Warning: this post talks about some distressing historical events. I will leave out the really disturbing details, but I leave it to you to decide whether or not you want to skip it completely. We have seen many nagas on our travels through Cambodia. Representing prosperity, they adorn many stupas and temples with their blessing…

“Why are you spending so long there?”. The response when people in Siem Reap heard I was going to spend three nights in Phnom Penh. And when I arrived, I began to wonder too. One thing I’ve not done is convey a sense of the street life in Siem Reap. So, think – what’s the…

Before we leave Siem Reap, here’s a short post back at the Wat, kicking off with some photos that I didn’t post before. The “Elephants” gate at the west wall. There were five entrances on the 1.5 km long wall – for elephants and commoners at north and south, for priests and for high officials…

Time for a break from all that temple-ing. Let’s have something different. War and genocide. In 1431 the Thais sacked Angkor, marking the start of what the Khmer call their Dark Ages. A weakening, declining state gradually became the prey of their Thai and Vietnamese neighbours until, in the nineteenth century, they had no choice…

We leave Preah Khan and continue on the Grand Circuit. Our next stop: Each of the Khmer temples would house statues representing Shiva, Vishnu, and mates, and were intended to be a home of the gods, rather than a site of regular worship. The late 12th century Neak Pean makes that very clear. There’s no…

Well, it was about time you took a break from all the temple photos and got a look at the general Cambodian scene, the gritty, the quirky, the charming, like. But as promised I still had the “Grand Circuit” of Angkor temples to do, and so I’m afraid the piccie deluge must continue. And I…

While we make our way through the vast wooded space that is now Angkor Thom, a tip if you ever want to visit the Angkor monuments. I’d strongly advise a visit to the Angkor museum in Siem Reap. Eight small and well-presented galleries of statues and figurines will give you a good grounding in the…

Cambodia. A different destination to the normal. Rawer, poorer, more troubled, not many holiday destinations have undergone a genocide within my lifetime. But certainly friendlier than most places I’ve been to. We start in the north at Siem Reap, the centre of the country’s tourist industry. Once a small village on the river, it’s grown…