Cambodia travel guide

Tonlé Sap is the biggest lake in Southeast Asia and is famous among biologists for its unusual river flow that changes direction twice a year. The rest of us, who don't have the time to sit down on the shore and wait until the water drains out or flows back, will have to settle with the equally unusual life on the lake. Floating villages like Chong Kneas of both Khmer, Cham and ethnic Vietnamese descent are spread out along the edge of the lake and can be visited on a boat trip. Beside the floating homes, there are a school (with basketball court), church, temple... and yes, tourist traps disguised as restaurants and crocodile farms. Don't mind the floating sellers with pet snakes, they are just a part the experience.

A traditional snack in Cambodia is fried insects. Anything goes, but big hairy spiders seem extraordinarily popular. The small village of Skun on the highway 6A, between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, is renowned for its deep-fried tarantulas, along with grasshoppers, crickets and beetles. The place has become so popular that even tour buses stop here now. So what does a tarantula taste like? The hairy legs are just crispy, but the big abdomen is full of gooey, yummy guts. Just squeeze and enjoy.

In Cambodia, it is possible to have your pizza served "happy". It is an unique Cambodian cuisine and means your ordinary pizza will be garnished with a bit - sometimes a lot - of "happy herbs". Yes, this means ganja/marijuana/pot/weed, whatever you call it. In the good old days (1990s) when Cambodia was the Wild East, every pizza place served happy pizzas, but, nowadays, due to Cambodia's more strict drug policy (yes, "happy herbs" are also illegal in Cambodia) "happy" might only be a buzz word on the menu used instead of "delicious" or "yummy". So if you don't want to have anything to do with drugs omit "happy" food. However, if you do want to get stoned, ask whether "happy" really is that happy. Other food items can of course also be upgraded to "happy" like the equally famous happy shake.

If you travel in Cambodia, you will eventually end up on the back of a moto. It is a cheap and convenient way to get around - and sometimes the only way. The locals can easily pack up a small 100cc motorcycle with big bags of goods on both sides in addition to two or three persons sitting on top. The tuk-tuk is a more flashy version often aimed for tourists where a motorcycle drags a pimped out covered cart with cushioned seats. The rural version is the motorcycle trailer which is exactly what the name suggests, a long trailer pulled by a struggling motorcycle. These trailers can be packed with goods, building materials, furniture for a whole office, coffins or 20-or-so passengers.

Cambodia's treasure of ancient temples goes beyond the group at Angkor. The mystical temple of Beng Mealea is one of those. Built in the Angkorian period, 40 km from Angkor Wat on an ancient royal highway, it was among the biggest temples. Today, it is a magical ruin that has been hidden under the jungle carpet until recently. Giant serpent-like roots are slowly crushing the walls, while a web of smaller roots are holding the place together. You have to crawl over fine carved sandstone blocks, duck under fallen pillars, and hang in vines to get through the giant maze of closed courtyards, dark chambers and rising towers. Though there are boardwalks at some sections, it is a raw experience to explore this hidden jewel. This jungle temple makes Ta Prohm, the famous jungle temple at Angkor, look like a groomed little brother.

The northeast corner of Cambodia is home to dense jungle, shady forests and ethnic villages, so the region is slowly developing into an interesting trekking destination. Though the area is home to some serious wildlife, like leopards and tigers, you have to be more than lucky to come across any of them. Monkeys, birds and insects (in all sizes) are probably what you will run into. For a serious jungle trip, venture into Virachay National Park where chances are higher to see something exotic. You can even trek back in time and follow parts of the old Ho Chi Minh trail from the Vietnam War, that went through area.

Kampot is a dozy colonial town with a nice river setting. Beside bicycling school kids and slow moving scooters, the streets lack of traffic. There are still heaps of old French mansions and trade houses where some have been converted into cafes or guesthouses but the majority still stand faded and aged with patina, earning Kampot an extra point for charm and authenticity. The small town is a great base for exploring the lovely countryside on a rented bicycle or scooter. Within a couple of hours drive, you can find cave-temples, villages, salt fields and pepper plantations – even Bokor mountain can be viewed from Kampot with a cold drink in your hand. With the gorgeous surroundings and laidback atmosphere, it is very likely that you'll end up spending more time in Kampot than planned.

Kep once was, and maybe will be soon again, a posh seaside resort town for the elite, but right now it is in between. It is a strange mix of hammock shacks for holidaying locals and upscale resorts for those with money. The beaches are close to nonexistent and the few narrow strips of gray sand are not impressive. As you probably guessed, we didn't stay for long, so we might have failed to find the true "soul of Kep". But the inland surroundings are as beautiful as they are all along the Cambodian coast.

Like the Killing Fields, the Killing Caves at Phnom Sampeau are where the Khmer Rouge took their prisoners to kill them. There are three caves on the backside of the mountain of Phnom Sampeau, where this took place. The Khmer Rouge soldiers would either just push the victims over the edge of the skylight into the caves or cut their throats before throwing them in. It has been estimated that about 10.000 people were killed in these caves alone. Today, shrines, peaceful Buddha statues and cages with bones make out this grim memorial of the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge. If you want some fresh air afterwards, walk to the top of the mountain, which is one big complex of temples. The views from there are astonishing.

Choeung Ek is just one of many killing fields used by the Khmer Rouge when they ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Enemies of the regime, which pretty much could be anyone, were first imprisoned then later killed. Prisoners from S-21 were marched to this old Chinese cemetery and then killed before put into mass graves, though sometimes they didn't even bother doing the killing. To save bullets, the Khmer Rouge soldiers used whatever they had at hand to kill the victims. People got knifed, bashed with tools or had their throat cut with sharp palm leaves. Babies got smacked into tree trunks.
After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, 8895 bodies were discovered here at Choeung Ek. Today, the graveyard has been turned into a memorial with a Buddhist stupa containing 5000 skulls of the victims.