Cambodia
Phumĭ Ta Phŭl

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    • Day 3

      Cambodian Circus

      January 27, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      We went to the Circus, not really sure what to expect.

      It turned out it was more a drama story told through different art forms from painting, acting, juggling, music and amazing acrobatics.

      The stuff that Vegas shows are made off.

      Incredibly the circus is not just the show but a school for very poor kids to train them in some sort of art from, the circus is then a way to provide a job and springboard for the graduates of the school. Amazing really!

      Made me feel like I should have bought the most expensive tickets, not only for a better view with no pole obstructing our view, but to support this great cause!

      {Roedolf}
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    • Day 49

      Phare, The Cambodian Circus

      February 28, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      After Angkor Wat and a nice refreshing nap Jessica, Kayla and I went to grab some food. We ended up at pretty neat cafe that had great iced coffee and eggs bennies! Yummy. Didn't think I'd find that while here. Afterwards Jessica and I wandered the market for a bit just browsing. Or so we thought until we started buying things.. I ended up with two tank tops and a dress. But I really needed some variety in my wardrobe and a dress because I miss those.

      After deciding we'd bought enough we went back to the hotel and got ready to go to the circus! That was amazing. Totally worth the $20 for the ticket and tuk Tuk ride over. The name of the show we watched was Sokha and it was all about the the history of Cambodia. The story started with an "old" woman who went back in time to relive her past. Starting from happy childhood days going into the Genocide then being reunited with her family then the war and then finally back to modern times. It was pretty cool! The group preforming is again a group of underprivileged youth that were given an opportunity to improve their lives and go to school. The school focusses on arts and most students become artists or performers when they graduate. Pretty neat how many social initiatives there are here. I appreciate that FNEZ brings us to places like this and they support sustainable travel. Wonder if they'll ever expand into Nepal ;) The show was filled with pretty impressive acrobatics and took place in a round tent with wooden benches. Our seats were pretty decent! I really enjoyed it, more than the cirque shows I've seen.

      After the show was finished the group went to a nearby bar called the Mad Monkey. The floor was covered in sand! It's in a hostel that's known for it's partying so I'm glad that we're not actually staying there. It's nice to have a quiet place to go home to. Also at this bar they had a beer pong table and people were playing flip cup. Our group started a game of truth or dare which was pretty fun! Watching folk to sand angels, lick strangers, and take random hats off people's heads was a hoot. When this bar closed we went to a different bar, Yolo, which was close to Pub Street. It was cool, some people painted their faces in glow paint and the toilet was a shack across the street. Then we migrated to Pub Street proper and went back to the Angkor What Bar and we're drinking in the street again. At some point I found Toni and she showed me a great street cart where we got some fried noodles with an egg. So amazing. And I showed someone how to use chopsticks lol.. They'll need to learn pretty quick if they want to continue travelling in Asia haha. I don't even know what time Jessica and I eventually made it home but I don't think it was too late!
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    • Day 7

      Bugs Cafe

      November 10, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      After a glorious afternoon nap we took my cousin and her partner to Bugs Cafe. The French owner explained the concept and helped us select some food. We opted for the large tasting platter and some deserts. Bugs Cafe is a place where insects are used as protein in “regular” foods. Far from being outrageous, th dishes are delicious and we quickly forgot the taboos around eating this high protein, low fat and environmentally friendly food group. I am sold on the idea of bugs becoming a staple partnod our diets to reduce our reliance on larger meat producing animals (no, I have interest in becoming g vegetarian).Read more

    • Day 2

      Siem Reap

      September 30, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

      Another 2 hour flight (and another meal) later we arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We hopped in a taxi to get to our first home of the trip "The Happy Guesthouse". It is a cute little place with a relaxed restaurant/reception which we had dinner in. We had a little wander around to get our bearings, found a bar and some refreshing drinks. The bar owner gave us some hints and tips about the area. We are now heading to bed, at 8pm, ready for our first exploring day tomorrow.Read more

    • Day 13

      Siem Reap

      July 31, 2011 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      http://www.travelark.org/travel-blog-entry/tofo…

      fter another grueling long bus ride, we arrived at our final major stop of the tour; Siem Reap. This appears to be the most modern and developed Cambodian city of our adventures. It sits on the doorstep of the Angkor Wat temples, and has been developed largely over the last 10 years. It is a major touristy city, everyone seems to be coming or going from Siem Reap.
      Our arrival day was rather uneventful. We checked into the hotel, dropped our bags and laundry at reception, and went for a tour of the city on foot with our tour guide PK. We strolled along the river, through the park and side-streets.

      What could have been one of the more uplifting moments of the tour went sour here in the park. There was a stall of birds in cages, where you could pay a small fee ($1US) to set one pair free. Sounded good enough. With birds in hands, Nat and I smiled and prepared to do a nice thing. Nats bird flew off happily enough, mine went up.... and then... down onto the ground. Hopping in fear under some bushes. What was supposed to be good luck, didnt quite turn out that way.

      We headed back, where I elected to rest up, and Nat went off with a couple of the girls; Rachel and Kirsty to the nightmarkets.
      We met up for dinner outside of our hotel, for a casual meal and cocktail and early night.
      A big day lay ahead at the temples of Angkor Wat.
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    • Day 2

      Siem Reap, Cambodja

      November 15, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Saio para 25 dias de férias que começam com uma viagem de 22h até Siem Reap, Camboja. Feliz por merecer mas com uma nostalgia de deixar para trás um negócio que deu tanto trabalho a construir.
      Depois de 2 anos no Airbnb com problemas com os vizinhos que me queriam pôr em tribunal, decidi finalmente vender a casa, mas com todos os atrasos a escritura ficou marcada para dia 24 de Novembro, quando ainda estiver no Camboja.
      Foram alguns dias de stress para deixar tudo organizado, mudanças, procuração, etc... Agora é aproveitar.
      Mas antes, passar muitas horas em 3 aviões, sendo que o percurso mais longo de Paris para Cantão são 11h seguidas.
      Saimos de Lisboa as 5h30 da manhã e com a diferença horária chegamos á China as 6h30 da manhã hora local para a última escala, sem saber se deveríamos estar a tomar o pequeno almoço ou jantar, com o cansaço e as diferenças horárias tudo se torna confuso. Acabamos por comer uns noodles e bebi uma cerveja.
      Vi quase uma temporada de Better call Saul enquanto elas dormiram no avião da pior companhia de longo, China airline.
      Aterramos finalmente em Siem Reap, num aeroporto que mais parece um hotel 5 estrelas, para chegar ao hostel pouco tempo depois.
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    • Day 10

      Siem Reap, Cambodja

      November 23, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Mais um dia a acordar às 7 da manhã e seguir para uma hora de viagem de tuktuk para um mini aeroporto internacional em obras, onde só devem aterrar voos da China. A companhia Bayon Airline que nos leva para Siem Reap está proibida de voar para a Europa, porque não tem os mesmo padrões de segurança. Ficámos sentadas nos lugares da saída de emergência e no briefing, quando a Filipa disse que era hospedeira, a hospedeira disse:"Very good, we depend on you!". Not good.

      A caminho do hotel, organizamos já a ida do dia seguinte às cascatas com o nosso motorista.
      A seguir, queríamos ir ao old Market que a Filipa tinha visto na net como um sitio a não perder, quando lá chegámos e vimos que não era nada do que tínhamos visto nas fotos, mostrámos ao motorista que se riu de nós, o que estávamos a ver nas fotos era em Phnom Penh, grii... grii...

      Tinha comprado bilhetes para o circo as 17h por isso não sobrava muito tempo, foi o tempo suficiente para almoçar e ver a loja de Bayon Bamboo Tradicional Tattoo para ganhar coragem. Desde o início da viagem que falávamos em fazer uma tattoo mas não tinha pensado fazer com bamboo.

      Fomos ver o circo Phare, que tem como missão social providênciar educação gratuita a crianças carenciadas. Esta escola de art tem neste momento mais de 1200 estudantes e foi fundada por refugiados cambojanos que voltaram depois da queda do governo do Khmer Vermelho. 

      Ficamos de boca aberta ao ver a qualidade do espectáculo coreógrafa e composto por eles, uma sátira da relação dos locais com os turistas que todos os dias chegam ao Camboja e encontram um povo pobre que pouco fala inglês mas que identifica cada momento como uma oportunidade de negócio e têm ideias brilhantes para resolver os problemas com o pouco que têm. Retratam desde o picante que muitos turistas se devem queixar, como os cortes de electricidade, a dificuldade de comunicação e a melhor de todas, o facto de eles andarem na rua de pijama. Quando a noite cai, muitos andam na rua de pijama, pelos vistos é uma peça de roupa que nunca usam porque está demasiado calor em casa, pelo que exibem os seus pijamas na rua. Era um espectáculo tanto de dança, como de teatro e acrobacias. Foi de chorar a rir. 

      Depois do espectáculo, fomos para a loja de tattoos, tive que levantar dinheiro, na volta do multibanco, com os nervos andei mais dois quarteirões do que era suposto. 

      A tatuagem de bamboo na realidade não é feita com bamboo, são como se fossem tacos de snooker de 60cm em que as agulhas são colocadas na ponta com a ajuda de uma linha. No meu caso, tive direito a dois tacos, um com apenas uma agulha para as letras e outra com um conjunto de agulhas em fila para fazer as linhas. O taco segura-se quase como um taco de snooker, com uma mão para fixar o taco e a outra para fazer o martelar contínuo. Para mim a parte de cima das costas é uma zona pouco sensível, por isso aguentei-me bem, excepto nas omoplata, que foi duro. As letras no interiores dos quadrados nem foram calcadas, foram feitas a olho. Com a técnica e concentração do tatuador, acho que não demorou mais do que uma hora e meia. Pelos vistos as tatuagem manuais são de cicatrização rápida e fácil não precisa de cremes, apenas não pode levar com champô ou gel de banho.

      Fomos comer o melhor caril verde no mesmo restaurante onde jantámos no primeiro dia. 
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    • Day 7

      Yolo Bar in Siem Reap

      December 6, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

      Ich hab mal wieder ein Foto mit einem Kind gemacht. Das Mädchen war gefühlte 12 Jahre. Ich konnte einfach nicht anders. Hat eigentlich Armbänder auf der Straße verkauft, aber hat immer wieder in der Bar auf der Tanzfläche vorbei geschaut und ist richtig abgegangen​.Read more

    • Day 18

      Siem Reap

      October 11, 2019 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

      We said goodbye to Mary. She flew home from Ho Chi Minh City and is now back to work as Luna's service human. Don, Nancy, and I boarded a flight to Siem Reap, a seedy tourist town adjacent to the Angkor complex of temples and cities.

      The area was the center of the Khmer civilization from 900 to 1500ce. We had been comped a few Urban Adventures tours due to a snafu with our Intrepid Tours trip to India last year. We signed up for an eight hour group trip through the complex for the day after our arrival. Turned out we were the only people in the group as it is slow season in Cambodia. Vantha was our guide and Hua our driver. They had worked together for over ten years, the last three with Urban Adventures. Vantha was born in Siem Reap. He lamented some of the changes he'd seen over the past several decades as tourism has boomed in the area. Environmental degradation, extremely busy sites, and rising land costs were among his concerns. He was, however, pleased with he opportunities that this brought to the region. He shared that Siem Reap was a French colonial bastardization of Siam Re'ad which means 'defeat of the Siamese'. He expanded that criticism to the name Cambodia which is from Kampuchea

      Siem Reap is a prime example of a city overrun by tourism. Bars, KTVs, massage parlors, and western restaurants everywhere. In two short blocks Don was approached by 4 different tuk tuk drivers offering to take him to various women. Augie said that as he and his friend were walking together last November the number was 40 or 50 such offers in the course of an evening.

      We did manage to find several restaurants run by local women during our stay. I also tracked down two legit massage businesses. Nancy and Don had foot massages, I got the Khmer style full body. We also toured a school for local artisans working in silk, painting, sculpture, and metal work. 'Bad with the good' is what our tour guide said.

      We toured the area in the air conditioned luxury of an eight person passenger van. Our tour took us to three palaces; Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and the unrestored Bantaey Kdei. It has been estimated that Angkor Thom was the largest city in the world at its height in the 13th century. One million people. This was estimated through recent LIDAR flyovers of the area.

      As we toured I couldn't help but imagine what this place might have been like when Pop visited here in 1969. Even the most restored temples were overgrown with jungle. Must have been quite an experience to fly into a dirt landing and have no one around as he climbed through the ruins. As it was we were at times inundated by tour groups of over 100. Lots of selfies with the Buddhas at these sites. At one point Don mused, "I wonder how many photographs have been taken since the dawn of cell phones and digital photography?"

      I write this from the Plaza Premium lounge at the airport. One of the nicest we've visited, but not enough to lure me back to Siem Reap.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Phumĭ Ta Phŭl, Phumi Ta Phul

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