Sneak Peek: Cambodia

last week i did my first, and hopefully my last, visa run. i had hoped for a cheap and quick hop over the border in a bus, but after some research i found out the only way to get the 30 day visa i needed was to fly into thailand. so i chose the cheapest tickets i could find, and planned my 2 day trip to phnom penh.

my flight out gave me an opportunity to try out the air rail link. it is a great public transport alternative to get to the airport. upon flying into cambodia, i got out my US dollars to pay the $20 fee for a visa. it was extremely amusing to be using my american money upon entering another southeast asian country. the price of the tuk tuk into the city was also paid in US dollars. it took me a few minutes to realize that i was back to riding on the right side of the road, just another little piece of home away from home. i spent a quiet evening in the hotel, planning and figuring out how to see as much as possible in my one full day in cambodia.

National Museum of Cambodia

the next morning started pretty early with breakfast, and a short walk to the national museum. it is an amazing museum.
it was a fascinating introduction to cambodian art. the information plaques are found in khmer, french and english. so the museum was also a great learning opportunity. i read about early cambodian history, and the cultural golden age of the angkor period in the 12th century. i was also able to learn a little about hindu and buddhist imagery, to better understand the figures displayed. as a longtime student and lover of art, it was interesting and challenging to come into contact with a tradition so foreign to my own experience. beyond drawing parallels in the treatment of the human form, i felt a little lost amidst the cambodian art.

Central Courtyard of the National Museum

the museum building itself was an adventure. the building was very open, with a breeze coming through the open windows and entryways into the central courtyard. there were several buddhist images treated as living shrines, with incense and offerings at their feet.






after the national museum, i walked over to the royal palace nearby. the royal palace complex in phnom penh is fairly similar to the bangkok royal palace. i was able to visit the throne room, which is a large room filled with intricate decoration and detailed murals.

the residence of the king is closed off, but visible from the porch of the royal palace open to visitors. much like the bangkok national palace complex, there is a temple of the emerald buddha. this temple is also known as the silver pagoda, as the floor is tiled with thousands of silver tiles. the majority of these tiles are now covered with rugs for protection, but a small portion are on view in a roped off area. even though you can't see the tiles, you can feel them as you walk around the large room touring the immense collection of buddha images on display. the "emerald" buddha is a small statue made of green baccarat crystal, and is atop a large gold pedestal or shrine. the complex is extensive, and also includes a small temple or shrine surrounded by a cultivated wilderness that creates a feeling of isolation.

The spire of the hidden temple just clears the tree tops.

upon leaving the royal palace complex, i began walking along the mekong river. the avenue that stretches along the river is a hub for tourists. the sidewalks are crowded with motorbike taxis and tuk tuks seeking fares. i was struck with the aggressive attitude of the drivers- they didn't wait to be asked, they constantly asked if i needed a ride as i was walking down the street. i also walked through a street market on the way back to my hotel. the stalls with fruit, vegetables and hanging meat were mixed amongst the tourist souvenirs. i was returning to my hotel, because the sites in phnom penh observe a kind of siesta between 12:00pm and 2:00pm. i enjoyed the rest out of the heat.

around 2:30pm, i got a tuk tuk to a landmark of modern cambodian history. i went to visit the tuol  sleng genocide museum, known as s-21 during the rule of the khmer rouge. it was a former high school, that became a security prison for the khmer rouge in 1975. the museum does an incredible job of presenting and teaching visitors about what happened at s-21. visiting the site of so much horror is made even more disturbing by the echoes of the buildings' original purpose as a school. in rooms that were divided into small cells of brick or wood, one can still see a blackboard on the wall. beyond the preservation of the building's prison arrangement, there are also exhibitions of photos of the victims and paintings of the torture.

                   

                    

well, i'm going to end this long post. my flight out of phnom penh was early in the morning. i got there just as the airport was opening, and i was back in bangkok to start the next day in thailand.