The Rough Guide to Cambodia 3 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

380 Pages·2008·16.07 MB·English

by  Rough Guides, Steven Martin

H^hde]dc IWZc\ \
H^Zb BZVcX]Z IgZc\
GZVe
7ViiVbWVc\
EjghVi
@gVi^Z BdHcZdcgdb
@dbedc\8]]cVc\
@dbedc\
@d]@dc\ @ d b e d c \
He Zj
IV`Zd
7Xekjj^_iXeea
Hek]^=k_Z[iVgZYZh^\cZYidWZ\ddYidgZVYVcYZVhnidjhZ#
I]ZWdd`^hY^k^YZY^cidi]Z[daadl^c\hZXi^dchVcYndjh]djaY
WZVWaZidÒcYl]ViZkZgndjcZZY^cdcZd[i]Zb#
I]Z^cigdYjXidgnYebekhi[Yj_ed^hYZh^\cZYid\^kZndjV[ZZa[dg8VbWdY^V!
hj\\Zhi^c\l]Zcid\dVcYl]Vicdiidb^hh!VcY^cXajYZhV[jaaa^hid[Yedj[dji#
I]ZcXdbZhXWi_Yi![dgegZ"YZeVgijgZ^c[dgbVi^dcVcYdi]ZgegVXi^XVa^i^Zh#
I]Z]k_Z[X]VeiZghXdkZgi]ZXdjcign^cYZei]!ZVX]hiVgi^c\l^i]V
]^\]a^\]iheVcZa!^cigdYjXi^dcVcYVbVeid]ZaendjeaVcndjggdjiZ#
I]ZYedj[njihZXi^dcÒaahndj^cdc]^hidgn!gZa^\^dcVcYWZa^Z[h!
VcYWdd`h!l]^aZ^cY^k^YjVaYebekhi[Yj_edi^cigdYjXZiZbeaZ
VgX]^iZXijgZ!VcY8VbWdY^Vc[Zhi^kVahVcYXZgZbdc^Zh#
I]ZWdd`XdcXajYZhl^i]Vaai]ZicWbbfh_dj!^cXajY^c\YZiV^ahd[]dl
idhZcY^cjeYViZhVcYXdggZXi^dch!VcYVXdbegZ]Zch^kZ_dZ[n#
J^_ij^_hZ[Z_j_edfkXb_i^[Z7k]kij(&&.$
I]ZejWa^h]ZghVcYVji]dgh]VkZYdcZi]Z^gWZhiidZchjgZi]ZVXXjgVXnVcY
XjggZcXnd[Vaai]Z^c[dgbVi^dc^cI]ZGdj\]<j^YZid8VbWdY^V!]dlZkZg!
i]ZnXVcVXXZeicdgZhedch^W^a^in[dgVcnadhh!^c_jgn!dg^cXdckZc^ZcXZ
hjhiV^cZYWnVcnigVkZaaZgVhVgZhjaid[^c[dgbVi^dcdgVYk^XZXdciV^cZY^c
i]Z\j^YZ#
JH(/$//86C))$&&
I SBN 978-1-85828-677-8
5 2 9 9 9
9 7 8 1 8 5 8 2 8 6 7 7 8
The Rough Guide to
Cambodia
written and researched by
Beverley Palmer and Steven Martin
NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI
www.roughguides.com
Contents
Colour section 1 The northeast................... . 227
Sihanoukville and
Introduction ............................... 5 the south........................... 259
Where to go ............................... 7
When to go .............................. 10 Contexts 303
Things not to miss ................... 11
The historical framework........ 305
Basics 17 Religion and belie fs ............... 325
Books .................................... 331
Getting there............................ 19
Getting aroun d......................... 24 Language 337
Accommodatio n....................... 31
Food and drink ........................ 33 Pronunciation........................ . 340
Health ...................................... 41 Useful words and phrases ..... 340
Crime and personal safety ....... 46 A food and drink glossary ...... 344
Money...................................... 48
The media ................................ 50 Travel store 349
Festivals................................... 51
Culture and etiquette ............... 52
Shopping ................................. 53 Small print & Index 357
Travelling with children ............. 56
Travel essentials ...................... 57 Festivals and
ceremonies colour
Guide 67 section following p.112
Phnom Penh and around .... 69
Battambang and Temple architecture
the northwest .................... 127 colour section
Siem Reap and the tem ples following p.208
of Angkor .......................... 155

Central Cambodia ............ . 209
3
Leading an ox to the fields, Siem Reap province Royal Palace, Phnom Penh
| CONTENTS |
4
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
Introduction to
Cambodia
Though much less visited than neighbouring Thailand or
Vietnam, Cambodia has established itself firmly on the
Southeast Asian tourist trail. The stunning temples of
Angkor are the obvious draw for most visitors, but the
country has much else to offer: white-sand beaches,
unspoilt forest, a balmy climate, and a relaxed atmosphere
that’s refreshingly low on hassle.
For a small countr y, Cam bodia encompasses a
surprisingly diverse range of terrain and scener y.
Rice felds may be t he quintessentia l feature of
this predominantly fat and agricultural land,
but there are also signifcant hi ghland areas and
440km of coastline, as well as t he massive Tonle
Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, which dominates the heart
of the country. In the east, the mi ghty Mekong River forms a natural
divide, beyond which rise the jungle-clad mountains of Rattana kiri and
Mondulkiri. In the southwest, the heavily forested Cardamom Mountains
run down to the sea, while parts of the southeast are regularly inundated, as
the Mekong and its sister river the Bassac overfow their banks.
For all its natura l beauty and rich heritage, Cambodia is still probably
best known in the West for its sufering at the hands of the fanatical
Khmer Rouge, w ho came to power in t he 1970s, wit h a programme o f
mass execution, which resulted in the death of a ffth of the population.
Their three-year terror was followed b y a protracted guerrilla war that
only ended in 1998 and left much of t he country in ruins. Nowadays,
however, Cambodia is at peace, an d visitin g is no longer dangerous.
Supported by Western aid, the infrastructure is at last im proving; new
roads now connect all but the most remote provincial centres, rendering
most air and ferry routes redundant, and enterprise is booming, attested to
5
by the thron ging markets and modest middle class that has re-emer ged in
the capita l and major towns – there are even several restored colonial villas,
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
Fact file
• Cambodia is about
one and a half times
the size of England –
roughly the same area
as Oklahoma. Around
one twentieth of the
country is covered
by the waters of the
Tonle Sap lake. The
highest point is Phnom
Aural (1771m) in the
Cardamom Mountains. newly opened as boutique hotels. Cambo-
dian food, infuenced by the cuisines of both
• Cambodia’s popula-
tion is nearly 14 China and Thailand, is delicately favoured
million, of which ninety and quite delicious, while the country’s
percent is Khmer. The
long tradition o f artisans hip is undergoing
remainder consists of
a revival, with weav-
ethnic Chinese and
ing, stone-carving and The stunning
Vietnamese (together
around 6.5 percent), silversmithing much in temples of
the Cham (2.5 percent) evidence. Temple sites, Angkor are
and the chunchiet
some dating back to the the obvious
(1 percent).
sixth century, dot the draw for most
• Theravada
countryside, of which visitors, but
Buddhism is practised
several have only recently the country
by 95 percent of the
population, alongside been made accessible and has much else
some animism and many are fnally bein g to offer
ancestor worship; the restored. The majority of
Cham are Muslim.
the country’s towns still retain some old-world
• Cambodia is a
charm, preserving quaint shophouse terraces
constitutional
and colonial architecture dating back to the
monarchy, with an
elected government period of French rule – though their most
comprising two houses tangible colonial legacy is the piles of crust y
of parliament, the baguettes heaped up in baskets and hawked
National Assembly and
around the streets in the early morning.
the Senate.
Though much still has to be done before
• Average annual
Cambodia is properly back on its feet,
income is just $480
and before most of the population see a
per capita, putting
Cambodia among substantial improvement in their standard
the world’s poorest of living, the recovery of the country is
countries; average life largely down to the Cambodians themselves,
6 expectancy is only
eternally optimistic, tenacious and tirelessly
57 years.
hospitable.
왔 Monks at an Internet café
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
Where to go
ost tourists make for the cosmopolitan capital, Phnom Penh,
at some point during their visit. A pleasing, low-rise city graced
with leafy boulevards, the capital ofers the chance to take in
Mthe splendour of the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, while the
cream of ancient Khmer art is housed a stone’s throw away at the National
Museum. The capital also boasts a vibrant riverside dotted with cafés and
bars and is the best place in the countr y to s hop, its colourful markets
stocked with shimmering silks and intricate handicrafts.
Sugar palms
Dotting rice paddies with their distinctive mops
of spiky leaves, sugar-palm trees are of great
importance to the rural Cambodian economy,
since every part of the tree can be put to good
use. Arguably the most significant product is
the juice, extracted by climbing a rickety ladder
lashed to the trunk, cutting the stalk bearing
the flowers and fixing in place a container to
collect the juice. This tends to be a dry-season
occupation, as high monsoon winds and wet
trunks make the climb hazardous at other times
of year. The liquid, initially cloudy, is cleared
by first smoking the collection tube with burning palm fronds and then
adding bark from the popael tree (of the honeysuckle family). Both the
sweet, fresh juice and its fermented form, alcoholic palm beer, are sold
by hawkers from containers suspended either from a shoulder pole or
from bicycle or moto handlebars. Palm sugar, much used by sweet-
toothed Cambodians for cooking, is made by thickening the juice in
a cauldron and then pouring it into cylindrical cauldrons to set, a fter
which it resembles grainy honey-coloured fudge. Nearly as important as
the juice are the leaves, which are collected two or three times a year
for use in thatch, wall panels, woven matting, baskets, fans and even
packaging. Until quite recently, specially treated leaves were used to
record religious teachings by inscribing them with a metal nib.
Palm fruits, slightly larger than a cricket ball, have a tough, fibrous
black coating containing juicy, delicately flavoured kernels, which are
translucent white and have the consistenc y of jelly; they’re eaten either
fresh or with syrup as a dessert. The root of the tree is used in traditional
medicine as a cure for stomach aches and other ailments. Perhaps
because the trees furnish so many other products, they are seldom cut
for their wood, which is extremely durable. Palm-wood souvenirs are
now available in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, easil y identifiable by their 7
distinctive light-and-dark striped grain.
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
What’s a wat – and
what’s not
Cambodia’s wats are Buddhist
monasteries, often generically
referred to as “pagodas”, although
they bear no resemblance to their
Chinese namesakes. Wats are easily
identified by the bright orange tiled
roof of the principal building, the
vihara, and can be vibrant, even
wacky, affairs; the wealthier the
foundation that runs the pagoda, the
The main reason that most
more extravagant the decoration,
people come to Cambodia,
both inside and outside, with
however, is to visit the world-
buildings painted in the most garish
famous temples of Angkor,
of primary colours, and courtyards
featuring abundant and cartoonish just outside the engaging town
statues of mythical beasts. of Siem Reap. Chief is the
The term “temple”, on the other majestic Angkor Wat, but close
hand, is usually reserved for ancient
by are the compact Banteay
Khmer monuments, dating from the
Srei, with enc hanting bas-reliefs
sixth to the thirteenth centuries.
of demure divinities; Kbal Spean,
Temples were generally built by
exquisite riverbed carvings in
kings, commonly to honour their
ancestors or to serve as their state- the Kulen Mountains; Ta Prohm,
temple – a place where an image of clamped in the grip of giant
the devaraja god associated with the kapok trees; and the intricately
king could be housed in a sanctuary
designed Bayon. The pre-Angko-
tower (see the Temple architecture
rian temple Sambor Prei Kuk
colour section). State-temples were
lies just to the northeast of the
seldom reused by successive kings,
provincial town of Kompong
though occasionally they gained a
new lease of life as monasteries. Thom, while more intrepid travel-
lers can escape the crowds and
head for remote temples such as
Preah Vihear, which clings
dramatically to an escarpment
right on the Thai border in the far
north, and Koh Ker, a day-trip
northeast of Siem Reap.
After seeing the temp les o f
Angkor, many people head down
to Sihanoukville to spend a
8
few days lazing on pristine
white-sand beaches lapped by
왔 Underwater carvings at Kbal Spean, Angkor
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO