Off On Our Next Adventure

The journey to Siem Reap from Don Khone in 4000 Islands involved a boat back up the Mekong to Nakasong, a van to the Lao border, crossing the land border on foot, another van to Stung Treng, a change to a third van to Siem Reap before getting a tuk tuk to our hotel. All of the above was included in our ticket for $35US each, kindly booked by Miss Pan at our guesthouse.

The border crossing was an interesting experience, as on the Laos side, we were charged a $2US “exit fee” each. We have learnt when it comes to kids, people in Southeast Asia have a soft spot, even border officials, so when Shaun asked if the babies were free, they acquiesced, resulting in us only having to pay $4US for the two of us.

Happy with that small victory, we walked over to the Cambodian side, where we had to fill in two identical forms each. We were then told that the visa fee was $38US each (US$152). We weren’t the only ones surprised by this news, as we had only prepared for $35US (as instructed by our guesthouse), although we did have some spare US dollars on us. This extra fee immediately got Shaun’s back up and he handed over an envelope with $120 US politely explaining that was what we had been told we’d pay (official government sites online state $30US for visa on arrival but backpacker sites warn that you can expect to pay an extra $5US at certain land borders). As I said, we were prepared to pay $35 each, but first wanted to call out the corruption taking place before parting so easily with our cash.

When the official suggested that we could pay our driver the rest of the money owed when we got to an ATM in Siem Reap, it became very clear that the extra money went in their back pocket. We argued against doing this, saying that our driver didn’t work for the government, so we wouldn’t be handing any money over to him. It was an interesting social experiment, given that we were travelling as a family, and the negotiation that followed showed us two things: 1. That corruption is alive and well at Cambodian border crossings, and 2. That our particular official wasn’t necessarily proud of this, as eventually, he dropped the price down to $35US for us and $30 for the kids, and when Shaun really questioned him about where the extra money was going, he looked a little bit ashamed. This price drop didn’t occur until all the other backpackers were out of sight and across the border, so the concession didn’t need to be made for everyone.

It would be amazing to see the extra $5-8US they’re skimming off everyone’s visas actually go towards improving the terrible road from the border to Stung Treng, for example, instead of lining the pockets of border officials. Watching Shaun’s polite yet firm questioning was pretty impressive, as he’s a stubborn one when it comes to parting with cash, and it ultimately elicited *some* integrity from the border official. Already, it made me sympathetic for the general population in Cambodia, having to deal with government departments like this.

Once we’d made it through immigration, we walked out into Cambodia, met by the transport company rep, who showed us where to wait for our van. Poor old Leo had the misfortune to have to go for a number two on the rather squalid squat toilet out the back. Fortunately, he survived the experience without falling in!

The van took us to Stung Treng along an appalling road, which took about an hour or so.

There, we changed vehicles to another van, which would transport us the rest of the way to Siem Reap. This five hour journey passed quickly, with a lovely, friendly driver who drove impeccably.

A Lost Bag

After a very long day of travel, we finally arrived in Siem Reap around 6.30pm. We were met by tuk tuk drivers who were provided by the transport company to take us to our hotel, and they helped unload the bags from the van. Both Shaun and I were slightly distracted by making sure the kids hadn’t left anything in the van, and no sooner had we gotten out, the driver shut the doors and the van drove off down the street. We checked our bags and realised mine was missing!

After quickly checking that the other travellers didn’t have it, I sprinted off after the van, yelling out for him to stop, trying to catch up and bang on the door. By all reports, it looked hilarious, as I also had Anna chasing after me all worried and calling out “Stop! Bring back my mummy’s bag!” Shaun was laughing about it for days! Saying that he was also surprised by how quick I was, as I had nearly managed to catch up when he walked out to the street to yell after me that the van company were ringing the driver to come back.

Reunited with my backpack, our tuktuk driver, who went by the name of Mr Black, took us to our hotel. He was a friendly chap, and at the end of the ride, we got his Whatsapp number in case we needed a driver for Angkor Wat later in the week. We would learn that this is how tuktuk drivers sort their paycheck for the week, by meeting travellers as they arrive and hoping that they’ll become the favoured driver for their stay.

Cambana Residence

We arrived at Cambana Residence, a fancy four star hotel that we’d scored for a bargain price (thanks to low season prices and loyalty discounts on booking.com) to be greeted by these beautiful rooms decorated with flowers.

It was incredibly welcoming after a long day of travel, and we were stoked that we had six nights booked here.

Even the basins in the bathrooms had flower petals floating in them!

Pub Street

We then headed straight into town for dinner. Our tuktuk driver dropped us off at Pub Street, and we were all slightly overwhelmed by the sensory experience of the bright lights in the big city, with loud music coming from bars and restaurants, especially after our very quiet week in the Laotian countryside!

We found a pub that was showing the football, since it was a Saturday night and Shaun was keen to watch a Premiership game. The kids and I joined him for dinner before we went back to the hotel while Shaun stayed on to finish watching the game.

As we were eating dinner, an Australian guy named Mal introduced himself to us. He was sitting behind us with his Cambodian wife Vana and their friends. He had lived in Siem Reap for six years and owned a business there. He gave us some useful tips and recommendations of places to eat, as well as introducing us to Bunny, his friend who was a tuktuk driver.

Dragon’s Breath Dessert

While we were chatting to Mal, Leo and Anna found Dragon’s Breath for dessert at a street stall just next door.

It’s a cup of mini cookies that have been treated with liquid nitrogen to make them steam as you eat them. I’m not sure it’s a healthy thing to be eating on a regular basis, but as a one-off, we figured it would be fine.

The kids had lots of fun with these, enjoying watching the ‘smoke’ come out of their mouths as they ate them.

A Sunday Home Day

The following day, we caught up with family back home, did some blog catch ups, made a plan for the week, and enjoyed the pool at the hotel. Shaun also decided to have a shave for the first time in a couple of weeks, and tried out a new look, which had the kids in fits of laughter, calling him Mario from Super Mario Bros, and me running away from him until he’d shaved it off!

In the late afternoon, we headed back to Pub Street and found a little Taverna for dinner.

This place turned out to be amazing value and served delicious Greek and Turkish food.

We shared several dishes, including a beef filled pide, fattoush, freshly made pita bread, tzaztiki, falafel and yummy meatballs. We would end up returning here twice more because it was such good value, yummy, healthy food.

Once again, the kids and I left Shaun in town to watch a couple of football games and had a nice early night.

Shopping Day

The next day, we had a few errands to run, as Anna wanted to get a postcard, and we needed to replace her broken headphones. We also had to get some essentials, including sorting out a Cambodian sim card with data. Later in the day, we planned to go to the Angkor Eye (Leo’s pick for an activity) after we’d sorted our Angkor Wat tickets for the following day. Bunny kindly agreed to drive us for the afternoon.

Mum’s Angriest Moment of the Trip

I had read that we needed to buy our Angkor Wat tickets after 5pm in order for them to be valid for the following day. The website also instructed us to bring our passports to buy the children’s tickets, as the cut-off age is 11 for a child. At times on this trip, Leo has been able to get a child entry and Shaun always tries it on. However, there was no getting away with this one. Even Bunny checked that we had the kids’ passports before we left the hotel in the late afternoon.

When we arrived at the ticket counter, the lady asked how old Leo was, and Shaun said 12. Then they told us the overall price for all of us. No one asked for passports at all because Anna obviously looked much younger, and got free admission. At this point, Shaun looked at me pointedly, and his face said it all. As the ladies were organising the tickets, Shaun muttered that we hadn’t had to show the passport after all, as if that were somehow my fault. I said it was because he’d told the truth, and if he’d said Leo was 11, we would’ve been asked to see it. We each got our photo taken for our tickets with Shaun grimacing in his. He was annoyed at having to pay another US$37 instead of getting Leo in free, and his blustering continued as we walked away from the ticket counter. As much as I have appreciated Shaun’s efforts to save pennies throughout this trip and keep our budget on track, at this point, I saw red. I was furious that here we were on the verge of seeing the eighth wonder of the world, and all he could do was pack a sad about $37! He was ruining the moment for me!

After delivering this message to Shaun in a fit of rage, I marched out of the ticket office and asked Bunny to take me back to the hotel before he took the others to the Angkor Eye. Shaun and the kids followed, with Shaun trying to calm things down, but that only made me more cross, and poor Bunny had to witness me give Shaun another serve, seething with anger. At this point, trying to placate me, Shaun asked Bunny to drive us back to the hotel, and an awkward silence descended.

A couple of minutes passed, then Leo piped up: “Mum, will you please come to the Angkor Eye”. I replied “No Leo. I’m saving us $10 by not going” (said while looking defiantly at Shaun, who wisely said nothing). “Please, Mum? It will be much more fun as a family.” Somehow, Leo hadn’t read the room. Either that or he  was choosing not to! I shook my head and stared out of the tuktuk, arms folded. Anna sat silently beside me, chewing her lip in the way she always does when she’s worried.

However, Leo’s loving words snapped me out of my rage, and I stole a sideways glance at Shaun, who was avoiding all eye contact. These days, we have trouble staying mad at each other for very long, and I found myself starting to giggle about how furious I had gotten. But damn it felt good to get that off my chest! Shaun looked up and saw me smiling, and we both started to laugh at ourselves. We exchanged apologies and justifications for our behaviour (just to make sure the other really understood how we felt) and moved on. The kids sighed with relief as Leo asked: “So can we please tell Bunny that we’re all going to the Angkor Eye now?” And off we went. When we arrived, Bunny had a laugh with us both and said “Don’t worry, I am married too…I know all about these things.”

The Angkor Eye by Leo

When we got there, we saw the 85-meter-tall Ferris wheel (about half the size of the Singapore Flyer and more than half the size of the London Eye) and bought our tickets.

When we got in, we started slowly moving up. The carriage was actually really nice with a place to put your stuff, comfortable seats, and air conditioning. There was a map of the view you see at the top and the ride was 18 minutes long.

Dad was feeling sick about the height even though it was super relaxing, with nice music playing, and everyone else was happy.

When we got to the top, we saw all the city, we saw some temples in the distance and a little triangle that was Angkor Wat.

Then we came back down, and all went back to our hotel happily. Mum got upset because my dad was freaking out about the Angkor Wat ticket prices, but she was really happy after the Ferris wheel.

Overall, a very fun relaxing ride. The ticket price is only $17 NZD per person, 9/10.

Taste of Khmer

That evening, we ate at a place called Taste of Khmer, which served a wide range of local and western food.

Shaun and Leo tried fried frog as part of their meal. Anna and I passed. They said it tasted a lot like chicken.

After dinner, we went back to our hotel for an early night, as we were being picked up before dawn for our visit to Angkor Wat in time for sunrise.

Angkor Wat

After waking to a 4.15am alarm, we met Mr Black in his tuktuk downstairs at 4.40am. It was raining, so we grabbed our jackets on the way out…a sunrise view wasn’t looking likely! We made our way to Angkor Wat in the pre-dawn darkness, with the rain softly falling.

Angkor Wat became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, after years of neglect. Over the past three decades, many countries have pledged donations and expertise to reconstruct some aspects of the temples and conduct further archeaological digs on the site

Once we arrived, we met our guide, Nara, who Mr Black had arranged for us, and set out on foot to the entrance to Angkor Wat. Our guide explained the history of Angkor Wat and how it came to be built in the 12th Century by the Khmer King Suryavarman II. It is a breathtaking sight to see up close.

As the morning light filtered through the entrance, we could see that many of the statues were missing, or headless, and we asked our guide about this. He explained that many of these were stolen during the Civil War,  when the Khmer Rouge sold the heads to make money.

It’s beyond belief that these statues survived nearly 900 years, and that it was only in the late 1900s that many of them were defaced, but then, a lot of things about the Cambodian Civil War are beyond our comprehension…the senselessness of it all is astounding.

Around 6am, we made our way up the main pathway to the temple itself, which is an incredibly grand approach, with its iconic view of the the three towers, with the other two appearing as we walked around the pond.

We then made our way through the temple, with our guide explaining the stories behind the artwork carved into the stone walls along the length of the building.

There was so much to absorb…at the time, we tried to hold onto everything, but there was so much information!

The culture and history that this place is infused with is amazing. It was pretty special to have it all explained to us as we were looking at things, and the incredible wealth of knowledge our guide possessed was impressive.

We also couldn’t quite believe that we were allowed to just wander through this archeaological site. It was good to see that a rope barrier prevented people from touching the wall carvings, which were already worn and shiny from centuries of hands running over them.

At the rear of the temple, there was a steep stairway up to the top, which only people 12 years and above could climb.

Anna was most upset about missing out on this, although Shaun stayed back with her while Leo and I climbed to the top with our guide. She wasn’t the only one, as another girl her age also had to sit and wait with her dad.

At the top, there were four quadrants between the five towers, each of which had served as pools that the King and Queen had used to cleanse and purify themselves. You can see Leo and I standing in one of them in the photo above.

As we made our way back down the steep stairs, it started to rain in earnest, and we sheltered under the roof of the main corridor on the other side of the temple as we made our way towards the side of the complex, which was a long corridor flanked by columns.

As we left the temple, it continued pouring down with rain…it certainly wasn’t the weather we’d envisaged for our visit, but on the bright side, at least it wasn’t too hot!

A quick visit to an art shop in the grounds helped us shelter some more from the worst of the rain, but with time marching on, and our hungry tummies telling us it was well and truly breakfast time, we made our way out and found Mr Black ready to transport us to a breakfast spot.

It was interesting to see the floating bridge in daylight, as it had been completely dark when we crossed it three hours earlier.

Our  hotel had kindly prepared breakfast boxes for us to take with us, so Mr Black took us to a place where we could buy hot tea to go with our breakfast. We enjoyed the re-fuelling stop, as we were all rather drenched and it was nice to sit under shelter and drink a hot cuppa with our food.

Angkor Thom

After breakfast, we made our way to Angkor Thom, the ruins of an ancient, walled city built in the 12th Century that at one point was home to a million people. It spans nine square kilometers and, like Angkor Wat, is surrounded by a moat.

The approach to the south gate is very grand, with one side lined by god heads and the other side lined with demon heads, with seven headed Nagas at the front.

Before we went in, Nara drew some maps in the mud for us to show how Angkor Thom was constructed. This set Leo and Anna off doing their own mud drawings in the wet clay!

The gate itself is an iconic image from the Angkor site. There are many of these towers within Angkor Thom and each one has the distinctive four Buddha faces on each side.

On each side of the incoming and outgoing gate, there are the ruins of elephant statues. On one side, most of them are missing their trunks, but on the other side, they’re intact.

From here, we made our way to Bayon temple in the tuktuk. Bayon temple is one of the larger temples in the Angkor complex. It has many of the towers with four Buddha faces on each and is decorated with beautiful stone relief work along the outer walls. There were scenes from daily life as well as battle scenes and traditional stories. This image below was of a woman giving birth, assisted by a midwife.

As we walked in the main entrance, we saw lots of monkeys wandering around, minding their own business.

Inside, Nara showed us around the inner corridors, shrines, and courtyards. The ancient stonework was impressive, as was some of the restoration work taking place, largely funded by Japan.

The iconic towers are still imposing, even though they are crumbling in some parts

This restored library in one of the corners of the temple grounds is impressive, put back together using reclaimed stone from the ruins. Originally, there was a library building in each corner.

On our way out, I stopped to take a final photo, and was treated to this view of the cheerful yellow umbrellas contrasting beautifully with the mossy, grey temple.

Takeo

After leaving Angkor Thom via the east gate, we drove the short distance to Takeo.

This temple is currently being restored with funding from the PRC. We didn’t go inside, instead waking the perimeter of the temple with Nara explaining its significance.

There were many small bits of the historic building spread across the ground site, left loosely in piles…there is still so much restoration of this ancient architectural wonder taking place.

Ta Prohm

This famous temple is familiar to many people, as it was used in the 2002 film Tomb Raider, with Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft. It is not as well preserved structurally as some of the others, but the fusion of trees and vegetation with the stonework makes for some remarkable photos.

This one was definitely the most interesting temple to explore, especially for the kids, as it had lots of separate parts to it, each with its own unique character.

The building that Anna is standing next to was dedicated to the queen, and the interior walls used to be decorated with hundreds of precious gems, such as sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. The thought of that dark place once being filled with glittering treasure really caught our imagination thinking about what it would’ve looked like 800 years earlier!

Banteay Kdeiy

Our last temple for the day was Banteay Kdeiy, and by this point, Leo and Anna were shattered, having been on their feet since the early hours of the morning. We were also fading at this point, having done 14,000 steps by midday, and told Nara and Mr Black that this would be our last stop for the day.

Nara led us through the centre of the temple, after we had looked at the ruinous outer perimeter.

This temple was probably the least intact one that we had seen in the day, but walking through the centre of it was quite beautiful, and the walkway had a kind of amazing symmetry.

It was very sweet watching our two little intrepid explorers ahead of us, leading the way with their tired feet. By halfway through, they were holding each other up!

When I look back at how amazing the kids were that day, I am so impressed with their stamina and patience. They did so well, especially considering our clothes and shoes had been soaked through in the morning, and we’d had to walk around in the same damp clothes for the rest of the day.

On our way out, we passed this final shrine to Buddha, saying our farewells to Nara and meeting Mr Black for the journey back to the hotel.

After an afternoon rest, we went out for an early dinner at the Greek taverna and then put ourselves to bed nice and early. We had no trouble getting to sleep that night!

APOPO Hero Rats

We had heard about the APOPO Hero Rats from a travel group online, as we’ve connected with a couple of other families who are also travelling through Southeast Asia (thanks Tess, Asher and Finlay). Leo and Anna were keen to learn more about the landmine problem in Cambodia and how they are being dealt with so the next morning, Bunny picked us up to visit APOPO, which is an NGO that trains dogs and rats in humanitarian de-mining and for detecting TB. In Cambodia, they are used exclusively for de-mining.

It’s quite shocking to think of the vast numbers of landmines that have been disarmed and the even more vast numbers that have yet to be uncovered. It’s estimated that there are between 4-6 million landmines still buried in Cambodia. There have been around 64,000 injuries related to landmines, resulting in more than 25,000 amputees and nearly 20,000 deaths.

While waiting for our tour, we looked at the display of all the different types of landmines. After looking at the display inside, we were invited to read the information on the posters outside.

The tour was excellent, with our guide explaining how the organization was founded by a Belgian man called Bart Weetjens with his schoolmate Christophe Cox. Having owned pet rats as a child, Weetjens believed that rats were capable of life-saving actions through their incredible sense of smell. They can detect the smell of tiny amounts of TNT buried underground, even after it being there for several decades, and because of their light body weight (less than two kilograms), these giant African Pouch Rats don’t activate landmines which require 5kg or more to set them off.

It takes up to a year to train each rat to become an APOPO HeroRAT and all the training takes place in Tanzania. Following this training, they are dispatched to places in the world like Cambodia where APOPO have been engaged to do their work. In Cambodia, they work in partnership with the Cambodian Mine Action Centre to help Khmer people reclaim their country.

After learning about the different landmine types, and hearing about how APOPO HeroRATs are trained and then employed in different countries, we got to see Jenny, pictured above with her handler, in action. Two handlers work together with the HeroRATs to systematically cover a marked out area, in this case, about 4m x 8m. This is done by the rat wearing a special harness attached to a line that the handlers hold steady and then move forward at 30cm intervals once the Hero Rat has covered each row. When the rat detects TNT, as Jenny did, it starts to dig, and the handler then calls it over to get a reward, which was a small banana.

The handlers then send the rat back over the same area to double check that they have marked the right spot, and if the rat starts to scratch at the same area, it is rewarded again. Out in an actual minefield, this area is then cleared to allow the disarming or detonation to take place. A Hero Rat can cover the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes, whereas it would take traditional methods 4 days to clear the same area.

After the demonstration, we were offered the chance to hold Jenny, if we washed our hands and arms thoroughly. Both Leo and I were keen and the gorgeous creature was very light on her feet with a clean, glossy coat. I was a bit in awe of her, to be honest, with her hero status. They really are amazing animals. It’s quite lovely how each rat has their own regular handler too, and the animals are treated with tender loving care, as one of the APOPO family.

We really enjoyed our visit, and right at the end we ended up in a deeply informative conversation about the Cambodian Civil War with one of the APOPO staff, who taught us about all the parties involved in laying the landmines in the first place. If you’re interested in learning more about APOPO HeroRATs, check out their website https://apopo.org/?v=e14da64a5617

Vimean Sokha Museum

That afternoon, we had made plans to look at a couple of museums, the first of which was called the Vimean Sokha Museum. It was a fascinating wee place that our tuktuk driver Bunny had never heard of, and was a private collection of mostly 20th century items, including bicycles, motorcycles, clocks, telephones, currency, sewing machines, cameras, and more.

There were even a couple of penny farthing bicycles there, as well as some very old looking motorcycles.

It was interesting to note the illustrations on the Khmer Rouge currency, of peasants working in the fields, or of soldiers fighting…two things that were glorified by the regime.

The collection of old gramophones, radios, clocks, and musical instruments was fascinating

There were also old typewriters and Singer sewing machines. Leo and Anna couldn’t believe that my mum had her great-grandmother’s one in our hallway when I was growing up…to them it looked positively ancient!

Leo and Anna were fascinated by the various items on display, and Shaun and I were slightly aghast at the fact that we remembered a large number of these ‘antiques’ from our own childhoods!

I was also very taken with the beautiful old building in which the museum was housed and loved this gorgeous colour scheme of black and white floor tiles and golden yellow walls.

The War Remnant Museum

After looking around the Vimean Sokha Museum, we made our way to the War Remnant Museum, where we paid the very reasonable 10K entry fee. As we walked in, we were invited to have  a tour for a donation by a war veteran who had fought against the Khmer Rouge with the Vietnamese government during the Civil War. Naturally, we took up this offer and heard Moun Sinath’s tragic life story, which began with Khmer Rouge killing his parents and three of his siblings at the age of 9. At the age of 13, he joined the Vietnamese Army in the war against the Khmer Rouge.

The following 10 years brought him many injuries and the loss of countless comrades in battle. He had several life-saving operations, with the last one being an operation funded by the UN in the early 2000s to restore his sight, which he lost for 6 years after he stepped on a landmine. He had also lost his right leg in the explosion and now has a prosthesis. He is still completely blind in one eye but he now has sight in the other one after bone shrapnel from his leg was removed from it.

To add to his tragic story, he also lost his wife to a landmine explosion in 2019, when she was out in the fields gathering mushrooms.

After Moan shared his life story with us, he walked us through the outdoor museum, where he was able to name every piece of artillery, tank or war machinery on display, as well as tell us where it was from.

When we reached the indoor part of the museum, there were lots of old weapons on display that had been found in the local area after the war.

His encyclopaedic knowledge continued as we entered the indoor display of old rusty firearms and landmines, encouraging us to pick them up to feel the weight of them, telling us the name of every single item on display. Some of them were extremely heavy, and Leo was rather pensive afterwards, thinking about the veteran being only a few months older than him when he joined the army and was handling weapons exactly like these.

After a very educational and thought-provoking couple of hours there, we made our way back to our hotel for a quiet evening.

Phare Circus

The next day, we decided to have a quiet ‘home day’ after a very busy week. We took the opportunity to do a bit of homeschool, and the kids were also able to catch up with a few of their school friends online. Spending a bit more time at the hotel meant that we got to watch Shaun repeatedly walk into the low hanging pendant lights in the living area of our room. At first this was rather amusing but over the course of the week, he managed to do it several times, straightening up and hitting his head each time that he used the sink. They really don’t make hotel rooms for tall people in Cambodia!

That evening, we had booked tickets at Phare Circus to see the show scheduled for that evening called An Angkor Village. After an early dinner at a local place down the road from our hotel, Bunny collected us at 7pm so we would have plenty of time to see the pre-show entertainment as well.

These super cute little children are students of the Phare Ponleu Selpak School and did an amazing dance performance.

The circus was originally started in Battambang in the 1990s by a group called Phare Ponleu Selpak Association, or “Brightness of Art,” as a means to help young people in post-war Cambodia heal their society through the arts. Since 2013, this has evolved into Phare Circus in Siem Reap, which is more of a performance-based experience, fusing acrobatics, theatre, and dance.

After we took our seats in the Big Top circus tent, the show began, and we were entranced by the theatre of it and the amazing skill of the acrobats.

Anna was particularly taken by the performances, since she is our little spider monkey, having been climbing things since before she could walk!

Phare Circus is such an amazing sustainable, community initiative, and all the staff, from performers, to ushers, to gift shop staff and lighting crew have come through the Phare Ponleu Selpak school. It was a total highlight of our visit to Siem Reap and it is wonderful to see examples like this of Cambodia emerging with optimism and creativity from the darkness of the late 20th century.

Angkor Museum

On our last day in Siem Reap, Bunny came and collected us, dropping Anna and I off at the the Angkor Museum and taking Shaun and Leo on to the Killing Fields Memorial temple. I wasn’t keen to go as I didn’t think I could cope, since even talking about the horrors committed by the Khmer Rouge brings me to the brink of tears.

The Angkor National Museum was a great place to visit after going to Angkor Wat earlier in the week. It is dedicated to the preservation of Angkorian artefacts and education about the art and culture of the Khmer civilisation. We got to see some of missing statues from the archaeological site now safely housed in this museum, along with some of the lintels and sculptures that are more delicate and prone to erosion, which have been moved to here.

The museum had about six main exhibition areas, with the first one being the Room of a Thousand Buddhas, where there are literally a thousand images of the Buddha.

From here we made our way through the rest of the museum, taking in the ancient sculptures and artefacts as we went.

Killing Fields Memorial

Meanwhile, Shaun and Leo were at the Killing Fields Memorial temple, and halfway through the first exhibit, Leo decided that he’d seen enough and waited outside for Shaun with Bunny. We had decided that we would let Leo decide for himself about how much he was exposed to about the Khmer Rouge atrocities. He was horrified by what he saw in the first 10 minutes, and was very reflective when he was telling me about it later in the day, saying that he couldn’t believe that human beings could treat other human beings like that. Reading one of the stories about young people his age had left a deep impression.

Shaun made his way around the rest of the displays and the memorial before making his way back to Leo and Bunny. He said that some of the stories and images were haunting, and like Leo, he was in disbelief at the way people were treated by the Khmer Rouge.

The bones that had been collected from the killing fields were on display, placed at the memorial by families of the victims.

A Few Errands

After Bunny, Shaun and Leo had collected Anna and I from the Angkor National Museum, we had a few errands to run, including getting some stationery to donate to the AKD School in Battambang that we were heading to the following day for a week. I told Bunny that I needed to buy some paper and he said he knew a place at the market. Five minutes later we arrived at a stall selling pepper! We had a laugh with Bunny about our kiwi accents before parting ways. He had been an amazing help throughout our week in Siem Reap, driving us around and waiting for us at times.

We then went looking for a stationery shop on the other side of the river, stopping for a yummy pork skewer to keep us going. Crossing the bridge, Shaun and I both stopped at the same moment to capture a photo.

We found a great little stationery shop with local prices opposite an impressive pagoda before jumping in a tuktuk to the Greek place for our last dinner in Siem Reap.

A Huge Week

We crammed a huge amount into six days in Siem Reap, with many miles walked and a lot of tuktuk miles too! The tuktuk drivers here were another highlight, as they were super friendly and helpful, as well as being fantastic with our kids.

Our introduction to Cambodia had been wonderful, and we were excited about the weeks to come in this resilient, optimistic country with its warm, welcoming and friendly people.