Kingdom of wonder is the caption given to cambodia and to me there is no
other caption that aptly describes cambodia. You will see the wonder
and the kingdom of varman's dynasty in siem reap. If you are a person
from india you will feel proud after you get to know the history, that
the south indian kings(the name says it all) ruled and built those majestic temples from 9 to
12 the century. Suryavarman, Jayavarman, Rajendravarman, Indravarman, Udayadityavarman are some of the kings who ruled during 9 to 12 century
and who knows they would have been one of our great grand times 10 father.
After Philippines visit in feb 2013 there was long gap and after few
discussion cambodia was decided as the next country to strike off from
my world map. In july we booked the air tickets and in few days the accommodation was also booked, when I say we it is sujai, senthil,
santhosh and myself, probably it is the first trip without
venki and the first trip with senthil.
22-Aug-2013; 4.00am we woke up to
catch the flight to Phnom Penh scheduled for departure at 6.55am. 5.10am
we got ready and booked a taxi to changi airport to which we
reached by 5.30 am itself, that means we reached 1.30 hours before departure which is very early for our standards.
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| Our Flight - TR2816 - Phnom Penh --- 5:37am |
The checkin
counter had no queue and took us only 5 mins to get our boarding pass.
Since we had lot of time we had early breakfast, as usual it was pongal
with vada at anandha bhavan restaurant.
After breakfast we went to duty
free shop to buy C2H2OH, spent some time around by then it was 6.35am our flight
is at E gate. We started walking fast as gate E7 is a long walk, by the
time we reached the gate E7 it was 6.45 am; wheels up at 6.55 am. To
our surprise the scanning system is a common one for 3 gates and there
was long queue. We stood in the queue and a flight attendant came and
started asking who is going to phom penh as we said it is us, he said
flight is waiting for you.
Our statistics shows that if we are very
early to airport then there can be only two occurrence either we miss the
flight or we will be last few ones to board. We got priority queue to
scan our bags and were the last four to board the flight, specifically
santhosh is the last one. We went in and the flight was really waiting
for us to takeoff, in few minutes it took off. Cambodia is one hour
behind singaore time, slept in the flight journey(journey is 2hrs) and
landed at 7.55 am at phnom penh international airport(the name is
nom penh; p silent). It is a small and neatly maintained airport, when
you enter the immigration area you feek like you are entering a house.
Cambodia visa is on arrival if you dont have a photo you have to pay
2usd and visa fee is 20usd. Cambodia has two major currencies US dollars
and cambodia Riel, most of the places accept both currencies but better
to take US dollars and may be few riel for trade in local petty shops.
Got the visa stamped and came out of the airport, bargain for car transport from
phnom penh to siem reap. After few discussion with drivers, we decided to take one offer for
80 usd which is to take a tuk tuk for shooting session and then to city
then take car to siem reap. In cambodia also lot of first timers
happened which I will narrate as you read through.
Took the tuk tuk,
stopped by a supermarket to get some drinks then stopped by a roadside
shop for tender coconut which was sold at 1 usd per piece. Tuk tuk in
cambodia is different its like a horse chariot where intead of horse it
is a bike.
We then headed straight to the shotting place, when I say shooting its shooting with real guns and real ammo. There were lot of guns to select from, we choose the traditional AK47 and the K6(semi auto), the cheapest gun you choose will cost you 40 dollars atlest. Ours cost 120 dollars totally with 80 rounds of bullets for both the guns and four of us shared the bullets.
First time I am firing a real gun,
the place where we went was not so natural and bit dirty too. We started
firing and the impact of the recoil is significant; the handling of
guns in the movies are a joke.
Took lot of pictures with the guns after
which we were back in tuk tuk to the city and it was a long ride
because the tuk tuk cannot go more then 40kmph I guess. At 10.30 we
switched from tuk tuk to a big car to siem reap. On the way stopped by a
restaurant called mekong restaurant where the people dont understand
even the word chicken, our driver also knows only the local language.
After some hard explanation and sign language ordered some rice and
noodles. The restaurant was almost empty and it still took 20 mins for
the food to be served, even juice took time. Nearly 45mins we spent at
the restaurant and the food was also not good, so remember, the
restaurant name is mekong restaurant and dont stop by if you travel from
phnom penh.
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| Mr. Ganesh!!! |
We started at 11am, the road was very bad and to its
supplement there was heavy traffic too. Took some interesting photos
along the way, to the sides of the road there is lake and it runs for
few kms. This is the highway and the only road to siem reap, almost an hour
stuck in traffic. If you sleep in the car and woke up due to
disturbance, without noticing the number plate of the vehicle in front, you will start to think which part of india you are traveling it is
that close to home.
For quite a distance the houses were build one floor
above the ground level, looks like when it rains heavily the whole area
will be flooded. Both sides of the road it seemed like covered with a
infinite green carpet, this country has that much abundance of natural
wealth. We chat, slept, listen to songs, stop by for piss, stop by to
get food that is the summary of the road trip and we reached our resort
at 5.30pm.
Our stay is at Borei Angkor Resort and spa, its a five star
hotel and if my memory didnt fail me this is the first 5 star hotel that I
am staying. As soon as we got down the car a hotel staff came and
welcomed us and he introduced himself as the hotel manager, well thats
one star out of the five. We went inside through a giant door and the
staff didnt want us to stand at the reception desk, they asked us to
take a seat at the couch. One person came with wet towel, one with
complemantry drinks, one with rice cake and one with the form for us to
fill in.
Everything comes to you at this place, we paid using credit card
and it is only 90 sgd for a delux room(real worth for money). Then a
person escorted us to our room and explained us of the facilities of the
room, as in which is where( you get reminded of the vadivelu comedy,
this is bedroom where you sleep, this is bathroom where you bath) after
we got swept away by the service, the room vowed us then. After
refreshen up we went down to meet our tour guide to discuss on the
itinerary and the cost. We finalized to pay him 150 dollars to
guide us for the next three days in his car, itinerary is one day tour
of Angkor Wat, next day to Phnom kulen waterfalls and back to phnom
penh, he said if we are not satisfied of his service we can tell him frankly.
We asked our guide(men sophal) to drop us in a massage parlour and then
take us to dinner after that. He dropped us at soft hands massage parlour where we took
traditional khmer massage and it is only 7 usd. After 1 hour
relaxation at the parlour the guide then dropped us at pub street.
The pub street is more of a dining area, we walked along the small street probably a 100m stretch. Thats where one of my long time outstanding wish is about to come true, yes as we walked by we found fried snake in a small stall. It is a very small snake and each one sold at 1 dollar, to try out we bought only one for me and sujai. Then we choose a restaurant and ordered food with angkor beer(its a local beer) that's where me and sujai tasted the snake and it is our first time. Sujai started with the head and the body part for me, well since it was a very small snake there was not much flesh and only bones, the taste was pretty ok.
The food came and it was a bit sweet we had chilli sauce to save us. After sumptuous food we went to the night market to buy some souvenirs spent almost 45 mins there, didn't buy much things there since we are going to temple tomorrow, there should be lot of shops.
We left the night market and took a tuk tuk for 3 dollars back to hotel. By 11pm we were back at our rooms, spent some time chatting. Tomorrow our plan is to go to angkor wat early for the sunrise as it is said that the sun rise would be a pleasant view. Our guide already told us it is not possible to view the sun rise as it was rainy season, we told him we will try to see if we are lucky. We have to start at 7am in the morning from our resort, so slept around 12 am.
The pub street is more of a dining area, we walked along the small street probably a 100m stretch. Thats where one of my long time outstanding wish is about to come true, yes as we walked by we found fried snake in a small stall. It is a very small snake and each one sold at 1 dollar, to try out we bought only one for me and sujai. Then we choose a restaurant and ordered food with angkor beer(its a local beer) that's where me and sujai tasted the snake and it is our first time. Sujai started with the head and the body part for me, well since it was a very small snake there was not much flesh and only bones, the taste was pretty ok.
The food came and it was a bit sweet we had chilli sauce to save us. After sumptuous food we went to the night market to buy some souvenirs spent almost 45 mins there, didn't buy much things there since we are going to temple tomorrow, there should be lot of shops.
We left the night market and took a tuk tuk for 3 dollars back to hotel. By 11pm we were back at our rooms, spent some time chatting. Tomorrow our plan is to go to angkor wat early for the sunrise as it is said that the sun rise would be a pleasant view. Our guide already told us it is not possible to view the sun rise as it was rainy season, we told him we will try to see if we are lucky. We have to start at 7am in the morning from our resort, so slept around 12 am.
23-Aug-2013; 6.00am, I woke up and found the sky cloudy so
slept for some more time. Got ready by 7am and went for the breakfast at the resort. The breakfast was indeed good, special mention
to the omelet and the veg curry almost indian style. After heavy
breakfast abiding by the rules of have breakfast like a king, we started
at 7.30 from our resort to the den of varman's dynasty
08-sep-2013 12.30am; as I am writing this blog I am in a car on my way to work as I got very important project live now but half an hour earlier I did a very very important activity. Guess what, we booked tickets to our next overseas trip and that's Vietnam, to travel by the first week of november which marks the 8th country of my world tour :)
08-sep-2013 12.30am; as I am writing this blog I am in a car on my way to work as I got very important project live now but half an hour earlier I did a very very important activity. Guess what, we booked tickets to our next overseas trip and that's Vietnam, to travel by the first week of november which marks the 8th country of my world tour :)
back to cambodia, 7.30am we started from our resort.
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| Giant door behind... |
For today we have a different guide who is friend of sophal, since sophal had some interview he asked his friend vanna to guide us for today. He got lexus and speaks better english to sophal, the car was pretty comfy. We reached the entrance around 7.45 am got our tickets which cost 20 dollars for 1 day inside the complex. The ticket is printed with your photo which they capture while buying ticket.
From there its a 200m drive to the entrance of the top 2nd destination in the world to visit(says trip advisor 2013 results); THE ANGKORWAT. Its the worlds largest temple, a unesco world heritage built by king SURYAVARMAN II. The whole temple is a 1km square gigantic monument surrounded by water.
It is a massive three-tiered pyramid crowned by five lotus like towers 65metres from the ground level. The moat itself is probably a 200m strech to the gate and from the gate to the temple it is also a long stretch and on the way on both side you can see guarding positions. There is a vishnu statue, ramayana carvings along the wall, lots and lots of minute carvings, apasara carvings, king suryavarman carvings throughout the structure and lots more.
We took lots of picture and spent around 2hours in the temple, every structure you see the definite question that pops up in your mind is how did they built this masterpiece in 12 century.
ok, now its time for some history, Angkor literally means 'Capital City' or 'Holy City'. Angkor is the capital city of the Khmer Empire that existed between the 9th and 12th century which was ruled by the Varman Dynasty.Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom )
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| One spot you cannot miss to take picture... |
Angkor Wat is an architectural excellence mega structure, one of the greatest temple in the world that mankind has ever built. For those interested, here is a documentary of Angkor Wat by National Geographic Channel
Spent
some time around buying souviners near the temple, had a big tender coconut again after which we went to check the air ballon ride. We were happy that the sky is clear as it was rainy season but to our dismay, they dont operate even if its cloudy. We went to buy the tickets but the operators said it is windy and they cannot operate, what!!! Had we took the ride we would have been blessed with the majestic view, if you ever go to angkor wat then this ballon ride is a must must go.
Then we went to bayon temple, the top 5th destination in the world to visit(says tripadvisor 2013 results), built by JAYAVARMAN VII.
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| Costly miss... |
Then we went to bayon temple, the top 5th destination in the world to visit(says tripadvisor 2013 results), built by JAYAVARMAN VII.
Bayon Temple resides in Angkor Tham which is a 3 km square walled and royal city was the last capital of the angkorian empire. This Angkor Tham was constructed by Jayavarman VII after recapturing the capital from Cham invaders in 1181. The above picture is the gate to the Angkor Tham, there are four gate around to guard the city from the Cham invaders.
Bayon temple is a huge architectural temple which has 247 buddha face stacked up, built on 37 standing towers. Each face is carved with multiple piece of stone and stacked up, really a lot of effort must have been spent in building this masterpiece too. At any angle inside the temple you can see a buddha face, to build such a marvelous structure one needs to have real architectural excellence. Spent around 45 mins at the temple, inside the temple is quite dark and you can see the stacking of stones very easily. If nature turns harsh, any time in future this temple can easily be collapsed; you can see strength enforcing activities around the temple in progress.
Bayon temple is a huge architectural temple which has 247 buddha face stacked up, built on 37 standing towers. Each face is carved with multiple piece of stone and stacked up, really a lot of effort must have been spent in building this masterpiece too. At any angle inside the temple you can see a buddha face, to build such a marvelous structure one needs to have real architectural excellence. Spent around 45 mins at the temple, inside the temple is quite dark and you can see the stacking of stones very easily. If nature turns harsh, any time in future this temple can easily be collapsed; you can see strength enforcing activities around the temple in progress.
Then we went on to Baphuon Temple built by Udayadityavarman II,
this temple was entirely collapsed. It was then restructured back
few years ago in 1990s, like you put back a piece of puzzle together. Since this
temple is also huge you can see some part of the jigsaw puzzle misplaced and
some are left aside dont know where to stack. When we were at this
temple it drizzled a bit, was good as it was very hot earlier. This is
the place where I tried the real life temple run...
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| Temple Run Real Life... |
After
this there were elephant rocks and few small temple after which around
1pm we went to have lunch.
For lunch, again it was noodles and fried rice, the food was not bad after lunch they served us free desserts. I can sill remember the lime juice we ordered, it was so sour that even after adding four spoons of extra sugar it remained exactly the same way it was served.
The final temple was the Ta phrom, this one is famous for tomb raider movie since some scenes of the movie was shot here. This temple is also partially collapsed mainly because of the gigantic trees growing over the walls. The restructuring of this temple is a joint project by India and Cambodia.
There were few interesting passages inside the temple, spent around 45 mins. Lot of gigantic trees grown over the walls of the monument that collapsed lot of structure around this place. This temple is also built by Jayavarman VII dedicated to this mother. Actually Jayavarman VII is the one who went on building temple spree and most of the temple in Siem Reap are built by him to show his power to the other kingdom.
By 3.30pm we almost finished and started back to the resort. Actually there are lots of temple around this zone, our driver said they are small and not interesting as the big ones. On the way back to resort we bought tickets for phnom kulen mountain to travel tomorrow; 20 usd also for it. Around 4.20 we were back to the resort our actual guide sophal will come and pick us at 5pm for the Floating village. Me and sujai went for a quick swim at the swimming pool spent 15 mins and by the time we got ready it was 5.30pm already. Sophal took us to the floating village, it was a long rough ride about 30 mins to the loading bay. At 6pm we took the boat paying 20 dollars for each pax, they said we could watch sunset. The village is located inside the giant Tonle Sap lake, it is the largest freshwater lake in south east asia. There are around 700 families living on the lake with wooden houses built nearly 10m high from the ground level so as to sustain the rainy floody days. It a different life, surrounding you is a monstrous lake which probably never drains that leaves you living & playing with water.
I guess those people would never have seen land in their life time unless they come out of the village.We saw lot of houses built way high it like their ground floor is three floors high, good to see children driving small boat, children playing taking bath in the river. They have a primary school in their village, we stopped at a checkpoint where we can take a small boat and drive ourselves to the mangrove forest. Since it was late and dark we didn't go for it. The boat then went to the open lake, you will feel like you are in the middle of sea, nothing surrounding you but the water. This is the first trip where we have not went for a beach but this open lake brought a sea feeling. Then we returned back and it was fully dark it was almost 7.30 when we reached the land.
For lunch, again it was noodles and fried rice, the food was not bad after lunch they served us free desserts. I can sill remember the lime juice we ordered, it was so sour that even after adding four spoons of extra sugar it remained exactly the same way it was served.
The final temple was the Ta phrom, this one is famous for tomb raider movie since some scenes of the movie was shot here. This temple is also partially collapsed mainly because of the gigantic trees growing over the walls. The restructuring of this temple is a joint project by India and Cambodia.
There were few interesting passages inside the temple, spent around 45 mins. Lot of gigantic trees grown over the walls of the monument that collapsed lot of structure around this place. This temple is also built by Jayavarman VII dedicated to this mother. Actually Jayavarman VII is the one who went on building temple spree and most of the temple in Siem Reap are built by him to show his power to the other kingdom.
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| Before - After |
By 3.30pm we almost finished and started back to the resort. Actually there are lots of temple around this zone, our driver said they are small and not interesting as the big ones. On the way back to resort we bought tickets for phnom kulen mountain to travel tomorrow; 20 usd also for it. Around 4.20 we were back to the resort our actual guide sophal will come and pick us at 5pm for the Floating village. Me and sujai went for a quick swim at the swimming pool spent 15 mins and by the time we got ready it was 5.30pm already. Sophal took us to the floating village, it was a long rough ride about 30 mins to the loading bay. At 6pm we took the boat paying 20 dollars for each pax, they said we could watch sunset. The village is located inside the giant Tonle Sap lake, it is the largest freshwater lake in south east asia. There are around 700 families living on the lake with wooden houses built nearly 10m high from the ground level so as to sustain the rainy floody days. It a different life, surrounding you is a monstrous lake which probably never drains that leaves you living & playing with water.
I guess those people would never have seen land in their life time unless they come out of the village.We saw lot of houses built way high it like their ground floor is three floors high, good to see children driving small boat, children playing taking bath in the river. They have a primary school in their village, we stopped at a checkpoint where we can take a small boat and drive ourselves to the mangrove forest. Since it was late and dark we didn't go for it. The boat then went to the open lake, you will feel like you are in the middle of sea, nothing surrounding you but the water. This is the first trip where we have not went for a beach but this open lake brought a sea feeling. Then we returned back and it was fully dark it was almost 7.30 when we reached the land.
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| Open Lake!!! |
Floating village is a place only for certain kind of people, if you are a spiritual person, or a person who like to view the extreme life of mankind then it is a yes for you. On the contrary if you are a fun loving adventurous person then for 20USD this place is a big no for you, just go to google and look for the Floating Village Siem Reap images .
Our driver has booked Buffet dinner with Apsara dance show for the night but by the time we reached the place the dance was almost over, so we just took photos with the dancers.
The food was also almost over and we were the only ones having food at that point of time(8 pm) even the left over food was not good and we were very upset. I informed Sophal that we are not satisfied of his service and he should have informed us early the show and food would end by 7.30pm. He turned gloomy and never spoke a word till we reached the resort and apologized to us. 8.30pm we reached resort and didnt go out as we were tired but played billiards. This is the first time i am playing billiards to finish one board it almost took us 1 hour with four people playing. We played till 10.30pm and headed back to the room and watched Avengers movie till 12am.
Our driver has booked Buffet dinner with Apsara dance show for the night but by the time we reached the place the dance was almost over, so we just took photos with the dancers.
The food was also almost over and we were the only ones having food at that point of time(8 pm) even the left over food was not good and we were very upset. I informed Sophal that we are not satisfied of his service and he should have informed us early the show and food would end by 7.30pm. He turned gloomy and never spoke a word till we reached the resort and apologized to us. 8.30pm we reached resort and didnt go out as we were tired but played billiards. This is the first time i am playing billiards to finish one board it almost took us 1 hour with four people playing. We played till 10.30pm and headed back to the room and watched Avengers movie till 12am.
24 - Aug 7:00am - Had breakfast at out resort and checked out early, heading to Phnom Kulen waterfalls. After 10 mins santhosh said he didnt return the room key so we turned around to give the key.
Phnom Kulen waterfalls is one hour and a half an hour drive from the city which is located on top of a Phnom Kulen mountain, it is said that the rocks to built the Angkor Wat was fetched & transported from this mountain. Around 10am we reached the Sleeping buddha temple.
As every day starts for us with a Tender coconut and this day is no exception, after our stomach engulfed with tender coconut we moved on to Thousand Lingas river. Thousand linga carvins on the rocks of the mountain over which the water flows which marks the ceremony of unifying Kambhuja under a single kingdom by Jayavarman II in 802AD. The water level was high so we couldnt see the lingas clearly but yes we saw some of them at some shallow places. There was a peculiar small pond which had white sand underneath gobbling out water.
Phnom Kulen waterfalls is one hour and a half an hour drive from the city which is located on top of a Phnom Kulen mountain, it is said that the rocks to built the Angkor Wat was fetched & transported from this mountain. Around 10am we reached the Sleeping buddha temple.
As every day starts for us with a Tender coconut and this day is no exception, after our stomach engulfed with tender coconut we moved on to Thousand Lingas river. Thousand linga carvins on the rocks of the mountain over which the water flows which marks the ceremony of unifying Kambhuja under a single kingdom by Jayavarman II in 802AD. The water level was high so we couldnt see the lingas clearly but yes we saw some of them at some shallow places. There was a peculiar small pond which had white sand underneath gobbling out water.
We went to the waterfalls, there was no proper signboards. There was a small fall in which people took a dip, my heart almost broke after seeing this small one. Because the waterfall is the main attraction in the Phnom Kulen Mountain, but i didnt believe that this is the end of waterfall as i saw a big one on the photos.
Finally we found the steep way down to the waterfall, one of the natures big creativity is waterfalls and this is one of the monsters. The waterfall was quite huge and there is space to swim/just sit and enjoy the showers. Immediately me and sujai went for swim, senthil & santhosh didnt know swimming so they were near the small rocks enjoying the showers. The water was chill and it shivered a bit, we enjoyed the falls by swimming around and feeling the showers.
Since the waterfall is very huge it is very difficult to swim towards it and directly feel the falling water but there was a cool dude(probably american) who proved me wrong. He swam backwards against the water current and reached the edge of the waterfall and even climbed on the rocks for a few meters, well he was big yet hats off to this brave dude. Later he swam back and took his friend with him, gaining confidence from seeing this guy we swam towards a nearby rock where we can sit. From there to the edge of the waterfall it is very near but the flowing water is very hard it will push you back, i told sujai i cannot do this so sujai tried to go alone. He swam for few distance and couldn't go further so he returned back to the rock, we then sat on the rock enjoying the showers of the falls. After some time we swam back to the place where we kept our clothes, while we changed the clothes i saw this cool dude again who took his girlfriend with him to the edge of the falls well that's damn brave.
Finally we found the steep way down to the waterfall, one of the natures big creativity is waterfalls and this is one of the monsters. The waterfall was quite huge and there is space to swim/just sit and enjoy the showers. Immediately me and sujai went for swim, senthil & santhosh didnt know swimming so they were near the small rocks enjoying the showers. The water was chill and it shivered a bit, we enjoyed the falls by swimming around and feeling the showers.
Since the waterfall is very huge it is very difficult to swim towards it and directly feel the falling water but there was a cool dude(probably american) who proved me wrong. He swam backwards against the water current and reached the edge of the waterfall and even climbed on the rocks for a few meters, well he was big yet hats off to this brave dude. Later he swam back and took his friend with him, gaining confidence from seeing this guy we swam towards a nearby rock where we can sit. From there to the edge of the waterfall it is very near but the flowing water is very hard it will push you back, i told sujai i cannot do this so sujai tried to go alone. He swam for few distance and couldn't go further so he returned back to the rock, we then sat on the rock enjoying the showers of the falls. After some time we swam back to the place where we kept our clothes, while we changed the clothes i saw this cool dude again who took his girlfriend with him to the edge of the falls well that's damn brave.
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| That cool dude's girlfriend :) |
We spent around an hour and half at the falls and returned back to the city on the way bought some mountain bananas. At 2.30pm we reached the city and went to Phum Stoeng Trorcheak Restaurant, i should say this restaurant was really good and tasty. We ordered some fried rice, fried frog and the special was Amok fish with peanut in young coconut(very tasty) a must try dish.
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| Fried Frog |
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| Bisection of Frog :) |
After food we headed back to Phnom penh we started at 3pm and slept for most of the time on the trip. The driver on the way stopped by a place where they sold all kind of fried creatures from Spider to Worms, we bought a spider and few cricket for our digestive system and it didnt fail us after munching those species.
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| Have you got guts to try these??? |
25 - Aug 8:00 am; Senthil had challenged me and sujai on something which he thought we couldn't do, well we almost nailed it. Had breakfast at the hotel, it was not a buffet breakfast ordered some french omelet after which we checked out of the hotel and started for the city tour. We did a early checkout as our flight back to Singapore is at 4pm. Our driver picked us and the first spot was Kings palace, the price was 10USD per pax for the entrance. Spent around 30mins inside the palace, it was a pretty hot day; the palace was all closed so you can only stand by to take pictures.
Then we went on to the Jail(Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) where the Khmer Rogue held their hostages and tortured them, it was not very long ago just 30 years back. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979. They had lot of pictures & the tool used for torturing; well it was pretty ugly
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| Cool Dude held captivity... |
Then we went on to the Killing field where the hostages were taken from the prison and killed and buried at the village of Choeung Ek; it is a massacre by the Khmer Rogue Regime.Nearly around 20,000 mass graves were found with at least 1.3 million executions. The memorial park at Choeung Ek has been built around the mass graves of
many thousands of victims, most of whom were executed after they had
been transported from the S-21 Prison in Phnom Penh. The utmost respect
is given to the victims of the massacres through signs and tribute
sections throughout the park. Many dozens of mass graves are visible
above ground, many which have not been excavated yet. There were lot of skulls, lot of graves, lot of tress where they smashed the babies; it was really really sad after seeing how mankind was treated by their own species.
This was the last spot of our trip in cambodia, well after each trip we will always have a sad feeling that we are leaving the country. After visiting this place the sadness level increased. Nearby there was a local restaurant where we had our lunch, i can say this place was cheap and the best spicy food we had in cambodia. Lot of pepper added to the dishes, tasty and its way cheap too only around 9 usd for 4 of us.
Leaving this place we headed straight to airport for our flight back to Singapore, we saved 20 usd for each of us as there was airport tax. When we got the boarding passes to our delight the airlines staff told us that the flight tickets that we bought already covers the tax as well. Forgot to tell you, this day also we gulped a tender coconut :)
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| Stop by here to have food |
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| Our Guide Mr.Sophal |
8pm we reached back to singapore, i struck off Angkor Wat from my Bucket List. Angkor Wat - a home fit for the gods; which has almost stood for nearly 1000 years and dont know how many years it will stand, it is definitely a must visit place before you die (tops your bucket list).
