Month December 2016
The central chamber of the main stupa: despite the size of the the surrounding structure, the room is small and cramped. Save for the sunlight that comes in through a small hole at the very top of the high, narrow, conical roof, the only light inside comes from a few candles. In the center of the room a seated Buddha statue wrapped in an orange cloth with a few decorations on either side. In front of the Buddha is a family, sitting on a thin mat, praying. The room smells of incense, sticks of it burning in a vase at … Read the rest
It’s well neigh impossible to capture this place on a photo. In the middle, the giant, mountainlike central stupa, the peak soaring above the rest of the temple. The sides of the stupa are crumbling, large blocks of stone missing and the reliefs that used to depict faces have withered away during hundreds of years of neglect. Around it there are four smaller towers, one in each direction of the compass, the tops of which consist of four faces, facing four different directions. Lower down, on the sides of both the main stupa and the surrounding towers are dark openings leading in … Read the rest
I haven’t seen the sea since leaving Cat ba island so when I read about white sand beaches in southern Cambodia I knew I had to go there. Thanks to a recommendation from some other travelers we set our sights on Koh Rong island. It took a full day to get there, first a bus to Sihanoukville then a speed boat ferry from there. The island is not very developed, save for the main boat pier, most of the hotels and restaurants are right on the beach. There is a kind of main area where the bars and restaurants are … Read the rest
The soft whoosh of the breaking waves fills my ears. The sea in front to me is black save for the white foam that flows up the moist sand only to recede back into the darkness, a thin line that changes with each wave. To my is left a pier, lighted at intervals by street lamps like a chain of glowing, yellow orbs in the darkness, then further out the shape of an islet, jagged black against the almost imperceptibly lighter night sky. To my right, the beach, the normally pristine white sand turned a dirty yellowish grey under the … Read the rest
A large rock just beneath the surface of the water. It’s surface is encrusted with shells, down at the deep end, a forest of brownish green kelp and higher up, closer to the surface, a layer of fine, bright green seaweed waving in the current like grass in the breeze. Small, tiger striped fish keep flitting about, just inches above the rock, hiding in nooks and crannies. Every now and again a wave passes by, sending down a cascade of silver bubbles from the shimmering surface.… Read the rest
Having seen all there is to see in Kampong Thom, we headed back to Phnom Penh right after breakfast. We arrived at our hostel around lunch and, since we weren’t able to access the room for about two hours, we decided to kill the time by going to the nearby Wat Phnom which is one of the main temples in the city.
I feel a bit templed out so I didn’t take as many photos as normal but it’s nice all the same. The inside especially has some nice paintings depicting scenes from the Buddha’s life.
Temple selfie 
Inside of
Though I know it’s only a .22, I hug the rifle tightly to my shoulder and peer down the scope. It’s harder than I remember to see clearly but after a few sweaps left to right I find the target, a white piece of paper against the orange brown wall. I center the crosshair right between the eyes of the printed figure, hold my breath then squeeze the trigger…… Read the rest
For some reason, the name Sambor Prei Kuk has stuck in my mind after flipping through the guidebook countless times. When I looked up the details I realized it’s only about 200 kilometers from Phnom Penh which is suitable for an overnight trip.
We got on the bus in the morning, and sadly the aircon wasn’t quite as good as advertised so it wasn’t a very pleasant ride. A little worse for wear, we arrived in Kampong Thom (the closest city to Sambor Prei Kuk) in the early afternoon. We checked in to a surprisingly nice hotel, rented a motorbike … Read the rest
After the harrowing journey here it has felt really good to not have to travel for a few days, just stay in one hotel. I came down with a case of traveler’s diarrhea so I’ve been cooped up in the hotel for a day but other than that we’ve been out exploring the city.
Right around the corner from our hotel is the National Museum of Cambodia. It houses quite a collection of ancient statues from all around the country. The building itself is pretty nice too.
The front of the museum 
Museum courtyard 
The most famous statue 
Some of