CAMBODIA HOLIDAYS - EXOTIC TAILOR MADE
Price Guide
Holidays from £1,566 per person.
Travel with: Kuoni
Book Holidays in Cambodia
Includes
9 nights - 2 nights Bangkok, 4 nights Siem Reap,
3 nights Phnom Penh, scheduled flights via Bangkok, transfers, full board,
excursions and local guide
Bustling capital Phnom Penh in the south, home to one million people, is the starting point of this seven night two-centre tailor-made holiday. People's impressions of Cambodia tend to be based on its recent and distant history. Is it an unruly volatile place? Or maybe an untapped historical paradise that you can explore in relative comfort?
Getting about the city
There's no public transport in
Phnom Penh. There are taxis but most people go for the cheaper option of cyclos
and tuk-tuks. A faster, white knuckle option is riding pillion on the scooter
taxis for 25p a mile. With all options, agree a price before you set off.
With average temperatures in the mid 30's, the huge dome of the Central Market, a legacy of French rule, is a welcome relief. Open from sunrise to sunset, it sells everything from fake designer goods to unsavoury savoury snacks. Jennifer was offered a bag of crunchy cockroaches, but preferred to snap up sunglasses, bags, and an outfit for only £2.
Like most capital cities you'll see poverty, particularly around the tourist areas. Cambodia is still a poor country with a welfare system to match. Begging is the norm here and you may see some things that trouble you. Keep a few local notes worth 10p or so for when you want to give. The relentless pace of life in an Asian city can be a shock to the system, especially after a 15 hour flight from the UK.
The Royal Palace complex near the river is a welcome oasis of calm. Built in the 1430's this palace is the best example of the renovations that started in the 1990's. The whole complex is full of temples and wonderful jewelled artefacts and it's a place that you'll really want to come and see.
Understand the history
The majority of Cambodia's social
problems can be traced back to the traumas of the Khmer Rouge rule in the
1970's. To get a greater understanding of this tragic period in Cambodian
history you should visit the S21 Genocide Museum. The former
high school was used as a prison and torture centre and serves as a powerful
reminder of what the Cambodian people had to endure during the savagery of the
Pol Pot regime.
Luxury hotels
As far as luxury hotels are concerned, Cambodia definitely lags behind its neighbour, Thailand. But if your backpacking days are history, there are alternatives. Like the 3 star Juliana, complete with a rather nice swimming pool.
Traditional arts and culture are undergoing a bit of a renaissance at the Apsara Arts Association on the outskirts of the capital. It was founded to give under-privileged children the opportunity to study classical Cambodian music and dance. For a small donation, visitors are welcome.
With Friends like these
Over the past few years a number of trendy bars and
restaurants have sprung up. Hearts of Darkness is the most
popular, catering to Phnom Penh's in-crowd, a rather interesting combo of hip
clientele, funky music and ancient artefacts.
Temples to explore
A 40-minute flight to the north west
takes you to Siem Reap, in the heart of the old Khmer Empire, and it is here
that you get a taste of Cambodian history at its most astonishing. There are
over 2000 temples in the area, with more being discovered all the time.
Cambodia's troubled past does mean that tourism into the country is in its
infancy but despite that, there were 600,000 visitors last year and almost all
of them came here.
The Bayon Temple lies in the heart of the Angkor Thom complex. In 900 AD, this was the former capital and home to one million people. Amazingly, at the same time, London's population was just 50,000. Crumbling and moss-covered, it is still magnificent. The temples are spread out over a 200 square kilometre area, and to do them justice, you'll need at least a week. You can buy 7-day passes and there are plenty of different ways to get around. The most eco-friendly way is by bike and there's so much to know about each site you've really got to bring a guide along.
The Ta Prohm temple is one of the most dramatic. Boys and film buffs will know that Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider here, and the atmosphere is such that you almost expect to see Indiana Jones popping up. It's the only temple untouched by archaeologists and with huge fig, banyan and Cabot trees muscling in from the forest, it's almost as if Mother Nature wants to reclaim the area as her own.
Most temple visitors choose to stay in the once small town of Siem Reap. Close to the temples, it's turned into a bit of a boom town. More than 60 huge, but rather characterless, hotels have been built in the last 5 years to cope with demand to stay in the area.
You can see modern-day recreations of some of the intricate carvings at Artisan D'Angkor. It's here that apprentice stone masons, and other artists from around the region, get the opportunity to fine tune their skills. You can buy these artefacts, or see them in the local hotels.
Still used for worship
For sheer scale and impact, the
best of the temples was saved til last, Angkor Wat. It's the
largest religious monument in the world, with five imposing towers, a huge moat
and a dramatic jungle setting. Completed in the twelfth century, it's a
combination of Hindu and Buddhist architectural styles. Unlike many of the other
temples in the area, Angkor Wat is still regularly used as a place of worship.
Astonishingly, visitors are still allowed to climb the structure. However,
making it to the top is no mean feat.
It took 385,000 workers, 40,000 elephants and 6,500 sculptors 40 years to build Angkor Wat. Nine hundred years later, and it's still amazing...
Extras
Entrance to the Royal Palace costs around £2. A 7
Day Temple Pass costs about £36
Best time to go
December and January are the ideal months
to visit, with bearable humidity, cooler temperatures, and little rain.
Approx flight time
Around 12 hours 30 minutes from London
to Phnom Penh (with a stopover in Bangkok).
Visa (with UK passport)
Required
Inoculations & health
Typhoid, Hepatitis A and
Diphtheria recommended, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, Japanese B encephalitis and
Rabies sometimes recommended
