Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia Photo: Alamy
BST 08 Jul 2012
Aki Ra was a child soldier in the Khmer Rouge. After the war, he learnt how to
clear landmines, working first with the UN and then on his own. Nearly 20
years later, he’s still clearing mines and runs the Cambodia Landmine Museum
just outside Siem Reap, as well as a residential school for at-risk
children.
Sovann Koth was a child soldier in the Cambodian army, often going without
food or water. He was told that if the Khmer Rouge caught him, they would
eat him. Koth is now a tour guide and hopes to open a hotel one day.
I went to Cambodia to see the temples, but as I watched the sun rise at Angkor
Wat on my last morning, it was Aki Ra, Sovann Koth and the many like them
who occupied my thoughts. Yes, the temples are beautiful and awe-inspiring,
but I found the descendants of those who built them over 800 years ago more
so.
Like many, I suspect, my recollections of what happened in Cambodia in the
Seventies and Eighties were pretty vague. And the more I read about the
genocide, the civil war, the disease and destruction, the less certain I
felt about going. Would its grisly past insinuate itself into its present?
Well, how could it not – though my introduction to Cambodia was gentle enough.
Song Saa is a new 27-villa resort spread over two tiny islands in the Gulf
of Thailand. It offers the type of barefoot luxury that is common in the
Indian Ocean but which, for now at least, is unique in Cambodia. Building it
has been a labour of love for its Australian owners, Melita and Rory Hunter.
They have a long association with the country and were determined to provide
luxury that trod lightly on the environment, was in harmony with nature and
benefited the local community. The result is a special resort – barely
visible from the sea – with great food (the chef used to work on North
Island in the Seychelles where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent their
honeymoon), fabulous villas designed by Melita, a beautiful beach, a
holistic spa and unfailingly charming staff.
The Song Saa is a new resort spread over two islands (photo: Alamy)
If all you want to do is kick back in some style and comfort, this is the
place to do it. But if you want to get more involved with the local
community, meet the villagers, go out with the fishermen or see how one of
the resort’s local agricultural schemes is working, you can do that too.
During our stay, Song Saa arranged for two monks to come and give us a
blessing. In Cambodia, you’re never very far from a monk. Though the Khmer
Rouge reduced their number to just a few hundred, there are around 60,000
today and most villages support a small monastery. After a great deal of
chanting, one of the monks tied a piece of scarlet yarn around my wrist for
luck.
Inauspiciously, it fell off the following day, but perhaps it was just the
heat as by then I had swapped the cool breezes of Song Saa for the
sweltering temperatures of Siem Reap. It was 7.30am when Sovann Koth picked
me up from La Résidence d’Angkor, one of the city’s loveliest hotels, and
already the day was on the uncomfortable side of warm. By the time we
finished our first temple, Angkor Thom, I felt queasy. After two more
temples, I’d had enough. We found a lump of masonry in the shade and sat
down.
I asked Koth why he had taken a photograph of the priest blessing a party of
Japanese. Surely it was sacrilegious? Koth laughed. “He was a fake! The
priests who offer blessings for money in the temples are all fake. I wanted
him to know that I had seen him.”
We talked about the ancients; about the difference between worldly and divine
apsaras, and the many carvings and bas-reliefs. Then Koth told me about his
time in the army and about his six children, three of whom he and his wife
had adopted. They hoped to adopt more, he added.
Orphans are an emotive subject in Cambodia. Orphanages proliferate, though 75
per cent of their occupants are children who have been abandoned rather than
orphaned. Some of the orphanages are set up purely to make money, while
others encourage unhelpful hug-an-orphan tourism. I wondered about the
children who sell postcards at the temple gates. “They go to school for half
a day and come to the temples for the other half. If you buy, you encourage
their parents to send them, but if you don’t buy you reduce the family’s
income.” Koth sighed. There’s no easy solution to many of Cambodia’s
troubles, it seems.
Next up, beautiful Ta Prohm, a jungle temple held together by vast, pale tree
roots that twist through its crumbling walls and towers. Koth pointed to a
spot where tourists were taking it in turns to be photographed. “This is
where Angelina comes out of the temple in Tomb Raider,” he said, adding that
he liked Jolie – whose land purchases and adoption of a Cambodian boy have
aroused much criticism – a lot.
Ta Phrom, the jungle temple from the film Tomb Raider (photo: Alamy)
Later that day, I went to meet a fashion designer called Eric Raisina. In his
tiny workshops, Raisina has spent the past few years teaching his 30 staff
to dye, weave, cut patterns and make up garments – skills, like so many
others, that have been practically lost in the past 30 years. Raisina’s
designs sell mainly to expats and visitors; local girls prefer the sexy,
kooky styles affected by South Korean pop singers.
My guide the following day worried about these fashions in the way that
fathers of girls do the world over. He liked traditional things, he said,
like the singer Sinsi Samuth. “He was Cambodia’s Elvis Presley. But he was
killed by the Khmer Rouge in 1975…” It’s salutary how many conversations
in Cambodia end the same way.
We were driving out of Siem Reap, having watched the sun rise at Angkor Wat
(which was pretty crowded despite the early hour), to visit Aki Ra’s
landmine museum. In a collection of small, stifling rooms we inspected
mines, bombs and other explosives, all dug up by Aki Ra.
There are still around a million live landmines in Cambodia, and though
injuries caused by them are significantly reduced, there were still 211 such
accidents last year. We watched a film about Aki Ra’s heroic endeavours and
I left with a lump in my throat and two bars of $10 landmine-shaped soap –
“a soap to wash landmines away”.
As I left Siem Reap that night, I thought about all the people I had met. The
waitress determined to be “a manager”; the driver learning German; the
receptionist who was studying marketing; Sovann Koth and his plans to to
open a hotel.The horrors of the past have not been forgotten and there is
still much about the country that needs fixing. But the positivity of the
people I met was humbling and it’s this that I will remember long after I’ve
forgotten which king built which temple.
DIDYOU KNOW?
Rioting broke out in Cambodia in 2003 when a Thai actress claimed Angkor Wat
belonged to Thailand
Cambodia essentials
GETTING THERE
GETTING THERE
British Airways (0844 493 0787; ba.com) flies to Bangkok from Heathrow from
£740 in economy and from £1,167 in premium economy in early November. Onward
flights to Siem Reap are around £220 return with Bangkok Airways
(bangkokair.com). Angkor Air (00855 63 969268; cambodiaangkorair.com)
flies from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville three times a week from around £60 one
way.
PACKAGE
I travelled with Cazenove+Loyd (020 7384 2332; cazloyd.com),
which offers seven nights in Cambodia from £3,245 per person, based on four
nights’ all-inclusive at Song Saa and three nights’ b &
b at La Residence d’Angkor in Siem Reap, including return international
flight with British Airways, internal flights and transfers and a private
guide in Siem Reap.
WHEN TO GO
The best time is November-March, after the rainy season and before it gets too
hot.
THE INSIDE TRACK
- Song Saa (236 860360; songsaa.com; one-bedroom villa from £991 per night in high season, including all food and drink, laundry and boat transfers) offers lots of activities, from snorkelling and sea kayaking to rainforest trekking. Don’t miss the beautiful Five Mile Beach, a short boat trip away. Song Saa packs the picnic, you pack your swimsuit and sun cream (and something to repel the sandflies).
- To get the best out of the temples you really do need a guide. Your hotel or operator can organise one for you, or you can contact Sovann Koth direct (855 1252 9905; angkortemplesguide.webs.com). Half a day’s guiding costs around $90/£58, including one day’s entry pass.
- The experts say that you need at least three days (or a succession of half days) to do the temples “properly”, though I was happy enough to cherry pick the best.
- A dawn visit to Angkor Wat is well worth the early start, though don’t expect to have it to yourself even then.
- The Cambodia Landmine Museum, on the main road to Banteay Srei temple, is open year-round; admission $3/£1.90. Find out more about Aki Ra’s work at landmine-relief-fund.com.
The Cambodia Landmine Museum is on the main road to Banteay Srei temple
(photo: Alamy)
- The best way to get around Siem Reap is by tuk-tuk, which costs $1-$2/60p-£1.20. You can visit the temples by tuk-tuk, but an air-conditioned car is a godsend on a hot day.
WHAT TO BRING HOME
The two main markets in Siem Reap are the Old Market and the Night Market.
Both are worth a visit but note that most of the clothing, bags and
accessories are made in China or Vietnam. If you want to support local
craftspeople, look for the Artisans d’Angkor outlets (artisansdangkor.com),
which sell items made by graduates of a professional training school for
traditional handicrafts, including stone sculpture, silk painting and wood
carving. You can take a tour of the workshops.
For more upmarket purchases, visit the handful of chic shops next to the FCC
on Plokambor Avenue. Eric Raisina has a boutique here (as well as another by
appointment only at his workshop; details at ericraisina.com).
THE BEST HOTELS
Golden Banana ££
Stylish boutique hotel with 26 suites, pool, tropical garden and restaurant,
in a quiet location close to the Old Market. Suites are prettily furnished
in Cambodian style, with indoor and outdoor showers (00855 12 654638; goldenbanana.info;
doubles from £66 in November, including breakfast).
Heritage Suites £££
A Relais & Chateau property with 26 suites and rooms in a tropical garden
setting on the Siem Reap river. Offers personalised tours and excursions
with its own on-site tour manager (63 969100; heritagesuiteshotel.com;
doubles from £99, including breakfast).
La Résidence d’Angkor ££££
Khmer-style Orient-Express property on the Siem Reap river, with a lovely
pool, 62 spacious rooms and suites with balconies and a really good spa –
the post-temple tour treatment is particularly well judged. Luxurious, with
charming young staff and two restaurants (63 963390; residencedangkor.com;
doubles from £185 per night, including breakfast).
THE BEST KHMER RESTAURANTS
The city’s restaurants are concentrated in a maze of alleys around Pub Street,
just south of the Old French Quarter. If you don’t go to eat, at least have
a stroll around and a drink in somewhere like Miss Wong, a cosy,
open-fronted bar decorated in Old Shanghai style. This area gets quite
lively in the evening but is safe and unthreatening. Khmer cuisine is served
at lots of restaurants here; you’ll also find it on the menu at most hotels.
Khmer Kitchen £
Just behind Pub Street, a small, busy restaurant serving inexpensive authentic
Khmer cuisine, including lok lak beef, Khmer curry and amok. Open for lunch
and dinner (63 964154).
The Sugar Palm ££
A traditional wooden house just outside the Pub Street area, offering a more
sophisticated take on the local cuisine. Wraparound balcony, wooden floors,
friendly atmosphere and delicious food (Ta Phul Road; 63 964838).
Amansara ££££
This is as smart as Siem Reap dining gets, with such delights as krueng samott
(seafood curry) and koh tronouch (grilled beef skewers with crushed lemon
grass) in chic but friendly surroundings. Reservations essential for
non-residents (63 760333; amanresorts.com).
WHAT TO AVOID
- Don’t panic at Siem Reap airport when the man at the visa desk takes your passport away. You join a second queue and, after your man has conferred with his colleagues, another will return it.
- Don’t hold your tongue out of delicacy. Cambodians are happy to talk about the past – bearing witness to the atrocities is important.
- Don’t give money to child beggars. It keeps them on the streets and puts them at risk. Far better to make a donation to a reputable charity. And don’t indulge in potentially damaging orphanage tourism (find out more at friends-international.org).
- Avoid inappropriate dress pretty much everywhere outside your hotel, especially in the temples.
Have you been to Cambodia? Send your comments to yoursay@telegraph.co.uk or post them on our website at telegraph.co.uk/travel
