As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've decided to travel around various provinces in Cambodia this time to get to know the country a bit better ...
Bright Lights, Big City
Phnom Penh was called the "Pearl of Asia" in the 1920's during its heyday under French Colonial rule because of its many Art Deco buildings, but the city is much older. Although briefly even capital after the fall of Angkor Thom (1434-1497) and before the later royal capital of Oudong (1618-1865), it is more known as the modern capital of the Kingdom, which it has been since 1865 until today.
"Geh dorthin, wo der Pfeffer wächst" – go to where the pepper grows!
is a German saying that basically means something in between "get as far away from me as possible" and "go to hell". Well, I'm taking everyone's advice and going exactly there: not hell, but to where the pepper grows... Kampot pepper to be exact. Once considered to finest pepper in the world, and whose plantations were later burned to the ground by the Khmer Rouge, and now slowly, lovingly being restored.
My journey continues through Kampot province down to the French Colonial seaside town of Kep, which was also almost completely destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and is now slowly being restored and rebuilt. Kep was only founded under French Colonial Rule (French Occupation) in the 1950's, and was famous for its mundane seaside Villas – Modernist jewels, many of which still stand in ruins ... ghost of a troubled past history.
Glowing Beaches and Magical Islands
My next stop will be Koh Rong – if I figure out how the Tuk-Tuk / Speedboat Ferry combination works, that is ... The beautiful beaches of Koh Rong are famous for their phosphorescent / bioluminescent plankton: Yes, the water sparkles and glows in the night under a full moon. And yes, that's way up on my bucket list to see...
There, I have booked myself into the Koh Rong Long Set Resort ... whose pictures (see below) promise many chilled hour relaxing under coconut palms until the phosphorescent plankton show begins ...
Welcoming the Year of the Dragon at Angkor
From Koh Rong I travel via Sihanoukville to Siem Reap in time for the Lunar New Year.
I love Siem Reap for it relaxed, laid-back way of life, for its open air restaurants, artisan galleries, street side cafés ... does this sound like a different Siem Reap that what you've heard of? OK, yes: drunken American and European backpackers acting like barbarians are also there, but across the river, near Pub Street ... it is easy to stay away from that world by simply moving a block over – which I intend to do. Three to five blocks, to be exact.
The journey begins in one week ... and it begins in Oslo - but that's a different story, which I shall write about in due time.
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