From Phnom Penh to Angkor: A Tour through Cambodia

When I first traveled to Cambodia almost ten years ago, I had a clear goal: Angkor Wat, that mysterious temple complex whose towers adorn the national flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia and are mentioned in the same breath as world wonders like Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal. Like many travelers to Cambodia, I didn't see much besides the temples at the gates of Siem Reap. A brief visit to the capital Phnom Penh and a few lazy days on the powdery white palm beaches of Sihanoukville rounded off my Southeast Asia trip.

Yet there is so much more to see in this small country, which, despite the world-famous Angkor Wat, seems to be overshadowed by its larger neighbors Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam: charming colonial cities, idyllic islands, and still largely untouched jungle and mountain regions. This time, I took twelve days for my Cambodian tour. The first leg took me from Phnom Penh northwest to Battambang and then on to Siem Reap.

'Ma'am, Tuk-Tuk?' No, thank you. 'But it's raining, Ma'am!' As proof, the driver of the motorcycle with the covered trailer and bench tugs at his transparent pink cape, from which raindrops slide off. But I don't want to get into a Tuk Tuk. Unlike other Southeast Asian capitals like Singapore, Bangkok, or Hanoi, the Cambodian capital is small and manageable with its two million inhabitants and streets laid out like a chessboard. Moreover, my goal today is not to check off the main attractions of Phnom Penh; I just want to look around.

Shrugging, the Tuk Tuk driver drives off. Not many potential customers are out, the streets are deserted. The coffee prepared by the street vendor with a hand filter is being consumed by him. The rickety barber chair against the ornate wall is empty. I find out that this wall belongs to Wat Botum, the 'Lotus Flower Temple', one of the oldest temples in Phnom Penh.

So, this is where locals gather on a Sunday afternoon, at least judging by the dozens of pairs of shoes piled on the staircases. Monotonous chanting comes from a crowded room. A Buddhist mantra that is repeated over an hour, explains one of the waiting Tuk Tuk drivers. And suddenly it's all over. Older women and children with their parents stream out of the communal rooms of Wat Botum, hand in hand with a tray of leftover shared meals, and climb into the Tuk Tuks to return home. Only the resident monks in their orange robes remain.

I end up at the river, at Sisowath Quay, the waterfront promenade at Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Asia that flows into the Mekong in Phnom Penh. For the evening strollers and joggers who come here to exercise, it's still too early. However, the restaurants in the restored colonial buildings across the street are packed.

The man who has a grill attached to his motorcycle seat moves on. Among the tourists sipping beer and cocktails, he finds no buyers for his grilled bananas. If you're looking to stop by Sisowath Quay, I recommend the Foreign Correspondents Club. During the civil war, the 'FCC' was a meeting point for foreign correspondents in Phnom Penh; today, there's a chic restaurant with a bar and a few hotel rooms in the premises.

From the northern end of Sisowath Quay, it's not far to the old French quarter with its wide boulevards and the square with the old post office, where scenes from the movie 'City of Ghosts' featuring Matt Damon and Gérard Depardieu were filmed. Also here is the temple that gives Phnom Penh its name, Wat Phnom. If you feel like it, take a detour to the Central Market, housed in an Art Deco building from the 1930s.

I wander a bit through the streets behind Sisowath Quay, where in addition to steaming food stalls, there are cafes and shops selling crafts. By chance, my gaze falls on a half-ruined, almost overgrown villa. Later, I find out that this house was built in 1910 by a wealthy Cambodian businessman, was inhabited by the Vietnamese army after the liberation of Phnom Penh, and afterward served for many years as a police station before becoming a trendy venue called 'The Mansion Heritage Bar.'

Finally, I do get into a Tuk Tuk that takes me south of the city to the former Tuol-Svay-Prey High School on 103rd Street. It is better known as Tuol Sleng or S-21, the most notorious of the more than 200 secret torture prisons that the Khmer Rouge ran across the country during their reign of terror from 1975 to 1979. Of the 15,000 people who were detained here as alleged dissidents, from whom Pol Pot's henchmen attempted to extract false confessions under the worst torture to ultimately kill them at Choeung Ek outside of Phnom Penh, only seven survived. The S-21 is now a memorial site.

A visit to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is disturbing. The blurry photographs with emaciated corpses, the sparse rooms with iron bed frames, the tiny cells, the display cases with pliers and hatchets, the panels with thousands of photos, 'confessions', and life stories of the detainees of S-21, and not least, the information from the audio guide - they stir one up, making the systematic terror and paranoia of the Khmer Rouge seem much closer than any book could convey.

A visit to Tuol Sleng is definitely not a 'Sunday stroll' and perhaps not everyone's cup of tea during a vacation. However, if you want to understand Cambodia, you cannot avoid engaging with the dark history of the country. Because, as I would later learn from my encounters during my Cambodian tour: although almost 40 years have passed since the Pol Pot regime, this era is still very present, even among younger Cambodians.

'Killing Fields?', asks my Tuk Tuk driver. No, not today. I have him drop me off at Sihanouk Boulevard. I find a table on the balcony of Java Cafe and Gallery, where I try to sort out what I saw while overlooking the brightly lit Independence Monument. Below me, the traffic roars. The red plastic chairs behind the street food stalls on the road leading to my hotel are now all occupied. Phnom Penh seems to be a night owl. It's good that I have another day and a half here at the end of my Cambodian tour.

Tomorrow, I'm heading first to Battambang (for 12 USD on the VIP bus from Mekong Express, which runs four times a day and takes about six hours).

Silence. Only the sound of a moped can be heard and the baby gurgling in the hammock inside the crêperie in Battambang. Over the red tiled roofs of the pale yellow houses with colorful, sometimes weathered shutters and wrought iron balconies lies a leaden heat. I am glad to sit under a covered columned walkway with my vegetable crêpe and fresh pineapple juice. These arcades are typical of the French colonial-style houses in Battambang, as are the open shop fronts, where baguettes are sold, sewing machines hum - or at this hour, a midday nap is being taken.

It's hard to believe that Battambang is Cambodia's second-largest city. Strolling through the dusty streets that run parallel to the Stung Sanker River, one feels more like in a dreamy provincial town. That's essentially what Battambang is, but that's what makes it charming. One spends time in nice cafes like the Battambang Cafe on Street 2.5 enjoying a Cambodian version of the Belgian waffle or in the Choco l'Art Cafe on Street 117 sipping Khmer coffee on one of the red cushions while looking at the works of local artists and having a chat with the owner, Ke, who is himself a painter - this is how one spends time in Battambang.

I also visit Wat Dum Rey Sor near the city museum and Wat Phephittam close to Psar Nath Market. The market itself is also worth a visit, although the smells of dried fish and sun-dried meat can be a challenge to the nose.

In the afternoon, when it's not so hot anymore, one takes a Tuk Tuk to Phnom Sampov, a mountain with several temples, pagodas, shrines, and limestone caves twelve kilometers from Battambang towards Pailin. My companion and I get dropped off at the foot of the mountain. After purchasing our entrance tickets, we decide to take up the offer to ride partway up on the motorcycle. So, we squeeze in behind the driver and wind our way up the serpentine roads to the first temple.

Phnom Sampov is also closely associated with the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge: the wat was repurposed as a prison, and the surrounding caves were used as killing chambers. A narrow path leads to the summit. Those who dare to climb the rickety wooden ladder are rewarded with a wonderful view over the surrounding rice fields and mountains in the background. By sunset, one should be back down, when the blue-pink sky is suddenly covered with hundreds of thousands of bats that leave their cave every evening in search of food.

Speaking of food: In the evening, I can recommend Lonely Tree Restaurant and Jaan Bai Restaurant in Battambang. The latter impresses with a fusion cuisine of Thai, Vietnamese, and Khmer. After the Lychee Martini, there's Banana Flower Chicken.

From Battambang, I continue northeast to Siem Reap, again taking a bus from Mekong Express. The journey takes about four and a half hours and costs 7 USD.

'And, have they changed since you were last here?', asks Meas, my guide. He means the faces of the stone gods and demons lining the dam road to the South Gate of Angkor Thom. The thick lips may have acquired a few more cracks, the patina has thickened a bit. But otherwise, I recognize everything again. The kindly smiling stone faces on the towers of Bayon, the main temple of Angkor Thom, the Elephant Terrace with its life-sized elephants, the Terrace of the Leper King with its reliefs of dancing deities.

Angkor Thom was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which created the once largest city in the world in the jungle outside Siem Reap between the 9th and 15th centuries. A million people are said to have lived here, with hundreds of temples scattered across the 400 square kilometer area.

From Angkor Thom, we travel deeper into the jungle to the 'Tomb Raider Temple,' which is actually called Ta Phrom and became world-famous through the film with Angelina Jolie. I am again fascinated by the jungle temple, whose partially crumbling masonry is tentacle-like encircled by the powerful roots of the strangler figs that snake like cobras through the corridors. The dense foliage allows only a few rays of sunlight to penetrate; the cicadas drown out the sound of the clicking cameras of numerous Chinese travel groups who pose in front of the trees.

Then Angkor Wat, the largest religious building in the world. We enter the grounds through the east gate. And we are almost alone, as most visitors are still having lunch. Without waiting, I climb the steep stairs of the main tower, wander through the winding corridors, and marvel at the long reliefs with the Apsaras. Then the five towers, which are meant to resemble lotus buds and somewhat look like pineapples. Most come here when the towers silhouette against the orange-red morning or dark blue evening sky. At that time, hundreds stand on the lawn in front of the lotus pond at the main entrance, which I nearly have to myself at this hour.

For the 1-day pass to the Angkor Archaeological Park, you pay 37 USD, the 3-day pass costs 62 USD, and the 7-day pass is 72 USD. You can also pay by card.

On the second day, the 'Grande Tour' is on the agenda. The Tuk Tuk driver shows me on the map which temples we aim for - Bantey Kdei, Pre Rup, Bantey Samre, Bantey Srei, East Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pan, Pra Khan, and Phnom Bakheng. In Pre Rup, the temple in warm brown-yellow tones with lion-guarded staircases, peonies grow between the stones of the steep steps. Passing shimmering green rice fields, wooden houses on stilts, and tourists on mountain bikes exploring the temples, we head to Bantey Samre and finally to Bantey Srei, nearly 40 kilometers outside of Siem Reap. Because of its pink sandstone, Bantey Srei is also called 'pink temple,' one of the most beautiful in all of Angkor. Ta Som, also half-ruined and overgrown with jungle, and Prea Khan with its headless guardians fascinate me anew.

After the temple visits, most people head to the tourist center of Siem Reap around the Old Market, where the infamous Pub Street is located. Alongside beer for 50 cents and numerous restaurants with pizzas and Khmer food, there are stalls where you can taste fried scorpions or grilled snakes. I admit, I'm not a big fan of Pub Street and instead discover a few nice places near my hotel on Taphul Road like Madame Moch Khmer Food and Bang Bang Bakery. In Siem Reap, I board the plane to Sihanoukville in the south of the country to begin the second leg of my Cambodian tour: Kampot and Kep as well as the Cardamom Mountains.