MyM a Singapur: noviembre 2009

28 nov 2009

Welcome to Cambodia

Welcome to Cambodia. This is only a veeeery small collection of our pictures.

First stop, Phnom Penh, the capital: 2 milion people, 1 milion bikes/tutuks and a former dancer King (pictures of him are everywhere...)

Psar Thmei: like a Mexican market!! You can pay with USD or Riels...

Wat Phnom, buddhist sanctuary, after which the city is named. About 30m tall, in one of the edges of the city, very close to our hostel.

Exploring the Royal Palace, is amazing!! The King is still living here. On the background you can see some orange-dressed man (people studying and living according to Buddhism philosophy).

More Royal Palace

Buddhist and non-buddhist students

Our friend, a buddhist man, who taught us about his life.

In the Russian market you can find hundreds of silk items very very cheap.
It's called Russian market due to the help sent by the URSS when the Khmer Rouge era ended. Only India and URSS sent help for the country.
La historia de Cambodia esta marcada por cientos de episodios belicos y por la desgracia de ser vecino en la guerra de Vietnam, cuando USA y los vietnamitas descargaron su frustacion con los camboyanos. La desgracia mas reciente fue la llegada al poder del regimen comunista Khmer Rouge con Pol Pot al frente (1975-1978). Cerca de 2 millones de camboyanos fueron ejecutados, los vietnamitas liberaron al pais del regimen, y el tipo se exilio en Tailandia con el apoyo de chinos, gringos y tailandeses. Estos a su vez dieron ayuda humanitaria solo a los refugiados amigos de Pol Pot pero la ONU no envio ayuda a la gente del pais sino hasta mucho tiempo despues.

Rica comida callejera.

Stop 2: Sihanoukville, the largest beach resort in Cambodia. Relaxxxxxxxxxx

El agua era super cristalina!

The view from our cabana, in the middle of the beach. No rain, no tourists, no rush.... Paradise in Cambodia!

Our cabana was only 10 m far from the water (high tide), 30 m (low tide)....

mhhh delicious khmer food. Lots of fish, coconut milk, and not many spices. Rice everywhere, of course....

Stopover in Phnom Penh after 4 days in the beach. Planning our trip to Siem Reap by bus.

Waiting for the bus to Siem Reap at 6am.... After 1 week, Martina didn't find to change the time on her watch (Cambodia is 1h slower than Singapore). We arrived to the bus stop at 6am, JUST on time for the bus departure at 7:30am.

Stop 3: Kampong Thom. El pueblo en si no tiene nada por ver, pero tiene unas interesantes ruinas a unos 30 km Sambor Prei Kuk siglo VI, en medio del bosque, hay silencio y... miles de mosquitos.

Otra de las atracciones de Kampong Thom es Phnom Suntuk. Es una colina que tiene una escalera con 809 escalones (los cuales te los va indicando con un numero en el suelo para que se aligere tu agonia de saber cuanto falta...) y en la cima hay una pagoda.

Siem Reap

Part 2. Siem Reap and the whole Angkor resort. Angkor temples were built around IX and XIII centuries, being the empire in the 'golden era' with Jayavarman VII (around 1170 AD), responsible for the construction of many temples. These state-temples were initially built to serve the Hinduist cult. Temples were built like pyramids representing the Mount Meru, and consecrated to the Hindu gods Vishnu or Shiva. After the XII century, the temples gradually incorporated Buddhist motifs, but without disregarding the Hindu religion.