Cambodia 🇰🇭
Siem Reap
Tips
- Being here for the Khmer New Year, Sangkran, from April 13-16 (same time as the Thai New Year) was one of the most fun experiences of my life. What started as a Buddhist tradition of cleansing away bad luck, later became modernized to a wide-scale water and chalk fight. Children will hose you with truckloads of water while you’re riding tuktuks. Seniors will pull you in to dance on tables to blasting Vinapop-styled music while they rub powder in your hair. Everyone is just so celebratory and welcoming. I’ll remember these nights forever!!
Attractions
Gorgeous, sprawling UNESCO World Heritage site with stunningly carved walls. It’s fascinating to see the blend of Hindu and Buddhist elements in its decoration — some temples have faces of both religions’ gods carved on them. The dry heat becomes brutal in the midday, so bring more water than you’d expect.
Phnom Penh
Attractions
Execution site for the Khmer Rouge. Certainly not for everyone, but I found it sobering and important to contextualize my experience of Cambodia. The audio tour is well worth-it; listening to survivor testimonies while standing before the mass gravesites was deeply moving. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum was also excellent, but if I had to recommend one, I preferred this site.
Food
Upscale Khmer cuisine. I forget what I ate, as the local I went with ordered for both of us, but it was tasty!
