Preah Vihear and Sambor Prei Kuk

Gosh, I really am getting far behind with these blog posts.

In my defence, the internet has been down for the past week, and, well, I have been busy.

Phraeh Vahear, temple that has been site of contention between Thailand and Cambodia. Both sides claim access to it, and have fought over it in recent years. It made it to the ICJ (International Court of Justice) and Cambodia’s claim was accepted. I studied about it as part of my Masters, so had to go, FCO travel warnings be dammed (Kashmir, Abkhazia, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh and now Praeh vahear, my naughty visits list is getting longer!) Most countries tell their citizens not to visit, despite access being organized and it being a popular destination for Cambodian’s. This has the positive of strongly limited tourist numbers, and indeed Yoshiko and I were the only tourists there for the first hour. The motorbike drive from the ticket booth, at times feels almost vertical, as you travel to the top of the hill. The temple complex is set out on a straight line, with 1 end being in Thailand, and the other opening to spectacular views over Cambodia.

9 hours from Phnom Penh, it’s a long way to go, but very glad I did.

On the way back, we broke the journey up with a visit to Sambor Prei Kuk, and spent the night in the village. A temple complex older than Angkor, the buildings were made from brick, and are in remarkably good condition for 7^th century buildings! The forest has had good fun trying to reclaim them, and has led to some very interesting and beautiful ruins. $3 to wander/cycle around the area, let in a large forest, it was a million miles away from what I imagine Angkor Wat will be like in a few weekends. Spent the night in the house of the village chief, which was a basic wooden house on stilts. Very peaceful setting, and the family were nice, but with no English spoken it was difficult to interact with everyone. Still, its nice to support rural eco-tourism projects.

I had hoped to travel to Kampong Cham, another town on the way home (ish), and home to a large number of the remaining Cham ethnic minority. They were one of primary targets of the Khmer Rouge, and were killed in vast numbers. The current Case 002/02 features allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Cham and Vietnamese, and I would have liked to see the town. The Cham are Muslim, and so standout rather markedly from the overwhelmingly Buddhist South East Asia. However, I had run out of cash (heck, I had to borrow some money just to get the normal bus home), and so travelled straight back to Phnom Penh. A destination for another day then.

There was also the Water Festival over the same period, a yearly event designed to herald the end of the rainy season. Teams of boaters from all over the country descend on Phnom Penh for days of races.

 (sunset at royal palace)

 (the presidents motorcade)

 (boats at dusk)