Entering Cambodia felt similar to going back to India in many regards. Thailand was so developed that I had missed some of the grittiness from India, but I felt like I had regained some of that in Cambodia.
I landed in Siem Reap excited to explore the city and to see the temples at Angkor Wat that the city is famous for. I was staying at a nice hotel there and had and overall amazing stay. The first day I explored the city by bicycle, and had a great time riding around the back streets, happy to be exploring a place at a slower pace than on a scooter.
I biked up to Angkor Wat to see sunset in the evening, even though I would be back just a few hours later for sunrise.
The next day I set out early for sunrise at Angkor Wat. Despite the early wakeup, I’d heard so many great things about the sunrise that it seemed it would be a shame to miss it. There was a bit of a snafu, though, around 5am. I thought I knew where the park entrance ticket stand was located, but it was actually two miles off the normal route from downtown Siem Reap to the temples. I was racing furiously on the bike to backtrack, get to the ticket stand, and still make it by sunrise. Somehow I make it there right as the sun is coming up, and I watch the sun rise over the temple as I sit there and pretend to not be uncomfortable in my sweat-drenched clothes at 6am.
The temple complex was amazing, and it was well worth the trip to see it. At a certain point the temples started to blur together, but the main ones are really incredible. It’s easy to get from one to the next by bike. By mid-afternoon I was exhausted.
On the way home it started to downpour, and I was able to find cover, but was able to do little on the way back to my hotel to keep from getting covered in mud. I took some much deserved rest at the hotel before heading back into town to return my bike and grab some dinner.
The next day I took the bus down to Phnom Penh. In Phnom Penh I stayed in a tiny house room within a larger room on the top floor of a high-rise building–quite the interesting setup.
The main area had 360 degree views over Phnom Penh.
Most of my time in Cambodia’s capital was spent in the genocide museums. The family of one of my good friends came over after the genocide, so I knew a little about it, but hadn’t really studied it in much detail. It’s unfortunate how little in the US is taught about the Khmer Rouge and the genocide in Cambodia. I started out by visiting S21, one of the prisons used for torture by the Khmer Rouge, and then went out to the killing fields where political prisoners were executed and buried. It was a heavy and sad day, but it was important to see these places.
I met some other tourists over an early dinner, and then headed back to the hotel for a drink as I watched the sun set over the city from the top floor of the hotel.
By the next day, it was time to head to Vietnam. There was a problem with my visa, though, and I misunderstood which documents I actually needed to arrive by bus in Ho Chi Minh city. Somehow this dawned on me in the morning when I did some more research. Thankfully, I was able to get the visa expedited, and though it added at bit of excitement to the morning, I was able to board the bus as planned around noon and made it into Vietnam that evening.
I was excited for Vietnam. I had heard tremendous things about the country from many people along the way and from my friends back in the US. I was interested in the idea of traveling the country by motorcycle, but I was also uncertain about the effort that would entail, and I knew there would need to be a lot of organizational tasks to do along the way to make it happen.