Cambodian Conquest

     A few years ago, I had the great and lucky opportunity to travel through SE Asia, and particularly Cambodia. Cambodia is a very small and largely forgotten country squeezed in between Thailand and Vietnam. People often forget, or didn't even know in the first place, that what is now Cambodia was originally the Khmer empire, which controlled and ruled over almost all of southeast Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, Maylasia, etc. For reasons largely unknown, their empire slowly but surely has shrunk down to what is modern day Cambodia. 
Anyway, if you are lucky enough at some point in your life, you will have a chance to visit Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, and see some of the modern temples and also be welcomed with incredible hospitality from the local people. Eat local street food, go to a local carnival, etc. Have a good time. And of course you will need to go to Siem Reap, which is the tourist town set up for excursions to Angkor Wat. At the height of the Khmer Empire, the center of it all was Angkor Wat. These ancient temples and buildings are still standing, incredibly after hundreds of years of wars, erosion, and other deteriorating and destructive factors wear on. Lest you think I'm exagerating, I'm not. Some of the temples are literally over 1000 years old. When I first did research about it before I went, I thought it would just be one big temple, but when I got there and started exploring around, I realized that it was basically a whole ancient city! The whole complex is spread out over 400 acres, so it takes several days to see all of it. In order to provide maintenance and upkeep on the temples, as well as security from vandals and looters, there is an entrance fee of $20 for one day or $40 for 3 days. I hope you are not wondering if this is worth it, as if you are even remotely interested in this kind of thing then you would not need to ask. In my opinion $20 is nothing compared to the cost of the entrance fee to Disneyland or something like that, which would be about 4 times as high. Anyway $20 is about the cost of 2 or 3 sandwhiches at your local sub shop, and for this you get access to the entire Angkor Archeological Park and all the temples inside. I suggest heading to the outskirts of the park where some of the smaller temples are, and you may see dozens of wild monkees scampering around. 

Oddly enough, the local currency in Cambodia is called the Riel, but almost any place you go will accept US dollars as well. If you buy something that costs $2.50 and give the vendor $3.00, you will get 2000 Cambodian Riel in change (4000 Riel to 1 USD). Speaking of money, if you are on a budget, Cambodia and Vietnam are dream destinations for travelers on a tight budget, or just anyone who appreciates saving money. You can get a very decent hotel room for under $20, and a filling meal for under $2. I'm really not trying to sell you on a tour or anything like that, but I do recommend Cambodia and Vietnam as amazing destinations with very friendly local people. Just remember these places are very poor, so there will be scammers and beggers from time to time. But if you just have some sense about you and keep your wallet in your pocket at all times unless you are buying something then you should be just fine. Have fun and let me know what you think!     

Story by Sourcerial81