Cambodia cont'd

Walking in our 'hood in Phnom Penh

A grim reminder of Khmer Rouge

Telephone poles, SE Asia style

While in Cambodia there were three places we spent most of our time. The first was Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia. You can’t go to PP or Cambodia for that matter, without learning about the Khmer Rouge. If you don’t already know about the KR the people of Cambodia will educate you. They do not want to forget and do not want the world to forget all the devastation caused by the Khmer Rouge. There are memorials, books, posters, movies and everything imaginable reminding you of it. If you are unfamiliar, the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia lead by Pol Pot from 1976-1979. During this time he and his policies killed an estimated 8 million people.  And these were Cambodian people, particularly the educated, elderly, and children. He placed land mines around the entire border of Cambodia so his own people could not escape. There are still some 3 – 5 million mines that have yet to be removed. You can watch the movie The Killing Fields to get a better understanding of what happened.

Outside our little neighbor hood

SE Asia is worthing visiting just to see what they manage to get on a motorcycle!!

Only way in and out, by a little boat. 

KOH RONG

We had heard about some completely unspoiled beaches in the south on an island called Koh Rong. The island alone was enough of a reason to visit Cambodia. There’s no development, no roads, no golf courses, and only accessible by a 2 hour boat ride. We stayed in a little bungalow called Pura Vida owned by an Italian couple. There was very limited electricity, no hot water, and basic amenities, but the deserted beaches made up for it.

Calm after the storm. Our ride home was two hours of rough seas. I don't think Melissa's face has ever been that pale. She stood the whole trip home and road the boat like it was a surf board. Yeah...no one else on the boat thought it was weird or anything.

Crystal blue waters

As fun as traveling has been, we were becoming a bit road weary. The last home cooked meal we had was in Australia. SE Asia food is great, but you start craving something other than rice and noodles.  Staying at Pura Vida was a welcome relief. They served  homemade Italian food with ingredients imported from Italy. I was in heaven; sometimes we would ask for the same dish twice in a day.

Pura Vida - our little getaway - great Italian food and coffee!

                     SIEM REAP

Angkor Wat was our final destination in Cambodia. A UNESCO world heritage site and made famous by the movie Tomb Raider, it’s still all that and a bag of chips. It was built sometime in the 12th century and the jungle started to take it over around the 16^th century.  The temple is in part held together and being destroyed by massive trees that have grown over it. It’s truly spectacular.

Amazing ruins at Angkor Wat

 

face hidden in the tree roots