More snaps from Singapore today. We had a true Singapore meal at the Paulaner Bräuhaus. Also the aquarium, and view from our hotel.
Made it to Siem Reap, tomorrow is Angkor Wat. Some first impression photos, it's a big change from Singapore.
Cambodian food is good y'all. Dinner at the hotel with an Apsara dance performance.
More Cambodian food, breakfast at Sala Kdei [www.tripadvisor.com] near Angkor Wat. My favorite was the Nom Bohn Chok [en.wikipedia.org] នំបញ្ចុក, rice noodles with fish and coconut broth.
And finally the big event, Angkor Wat. There are zillions of much better photos you can find of the place, but these are mine. Also so glad to see it in person, understand how it fits together. The temple complex is mind-bogglingly huge.
But wait, there's more! We went this afternoon back to Bayon (Angkor Thom), an 800+ year old Buddhist temple a few km from the many Hindu temples. Very impressive.
The coolest part of Bayon are all these relief sculptures of daily life. I love this detail of a goat standing behind a cart wheel. Quite visually sophisticated for a relief sculpture!
Made it to Phnom Penh. Enjoying colonialist excess at the Elephant Bar of Sir Raffles.
Enjoying Phnom Penh's urban vibe. Cambodia has this sort of calm chaos in the traffic, everyone's chill even as motos and cars come from all directions and speeds. Not sure how to photograph it well, these aren't great.
We visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum [en.wikipedia.org] today, very heavy. I've been to a lot of memorials to Nazi victims. This felt similar only the atrocities are from just 45 years ago. And of course a different history, but a similar form of totalitarian murder. Difficult visit but well done, the audioguide in particular was excellent.
This morning we visited Choeung Ek (ជើងឯក) [en.wikipedia.org], one of the "killing fields" from the Cambodian genocide. More of a memorial than an interpretive museum, it has the feeling of a rough open grave. They've left many bones in the ground, scattered on the surface. Skulls of victims are collected respectfully in a central stupa.
I'm very glad I visited these genocide monuments and learned some of the Cambodian history. It is very recent, a fresh wound.
The US has a role in creating this history and a responsibility for helping Cambodia recover. Unfortunately the Republicans have destroyed USAID, causing great chaos in many social aid programs in a matter of days. I am ashamed.
Back to happier tourist times in Cambodia...
Highlight of the trip so far was last night, a Street Food Tour of Phnom Penh [urbanforage.co]. Tuktuk tour of seven different casual food places, sidewalk restaurants and old grandmas making coconut desserts on the side of the road. Super fun and delicious!
I really enjoyed a chance to eat a bunch of street food I have neither the knowledge or courage to find on my own. Some silly things (like fried spiders) and lots of delicious well made casual food. I need to do a guided tour like this in every city I visit! (Bonus picks: Russian Market grocery stalls.)
One striking thing about Phnom Penh is how functional the city is. The last major war here was just 45 years ago and the economy only normalized around 1990.
Morning visit to the Central Market [en.wikipedia.org], a 1937 art deco building from the zenith of French colonialism. Center is cheap shlock but the sides of the market have fantastic fresh fish, cooked foods, hair-dressers, toilet paper, etc.
Then a visit to the National Museum [en.wikipedia.org] with beautiful art but also a reminder of how much has been destroyed or stolen.
It's a new day! Today we visit Koh Chen, a village with silversmiths. Then Udong, a Buddhist temple site. This afternoon we go to Kampong Prasat, a floating village.
We are on the Tonle Sap river these next few days.
Some commerce photos. In Koh Chen they make hammered metalwork, this one is a copper bowl. And Udong is a domestic tourist site so it has a market selling all sorts of delicious snacks for daytrippers.
And religion. Udong is home to the Cambodia Vipassana Dhura Buddhist Meditation Center [www.cambodiavipassanacenter.com], a well-funded monastery founded by Som Buntheoun [en.wikipedia.org]. We got a nice overview of what Buddhist monastic life is like and the role of the religion in daily life. Photos include cute monk boys and a procession for the day's lunch.
Kampong Prasat turned out to be more of a new normal village (built along a road along the river) and not much left floating. Was a good introduction to what ordinary village life looks like. A lot of fishing, also small scale rice farming.
We are learning a lot this trip that is hard to convey in photos. Cambodia is poor but developing. And people here seem reasonably comfortable, well fed, sheltered. And most importantly: happy, content? It's humbling. I'm certain some of that well-being comes from Buddhist culture. It is particularly remarkable given the awful history of war and genocide in recent memory.
This morning's tourist visit was to Kampong Chhnang, an area that has traditional pottery. We had demonstrations of making pots, making clay stoves, and harvesting sugar palm juice.
The pot making was really impressive. She makes 50 consistent round pots a day without a wheel. Mostly walking in a circle around the pot and shaping it with hands and tools. Very high skill for a humble product. Short video clip: https://photos.app.goo.gl/6NujDvrFHzoNDNUGA
There's something really special about the light on the Tonle Sap river, a tributary to the Mekong. Limpid sunrise and sunset, a stillness and glow that fills the sky.
Woke up this morning for a tour of the silk industry at Koh Okhnatey, near Phnom Penh. They still hand spin silk and hand weave scarfs on simple looms. A lot of work and very delicate, beautiful fabrics.
@nelson oh that looks fantastic (not the spider). Do they have cooking courses? I really enjoyed one I did in Chiang Mai in Thailand and found it very educational about Thai food
@jmason the company does a lot of food tourism but I didn't see cooking classes. I bet they could arrange something though!
@nelson have you listened to the most recent blowback season? It's about Cambodia. Tons of our shared history was completely new to me: https://overcast.fm/+AA4DY4-rax4
@nelson It's so big!
@waldoj wide angle lens doing a lot of work! but yeah it's pretty comfortable. it's a tiny boat with very nice cabins.
@nelson Merci for being authentic. Very educational.
@robey@messydesk.social@nelson my brain just now: "wow from 45 years ago [the 1950s, of course] to 1990 is FOREVER!"
"... ... oh no 1990 was forever ago TOO!"
@nelson The Killig Fields followed immediately by Swmming to Cambodia should be required film high-school level history class in the US. Spauling Grey was riveting. If I were a history teacher at that level
I would include a 1-week module on blowback at the very least.