You're not going to get anything coherent out of me for the next few weeks because this year's Big Trip, Cambodia? TOTALLY FREAKING ROCKED.
I mean,

and COME ON

and Tee-hee!

I enjoyed it so much.

So before I get into the nitty gritty of our trip - food (superb), nightlife (don't mind the less-than-updated music and it's fun), Angkor Wat (No. Words. Can. Describe. It.) - here's a quick travel recap to answer the questions I've been getting all week:
What's it like there?Phnom penh is relaxed, quaint and pretty. Little French-colonial architechtural touches (graceful windows, terraces, little gardens) mingle with large Khmer buildings, featuring spiked roofs, tiered towers,
Naga everywhere and the
Cambodian Lion. There are big parks in the city center. Siem Reap, meanwhile, is a pit stop to Angkor Wat, so it's more tourist friendly - which is not to say that the ladi-back, bohemian-backpacker vibe is not enjoyable. It's just different from the capital.
What about the people?From what I've encountered in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap - they speak English reasonably well and are polite. Tuktuk drivers, sales people, ticket agents are generally pleasant. It must be said as well that we were also lucky in that our friend, Karen, has lived in Phnom Penh for the past four years and directed us towards trusted people - Saray the tuktuk driver, who took us on our city tour, Vuthy, who drove us around Angkor Wat, and the good people at Mekong Express - as well as headed off any potential bad apples.
What's to see?Angkor Wat, duh. If that's not your thing, or if you're into that first world/cosmopolitan vibe of, say, HK, I'm not sure if the charming little cafes and boutiques in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap will do it for you. If so, better not go. If it's any consolation, most of the places we went to were wi-fi enabled.
Shopping?Market shopping is OK for stuff like silver, silk, carvings and handicrafts. I wish I'd saved money for the boutiques. There are a lot of small shops carrying stuff beyond your usual generic department store goods. I saw stuff from dainty dresses to deconstructed, avante garde wear (at
Poetry in Siem Reap, which Pinoy duo Don Protacio and Loven Ramos run), silk bags, amazing quilts and cruelty-free, recycled clothes (think old T-shirts cut to strips and asssembled to make a cool new blouse, at Street 140, Phnom Penh).
Eating?Cambodian food is very friendly to Pinoy palates - sweetish and not too spicy, mostly stir-fried, some use gata. Their curries are mild and the amok, wrapped in banana leaves, is like laing. There are a lot of other options too. That French influence results in almost generally good baguettes wherever you go. Plus, there's the
Happy Herb Pizza.How do you get there?As of now there are no direct flights from Manila,
that should change soon. You can enter through the South, Vietnam, which is what we did. Fly to Ho Chi Minh City, go to Pham Ngu Lao (the backpackers' area) and get a ticket on the Mekong Express bus. A trip to Phnom Penh (6 hours) is $14, while to Siem Reap it's $24 (12-13hours), which includes bottled water, moist towelettes and food for each leg. You can also opt to pass the Thai border to Siem Reap.
Dollars?Yes, most transactions in Cambodia are in US dollars, and the currency, Riel, is used for small change. Don't worry, it's still cheaper than, say, Singapore.
What about that Killing Fields thing?It's unavoidable and it does exist in the background of things everywhere in the country. I recommend going to the
Toul Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh. It's not an easy place to be in - and it's certainly not pleasant - but it's vital to appreciating the country and its history. To see how terrible it was and how they've had to work really hard to start moving on is, to me, something important, responsible and respectful every traveler should do.
So, do you still recommend it?Abso-freaking-lutely.