Cambodia - The land of Smiles :)

Siem Reap Airport

Landing into Siem Reap was a very pleasant experience. This gateway to the world heritage site of Angkor Wat is quite geared up for tourism and everything is hassle free. Visa is on arrival and the process is quick and neat. All the Cambodian officials were very pleasant and they even had smiles on their faces! So unlike India.

Cambodia, is part of the Indochina Peninsula in South East Asia and is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. Most Cambodians are Buddhists and one gets the feeling of them being a very calm, serene, content people. This belies their recent turbulent and horrific past.

Offerings to the Buddha

The Khmer Empire was established in 802 AD when Jayavarman II declared himself king. Thereafter the empire flourished and dominated much of Southeast Asia for over 600 years. Also, most interestingly there was a lot of Hindu influence and much later Buddhist. Angkor is actually the world's largest Hindu temple!! In the 19th century, the French colonised Cambodia and you can see the influence in the architecture as well as food.

The town of Siem Reap is pretty small and can be covered in an evening. They have an old market, new market and a night market that opens at 4 pm. You can buy all kinds of stuff there including cheap cotton and silk shirts and trousers, cloth bags, paintings, jewellery, knick knacks and little artifacts.

There are many cool restaurants to dine at. My favourite was the Blue Pumpkin and Viva Mexico.

 There is a great museum that showcases their history and culture through the centuries which is a must visit.

And of course not to forget the Buddhist monastery around which their lives revolve.

Some of my observations:

• This is a complete US based economy where even the local transactions are carried out in US dollars.
• It is still an undiscovered tourist gem. But this will change over the next few years. So I would recommend you make a visit soon.
• Despite their recent horrific past and the tribulations suffered under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, people still smile.
• There is none of the sleaziness you see in Bangkok or Thailand in general.
• Poverty is extreme. Once again makes me thankful for what I have.
• Reminds you of the reach of Hinduism and the Indian kings and emperors of centuries gone by.
• English is not widely spoken. You could see the wheels turning in their brains when they would try and translate what you said to make sense of it.
• A great value for money destination.
• And lastly, their massage is great. Different from the Thai one. 

Created entirely of paper cones!