When Westerners want to visit someplace that feels exotic and mysterious, one place they can go is Vietnam. But where do Vietnamese people go when they want to visit someplace exotic and mysterious? Cambodia is a good option.
The 2-hour flight from Hanoi to Siem Reap, Cambodia, takes us over Vietnam, Laos, and then Cambodia. Back in the day, when Cambodia’s Khmer empire was at it’s peak, we would have started out by flying over Dai Viet – the Vietnam of old. That wouldn’t have taken long.
The rest of the trip would have taken us over Khmer territory, all the way to Siem Reap. And if we continued on from Siem Reap to Bangkok, Thailand, we’d have continued to fly over Khmer country the entire way. That’s how huge the Khmer Empire was.
Angkor Wat
Siem Reap is Cambodia’s big tourist destination. But no one comes to see the city of Siem Reap. People come to Siem Reap because it’s the closest city to Angkor Wat. And why not? Angkor Wat is awesome.
When tourists come to Siem Reap, they tour monuments and temples and learn about the Khmer civilization. They find out that Angkor Wat is just one Khmer king’s monument to himself, and that there were dozens of Khmer kings. Every Khmer king built his own monument.
But Angkor Wat is the grand-daddy of them all. The Khmer king who built Angkor Wat, Suryavarman II, made sure of it. He was no dummy. Even back then, he knew size mattered.
We’ve been to Siem Reap once before. We toured temples. We learned about the Khmer civilization. It was a great experience. But we didn’t get to see much of Siem Reap. We saw how Cambodians lived 100’s of years ago, but we didn’t get to see how they live now. We wanted to change that up this time.
The Ride Into Town
Siem Reap is home to a quarter of a million people, but if you’re a tourist, you’d never know it. Our visit started at the airport. It’s a modest, elegant structure built in the traditional Cambodian style. Inside it’s as modern as any airport anywhere.
The ride from the airport to the hotel took us down what I’d call a country road, and then into what seemed to be the heart of the city. There was a park, a big traffic circle, an outdoor market, and lots of activity.
Trees and lush greenery were everywhere. Everywhere! There was traffic, mostly motorbikes, tuk-tuks, and mini-trucks, but even with the traffic, the whole scene felt laid-back. Maybe because I wasn’t the one who was driving.
We were on a big tour bus. On our previous trip from this airport, we hired a minivan. The driver spent the duration of that trip trying to sell us on a tour to Angkor Wat. “Come with me! It’ll be the best tour ever!”
Leaving the town center, we headed down a wide thoroughfare lined with palm trees. High-end hotels and golf resorts, mostly hidden behind walls of vibrant green shrubs and trees, lined the boulevard. We’d come to the high-rent district.
One of these hotels would be our destination. Since leaving the airport, we’d driven down a country road, passed through a cute little “downtown” area, and cruised down a tree-lined boulevard. This was a city of a quarter million? None of us on that bus would have ever known.
To be continued…
