Okay, we are a couple of posts in and it's pretty evident that the trip my Mom and I took to Southeast Asia was epic. While brief, our detour to Cambodia was every bit as delightful as Viet Nam. Here are a couple of airport pics: the Noi Bai (Ha Noi) airport was clean, modern, comfortable and spacious.
The Siem Reap airport was also nice, just much smaller.
We flew into Siem Reap to visit the ancient temples of Angkor, something that has been on my bucket list ever since my mission in 2000. On my mission, I grew very close to some amazing women from Cambodia who came over to the United States as widows following the Khmer Rouge regime. Later, I went back to record their stories for my Honors Thesis, paying particular attention to the role of the arts in their survival, as the arts were targetted by the Khmer Rouge regime. With all that in mind, it was pretty special when we attended the Phare Circus on our first evening as the purpose of this circus is to support the next generation of Cambodian artists.
As much as we enjoyed our excursions in Cambodia, our experience with the "Yellow Natural House" homestay was probably the highlight of our time in Cambodia. If you ever find yourself in Siem Reap, you should experience it--seriously. But why? While the rooms were clean and comfortable, they weren't fancy. The location was fine, but on the outskirts of town down a bumpy dirt road. The view from our balcony was interesting, but certainly not as dramatic as the mountains of Ninh Binh.
The Yellow House stood apart because of its exceptional hospitality. Our hosted Navy helped us arrange a private car for the hour-long trip from the airport. As soon as we arrived in our room, she brought up fresh papaya drinks and helped us make arrangements both for the circus that evening and for our tour of Angkor the following day, helping us secure a tuk tuk driver. Then she let us know that if we ever wanted, she and her mother would gladly prepare breakfast, lunch or dinner for us for $5 USD per person. We should just let them know a little ahead of time so they would have time to go to the market.
And wow, am I ever grateful we took them up on their offers for homecooked meals. They were incredible! For breakfast fwe had noodles, dragonfruit, and sticky rice/bean paste steamed in banana leaves.
Shortly after, our tuk tuk driver arrived to chauffeur us. For $25 USD, he transported us wherever we needed to go for the entire day. A quiet and kind man, I feel terrible that I can't remember his name! Still, I remember his face and am grateful for his help.
In case you are wondering what a tuk tuk is, it kind of looks like this--a motorbike with a carriage on back for passengers. Ours was made out of wood and a bit more traditional in appearance.
Angkor Wat was orignially constructed as a Hindu Temple between 1113 and 1150. It's astonishing that it was constructed in even less time than the Salt Lake Temple! The largest religious complex in the world, it was later converted to a Buddhist Temple, with most of the statues of the Hindu gods being replaced with those of Buddha. Since then, Angkor Wat has had a tumultuous path with many envying its bounty. When Angkor was seized by the Thai in 1431, the capitol of Cambodia was relocated to Phnom Penh. Throughout the whole temple complex, you'll find statues of Buddha missing his head, as the sculptures were carried off by the Thai or by French colonizers or sold on the black-market.
You can also see gunshots in some of the walls from the Cambodian civil war. Our guide also explained that the king of Thailand actually wanted to move Angkor Wat to Thailand and started disassembling some of the enormous towers. When that was thwarted, parts of Angkor were cluster bombed.
I would do your own research and fact check this--my brief internet queries suggest that while some parts of Angkor were indeed disassembled, the Thai did not deconstruct the towers of Angkor Wat itself. Still, our guide's recounting reflects the depth of the animosity between these countries. I hadn't realized how active the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand is, but relations are dangerously strained, especially since 2025. For me, it became easier to understand why it was sometimes difficult for members of our Southeast Asian branch to connect. Our Relief Society consisted primarily of Cambodian women, but the Relief Society President was Thai. In my youthful naivete, I kind of assumed everyone got along since the two countries were so close geographically, and more importantly, both loved sticky rice. While we Americans lumped everyone together (Cambodian, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian, Hmong, Korean, Chinese, etc.), there were many difficult cultural and national differences that had to be overcome for everyone to connect as brothers and sisters in Christ's church.
Anyway, enough of my pontificating. Here are some more photos.
Last but not least, Angkor Wat (the temple city) still functioning as a temple.
The next temple on our interary was Ta Prohm, completed in 1186. As a nature lover, it was probably my very favorite with all of the mossy overgrowth and enormous trees growing right out of the ruins.
Wild. Absolutely wild.
Okay, this echo chamber was remarkable. The acoustics were such that if you thudded the hollow of your chest, you could actually hear the sound reverberate across all four walls. I've never experienced anything like it!
After all, the mossy stone piles are cool, but it would be so sad to lose all of Angkor to ruins.
From there, our tuk tuk driver drove us to Angkor Thom, or the Great City. This 3.5 square mile complex with four main gates contains multiple temples and other archeological wonders, the most famous of which is Bayon, built in the early 13th century by King Jayavarman.
The most distinctive feature of the Bayon is all of the smiling stone faces carved into the towers.
Also, this is where I saw a monkey run up to a man and start aggressively pawing his legs because he was drinking out of a coconut. I guess the sign wasn't kidding!
Next stop, the Baphuon Temple.
Terrace of the Elephants
The Royal Palace. Okay, this one was spooky! Kind of at the edge of the Angkor Thom, I found it by wandering a short way down a forgotten path. I was absolutely astonished by how quickly it felt like I was in the middle of the jungle. The sound of the insects and birds and monkeys was intense, and even though I'd left my Mom sitting on a bench just a minute or two earlier, everything was so overgrown. Coming across these ruins felt like I'd trespassed into another age.
Luckily, I made it out alive and celebrated with some fresh coconut juice. When I told the woman that I didn't love coconut water, she promised to pick me out a good one. She succeeded--it was ice cold and delicious. We also found a couple pair of elephant pajama pants for Annika and Eila.
Our last temple on the day's itinerary was Phnom Bakheng where we hike to a templed atop a hill to watch the sunset. Here's the trail to the top.
Arriving back at the Yellow House, we were tired but Navy had dinner all prepared for us. This Chicken Amok was my favorite home-cooked meal.
Potato chips are fine, but crispy green plantains with lime leaves are even better.
Stay tuned for the next day's adventures touring Angkor's Grand Circuit.
