Sent on Jan. 12, 2003 from Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Hello from Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Angkor, Cambodia
Jan 11-14, 2003
US1$ = 3730 RIELS when purchased, though when you pay it
is computed 4000 times the Dollar amount in which
everything is computed.
0. HINTS. 1) You do not need to get a visa to Cambodia
prior to arrival; get one upon arrival for $20, and if you
do not have a photo, they make a copy of your pass photo
for $1. (We are told this also applies to Laos, which we
will ascertain later.) 2) Do not exchange Dollars to
Cambodian RIELS; you will lose money. The Dollar is the
effective currency here and they give the change in
Dollars. 3) Like everywhere in SE Asia bargain when you
buy something. 4) Cambodia is a much cheaper and more
laid-back version of Vietnam, though, of course, you should
also visit Vietnam; it is a gorgeous country, fine,
friendly, and proud people--more about this in a later
report. 5) There is at least one American and/or British
cable channel everywhere we visited so far. The channel
selections are much richer, and at the unbelievable monthly
cost of less than $7 (e.g., in India). (You decide how
badly we are getting screwed at home!) 6) The time
difference to USA EST is +12 hours. 7) People drive on the
left in Oman, Brunei, Thailand and Malaysia, as the
British, the American way in UAE and Cambodia. 8) Internet
cafes are scattered around but available, some of the best
in Cambodia for about $1.50 per hour. 9) We saw only a
handful of foreigners in our previous destinations, many
more in Cambodia. 10) Postcard rates in Malaysia are 8B--11
cents--in Cambodia 2200r--55 cents. In India and Cambodia,
you must take the post cards to the post office; everywhere
else there are mail boxes.
1. CAMBODIA. Cambodia has many memories to Americans
vis-a-vis the Vietnam War. It is a very poor country in
need of tourist Dollars; it has one of the friendliest
populations in this already friendly and courteous part of
the world. Add to this at least 3 other attractions: 1)
the spectacular Royal Palace in Phnom Penh--that is in the
same league as the Royal Palace in Bangkok--2) the huge
temple complex northeast from the capitol Phnom
Penh--Jackie Kennedy too visited Angkor Wat some years
back, and 3) the Mekong river, which is also a name that
Americans will remember from the 1970s. On our brief
excursion here we made room for all these attractions.
2. HISTORY, et al. Alas, the Vietnam War is the only
context under which most Americans know Cambodia. In its
early history--1st to 6th centuries--Cambodia was part of
KINGDOM of FUNAN. Then came the ANGKORIAN era known for its
brilliant achievements in architecture and sculpture, that
began around 802AD under DEVARAJA--god-kings. The
world-famous temples at ANGKOR were built between the 9th
and 13th centuries when the KHMER civilization was at its
height. The temple complex includes several temples
scattered within a 26-km boundary; they are considered one
of humanity's most magnificent and inspirational erections,
no less than the Egyptian pyramids. 3 are the most
impressive: 1) THE BAYON, 2) ANGKOR WAT, and 3) TA PROHM.
All are huge individually huge complexes and parts of them
are under renovation, though a even serious overall attempt
to repair each will take decades. Nevertheless, they are
spectacular as is.
Leap-frogging to more modern times, after 90 years of
French rule, Cambodia came under the control of the KHMER
ROUGE--French: Red Khmer--from Apr. 1975 and to 1997. By
the time the brutal ruler POL POT died, more than a million
Cambodians, including some of the most liberal and educated
classes, were killed, mostly in the 1970. Ironically it
was Vietnam that invaded Cambodia after the war and
liberated the Cambodians from Khmer Rouge rule. See the
movie KILLING FIELDS, which is also the name given to the
Museum consisting of several mass graves (of some 17,000
people) killed from 1975 to 1978, some 15 miles from Phnom
Penh.
3. OUR EXCURSION THRU CAMBODIA. Since we have allocated
about 3 days to Cambodia, we tried to make good use of the
hours, as follows:
DAY 1: Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Pen, pay $64--plus $5 for
airport tax--for the 40-minute flight (one-way) to the city
of SIEM REAP, 6 miles south of the temples at ANGKOR; check
into VIMEAN THMEI HOTEL for $15 per night double occupancy.
(Recommended: air cond, TV, cable, best location). The 5km
taxi ride to hotel cost us 5,000 RIELs, about $1.25.
We also arranged with our driver to pick us up from Hotel
at 6:30am, for 70,000 Riels--a bit
more than $15--for a day of driving around the temple
complex, AND to pick us up at 5:30am the next morning for
the 17km ride to the port for the fast boat ride back to
PHNOM PENH--4 to 5 hours, for $25 or 100,000 Riels. Spent
the eve getting acclimated to Cambodian night life.
DAY 2: AT ANGKOR all day, concentrating especially on the
3 special temple complexes I listed above.
DAY 3. 7am-12:30pm boat ride to Phnom Penh, along the TONLE
SAP River--which joins the Mekong River in Phnom Penh.
Visits to The IMPERIAL PALACE and SILVER PAGODA, 2)
National Museum, 3) Perhaps the Killing Fields, and 4)
buying stamps and post cards, preparing them, Internet
report, and 5) getting ready for the flight to the next
destination--23 flights from our Kuala Lumpur base on this
tour.
DAY 4. 11am, flight back to Kuala Lumpur, for a day stay
visiting especially the CHINA TOWN and the famous PETALING
Street there at night--which I know from previous visits.
There is also (as the $20 entry visa) a $20 exit fee
from Cambodia. The river boat we took from Siem
Reap to Phnom Penh was one of the highlights of the entire
trip. It is a must, as also the temples of Angkor. (The
why you will see when you take it.) There were 800,000
visitors to Angkor in 2002; they expect some 2.2 million
people by 2006.