A Year in Japan: Cambodia

Cambodia was really interesting and nothing like I expected (although I'm not really sure what I was expecting). First of all, it was eerily flat. Kerry and I really couldn't get over it--the flat, barren, dusty landscape with sporadic palm trees and houses that all seemed to be on stilts, whether they were near water or not (there are also occasional marshes that seasonally appear). Angkor Wat is just outside of Siem Reap and the city is still a relatively new tourist attraction. Therefore, intermixed with the roads packed with motos and tuk tuks going in all different directions, there are massive (I mean huge) brand new five-star hotels that barely seemed occupied even though it was peak season. The weirdest area is Bar Street, a trendy little road with Western style bars. The short strip is completely out of place in contrast to the rest of the impoverished city. Both ends of the street are strangely blocked off with fences which seem to be in place to keep out the begging children and their families and the other realities of Cambodia.

I spent about five days in Siem Reap before heading over to Phnom Penh. On our first day in Siem Reap, we (three other JETs and I) first meandered through a floating village that was accustomed to tourists (and even had restaurants) before continuing on the Tonle Sap. After another hour or so, we arrived at a flooded forest where the floating village with about 100 families seemed completely untouched.

In this tucked away village, we were greeted by a group of friendly young monks-in-training who wanted to practice their English and allowed us to tour their monastery. Upon hearing that we were four English teachers from Japan, we were separately ushered up a frighteningly steep set of stairs to a few classrooms where the board was erased and I was asked to teach a group of 13 year olds. It was really interesting to be in an educational setting so unlike those in Japan and the U.S.

A Cambodian classroom

Into the Flooded Forest with some great guides...

Kerry was able to meet me in Cambodia so we spent four wonderful days around Siem Reap and seeing Angkor Wat (the best way is by bicycle!) and one day in Phnom Penh. We ate great food and compared many of the crazy differences between China and Japan. It was amazing to catch up and see another friendly face from home.

Angkor Wat at sunrise on Christmas morning

Sunset from a temple on Christmas night

A tasty cricket snack during the long bus ride to Phnom Penh

After a pretty heavy dose of ancient Cambodian history, we went to the capital city of Phnom Penh and looked at some of the horrible recent history. We first went to the genocide museum (which is an old high school where people were kept before they were sent to the killing fields) and then we went just outside of the city to the killing fields.