On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Auntie Anne
Cambodia was fascinating. While it is still primarily an agricultural country (rice, sugar cane, coconuts, cashews), the government has chosen to make tourism a major part of its economy. Not only are the temples a big tourist draw, but the northeast section of the country focuses on ecotourism.
Cambodians are very, very proud of their designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I was pleased and happy to know that many other countries contribute money to restore and conserve the temples: India, US, and of course, France started the restoration of Angkor Wat.
Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge history and the Killing Fields were a focus of the tour’s first day. Unfortunately, we missed that day due to a Delta Airlines delay. I am currently engaged in some heavy reading to try to make up for what we missed.
On our first night, we had a dinner and a performance by apsara dancers. Apsara dance is rooted in the 7th century and is based on carvings of celestial nymphs at Angkor Wat. Dancers use hand gestures and body language to express balance, fluidity, and calm.The dance’s graceful movements and storytelling convey myths and religious stories.
One of the other things we did was go out to the countryside outside of Siem Reap for an oxcart ride. We actually rode on a water buffalo cart, as it was the dry season and the oxen were all at pasture.
The countryside, taken from our oxcart.
Tonlé Sap is a lake in the northwest of Cambodia. Belonging to the Mekong River system, Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. The Tonlé Sap Lake District largely maintained Angkor, the largest pre-industrial settlement complex in history.
The area is home to many Cambodians of Vietnamese origin who live in floating villages on boats by the lake. Most of the fishermen of Tonlé Sap Lake are of Vietnamese origin. They have lived in Cambodia for a long time and are the main suppliers of the country’s fishery market. They had to flee to Vietnam during the Khmer Rouge reigning era from 1975 to 1979 and returned after the downfall of the regime and continued to fish in the Tonle Sap.
This is a closeup of part of one of the floating villages. The houses are built on floating drums and rise and fall with the level of the lake.
Pub Street is part of the Night Market in Siem Reap. It includes an entire street of bars and restaurants.
A house in Siem Reap
Buddha statue in the Siem Reap airport.
Baud
I’ve never been. Looks like a cool place.
sab
My work computer shows me photos when it starts that it wont identify. I am guessing it is a gorgeous temple in Cambodia but I do not know.
YY_Sima Qian
Siem Reap is such a mystical place.
Were you asked to give a tip by the immigration officer? You are supposed to put a US$10 bill, or RMB¥100 bill, in the passport as you hand it over. At least in 2013.
When I entered, I had forgotten about the “custom”. When the officer kept saying “tip, tip” w/ a strong accent, it did not initially register. When I finally understood, I instinctually replied w/an indignified “are you kidding me?!!” & the guy sheepishly waved me through!
If only after I realized that the officer could have given me a bit of trouble.
A few days later, as I flew out of Siem Reap, I had to go through the same officer at immigration. I got a little nervous, but he seemed to have forgotten me.
AM in NC
Thank you for sharing your photos and info – very cool!!!
eclare
I’ve always wanted to go…thank you for the photos!
Jerry
Very cool. I’d like to see more countryside photos of Cambodia as I have just finished reading the harrowing Cambodia Year Zero. It helps to see the countryside so I that am able to more clearly imagine what the people saw as they went through this horrible era of their country.
Auntie Anne
@YY_Sima Qian: No, the immigration tip seems not to be an issue. I applied for my Cambodian visa online back in December and just took the printed copy with me. No tips asked for or required.
Auntie Anne
@Jerry:
One of the things that shocked me was visiting Angkor Wat and seeing bullet holes created during the Khmer Rouge era. Apparently, they used the temples more or less as forts. I say it shocked me because the temples are so very beautiful and obviously old – it felt barbaric to me to use them as forts. But that’s my sensibilities and it’s not good to ascribe them to others.
UncleEbeneezer
@YY_Sima Qian: We were stuck in the customs line from hell in Vietnam and utterly exhausted after the 15 hour flight. Then we noticed another line where people were breezing right through. Some Korean tourists showed us the trick of putting a $5 bill in your passport. We were nervous as hell, but after seeing it work for multiple people we decided “screw it” and moved to that line and put some $ in our passports. When it was our turn the guy was in the process of taking our passports and his supervisor walked over and just laughed/smiled, said something in Vietnamese and walked away. It was surreal.
YY_Sima Qian
@Auntie Anne: Glad things have improved.
YY_Sima Qian
@UncleEbeneezer: When I visited Hanoi on a business trip in 2015, I was advised to place a RMB¥ 100 bill in the passport to smooth passage through immigration, advise I duly followed.
Tenar Arha
@Auntie Anne: I’m glad Angkor Wat was lucky. During the Siege of the Acropolis in 1687, the Parthenon was blown up by the Venetians, the Ottomans were storing their gunpowder there.
ETA to add attackers & correct the country names