The book of memories – 1. Laos and Cambodia
Being forced at home for quite some time, first because of covid that “canceled” almost 2 years from calendars and now for personal reasons, waiting for the right time to hit the road again I’ve decided to dig into my old archives and start a series about my old journeys.
I haven’t really planned out all the content that will be included, or a logic behind every single post choices, but it will be driven by the digital content I have available for sure. I started traveling when digital cameras and smartphones were in nobody’s backpack, usually with my dad shooting on film, so everything before I got the right equipment to take my own, at least decent, digital pictures is unfortunately out.
For the first entry I’ve selected a couple of countries that I’ve visited in the same trip, Laos and Cambodia, choosing the destination after playing games and watching movies. It may seem strange as a starting point, but if you are familiar with Tomb Raider and have ever heard of a game called Atlantica Online, you probably get the main reason behind the whole trip: visiting the Siem Reap area and the world renowned Angkor Wat. It was so good on screen and full of history that I had to experience it for real. It was also a favorable and stable period in the region so I took the chance to go exploring and getting to know better a part of the world where at the time my only previous experience was a trip to Thailand, which I loved (unfortunately it will hardly make the “at least decent pictures” cut to appear as a future entry).
Laos
Sticking to the favorite road trip formula and keeping Siem Reap as the final destination, the plan was pretty linear and easy to finalize: starting from UNESCO Town Of Luang Prabang World Heritage Site in the north of Laos, drive south across the country mostly following the Mekong River until crossing the border and then reaching via public transport the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. From there the last stop was the Siem Reap area including the Tonle Sap Lake and the Phnom Kulen national park to take a break while exploring all major temples around Angkor Wat. Contrary to my usual solo habits, I actually got a local guide/driver for the Siem Reap area with the idea of having an expert to avoid crowds in one of the most visited places in south-east Asia; I had a list of all the places I wanted to visit, he had to get me there when most tours were usually doing something else, no matter if it actually was not the perfect time of the day for pictures or temperatures. For me it was more about the “Tomb Raider experience” than anything else and I don’t regret the choice at all.
Before hitting the road though and to recover from the long flights (I cannot sleep on planes) I decided to spend the first afternoon relaxing at the Kuang Si Falls. The place is really beautiful, well worth a visit for anyone into natural wonders, and the falls are among the best I’ve got on camera, so I must start from there with my pictures.
Luang Prabang and the surrounding area, where I spent half of my time in Laos, really delivered since it is a nice mix of Laotian history, culture and Buddhist religion surrounded by nature. Located on a peninsula at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong River, mostly influenced by the old Lan Xang kingdom and then the French colonialism, it is considered the religious capital of the country and was listed by UNESCO for its unique and well preserved architectural, religious and cultural heritage, a blend of the rural and urban developments over several centuries; it was the perfect intro to Laos and its nice people and probably my favorite.
For those reasons it is probably the most visited part of Laos (locals included), the more I went south the less foreigners I met along the way, but at least when I was there almost 10 years ago tourism seemed much less developed than in other countries in the area like Thailand and Vietnam for example…and that is a plus for me. As an added bonus, the local cuisine is still one of my favorite in south-east Asia, so everything is a treat.
Going south, apart from the stop for a quick visit in Vientiane, the capital and only big city in Laos, it is all about nature in mostly undeveloped areas where sometimes it feels like intruding in people’s everyday life even if you are always welcomed with a smile. I have fond memories of the Laotian people and my time there and in the end it was more a personal experience than just a trip, more about opening the spirit and not the camera lens.
Cambodia
After crossing the border (the only not so pleasant part, better fly between those countries), I went straight to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. I did not spend much time there, my focus was the west of the country, but it provided a nice break before putting my explorer cap back on. The Royal palace complex and the gardens where the Tonle Sap river enters the Mekong are well worth a visit, so even if it is possible to fly in and out Cambodia from Siem Reap to just visit that area, I suggest to include also Phnom Penh when in Cambodia.
The final part of the trip was all about visiting the Angkor area with a couple of digressions in surrounding areas to cool off, so I made the near Siem Reap my base of operations for 5 days. The Angkor area is so famous that I’m not going into details here, but it may be worth giving some advice instead.
First of all the amount of people visiting the area in the favorable season is huge, expect hordes of tourists from everywhere, and Siem Reap is now there to basically cater to their needs (good or bad it does not really matter). If you, like me, do not like crowds, be prepared because no matter what you do, Siem Reap will not be a pleasant experience. Fortunately everything around it is so worth the effort and you can consider the city just as a sleeping pod between explorations and in the end it is not a big issue. The hordes however will be eager to flood the same places you are going to visit, so planning to avoid them as much as possible is a must.
Everyone will do at least the “short loop” north of Siem Reap including Angkor Wat (usually at dawn, so no, early morning does not help here), the Bayon temple and finally the Ta Prohm (the so called “Tomb Raider temple”). Something in the middle could be included, but those are the most famous. Since it would make no sense to not visit them at all, the best approach is pretty simple: do not do the loop at all and just visit them on the way to something else (or on the way back) when the groups are usually not there. Ta Prohm is best done in the morning, the Bayon unfortunately (because of the heat) at lunch time and Angkor Wat, since it is the closest to the city and usually the first or the last in the loop, in the middle of the afternoon. You will not have picture perfect light, but you will enjoy your time much more for sure. Furthermore, even if less iconic, there a lot of other places that provide plenty of picture opportunities along the way.
Another thing to consider is that the Angkor area is huge and there are a lot of temples, also far from the main complex and fortunately less crowded, that should be part of the visit. Temples are from different historical periods and dedicated to different deities and religions so limiting the visit to the loop is not a good idea. Which ones to include comes down to personal preference, time available and motivations, so I’m not going to provide a list, my favorite was the Banteay Srei for sure. Considering the long distances and a little bit of flexibility in mind, having a private way of transport is highly recommended or moving from one to the other may become a hassle.
Finally the area around Siem Reap has also plenty of natural sites that could provide a relaxing break from the temple life. Again do not expect to be alone most times, some other places are pretty common like the Tonle Sap Lake where a Vietnamese community is living literally on the lake, but in the national parks in the north you may find yourself taking pictures of a waterfall with only monks around.
To close I’ve decided to include a couple of pictures taken in the Tonle Sap area that are completely different from my usual shots, guess I was in the right mood to try something different.
