'A blueprint for me to print, a map for me to get back, a guide for my eyes not to lose scent!'

V's Cambodian UBL: 'A blueprint for me to print, a map for me to get back, a guide for my eyes not to lose scent!'
We know she's planning to go there the 4th time!

Upon landing at Siem Reap at around 19:30, we headed straight to check in at our resort which was conveniently nestled outside the city. Quite sadly, the city center is a bustling place and very touristy! Palm Village is about 10 minutes away from the city by car and 20 minutes by tuk-tuk.

Palm Village Resort at Sunrise


Our cottage, C5


The sit out


Our cottage was done up completely in wood and cane. Ah, cane! I wonder how Nih would feel if he ever went there :P but to me, it was absolutely earthy and cosy!

Our room




View from our Sit Out


Such a self-contained resort! The entire place had a personal touch about it, right from the people to the smallest detail.

The Pool and our everyday Breakfast Area, at Sunrise


Every morning we would feast on delicious pancakes, a really divine bowl of soup, baguettes, fruits and Khmer tea. We would then rush off to see the ruins, mostly on a tuk-tuk.

One of the reasons why I named my blog such, just one!



Another Pool View, one from our breakfast spot!


A random flower


Another dining spot and the internet corner


The statue around which Khmer dances were performed every evening


View from a lounge chair



16x Forward to Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and many more!

A-maze-d!

Truly! The Royal Palace was huge. We had only about an hour to go to leave for the airport to go to Siem Reap. So we decided this would be a quickie.

The Royal Palace of Cambodia


Gates of the Royal Palace


These gates are used only to receive the guests of the royal family, that still resides in the Palace.

The Silver Pagoda, wonder why?


We were looking around for the repeatedly spoken Silver Pagoda and when we saw the building I was mighty surprised. It had the same yellow and white of the buildings around. Well, when you enter you understand why. The tiles are all made of solid silver, that's why!

My jaws dropped in amazement at the bling inside. Considered the royal temple, the Pagoda has numerous Buddhas encrusted with jewels and precious stones, one huge Buddha made of emerald and another encrusted with 9500 diamonds.

Royal Dancers Hall


This is where banquets and state functions are held. To the right is the house that Napoleon gifted.

Little did I know that the Royal Palace would showcase classic Khmer architecture and kick start my Angkor Wat experience...






...with its defensive wall (Kampaeng), throne hall (Preah Tineang), Temple of the Emerald Buddha, stupas, towering spires (Prang Prasat) and those numerous mural paintings, some of which were seen falling apart.

Well, one for the road!


We quickly exited the Place and made our way to the airport, collected our baggage and boarded the cute flight to Siem Reap.




Fast-forward!

'The beginning was boring, but the rest was interesting. And the rest are arriving later.'

That was the initial thought as I waited at the gate at BKK Airport. After all that drama. Or should I say trauma?

Well, every moment had something... to cherish, to laugh about, tense ones included!

National Museum of Cambodia


On entering the premises, I saw this really 'cute' Ganesha, with a really huge potbelly!


CU of the Ganesha



The facade of the building below makes it very imposing. Khmer buildings are primarily made of sandstone.



I really like ancient Khmer architecture, colossal and imposing as they are.


As we weren't allowed to photograph anything on the inside, I finally laid my camera to rest and headed in. The museum houses ancient Khmer cultural material that includes ceramics, bronze, wooden and stone sculptures. Easily apprehendable was the fact that Shiva and Vishnu were favorites in this part of the world too, mainly due to the religious invasions.

We spent almost 2 hours in there, sat by the ponds to watch school kids feed the fishies and then headed down to the nearby Royal Palace!

A longing for food... and the past!

Before heading to the National Museum, we decided to taste the local Khmer food! Khosal took us to Phnom Saravan, a few minutes from the Royal Palace for some cheap mouth-watering vegetable curry and rice. Khmer cuisine tastes very much Thai, but for the less spicy curry... The smells wafted very nostalgic thoughts of Uni days with Micky, Lee, Sam and MoonSun... and Spicy Noodle House!!

Khosal


R trying to decide what drink she wants!



An hour from then, with sated appetites, we headed past the Mekong River...

Mekong River, Phnom Penh





...to the National Museum of Cambodia, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful and traditional museums I've ever been to!

Can you spare an adjective?

One of the most depressing places I've been to and it just helped me further my depressing state of mind. We went to the Genocide Museum from Killing Fields and I had no clue as to what I was going to experience in there! Having already been to the place twice, V stayed out. I understood why when I entered the first classroom. No photo or text can describe my state of mind as I walked around the place.

You wouldn't even dare smile in there! You can never bring yourself to.



HOLIDAY MODE TO REALITY MODE!

To know that there existed a place like this shows how far man is willing to go.

I saw what it is and what it takes to make a complex world.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum



At Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum


Prisoners were brought in here, stripped and photographed, -- yes, would you believe it?! PHOTOGRAPHED for record keeping -- and tortured until they confessed to crimes that they had been charged with. I guess the Khmer Rouge were worse than the Nazis.

A photographed prisoner



What follows is what is posted at the Tuol Sleng Museum,
-- You must answer accordingly to my question. Don’t turn them away.
-- Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that, you are strictly prohibited to contest me.
-- Don’t be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
-- You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
-- Don’t tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
-- While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.
-- Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is no order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
-- Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.
-- If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many many lashes of electric wire.
-- If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.

Classroom converted prison cells



Prisoners were holed up in these rooms for around two months, tortured by pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds, forced to eat feces and drink urine and such.

Classroom converted prison cells









This place was found by people who followed the stench of rotting bodies to the school gates. The prisoners were believed to have been mutilated hours before the Pol Pot regime was driven out of Phnom Penh. The photographs hanging on the walls of each of the cells today are those of those final prisoners who were mutilated when the place was found.

Torture tools used by the DK Regime







Prisoners would also be hung upside down until they became unconscious and then their heads were dipped into dirty water until they woke up in shock.

The Gallows





Hallways and rooms filled ceiling to floor with photographs of almost 20000 prisoners



We spent a while sitting there, taking in everything we'd seen, just like the many others.



The only cheerful thing I saw in that place, if you could call it that.



Now, can you actually spare an adjective to describe this?