Phnom Penh is overrun by thousands of children (up to 20,000) living and/or working on the street or begging. We were encouraged not to give money to the children, as it means they are likely never to life their life off the streets. Many have to work to support their families and miss out on getting an education. On Monday evening we visited an organisation called Friends (Mith Samlank). Mith Samlanh is a Phnom Penh non-government organisation working with street children every day. Its objectives are to meet street children's essential needs in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to support street children to move away from life on the streets so they can go back to their families, to public school, into vocational training and into rewarding employment. We had dinner at the Friends restaurant, which trains street children to be chefs and all profits of the restaurant and of the shop (which sells handicrafts produced by the children) go towards helping and training the street kids in the capital.
On Tuesday 19th February, we took a 45 minute morning flight to Siem Riep, which feels a lot more crowded than Phnom Penh, as it is the gateway to the great temples of Angkor. The name "Siem Riep" actually means "Thais defeated" to reflect the various times when ownership over Angkor fell to the expansionist Thai kingdoms and was subsequently retaken by the Khmers. Located at the north west edge of Tonle Sap Lake (also known as the Great Lake), civilisation at Angkor relied on the resource rich lake to assist with the construction of the temples. Most of the town's development occurred in the last 10 years, as the various wars and political instability instability have kept travellers away until recently. In 2007 there were 2 million visitors to Siem Riep. There are a lot of western restaurants there but you can also eat some very good local cuisine (the curries are delicious). There is a fantastic night market which sells very good quality handicrafts (most of the day and night markets we went to on this tour have been very good and there is an abundance of things to buy for the handicraft lover). A lot of the handicrafts which you can buy in Laos (weavings) and Vietnam (lacqueware) can also be bought in the market as well as buddha statues galore. I had my first taste of a Cambodian massage in the evening - it is not as brutal and rough as a Thai massage and involves a lot of chopping and slapping with the hands.
Cambodia's unofficial currency is the US dollar, which makes it more expensive than Thailand, Laos and Vietnam but for smaller amounts, you can use the local currency, the real (4000 to one US$).
In a 40km radius around Siem Riep there are 216 temples and over 2000 temples in Cambodia. They were built between the 8th and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes. There are two main sites where the Khmer temples are located - the first is at Roluos, which is about 10 miles southeast of Siem Riep, and was the first Khmer capital in the Angkor area where only a few of the earlier temples were built. In the late 9th century, Yasovarman I moved the capital to the immediate vicinity of Siem Riep and this is a much larger site where the majority of the Khmer temples are located. It is officially known as the City of Angkor. There are only so many temples you can see before temple fatigue sets in (or ruination by ruins!). Most of the temples were Hindu temples, built for the Hindu gods - Rama, Shiva abnd Vishnu.
Angkor Wat is the biggest and regarded as the supreme masterpiece of Khmer architecture. It is an impressive pyramid temple built by Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150. It is surrounded by a moat 570 feet wide and about 4 miles long. On Wednesday morning we set off at 5am (a ridiculous hour!) to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, which was pretty impressive (see photos), but probably only spoilt by the vast amount of tourists thronging about the place. There are lots of carvings on the walls depicting the Hindu gods and heaven and hell. The temples are now largely Buhhist temples (they became so when a new Buddhist king ruled Cambodia).
After breakfast we took a 10 minute balloon ride (a fixed ride) which had great views of the surrounding area and a view over Angkor Wat (although it was a bit hazy for our liking - see photo). We then visited nearby Angkor Thom temple complex to see the Terrace of the Leper King and the Terrace of the Elephants (see photo), which also had intricate carvings. There is a large temple, the Bayon (see photo), which was built by Jayavarman VII between 1181 and 1220 and features 3,936 feet of superb bas-relief carving and mysterious Buddha faces carved on the towers.
After another Cambodian massage in the afternoon (I am addicted), we headed to Ta Prohm, a very large complex enclosed by a moat. It has not been restored but has been left surrounded by jungle. It was built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century and parts of the first Tomb Raider film (starring Angelina Jolie) were filmed there. The most impressive parts of the temples are the huge trees whose roots have penetrated the walls of the complex (see photos).
On Tuesday 19th February, we took a 45 minute morning flight to Siem Riep, which feels a lot more crowded than Phnom Penh, as it is the gateway to the great temples of Angkor. The name "Siem Riep" actually means "Thais defeated" to reflect the various times when ownership over Angkor fell to the expansionist Thai kingdoms and was subsequently retaken by the Khmers. Located at the north west edge of Tonle Sap Lake (also known as the Great Lake), civilisation at Angkor relied on the resource rich lake to assist with the construction of the temples. Most of the town's development occurred in the last 10 years, as the various wars and political instability instability have kept travellers away until recently. In 2007 there were 2 million visitors to Siem Riep. There are a lot of western restaurants there but you can also eat some very good local cuisine (the curries are delicious). There is a fantastic night market which sells very good quality handicrafts (most of the day and night markets we went to on this tour have been very good and there is an abundance of things to buy for the handicraft lover). A lot of the handicrafts which you can buy in Laos (weavings) and Vietnam (lacqueware) can also be bought in the market as well as buddha statues galore. I had my first taste of a Cambodian massage in the evening - it is not as brutal and rough as a Thai massage and involves a lot of chopping and slapping with the hands.
Cambodia's unofficial currency is the US dollar, which makes it more expensive than Thailand, Laos and Vietnam but for smaller amounts, you can use the local currency, the real (4000 to one US$).
In a 40km radius around Siem Riep there are 216 temples and over 2000 temples in Cambodia. They were built between the 8th and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes. There are two main sites where the Khmer temples are located - the first is at Roluos, which is about 10 miles southeast of Siem Riep, and was the first Khmer capital in the Angkor area where only a few of the earlier temples were built. In the late 9th century, Yasovarman I moved the capital to the immediate vicinity of Siem Riep and this is a much larger site where the majority of the Khmer temples are located. It is officially known as the City of Angkor. There are only so many temples you can see before temple fatigue sets in (or ruination by ruins!). Most of the temples were Hindu temples, built for the Hindu gods - Rama, Shiva abnd Vishnu.
Angkor Wat is the biggest and regarded as the supreme masterpiece of Khmer architecture. It is an impressive pyramid temple built by Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150. It is surrounded by a moat 570 feet wide and about 4 miles long. On Wednesday morning we set off at 5am (a ridiculous hour!) to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, which was pretty impressive (see photos), but probably only spoilt by the vast amount of tourists thronging about the place. There are lots of carvings on the walls depicting the Hindu gods and heaven and hell. The temples are now largely Buhhist temples (they became so when a new Buddhist king ruled Cambodia).
After breakfast we took a 10 minute balloon ride (a fixed ride) which had great views of the surrounding area and a view over Angkor Wat (although it was a bit hazy for our liking - see photo). We then visited nearby Angkor Thom temple complex to see the Terrace of the Leper King and the Terrace of the Elephants (see photo), which also had intricate carvings. There is a large temple, the Bayon (see photo), which was built by Jayavarman VII between 1181 and 1220 and features 3,936 feet of superb bas-relief carving and mysterious Buddha faces carved on the towers.
After another Cambodian massage in the afternoon (I am addicted), we headed to Ta Prohm, a very large complex enclosed by a moat. It has not been restored but has been left surrounded by jungle. It was built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century and parts of the first Tomb Raider film (starring Angelina Jolie) were filmed there. The most impressive parts of the temples are the huge trees whose roots have penetrated the walls of the complex (see photos).
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