sv evi

We needed to leave Thailand to reset our visas, so we flew directly from Phuket to Siem Reap. Our taxi driver told us that Siem Reap means “Thailand defeated” in Khmer because of an ancient battle won there. Even now there is fighting on the border between Thailand and Cambodia — he told us Thailand wants to take territory from Cambodia.

We only had three days in Siem Reap. The first day we rented bikes and visited Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm temples (featured in the move Lara Croft: Tomb Raider). Ma Chin rode in the tuk tuk while we biked because we didn’t want her to get hurt biking. Also it was very hot!! Luckily the bike path was mostly through the forest in the shade. The temples were awe-inspiring! Ta Prohm was full of giant ficus trees. Riki and I went out to a fancy 8 course (6 mains, 2 desserts) meal of Cambodian cuisine prepared with French culinary techniques at Cuisine Wat Damnak. It was delicious, and cost the same as a date night at Wooden City in Tacoma. I didn’t take any photos though!

Our second day we visited The Apopo Center, where we learned about the Hero Rats who sniff out landmines in Cambodia. The rats work 4 times faster than a human with a metal detector because they are trained to smell the explosive powder and ignore other metal. The rats are African giant pouched rats who have an excellent sense of smell and are too light to set off the landmines. We got to see a demonstration of them working, and we got to hold one! The landmines in Cambodia were set by the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese who ousted the Khmer Rouge.

I was hunting down a dish called Mi Kola for lunch — noodles with eggs, peanuts, and cucumbers — that I remembered from the Cambodian restaurant Phnom Penh in the CID in Seattle. Our Grab driver came in to lunch with us, helped translate and order for us, and showed us how to eat the food we got! He was super friendly. The food was delicious — I loved the giant plate of various greens that was served with the banh cheao, a Cambodian pancake with egg & pork inside.

In the evening we went to Phare, The Cambodian Circus. Phare, The Cambodian Circus originated in 1994 from the Phare Ponlue Selpak (Brightness of Art) School in Battambang.The school was founded by nine young men returning from refugee camps in Thailand after the Khmer Rouge regime. They use arts training to help youth heal from trauma, poverty, and war.

The circus was held in an intimate circular theater. There was a band that played traditional instruments the whole time, and the performers did acrobatics, danced, and did aerial silks while telling the story of a person returning home to the village to visit his family. It was marvelous! We all loved it!

On our last day we woke up early to beat the heat and visit more temples. Tomu opted to sleep in. Here are some pics from Bayon Temple and the Elephant Terrace in the Angkor Thom complex.

Our time in Cambodia was short but also sweet. The people were very warm with brilliant smiles. Riki returned to Ratanachai Shipyard in Phuket to work on evi. The kids, Ma, and I flew to Bangkok to continue our travels.