As I sit here in Kampot, Cambodia looking back fondly on the week in Siem Reap I really don’t know where to begin. Ian is having me write this blog, because Angkor Wat was on my bucket list when we left New Zealand. Cambodia wasn’t on the radar of the family and in fact both Ian & Lara were less than impressed when I told them we would be coming to Cambodia, especially as our stay here got longer and longer. I can say honestly though that all 5 of us enjoyed Siem Reap and it definitely is going to be the highlight of Cambodia for us. We have my dad to thank for putting Siem Reap on our itinerary… Dad always spoke fondly of Cambodia from his time during the Vietnam War and dreamt of going to Angkor Wat. In 2013 he & I conspired to take the family to Vietnam and Cambodia, but when it came time to actually book we decided against it. Mom was just recovering from breast cancer and I think dad really wanted to leave the past of the war in the past. After visiting, I undertand why he made that choice and the 5 of us were happy to fulfill his dream for him. It was AMAZING!
It was special for me to take the family to Angkor Wat in honour of my dad and surprisingly the boys really enjoyed it! They pointed out all kinds of neat sculptures, animals, people and flowers that we didn’t see were down at 3 feet. It was hot, but we bought a multiday pass so that we could go without feeling rushed and our first visit was a leisurely two hours of wandering anywhere those 4 little feet (and a couple of bigger ones) took us!
From there I knew I wanted to get serious about temple visiting! There are around 50 temples (Buddhist & Hindu) around Siem Reap and I wanted to see all of the major ones. That, however, meant a MAJOR milestone for the boys – THEIR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! Who would have thought that it would be in Cambodia??? Our Airbnb hosted recommended a montessori school that took drop-in tourists so the boys were off. They were very excited about their first day of school and had a blast! They were there for about 8 hours and for the next couple of days when we got in the tuktuk they would immediately say “all done school” – they liked it but didn’t want to go back. 🙂
So after school drop-off the three of us and our private tour guide were off to do the “small” loop of about 5 temples. We had a blast seeing Angkor Wat with a guide, learning the history of the temples, seeing where Tomb Raider was filmed, but especially talking to our guide about life in Cambodia. Our guide was raised very poor, her mom was 15 when she was born and they couldn’t afford food. Thankfully, she was walking distance to a school so that she could go to school (that is what keeps kids from attending, they can’t get there!) and she received a stipend that was enough to buy packets of sugar. Much of her childhood was spent living on rice and sugar packets and going to bed hungry. They caught fish, but they sold them to earn a living, not to eat. It amazes me the perseverence that she had to go from such a poor background to finishing her university education and being fluent in English. Her mom actually went on to become a midwife as well so the entire family has been pulled out of poverty.
It was a really special day to have with just Lara & Ian too. We don’t get enough time with just Lara and we treasure moments like this. More than once we reminisced on some of the fun things we used to do as the 3 of us and it was neat to see her actually get excited at the temples. I had thought I would be dragging her along, but she really enjoyed it!
Tomb Raider temple 
Picture perfect 
Being silly 
Listening to our guide 
Holding it up!
Siem Reap wasn’t all temples though. We met another lovely traveling family from Texas who we spent a lot of evenings with! Sam is Lara’s age and the two of them enjoyed hanging out, swimming and Lara even joined them on an excursion to floating villages! After their excursion we scratched that stop from our list as it would have been too hard on the boys. We also found an awesome indoor playground that we visited a few times. Cambodia doesn’t have many outdoor parks (Siem Reap had none at all) but there are private indoor playgrounds, where for a few dollars you get unlimited play, complete cleanliness, cushioned equipment so mama can relax and air-conditioning!! A win-win all around. I also met a gorgeous lady at the playground named Jodi from the UK. We got to talking about what we do and our passions and it was so neat for me to see how she turned her passion of helping people into a career too. She was in the depths of depression and illness when she started writing letters to people who needed uplifting and it took off. She was determined to change the world one lovely letter at the time and she still does philanthropically in addition to her paid work as an author. I just loved her story because it resonated with our goal of changing lives one drop at a time! I went home and found that she’s actually a best-selling author. It’s just so neat the random people that you meet on life’s journey.
Lara & I braved the night and crowds and got up at 4:30AM to go to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. It was beautiful, and a ton of fun with Lara, but not something either of us would get up at 4:30AM again for – it was so early!!
We also used the opportunity in Siem Reap to learn a little more about the landmines & unexploded devices left behind from years of internal fighting, fighting with their neighbours and the Vietnam War. This was pretty eye-opening and what made me thankful that dad decided not to come back. Who really wants to revisit that sad reality? It’s easy to be at a place like this and wonder how could the west have let this happen? (Just wait until we get to PP and the Khmer Rouge). Cambodia is one of the most contaminated countries in the world, every week 2 people are injured or killed from landmines or unexploded ordinances (UXO), the US dropped approximately 2.75T of explosives on Cambodia during the Vietnam War, there are an estimated 4-5 million remaining landmines and UXO, Cambodia has the highest per capita amputee rate in the world because of explosives and just while we were here a husband and wife were killed when remanants of an UXO exploded. We got the pleasure of watching mine-detection rats from Africa sniff out some TNT – it was incredible! The APOPO organization has removed 15,000 explosives in the last 3 years and cleared acres and acres of land for the people to now use safely as farmland. Interestingly, the United States is the only western country not to have signed the Ottawa Treaty banning the use of landmines. I haven’t researched why, but it is certainly something to look into. On the positive, I did find that America hasn’t actually used a landmine since the Gulf War in 1991 – long may that continue.
Siem Reap was packed full of experiences. Ian & I also took the boys on the “large” temple loop while Lara was on her excursion. We drove around the countryside in a tuktuk, watching water buffalo and eating lotus seeds. We rode tuk tuks at night, played on daddy’s phone, felt fish tickle our fingers, let turantulas crawl on us, went to the circus, got into the Christmas spirit, watched crocodiles next door and found statues that made us think of friends and more. Another successful stop on this world journey!
Next stop, Phnom Penh……….
More wonderful images below and the Siem Reap image gallery is right here.
Nice blog