CAMBODIA: Bus ride Phnom Penh-Siem Reap, Tonle Sap Lake and Apsara Dancers

Overland Bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap:
It was actually great (much better than the bus trip we took in India in 2009!!) Started out with a boxed lunch onboard, pastry with ham and a muffin as well as complimentary water handed out. Funny 'black market' movies that were dubbed so badly in English, they were almost unintelligible or at times you could see the reflection of the person filming the dubbed movie. Good times!

Loved getting to see many areas of the countryside as we drove from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap province over the course of 6 hours. Seeing people working in their rice fields, walking the water buffalo, or carrying all kinds of everything on bikes, donkeys, bicycles – you name it and it carried something on these roads. Many places the road had been washed out by heavy rains or flooding. It’s truly amazing to see some of these rural areas of Cambodia and previously Vietnam.

Tonle Sap Lake: After arrival in Siem Reap we were immediately taken out on the waters of Tonle Sap Lake by our fantastic guide, T. Tonle Sap Lake is the largest fresh water lake in South East Asia (located in Siem Reap province) that T. mentioned measures approximately 300 kms long by 50 kms wide and is home to many thousands of Vietnamese people who have crossed the border without documentation.

Where the homes and storefronts along the Mekong seemed at times unstable as they stood on stilts in the dank water, these homes on Tonle Sap Lake are completely housed on boats and the owners move with the dry and rainy seasons, further up and down the lake as the water rises and falls. When it is dry season and low water, there are rice fields that are accessible (currently under the waters) and during rainy season these rice fields are flooded out and no planting or harvesting takes place. It is definitely a damp, dank and different way to live, completely in and on the water of Tonle Sap Lake.

Tonle Sap Lake, Siem Reap

Artisans D’Angkor: Normally I don’t care for the requisite ‘shopping stops’ while on tour, but I’ve also learned that sometimes these shopping stops are the only time you’ll actually get to buy local handicrafts due to the jam-packed nature of some tours. We stopped at a factory called Artisans D’Angkor (note the French influence) to watch & learn about some local people (mute and/or deaf folks) who are provided skills training by the government (carving, millworking, painting, etc). The government trains these people in different skills that allow them to keep some of the ancient traditions and handiworks of the Cambodian people alive.

We asked the shops rep about the length of time and pay rates. As an example a 4 foot x 2 foot wooden carving may take 100-150 hours to complete from a raw block of wood to intricate carved wall hanging. Pay rate: $0.57USD/hour (not great, but everything is relative – everything in Siem Reap is cheap as dirt to buy. Ok dirt’s not cheap actually, just built a house, so we know this well!) Anyway, figuring it out, this artisan gets paid $57 bucks to carve this beautiful piece of artwork. We get into the showroom and of course, inquisitive minds that we have, we start looking for the same piece that the guy was just carving. Retail cost: $1346USD! Um, Wow. But we agree it’s a good cause as the government, in whichever manner, employs these people that might otherwise not be employed from some extremely poverty stricken parts of Cambodia. People, consider yourself warned, Christmas gifts will be coming from Cambodia this year! 

Apsara Dance Show: This evening was as beautiful as I expected/hoped it would be with the Khmer Classical dancers portraying their beautiful ballet of stories and legends. The video and pictures speak for themselves.