Children of Cambodia

I've travelled to many countries, each one leaving me with distinct memories. One country that I could not forget is Cambodia. The Angkor Wat is beautiful of course, but it is the people, or more accurately, the street children of Cambodia who left the most lasting impressions on me.

Most of us have no idea how lucky we are to have all that we have now. It is the same with me, unfortunately, that is, until I went to Siem Reap. My sole intention of going to Siem Reap was to visit the world famous Angkor Wat, a wholly selfish reason. I got my wish of course, but I also gained something else. I gained an insight on how tough life is for the street children who had to work to ensure their survival. Most times, it is not just their survival, but that of their families as well. Such heavy burdens on such small shoulders.

The street children of Siem Reap do not go to schools, a luxury unknown to them. Instead, children no taller than 3 feet are out on the streets daily, cajoling tourists like me to buy their wares. "One dollar, you buy?" is but a popular phrase. If the tourists do not understand English, no problem, there's Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Korean, Mandarin that they are able to converse in, just take your pick. I am amazed by their will to survive and adaptability, to make that extra dollar that will make such a huge difference to their families. An extra dollar that means practically nothing to us who are so used to our lifestyles. Certainly, their willingness and ease in learning a new language puts some of our local graduates who gripe about learning English to shame.

It's a sad sight to see street children who wait outside the many restaurants and ice-cream parlours in Siem Reap catering to tourists because such luxury is out-of-reach to them. Do we not feel guilty indulging in such luxury, bubble-wrapped in our worldly comforts while the children outside have barely enough to eat daily? How do you even begin to comfort a small child waiting outside with such hope in his eyes? How do you feel seeing a child without legs propping himself on a makeshift trolley begging for your spare change? I am ashamed that on the first day of my visit, I haggled with the lady selling books that are already so cheap. That feeling of shame never left me, so long after I left. How I could have thought that I got myself a good deal, when I am actually depriving them of money that they so needed? Money that is just spare change to me. I actually looked for her on the subsequent days, hoping to redeem myself, but sadly I never found her.

The children showed me so much more than the beauty of Angkor. They showed me that in order to survive, we need to be resilient and driven in the midst of adversity. It is not self-pity they wallow in, it is hope. They have shown me that in times when things look bleak, there is a glimmer of hope. The children have given me much more than I could ever asked for and I am forever grateful to them.

Le Meridien Angkor

We stayed at Le Meridien Angkor during our holiday in Siem Reap last year. Le Meridien is situated next to the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital run by Dr. Beat Richner and is the closest hotel to the legendary Angkor Wat temples. It's about 10 minutes by car to get to the entrance of Angkor Wat. The exterior of the hotel is not much to look at, but inside you'll find a retreat oasis for a good rest after a long day of exploration at the temples.

Garden view of Le Meridien Angkor

The lobby is bright and airy with very high ceilings and lots of potted plants. Outside the lobby the trees are lighted up with lanterns at night. As with many 5-star hotels, check-in is done at the many sofas around the lobby where we were served welcome drinks. Once check-in is completed we were escorted to our room. We were upgraded to a Deluxe room with two large queen beds and a big marble and black-tiled bathroom with separate shower and tub. The room has rich timber floors with Khmer-accented furniture. I especially loved the high and comfy beds! All deluxe rooms come with a garden view. Aromatherapy oils were placed in the room too, as with the complimentary tea and coffee facility.

Our Deluxe room! Is this not the perfect place to relax and re-energize?

Inside the hotel there are a few restaurants and bar which are able to cater to your meal requirements. On our first night there was a Khmer traditional dance at the Angkor Royale Cafe. The dancers were splendidly costumed and were gracious in their moves. As we were on a very short holiday we did not get a chance to dine at the hotel. We were too busy checking out the many restaurants at the Old Market area which is about 10 minutes ride by tut-tut from the hotel. Tut-tuts are available opposite the hotel. We found a rider who waited for us both days we were there to take us around.

Lovely Khmer-themed pool

There is a Khmer-designed pool in the hotel surrounded by water lily ponds. Teak wood deck chairs are placed around the pool for those who are working on a tan. The Cambodian weather was too warm for us so we preferred to stay indoors.

To relax after a long day of exploration, the hotel has a spa to rejuvenate tired limbs.

For guests who need a little retail therapy, there is a small shop inside the hotel selling Cambodian souvenirs and shirts.

The hotel staff were friendly and very accommodating even when faced with very rude guests. When we were checking out, a group of foreign guests had refused to pay for the Evian water they consumed. The free bottles of water were clearly labelled in our room, as with the Evian. The guests were extremely rude but the staff were clearly well-trained to handle them. I liked the fact that they greeted us by name every time we came down from our room.

Our holiday in Siem Reap was memorable not only because of the legendary Unesco World Heritage site of Angkor Wat, but also due much in part to this wonderful retreat called Le Meridien Angkor. Le Meridien Angkor will be my hotel of choice when visiting Siem Reap.

Tomb Raiding at Angkor Wat 2007

It had been raining since we landed at Siem Reap's airport and I was getting worried that this trip would be spent in the hotel instead of traipsing around Angkor's famous ruins. However, my prayers were answered by nightfall coz it stopped pouring. We had decided to start early, i.e. see the sunrise over Angkor so we woke up at 5:00am and was ready and waiting for our guide and driver by 5:30am. We arrived at Angkor Wat at 5:45am and I realized that there were already many people at the site.

The splendour of Angkor Wat intensified by the colors of the rising sun

As excited as I was to finally set eyes (and feet!) on this amazing monument, I was soon running along the walkway to get to our spot near the small lake. There were already a hive of activity there - people were looking for the best spot and setting up their cameras. We waited quite a while in anticipation for the sun to rise but it was well worth the wait. Angkor Wat awashed in hues of purple, then yellow was a sight to behold. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

The Gods lining up one side of Angkor Thom

The famous smiling Buddha of Bayon

Once the sun rose, the crowds started leaving. We wanted to take advantage of the cool morning air to visit the other sites before the mid-morning crowds start streaming in. It was a good decision coz when we arrived at Angkor Thom and Bayon, we were practically the only tourists there. We took our time looking at the bas-reliefs, exploring and of course, took lots of photos.

The landmine survivors at Ta Phrom

Then, it's off to Ta Phrom where Tomb Raider was filmed. Along the way into Ta Phrom there were musicians who were landmine victims. It's such a sad sight, but I am proud of them for making an honest life for themselves. Ta Phrom is a wonder of nature, to say the least. Where else could you see nature co-existing with the structures? It's almost surreal.

Tomb Raider's film site

Visiting Ta Phrom made me feel like Lara Croft. I just had to take a picture of the famous tree!

Our journey continued to other sites such as Ta Keo, Banteay Kdey, Sra Srang, Banteay Srei. Banteay Srei was exquisite. It's smaller than I imagine, however. Banteay Srei is located quite a distance from the main Angkor sites and to get there we had to pass through many villages. One thing I noticed is that there were signboards outside each property stating the donor's name. According to our guide, the tourists donated wells to these homes which explains their names and country of origin on the signboards. The Cambodian villagers are very poor. Apparently it costs about USD80 per well. It is always heart-rending to know that there are people in the world who could not afford the very basic of necessities. So those of you who are planning to visit Angkor, perhaps you could donate a well and make life a little easier for them. A well would also help them be self-sufficient as its water could be used to irrigate the farms (that's what the guide told us).

We went back to Angkor Wat in the afternoon. It was a very steep climb to the top and I really did feel as adventurous as Lara Croft (I kinda idolise her if you don't realize that already). The view from atop Angkor were breathtaking. Exhilirating even, after such a steep climb! I could see hot-air balloons in the distance amidst the lush foliage surrounding Angkor Wat. There were many apsaras (celestial beings) carved into the columns and walls within Angkor. After we are done exploring Angkor Wat we paid our respects to Lord Shiva before leaving back to our hotel for a shower and well-deserved rest.

In hindsight, Angkor is truly well-deserving of its Unesco World Heritage status. It's almost hard to believe that these were ruins from an old kingdom. I think it should be preserved for the future generations coz nothing else even comes close to describing it. You need to see it with your own eyes.