Changing Plans: a Day on the Water

Two days ago, as the plane from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, prepared to land at Siem Reap, I saw great expanses of marshland below. When I landed, I told my guide Sopheak that I wanted to spend one less day temple hopping and do some birding.

Visiting Angkor Wat, Day 2

The Angkor Wat complex includes 246 temples. Today I visited 8 of them.

Cambodian Reflections

In retrospect, Kathmandu seems like a city recovering from an earthquake compared to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Visiting Angkor Wat, Day 1

An hour after I arrived in Siem Reap, my guide picked me up for the first temple tour. Angkor Wat is the general name for a group of old temples in a complex that covers 401 sq. km.

Remembering the Dark Past

My morning in Phnom Penh was to include three stops; but because Obama might arrive anytime for the ASEAN meeting and the late Cambodian king's funeral, my guide suggested we cut the tour short to get to the airport before the army closed the roads. I insisted we make one visit—to the Genocide Museum. I felt it important to be a witness to the atrocity that befell these kind people, to in some small way honor the victims.