CAMBODIA – SIEM REAP

FEBRUARY 7 – 14, 2026

Siem Reap is more than just the famous Angkor Wat, which I wrote about in a separate blog. This one is about the other stuff to see and do.

First of all, entering Cambodia. We had to apply for an online e-visa. No problem. There was no charge. A pleasant surprise. When we landed in Siem Reap and got to the immigration queue, a guard was going up and down waving his phone and asking if everyone had their e-visa. Yes. When we got up to the customs agent he wanted to see our boarding pass. How the hell do you think we got here? There is only one hallway that took us from the plane to this location. We showed him our boarding passes. Then he wanted to see our e-visa. Ok. Not ok.

We were told / waved off, to go to the other side of the hall. Why? When we got to the other side of the hall we stopped at the first officer who wanted to see our e-visa and passports, which he kept and handed to the next officer. The next officer wanted payment. I can understand paying for the visa, but why were we not charged when we applied on-line, like every other country we have gone through?

Remember, we had just landed a few minutes ago, we had no Cambodian Riel even though we tried to buy some in Thailand. Cambodian Riel is worthless outside of the country. No one deals in it. We did not even have enough USD, which they did accept. “We don’t have enough cash. Do you take credit card?” No. “We do NOT have any cash.” “Ok, we take credit card.” We were waved onto the next guy, who took our credit card, handed our passport back to the second guy who gave us a receipt and waved us back to the queue with the first customs agent.

When I say “waved” I mean very rudely, like we were trash and ‘get away from me’ kind of wave off. No one spoke a word of English. The entire transaction was with sign language and pointing. I have never gone through such a chaotic customs process or been treated so rudely. We were not the only ones. Others were shaking their heads also.

Leaving the country was not so simple either. My carry-on back pack was flagged at the x-ray machine. “Do you have keys inside?” Yes. “Can we see them?” Sure, here they are. They ran my back pack again. “Do you have keys inside?” Yes, I just showed them to you. “Can we see them?” Okay…. They ran my back pack yet again. “Can we see the keys?” At this point I started to completely empty my back pack. The agent was saying, enough, enough. I kept on emptying it and told him I want him to see everything in my back pack so that he knows I am not smuggling something. He finally put his hands on mine and told me to stop. They did not ask anything more. So weird…..

The only positive part of the process was the plane ride. There were hardly any people on board.

I had been to Cambodia and Siem Reap 17 years ago. It changed more than a little bit. When I was here last, the streets were practically dirt roads. Now there were wide boulevards with decorative lights.

BOU SAVY GUESTHOUSE was a lovely place with super friendly and helpful staff and delicious food. Breakfast was included in our $23.50 a night room. They had arranged airport pick-up and return. They had their own tuktuk drivers to take us wherever we wanted to go, at a very reasonable price.

We were tired from the previous night’s late arrival, so we spent our first day close to home. We walked to the KILLING FIELDS GENOCIDE MUSEUM. There are about 20,000 mass grave sites throughout Cambodia, with the bodies of 1.3 million people who were killed and buried during the Khmer Rouge rule from 1975-1979. The Khmer Rouge regime arrested and eventually killed almost everyone who was suspected of connections with the former government, foreign governments, were professionals or intellectuals. Ethnic Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Cham, Christian or Buddhist were also targeted. The term “killing fields” was coined by a Cambodian journalist who had escaped. It is estimated that a total of 2.2 million people eventually died due to the genocide as well as subsequent disease and starvation, out of a population of 8 million, .

In order to save ammunition, the executions were often carried out using poison or improvised weapons made of farm tools such as sharpened bamboo sticks, hammers, machetes, hoes, scythes and axes.  In some cases the children and infants of adult victims were killed by having their heads bashed against the trunks of trees, and then thrown into the pits alongside their parents. The rationale was “to stop them growing up and taking revenge for their parents deaths.”

The museum had a first hand account of a man who suffered through the atrocities. His story was told with pictures, drawings and words. It is hard to believe that humans can do these things to another living thing, let alone another human.

This site was smaller than the one I had seen in Phnom Penh years ago, but no less heart wrenching. There was a monument filled with human skulls and bones.

There was a monastery on site with child monks. The cheeky little guys called us into their classroom, only to have us make a donation, which we happily did.

On our walk back to the hotel we stopped at a factory / shop where they were hand etching silver plates. The intricacy of detail was mind-blowing.

Further along we stopped at a crocodile leather factory / shop. A huge crocodile hide hung outside the shop. Stacks of croc skulls sat on a table. Piles of leather were being crafted by workers. Fancy shoes and handbags were sold inside.

The next day we went to ANGKOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK, commonly referred to as Angkor Wat, written about in a separate blog.

While traveling between temples, we passed a LANDMINE MUSEUM. I thought I would see old landmines, which we did; but I was not expecting to have an entire education into how many landmines are still left unexploded (3-6 million of the 10 million used), unexploded bombs (tons and tons of the 500,000+ tons that were dropped), how many people are still injured each year (about 30), how many have been victims between 1979-2024 (over 65,000). The main victims are children playing: 64%, finding food:13%, clearing farmland: 10%, construction: 3%. Meaning only 10% are exploded by detonation groups.

The museum was one of the most informative I have ever been to. There were not only tens of thousands of landmines, bombs, guns, and ammunition, all neutralized of course. There were newspaper clippings of events of the Vietnam war, as they were happening; which gave insight into how Cambodia got mixed up with that war. (The USA was trying to stop the flow of men and equipment from North Vietnam into the south via the Ho Chi Minh trail located in Cambodia) There were more clipping about the Pol Pot era.

The most fascinating part of the museum was the story of AKI RA. He is the founder of this museum. He was a 10 year old child soldier in the Khmer Rouge army, and later recruited by Vietnam. In his own words, “For 10 years I lived in the jungle with other children. … This was my life. I had no choice. I thought this was normal for all children.” They were not taught to read or write, they were taught to fire a gun, lay landmines and fight.

After the war he decided to do something for his people to atone for laying mines. He started removing the landmines. He was the first person to do so. He found the mines with a stick or a knife while wearing flip flops. He personally exploded over 50,000 UXOs.

He went further by starting a school for injured kids. He gave them an education and a new lease on life. This particular school is now closed with some its former students graduated from university and have families. Their personal stories were pasted on the walls. He continues to fund over 30 schools across Cambodia. As an area was demined, if the children wanted a school, he built a one and funded it on his own and scrounging for donations. This was done by a man who had no education himself, and had no help from the government, domestic or foreign. He was honoured as CNN Top Hero in 2010, as well as accolades from other agencies.

We were honoured to meet the man. He told us a bit more about his life. He showed us a dummy mine field and asked if we could see the land mines or trip wires. NO. He took a stick and pointed them out. Even though we knew they were neutralized, it was creepy to be that close to a landmine. He had written a small book about his life. We bought a copy and he signed it for us.

There was a cute story of a man named Am who lost his leg to a landmine in his own back yard. When he left the hospital they gave him a plastic leg. When he got home he used the plastic leg to set off more mines in his backyard. He went back to the hospital to get a new leg. He did this 7 times, until the hospital refused to give him a new leg. He then made his own leg out of wood, bamboo, plastic or metal and carried on detonating mines. THAT is dedication!

We went to the WAR MUSEUM one day. We met a fellow who told us his story of his life as a child soldier and how he had cats and their 9 lives beat. He had been shot, blown up and stabbed. He showed us his shrapnel still inside his body, just under the skin. He showed us the bullet holes. He showed us his wooden leg, which he lost to a landmine. He was totally blind for 6 years due to that explosion. Sight was partially restored to his right eye, but his left eye is still totally blind due to his own leg bone fragment that is lodged in it. Sinarth also wrote a book, which we bought, and he autographed for us.

He told us this museum was located on a former mine field. As we walked about, there were dummy mines still sitting along the paths. It was so creepy to be walking beside them. I knew they were neutralized, but I still gave them a wide berth.

SURVIVOR STORY: There was a display of stories from survivors of the landmines. One young man (not Sinarth) wrote how he lost his leg. He was 7 years old and out watching the cows when he heard an explosion. “I heard it and thought…oh where did the landmine explode? I looked around where I was and saw the cows, I thought, oh maybe a cow stepped on a landmine. But the cows were all still there so I thought, oh it wasn’t them….where did the landmine explode?…Then I looked at my body. All is blood and my t-shit is burned and my hair is also burnt and my leg is destroyed. I see the smoke and the fallen trees and think, oh it was me that stepped on the landmine.” It took a long time for help to arrive. When it finally did, they thought he would die because his stomach was also ripped open. After recuperating in hospital he could not return home because his step-mother did not like him. He wanted to go to school and supported himself by selling lottery tickets, for which he received a small commission. He managed to finish grade 7 but realized he had to leave the village and head to Siem Reap. He hitched a ride on the back of a pig trailer. He went to Handicap International where he received a plastic leg. He inquired if there was schooling help for landmine victims. He was sent to Aki Ra’s school where he continued his studies. It was the first time he saw “giant white people”. He went on to University and hold 2 degrees. He pays it forward by supporting and housing 17 children victims of landmines by providing their schooling. And you think you have it bad???

This open air museum had old tanks, jeeps, and anti-aircraft guns on display. Some of the tanks, with its 10 cm (4″) walls had huge holes blown out of them, showing just how powerful some of the landmines could be.

We went to the NATIONAL MUSEUM. It is dedicated to the preservation of Angkor artifacts as well as providing information about the art and culture of the Khmer civilization from the 9th to 14th century. That sounds really boring, but it wasn’t. It was very well laid out with the different time periods in different halls. It has always fascinated me how an archaeologist can tell how some pot or statue is from a certain period of time. This museum broke that down. Subtle little things speak to different time periods. A mustache on a face. Eyebrows that touch or do not touch. The swirl of a dress. The presence or absence of a dagger. The way the hair is styled. Suddenly it all made sense! (don’t I feel silly for not figuring that out) It is exactly the same as how we can tell which decade (more or less) a certain hairstyle, dress, house or car is from. Remember avocado green appliances from the 1960s? gag…. Religion and politics played a huge factor, just like today.

And then there’s always that character who has to one-up everyone. Like this statue that has about a 1000 little buddhas etched into the suit. Ego also played a part in style, just as it does today. LOL

On a much lighter note: We made a stop at a PALM SUGAR CANDY farm. We learned that there are male and female sugar palms. The palm juice is extracted similar to our maple syrup, then boiled down into candy. It is yummy.

We often saw these FUNNY TRUCKS.

One village had many vendors with a whole pig roasting over an open grills.

There were WATER BUFFALO grazing in many fields.

I don’t think there is one sink with a straight faucet in the entire country.

We should have spent more time in Cambodia, but we were coming to the last few weeks of travel and we still had to make it to Hanoi and our flight. It was time to go to Vietnam….