy to reach the reception area. This was a first !
It was raining and we could see the occasional flash of lightning in the distance. Climbing up the tower we slowly rose above the canopy to a spectacular view of the Cardamom mountains and the Timor Rung river gorge.
Slightly apprehensively we were fitted with harnesses and went through the safety drill for the two zip line trip across the rainforest and the Raging Sister waterfall to arrive at the aptly named Landing Zone Bar and a stiff drink !
Shinta Mani Wild is a unique place, set in nearly 1000 acres of rainforest which straddles
three national parks (Cardamom, Bokor and Kirirom) and provides an important corridor for the many native and endangered animals moving between parks. It was purchased by the award winning designer Bill Bensley who outbid logging companies to secure and preserve the area as a natural habitat. He built 15 tented lodges, each uniquely themed and furnished, and providing an "old worldly" base to explore the many conservation and sustainability themed activities that are available. We spent some of the best 4 days there from any trip.
"Patrolling the rainforest for illegal poaching & logging"
Shinta Mani Wild support and help fund the Wildlife Alliance, employing rangers to patrol the rainforest daily to deter illegal poachers and loggers and also running outreach programmes into local villages to support and educate people on sustainability. This extends to educating and employing local people at the resort.
On the first morning we were picked up by four of the rangers, riding behind them on scooters as we went "on patrol" into the rainforest. It must be said that trying to hold onto a burly ranger with an AK-47 slung across his back while bouncing along on mud tracks takes some getting used to. Soon we were on foot and carefully followed the guide who picked his way in through the rain forest looking for signs of poachers. At one point things got serious as they picked up signs of activity and we were asked to stay back while they went to investigate. Luckily it was a false alarm and we enjoyed several hours from our expert hosts teaching us about the local flora and fauna.
The next three days went in a flash. Mountain biking through the national park, an adventurous boat ride down the Srey Ambel Estuary, learning to fly fish with the Mongolian national champion (that is another story) and spending time talking to the team about Cambodia, life and travel. For me, christmas came early as I got to drive the military jeep off road !
After our last morning we said our goodbyes, made a donation to the Wildlife Alliance and jumped into the SUV for a long drive back to Phnom Penh and our final part of the journey.
KHMER ROUGE AND THE KILLING FIELDS
An important part of our visit to Cambodia was to acknowledge and pay our respects to the victims of the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge in the mid 1970s that claimed the lives of an estimated quarter of the population. We spent a day travelling to Choeung Ek, the site of one of the hundreds of "killing fields" where a buddhist stupa hosts the remains of over 5000 victims and many more thousands were executed. I can't really put into words what that place felt like and it was difficult to explain to young teenagers as we walked around the site.
In the afternoon we visited the notorious S-21 security prison where an estimated 17,000 people were tortured and killed. Their portrait photographs taken with meticulous organisation as they entered, and which are now on display to show the human face of this evil period in Cambodian history.
mountain biking along the mekong
Finally we had reached our last day in Cambodia and what better way to finish off our trip
than a big circular mountain bike trek heading out of Phnom Penh, across the mighty Mekong river on a ferry and through the local villages and temples, before making our way back across the river to finish in a local Cambodian restaurant trying the local street food and the customary bowl of Pho (cambodian noodle soup).
Everywhere we went, people were incredibly friendly and hospitable and what better way to see an amazing country like Cambodia than by bike.
We had a real treat as we headed back to the ferry to hand the bikes back and to start to pack our bags. Several Cambodian dragon boat teams were practising on the river for an important competition and were being cheered on by a large group of local fans.
A cambodian dragon boat holds the world record for the longest being nearly 90 metres in length and it was an impressive site to see so many people perfectly coordinated powering such a large boat at frightening speed !
One of our last memories of Cambodia was a striking sunset over the Mekong river with the Phnom Penh skyline as a backdrop. We will be back to this beautiful, friendly country !
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