For the most part I'll just be tagging along, but if someone asks what I would like to do today, I've put together a list of things that caught my eye.
Things to do in Siem Reap
Angkor Archeological Park - Home to the magnificent Khmer temple ruins of Angkor, including the legendary Angkor Wat, Bayon and dozens of other ancient ruins of the Angkorian-era (9th-13th century) Khmer Empire. The Park encompasses more than 400 square kilometers just outside Siem Reap City in northwestern Cambodia and is a World Heritage Site.
Suggested three day itinerary: Day 1 (morning): Angkor Thom (south gate), Bayon Temple, Terrace of the Leper King, Terrace of the Elephants, Baphuon Temple; Day 1 (afternoon): Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng (for sunset); Day 2 (morning): Prasat Kravan, Banteay Kdei, Srah Srang, Ta Prohm, Victory gate, Thommanon, Chau Say Tevoda; Day 2 (afternoon): Pre Rup, Eastern Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean, Preah Khan; Day 3 (morning): Kbal Spean, Banteay Srei, Banteay Samre; Day 3 (afternoon): The Ruluos group
Land Mine Museum - The Land Mine Museum is run by Aki Ra, an ex army Land Mine casualty. He started off by turning the garden of his home into a museum of mines and other ordnance. The museum is now located in a purpose built location approximately 12 miles from Siem Reap in the direction of Bantay Srei.
Angkor National Museum - In a beautiful building, you will discover the Golden Era of the Khmer Kingdom, through state of the art multimedia technology, to provide visitors a full easy to understand story of the legend.
Tara Riverboat – Largest riverboat on the Tonle Sap Lake. Explore the floating village of Kompong Phluk, flooded forest and great lake.
Psar Chaa - Old Market - This flea market offers Khmer antiques, Cambodian food and tourist souvenirs.
Puok Silk Farm – A silk farm and factory with a free tour.
Things to do in Phnom Penh
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - This former torture and detention center is now a museum dedicated to the victims of the Khmer Rouge.
Russian Market - The Russian Markets (Phsar Tuol Tom Pong) are busy and full of life, as well as being able to buy thousands of things you don't really need, and gifts for people who don't really need them but...
The Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) - These were the execution grounds for the Khmer Rouge.
National Museum - This beautiful sandstone museum was opened in 1920 and showcases many fine examples of Angkor Wat statuary.
Wat Phnom – The temple on the hill. The only hill in town. According to legend, the first pagoda on this site was erected in 1373 to house four statues of Buddha deposited here by the waters of the Mekong and discovered by a woman name Penh.
Independence Monument - This obelisk commemorates Cambodia's freedom from France in 1953.
Royal Palace - Still the dwelling place of the king, this palace contains the Silver Pagoda (Wat Preah Keo Morokat), whose floor is made up of 5329 silver tiles, each weighing 1.125 kilograms.
Wat Ounalom – Headquarters of the Cambodian Buddhist patriarchate and the country’s pre-eminent center of Buddhist education.
Bon Om Touk (Water and Moon Festival) – The first through third in November this year. One of the biggest and most extravagant festivals in Cambodia. Brightly-colored boats do battle in highly competitive races.
Other places and activities
Mekong River – This is the major river running through Cambodia. I would love to be able to take a boat trip up the river and see the freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins.
Kompong Cham – This is the town where Steve's wife's family lives, and the third largest in Cambodia. Near by is the 11th century sanctuary Wat Nokor, the bamboo bridge across the Mekong to the island of Koh Paen is suppose to be impressive and there are a couple of hilltop pagodas to the east (Phnom Pros and Phnom Srei) that might be worth exploring.
Recommendations from the host of Tasty Dog in the Kingdom: Kampot and Kep, a couple of laid back coastal towns; Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia; Mondulkiri, located in a uqueqe area of Cambodia and home of some beautiful nature hikes.
Preah Vihear Temple - This would have made my list, but due to a dispute with the Thai government, both sides currently have a hefty military presence there and I would get shot if I got near it.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Cambodia Trip Planning - A Brief History
Stone tools dating back 1.83 million years have been found in Malaysia and the oldest human-like person found was the 500,000 year old "Java Man". Although Homo Floresiensis (aka the Hobbit) has been making headlines lately and is dated between 95,000 to 13,000 years old. The Khmer people (the original Cambodians) seem to have move down to Cambodia from South Eastern China around 1000 BCE and quickly set up organized agricultural societies harvesting rice, fish and domesticated animals, especially in the Mekong River valley. It was about this time when most people of Southeast Asia became heavily influenced by Indian traders and scholars, adapting their religions, sciences, and customs and borrowing from their languages.
The earliest known kingdom in the area, Funan, flourished from 68-550 CE. It reached its peak under Fan Shih-man in the early 3rd century, extending as far south as Malaysia and as far west as Burma. The Funanese established a strong system of mercantilism and commercial monopolies that would become a pattern for empires in the region. Fan Shih-man expanded the fleet and improved the Funanese bureaucracy, creating a quasi-feudal pattern that left local customs and identities largely intact, particularly in the empire's farther reaches.
The Khmers formed Chenla, a vassel state to Funan, in 550. The Khmer Kingdom of Bhavapura was lead by Ishanavarman who completely conquered the kingdom of Funan during 612-628. He chose his new capital at the Sambor Prei Kuk, naming it Ishanapura. The weakening of the Funan state at this time can largely be explained by distant events: the collapse of the Roman Empire and subsequently trade routes between the Mediterranean and China. After the death of Jayavarman I in 681 the kingdom broke up into many principalities.
In 802 the kingdom of Kambuja (which gave Kampuchea, or Cambodia, its name) began in the Angkor region in western Cambodia. Under Jayavarman VII (1181–ca. 1218), Kambuja reached its zenith of political power and cultural creativity. Jayavarman VII gained power and territory in a series of successful wars against its close enemies; the Cham or Vietnamese. Following Jayavarman VII's death, Kambuja experienced a gradual decline. Important factors were the aggressiveness of neighboring peoples (especially the Thai, or Siamese), chronic interdynastic strife, and the gradual deterioration of the complex irrigation system that had ensured rice surpluses. The Angkorian monarchy survived until 1431, when the Thai captured Angkor Thom and the Cambodian king fled to the southern part of the country.
The next 400 years are known as Cambodia's "Dark Ages". With the exception of a short time in the sixteenth century where they were able to establish trade with other parts of Asia and the Spanish & Portuguese "discovered" Ankor, Cambodia was a pawn in the power struggles between Siam and Vietnam. Siam started off with the upper hand, but when the Vietnamese annexed the Mekong Delta, cutting off Cambodia's access to the sea, Vietnamese absorption of the Khmer people seemed inevitable.
In 1863, King Norodom singed over Cambodia to the French where the French tried, till WWII to create a Union Indochinoise (Union of Indochina). In 1940 the Japanese displaced French authority in Vietnam. Thailand saw this as an opportunity to squeeze the weakened French for control of Cambodia, and after the French-Tai War, walked away with a couple of provinces. In 1941 the French made Norodom Sihanouk king (19 at the time), seeing him as inexperienced and easy to manipulate. While this seemed to work for a while, he took direct control of the government from June 1952 until February 1955 (shredding the constitution he ratified in 1947) where he pushed the French into letting go of Cambodia on November 9th, 1953.
During the first administration of Sihanouk Cambodia tried to have a neutral foreign policy, but by the mid '60s the Viet Cong had bases in parts of the east. In 1969 the USA bombing runs along the border and the Khmer Rouge insurgency, helped to destabilize Sihanouk's control. Eventually he was driven abroad for medical reasons in January 1970. This allowed General Lon Nol to take control with a military coup d'état. Cambodia then allies with the United States and used joint forces to try and drive out the NVA, with very little affect. On October 9, the Cambodian monarchy was abolished, and the country was renamed the Khmer Republic.
In 1972, a constitution was adopted, a parliament elected, and Lon Nol became president. But the government was to week and corrupt and Pol Pot and Ieng Sary asserted their dominance over the Vietnamese-trained communists eventually collapsing the Republic and taking control in April 1975.
Immediately after its victory, the CPK forced everyone to work as farmers in order to shape society into a model that Pol Pot had conceived. A new constitution in January 1976 established Democratic Kampuchea as a Communist People's Republic. Khieu Samphan would chair the State Presidium and Pol Pot would act as PM. Prince Sihanouk was put under house arrest. The CIA estimated 50,000–100,000 were executed and 1.5 million died from 1975 to 1979.
A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, began a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off almost 13 years of civil war. The US tried to launch a relief effort, poring $400 million through UNICEF and the World Food Program between 1979 and 1982.
The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by the Khmer Rouge. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy under a coalition government (90% turn out). Factional fighting in 1997 ended the first coalition government, but a second round of national elections in 1998 led to the formation of another coalition government and renewed political stability. The remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge surrendered in early 1999. Some of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are now on trial by an UN-sponsored tribunal for crimes against humanity.
Elections in July 2003 were relatively peaceful, but it took one year of negotiations between contending political parties before a coalition government was formed. In October 2004, King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated the throne and his son, Prince Norodom Sihamoni, was selected to succeed him. Local elections were held in Cambodia in April 2007, and there was little in the way of pre-election violence that preceded prior elections. National elections in July 2008 were relatively peaceful.
The earliest known kingdom in the area, Funan, flourished from 68-550 CE. It reached its peak under Fan Shih-man in the early 3rd century, extending as far south as Malaysia and as far west as Burma. The Funanese established a strong system of mercantilism and commercial monopolies that would become a pattern for empires in the region. Fan Shih-man expanded the fleet and improved the Funanese bureaucracy, creating a quasi-feudal pattern that left local customs and identities largely intact, particularly in the empire's farther reaches.
The Khmers formed Chenla, a vassel state to Funan, in 550. The Khmer Kingdom of Bhavapura was lead by Ishanavarman who completely conquered the kingdom of Funan during 612-628. He chose his new capital at the Sambor Prei Kuk, naming it Ishanapura. The weakening of the Funan state at this time can largely be explained by distant events: the collapse of the Roman Empire and subsequently trade routes between the Mediterranean and China. After the death of Jayavarman I in 681 the kingdom broke up into many principalities.
In 802 the kingdom of Kambuja (which gave Kampuchea, or Cambodia, its name) began in the Angkor region in western Cambodia. Under Jayavarman VII (1181–ca. 1218), Kambuja reached its zenith of political power and cultural creativity. Jayavarman VII gained power and territory in a series of successful wars against its close enemies; the Cham or Vietnamese. Following Jayavarman VII's death, Kambuja experienced a gradual decline. Important factors were the aggressiveness of neighboring peoples (especially the Thai, or Siamese), chronic interdynastic strife, and the gradual deterioration of the complex irrigation system that had ensured rice surpluses. The Angkorian monarchy survived until 1431, when the Thai captured Angkor Thom and the Cambodian king fled to the southern part of the country.
The next 400 years are known as Cambodia's "Dark Ages". With the exception of a short time in the sixteenth century where they were able to establish trade with other parts of Asia and the Spanish & Portuguese "discovered" Ankor, Cambodia was a pawn in the power struggles between Siam and Vietnam. Siam started off with the upper hand, but when the Vietnamese annexed the Mekong Delta, cutting off Cambodia's access to the sea, Vietnamese absorption of the Khmer people seemed inevitable.
In 1863, King Norodom singed over Cambodia to the French where the French tried, till WWII to create a Union Indochinoise (Union of Indochina). In 1940 the Japanese displaced French authority in Vietnam. Thailand saw this as an opportunity to squeeze the weakened French for control of Cambodia, and after the French-Tai War, walked away with a couple of provinces. In 1941 the French made Norodom Sihanouk king (19 at the time), seeing him as inexperienced and easy to manipulate. While this seemed to work for a while, he took direct control of the government from June 1952 until February 1955 (shredding the constitution he ratified in 1947) where he pushed the French into letting go of Cambodia on November 9th, 1953.
During the first administration of Sihanouk Cambodia tried to have a neutral foreign policy, but by the mid '60s the Viet Cong had bases in parts of the east. In 1969 the USA bombing runs along the border and the Khmer Rouge insurgency, helped to destabilize Sihanouk's control. Eventually he was driven abroad for medical reasons in January 1970. This allowed General Lon Nol to take control with a military coup d'état. Cambodia then allies with the United States and used joint forces to try and drive out the NVA, with very little affect. On October 9, the Cambodian monarchy was abolished, and the country was renamed the Khmer Republic.
In 1972, a constitution was adopted, a parliament elected, and Lon Nol became president. But the government was to week and corrupt and Pol Pot and Ieng Sary asserted their dominance over the Vietnamese-trained communists eventually collapsing the Republic and taking control in April 1975.
Immediately after its victory, the CPK forced everyone to work as farmers in order to shape society into a model that Pol Pot had conceived. A new constitution in January 1976 established Democratic Kampuchea as a Communist People's Republic. Khieu Samphan would chair the State Presidium and Pol Pot would act as PM. Prince Sihanouk was put under house arrest. The CIA estimated 50,000–100,000 were executed and 1.5 million died from 1975 to 1979.
A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, began a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off almost 13 years of civil war. The US tried to launch a relief effort, poring $400 million through UNICEF and the World Food Program between 1979 and 1982.
The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by the Khmer Rouge. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy under a coalition government (90% turn out). Factional fighting in 1997 ended the first coalition government, but a second round of national elections in 1998 led to the formation of another coalition government and renewed political stability. The remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge surrendered in early 1999. Some of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders are now on trial by an UN-sponsored tribunal for crimes against humanity.
Elections in July 2003 were relatively peaceful, but it took one year of negotiations between contending political parties before a coalition government was formed. In October 2004, King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated the throne and his son, Prince Norodom Sihamoni, was selected to succeed him. Local elections were held in Cambodia in April 2007, and there was little in the way of pre-election violence that preceded prior elections. National elections in July 2008 were relatively peaceful.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Cambodia Trip Planning – The Flight
The dates are set for the Cambodia trip: October 30th to November 20th 2009. Looks like I’ll be an airline passenger for Halloween this year. Doesn’t get much more terrifying than that!
Looking around the various flight booking websites, it looks like the cheapest and fastest way is to take a Horizon Air shuttle from Portland (PDX) to SeaTac (SEA) then get on an Asiana Airlines flight (maybe my first Boeing 777?) to Seoul (ICN) and finally in to Phnom Penh (PHN). Total travel time is about 24 hours, but since I’ll be going east, local time to local time with be about 41 hours. That will be a new record for me. Naturally taking the train or even driving (leaving my car with a friend) up to Seattle was considered, but it turns out that the time added vs. money saved comparison was a wash and the convenience of just checking our bags at PDX won out. Checking the old Beer Lover’s Airport Guide, it seems like the Seattle Taproom in Concourse B is where I’ll be waiting for my connection.
Kayak.com was search engine of choose for this trip. It was my first time really using it and I really liked its functionality, search options and chart of historical flight prices around the date of my trip. Normally, I would take the flight information I liked and go directly to the airlines which usually get me a better deal, but in this case Steve booked everything through a travel agent friend of his. I was happy to learn, however, that my method yielded the same flight for the same price.
Looking around the various flight booking websites, it looks like the cheapest and fastest way is to take a Horizon Air shuttle from Portland (PDX) to SeaTac (SEA) then get on an Asiana Airlines flight (maybe my first Boeing 777?) to Seoul (ICN) and finally in to Phnom Penh (PHN). Total travel time is about 24 hours, but since I’ll be going east, local time to local time with be about 41 hours. That will be a new record for me. Naturally taking the train or even driving (leaving my car with a friend) up to Seattle was considered, but it turns out that the time added vs. money saved comparison was a wash and the convenience of just checking our bags at PDX won out. Checking the old Beer Lover’s Airport Guide, it seems like the Seattle Taproom in Concourse B is where I’ll be waiting for my connection.
Kayak.com was search engine of choose for this trip. It was my first time really using it and I really liked its functionality, search options and chart of historical flight prices around the date of my trip. Normally, I would take the flight information I liked and go directly to the airlines which usually get me a better deal, but in this case Steve booked everything through a travel agent friend of his. I was happy to learn, however, that my method yielded the same flight for the same price.
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