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After four hours on a tight-fitting “speed boat” (plus 30 minutes at Vietnam customs along the river and another 60 minutes at Cambodia customs, neither of which has any line of demarcation across the Mekong), we arrived to Phnom Penh for a brief visit. We went promptly to the Killing Fields memorial, a tasteful yet somber reminder of the atrocities perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge where we were able to visit a memorial and walk among a few of the excavated mass graves. Nearly 25% of the population of Cambodia was killed during these terrible times, primarily those who were more educated or talented: the entire country had only 50 physicians by the end of the atrocities, and the infrastructure necessary to train more had been devastated. The following morning, our group also visited on of the prisons used during this time. In between, we visited the Royal Palace grounds for a walkabout in the courtyards before the day grew too overwhelmingly hot (temperatures have hovered near 90 throughout the trip with extremely high humidities).
After only 24 hours in Phnom Penh, we flew on to Siem Reap for the evening. On Wednesday morning we visited two of the ancient temples just outside of town: Bayon, the temple with many faces, and Ta Prohm of Tomb Raider fame which the jungle has tried to take over. After lunch and a mid-day break, we returned to the incredible Angkor Wat where we were able to climb into the highest reaches without huge cues and snap photos as the day waned. Then, as if the day hadn’t already been full enough, we had dinner before proceeding to a performance of the Phare Circus, a non-profit organization that trains young people for careers in acting or circus, where we enjoyed an interesting and varied show of acrobatics, acting, and comedy.
Our last day in Cambodia, we visited a fair-trade market and an artists workshop where we were able to see local crafts being produced (as well as load up our suitcases with a few souvenirs) before another fabulous lunch at a community nonprofit which focuses on child safety issues. After a visit to Banteay Srey, the “citadel of women,” we flew out to Bangkok for the last three nights of our trip
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