Cambodia is the half way point on our around-the-world itinerary both in miles traveled and elapsed time. Cambodia was once a wealthy, powerful country whose Khmer kings built elaborate cities, or angkors with amazing stone temples, ornately carved lintels and stupas during the 9th-11th centuries. Today, Cambodia is a poor country, with a more recent history of repression and war. It’s great stone cities and temples are in ruins, yet Cambodians, as a people are still strong, resilient, welcoming and kind. We understood very quickly after entering the country that it would be the people who would make our experiences here memorable.
We landed in Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor Wat, a UNESCO world heritage site and the largest ancient temple complex in the world. Our hotel, the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor is a lovely old British hotel located across the street from the Royal Park and the Siem Reap residence of the Cambodian king, Norodom Sihamoni.
In the hotel lobby, staff welcomed us by putting lightweight, multi-colored checked cotton scarves around our necks. We learned that Cambodians always have a scarf with them – it can be used as a sweat rag, carry bag or even a dust mask. We walked the hotel grounds and then explored the park. We found a small Buddhist temple across the street from the king’s residence. Over 95% of the people in Cambodia are Buddhist, and it seems like there are temples on every corner. Local people stopped in the temple to pray, light incense and make offerings.
Nearby vendors sold flowers and fruit that could be used as offerings – one vendor had cages of songbirds that people bought to release as an offering for prosperity. It was interesting to see how LED lights were used to decorate streets, vendor carts and even the Buddha figures in the temple.
Across the park near the Siem Reap River, we saw people doing aerobics to western pop music in a large paved square. It was quite warm, 90 plus degrees even when the sun went down, but not as humid as Port Douglas, Australia.
We had dinner at the La Grande restaurant in the hotel with several of our fellow travelers. We are planning for an early start tomorrow to watch dawn break over Angkor Wat.