UPDATE

The D Guide to Traveling through the Southeast Asian country reveals a nation developing an identity for itself beyond its well-trod temples. BY JESSICA FLINT

hange is afoot in Cambodia, located the Cambodian People’s Party came solely into between Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, power (they remain there today). Because and bordering the Gulf of Thailand. 68 percent of the country’s population is under “It’s more of a rebirth than a birth,” the age of 30, the older generation is trying des- says Lim Muy Theam, an artist and de- perately to instill a sense of tradition in the Csigner based in , the country’s cul- younger one, which is eager to move on from tural capital. Cambodia’s history was practically the past and catch up with the rest of Asia. This erased during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, creates a palpable melting pot of emotions: hope from 1975 to 1979, which was responsible for mixed with heartbreak. DEPARTURES travels to the genocide of nearly 2 million Cambodian the cities of Siem Reap, , and people and, along with it, the dismantling of (pictured above), and to the island-resort Song the country’s heritage. Political unrest followed Saa, and discovers that it’s this dichotomy that is ▲

until 1998, when Prime Minister Hun Sen and paving the way for Cambodia’s future. CONTINUED (TEMPLE DETAIL) JAM SAM (MONKS); JOEL SANTOS AARON

76 DEPARTURES.COM UPDATE

SHOPPING THREE SPECIAL BOUTIQUES Expats are behind some of Siem Reap’s top stores. The couture house of Eric Raisina (75-81 Charles de Gaulle; ericraisina.com) shows off the work of the delightful Siem Madagascar-born fashion designer, who is praised for using silk and raffia (a palm- tree-fiber textile from his homeland) to create stunning featherlight, soft frocks, shirts, scarves, and more. While Raisina is the country’s main style establishment, the flagship is less than two years old. In the Old Market, above Laundry Bar, is Christine’s (29 St. 9; christines-store.com), a newer concept shop with fashionable Reap purses and jewelry curated by Raisina’s former assistant manager Christine Gleizes, a Parisian. And across the street from an Australian coffee shop, The Little Red Fox (order a flat white), is Louise Loubatieres (7 Hup Guan St.; louiseloubatieres.com), a colorful home store named after its British owner. One-of-a-kind lacquered coconut- shell bowls (pictured) are one of its signature items. hen Cambodia’s W political situation became more stable, PHILANTHROPY in 1998, travelers started pouring into A NIGHT Siem Reap, in the AT THE northwest, due to its CIRCUS proximity to Angkor, a The biggest non- complex of magnifi- temple attraction cent ancient temples, in Siem Reap is the Phare, the Cambo- the most famous of WHERE TO STAY which is Angkor Wat. dian Circus (Lot A, An area that in 1993 Komay Rd.; phare attracted 7,000 people cam​bodiancircus.org), a Cirque du Soleil– AMAN: STILL GOT IT annually now draws The last big opening on the town’s hotel like event that two million. As such, scene was in 2013, when the modern Park GALLERY WATCH has been running ramshackle Siem Hyatt Siem Reap (rooms from $230; Sivutha nightly since 2013. Reap morphed into Blvd.; 855-63/211-234) replaced the old Hôtel The performers are de la Paix on a bustling downtown street. a whistle-stop resort at-risk Cambodian While it’s a good new option, that doesn’t town. Now the city is OLD MODERN ART youths who are “There is a gap between the temples change the fact that the secluded-feeling so overstuffed that one transforming their and the Cambodian people of today,” 24-suite Amansara (pictured; rooms from has to wake up at 4:30 lives through art. says artist and designer Lim Muy Theam, $950; 262 Krom 8, Phum Beong Don Pa; a.m. to get to Angkor­ The show, set to en- who sells his crafts at Theam’s House 855-63/760-333; amanresorts.com), around before the hordes of ergetic Cambodian (25 Veal Village, Khum Kokchack; theams​ since 2002, remains Siem Reap’s hotel du selfie-stick-wielding music, mixes theater, house.com), his workshop and residence, jour, thanks in large part to its fabulous tourists infest the place dance, and circus which opened to the public as a gallery in general manager, Sally Baughen. Aman junk- like ants on an anthill acts (acrobatics, jug- 2011. “We want to show visitors another ies say it’s one of the most authentic Amans. (though a good tour gling, contortion) to side of Cambodia—the artistic and Request a pool suite. For years, the historic tell modern and tra- operator can get you cultural part, which is very forgotten.” Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor (rooms from ditional Cambodian off the grid. See “Our Theam was born in Cambodia but re- $295; 1 Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Khum Svay stories. The circus Man in Cambodia,” located to France in 1980 as a child refu- Dang Kum; 855-63/963-888; raffles.com), sells out, so book page 82). However, gee. He returned to Siem Reap 15 years which debuted in 1932, was the only hotel tickets in advance. scratching beneath the later and started thoughtfully reinvent- game in town. But we say stay at the Aman Reserved seats are surface shows that in ing lost Khmer craft. He now employs 55 and save the Raffles for Phnom Penh. available, although Siem Reap, tourism artisans to help him create contempo- not necessary. is actually what has rary objects (pictured above) that nod to allowed an emerging the past. For example, Theam’s artisans cultural revolution use lacquer, a traditional Khmer medium, to take hold. Says to decorate clay elephant sculptures in photographer John funky neon colors, and they turn silk, TEMPLE NEWS McDermott, known another customary Cambodian material, ANGKOR’S for his black-and-white into scarves with stylish flair. Theam is Angkor photos taken also the former artistic director of Arti- TECH INVASION between 2000 and sans of Angkor (Chantiers-Ecoles, Stung Damian Evans, a personable Australian Thmey St.; artisansdangkor.com), which archaeologist who works for École Française 2001, “The light is started in 1992 with a similar mission and d’Extrême-Orient, a French institute that different, even if the now has 48 workshops, 800 artisans, studies Asian societies, is pioneering using stones are the same.” and six shops around the country. Lidar (aerial laser photography) to map While he’s referring to “From my Western point of view, Ang k­ or’s grounds in order to understand shooting Angkor now people here do by their feelings,” how people used the complex from the 9th versus when he first Theam says. “Energy is the source of to the 15th century. While Evans is not for got to town, his state- our inspiration, and there is a common hire per se, tour operators can sometimes ment somehow best point of emotion. I started to persuade him to accompany travelers and encapsulates the city’s understand this, and I feel this is the their authorized Cambodian guides around

atmosphere today. way our new culture can rise.” the temples (see page 82 for more). SAMPLE; KIM HAK JESSICA KIRCHGESSNER/LAIF/REDUX; MARKUS LOUBATIERES; LOUISE COURTESY TOP: FROM CLOCKWISE

78 DEPARTURES.COM UPDATE

ART AND CULTURE NEIGHBORHOOD TO EXPLORE The National Museum of Cambodia (pictured; 227 Kbal Thnal, Preah Norodom Phnom Blvd.; cambodiamuseum.info), which preserves the country’s ancient stone, metal, wood, and ceramic treasures, is the centerpiece of a lively neighborhood near the river, filled with restaurants, art galleries, and boutiques. At the museum, two collection highlights to look out for are Reclining Vishnu, a bronze statue found buried at Angkor in 1936, and Jayavaraman VII, a sandstone sculpture of the Penh last great king of Angkor. Bordering the museum is Street 178, a good shopping block, with stops such as Garden of Desire (33 St. 178; 855-12/319-116; gardenofdesire-asia.com), for its silver and stone jewelry made by Siem Reap– born, Paris-educated designer Ly Pisith, and Bodia Nature (10 St. 178, bodia-nature.com), a natural-beauty-product store with a spa across the street. The Royal Palace (Samdach Sothearos Blvd., bet. St. 240 and St. 184), where he challenges Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni lives, is also nearby. Visitors can stroll the T facing Cambodia grounds. The crown jewel is the Silver Pagoda, which houses a life-size Buddha become clear in Phnom decorated with 9,584 diamonds and has a floor made of 5,000 silver tiles. Penh, the country’s capital, a 45-minute plane ride southwest of Siem Reap. It was the second stop on our HISTORY itinerary. The wealth LESSON and education gaps here are visibly wide: THE KHMER Range Rovers and ROUGE’S BMWs crowd traffic- LEGACY filled streets, while the “If we have igno- poverty-stricken live rance, Cambodian in buildings that were people can’t find left for ruin during the justice. If we can’t find Khmer Rouge regime. justice, these atrocities Part of the problem is will repeat,” says Chum that change in Cam- WHERE TO STAY Mey, one of only 12 bodia is being driven known survivors of Tuol by the economic elite Sleng, or S-21, a Khmer as opposed to the edu- HOTELS: THE CLASSIC VS. THE NEWCOMER Rouge prison that now cated bourgeois (who The hotel to book in Phnom Penh is still undoubt- deceivingly large, with five restaurants and bars, houses the Tuol Sleng were completely wiped edly Raffles Hotel Le Royal (pictured above, left; including the iconic Elephant Bar. Service quirks Genocide Museum out). Sedara Kim, an rooms from $240; 92 Rukhak Vithei Daun Penh, add to the charm, making the hotel feel appropri- (corner of St. 113 and advisor to Cambodia’s Sangkat Wat Phnom; 855-23/981-888; raffles. ately luxurious in the context of the city. St. 350). More than office of the Council com), which opened in 1929. It has lots of French Hotel Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra 12,000 people were ei- of Ministers, says the Colonial character and lovely Khmer and Art Deco (pictured above, right; rooms from $220; 26 Old ther killed here or taken country’s revitalization touches. There are 140 guest rooms and 35 suites August Site, Sothearos Blvd.; 855-23/999-200; six miles outside the depends upon quality (request a Landmark Suite, such as No. 314, in sofitel.com) debuted in 2011. It’s certainly a suit- city to the Choeung Ek youth education that the historic part of the hotel). Two pretty pools able alternative to Raffles, though its corporate Killing Fields (Roluos balances knowledge and a green garden out back separate the old decor and riverside location, a little outside Village, Sangkat Cheung and skill; building an main building from a courtyard wing. The hotel is the city’s center, give it a business-resort vibe. Aek), where the Khmer effective government Rouge executed nearly based on scientific two million people. Mey, 84, speaks (through research; and under- a translator) upon standing how 30 years request to Tuol Sleng of war still impacts DINING TREND visitors about his incar- the older generation. EXPAT FLAVOR Global chefs have started infusing the city with tastes other ceration and torture, Expats are important, and his belief, at the Kim believes, because than those of traditional Khmer cuisine (rice, curry, sauces). At The Common Tiger (20 St. 294; 023/212-917; thecommon time, that he would die they bring new ideas in jail. It is upsetting to and collaboration, tiger.com), South African chef Timothy Bruyns uses local market ingredients in his small rotating-weekly menu, listen to Mey’s stories which are the way of though some dishes, such as the herb-crusted sea bass, and hard to stomach the future. And Kim make comebacks. His compatriot, chef Amy Baard, runs touring the histori- is optimistic about the kitchen at The Chinese House (45 Sisowath Quay; 855- cal sites. But, as Mey the future: Despite its 93/708-791; chinesehouse.asia). She blends Western tech- points out, education obstacles, Cambodia is niques with Asian ingredients (think seafood tortellini with is the key to prevent- coming back quicker coconut curry sauce and creamy amok). Two Venezuelans ing future mass-killing than other postconflict and a Uruguayan are behind Samai Distillery (pictured; horrors—a poignant countries, as evidenced 9b St. 830; 855-89/257-449; samaidistillery.com), the city’s first message in the era of by advancements in spirits maker. The distillery opens as a bar on Thursday ISIS, Boko Haram, and

Phnom Penh. nights, serving its namesake rum in mixed drinks. the Taliban. SOFITEL PHNOM PENH COURTESY HANNAH REYES/RUOM; TOP: FROM CLOCKWISE LE ROYAL RAFFLES HOTEL COURTESY PHOKEETHRA; BERNARDO SALCE;

80 DEPARTURES.COM UPDATE Kep

nce a popular O Gulf of Thailand beach-vacation town for the colonial French elite and DAY TRIP wealthy Khmer, Kep, WHERE TO STAY like every place else A BOHO BEACH HOTEL in Cambodia, was RABBIT ISLAND Koh Tonsay, or Rabbit Island, is an under- A stylish 18-room property on the water, Knai Bang Chatt is housed in three destroyed by the villas (the Blue Villa is pictured) that were built between 1962 and 1965 by Khmer Rouge and is developed otherworld about a half hour from the mainland by way of a local fishing boat. protégés of Vann Molyvann, Le Corbusier’s famous Khmer student. (Two more now rebuilding itself. villas were later added.) Here Art Deco architecture meets Indochinese and Today the town feels There are chaises for rent on the crescent- shaped beach, basic cafés, and rustic back- Japanese design accents, such as Cambodian stilt beds, Vietnamese antiques, like a backpacker’s packer huts (pictured) that cost a couple of and clay objects. General manager Joffrey Gris, a jolly, bald Frenchman, cho- haven that has just dollars per night to rent. Skip hiring a boat from reographs the action around the hotel, which includes an infinity pool, a private about turned over. It’s Kep’s pier and instead access Rabbit Island via beach, and The Strand restaurant. The Sailing Club, next door, offers water a quieter and more a Knai Bang Chatt excursion, which provides activities like paddleboarding and kayaking. It also has a lively bar. Rooms from authentic alterna- a butler and a chef who prepare a massive $275; Phum Thmey, Sangkat Prey Thom; 855-36/210-310; knaibangchatt.com. tive to Cambodia’s beach-barbecue feast of fresh seafood. other popular seaside holiday destination, , to the TOUR OPERATOR west, which has a casino-on-the-beach atmosphere. Kep is billed as a OUR MAN IN two-hour drive south of Phnom Penh, but it CAMBODIA really takes more like DEPARTURES traveled in Cambodia for 11 days with five (and that’s with London-based travel outfit a driver navigating Brown + Hudson (brownand­​ Cambodia’s seemingly hudson​.com), whose founding rule-free roads). The partner Philippe Brown ferrets route passes through out itineraries around the Cambodian coun- globe that are not typical tryside dotted with or obvious. The company goes traditional stilt houses above and beyond to show and grazing cows. clients unique and custom- There isn’t much ized experiences. For example, to do in Kep except Brown + Hudson orchestrated lounge around Knai it so we didn’t see another Bang Chatt, the top traveler on the grounds of hotel in the area; Angkor Wat for sunrise, and hike or bike in Kep organized an elaborate break- LOCAL CUISINE National Park; go to fast in a tuk-tuk for us and the crab market; or WHEN IN KEP, $3 per pound (negotiable) and safeguards regional agricul- archaeologist Damian Evans watch the sun set over cook them for about 75 cents tural products. at Angkor’s Ta Nei, a research EAT CRABS temple that was utterly de- Vietnam, which is 12 total. Next to the Crab Market Sothy’s Pepper Farm serted when we were miles away. There are WITH PEPPER is a row of restaurant shacks (Pepper Rd., Kep; mykam​ serving the day’s catch. Any potpepper.asia), run by Sorn dining. Logistically, the trip also some nice day Kep is better known for its crab (sweet and cheap) than will do, though Kimly’s is the Sothy, is the one to visit in was seamless, from skipping trips to take, such for its beaches (small and best known. . It has three pepper customs at the airport to being as to Rabbit Island rocky). Along the town’s main Kep crab seems made for fields from which the pepper booked on the Cambodia or Kampot. But this road, which hugs the shore, Kampot pepper, which comes is harvested (pictured), as well Angkor Air flight from Siem is Kep’s allure: It’s is the Kep Crab Market from Kampot, an hour’s drive as a shop. While Kampot pep- Reap to Phnom Penh in a row a restful place after (pictured above, left). It from Kep. Kampot pepper is per is widely used in Khmer with an insane amount of leg- Siem Reap’s early doesn’t have an address; it’s to Cambodia what Cham- cooking, as Sothy tells travel- room (okay, we’ll give it away: wake-up calls and just there. Any of the vendors pagne is to France: Both have ers, pepper sauce—black pep- row 27). But to experience Phnom Penh’s pulsat- on the sea-end sidewalk will a protected geographical per, lemon juice, and salt—is nirvana at Angkor Wat? Talk to ▲

ing energy. pull crabs out of the water for indication, a certification that especially great with crab. Brown + Hudson. CONTINUED WISE; AXELROD/RUOM NICOLAS + HUDSON; CHRISTOPHER BROWN BERNARDO SALCE; RIGHT: TOP FROM CLOCKWISE

82 DEPARTURES.COM UPDATE Song Saa

A two-bedroom jungle villa’s pool and deck are on a hill above the resort’s overwater villas.

about six happy staffers to one villa. At Song more than just a luxury resort. It’s a metaphor Saa, guests can do as little or as much as they’d for Cambodia’s future. It’s a symbol of hope. like. Activities include snorkeling, scuba div- Song Saa’s founding goes like this: Rory he speedboat is thumping against ing, paddleboarding, kayaking, hiking, yoga, Hunter and Melita Koulmandas Hunter, both rough waves in the Gulf of Thailand, spa-ing, pool-ing, beach-ing, or simply luxuri- attractive Aussies, met in 2003, in Auckland, T having pulled away from Cambodia’s ating. Clocks are set an hour ahead of the New Zealand, where Rory was working in ad- port of Sihanoukville 45 minutes and 20 miles mainland’s to give the island more daylight. vertising at Saatchi & Saatchi and Melita had ago. To the left is the mostly uninhabited Koh A paper scroll, delivered to each villa daily, an organic-design business. On a whim, Rory Rong island, with lush wild rainforest growing invites guests to dinner in different locations accepted a job offer to run an agency in Phnom to the edge of the landmass’s more than 16 vir- every night. The menus rotate, too. One eve- Penh. They moved there sight unseen for what gin beaches. To the right is nothing but open ning supper might be at the Driftwood Bar they thought would be a year. That was 2005. sea, though an occasional wooden fishing boat for Thai cuisine; another night it could be a When the Hunters arrived in Cambodia, putters by. Suddenly two mounds of jungle, beach setting with Khmer food. Retiring after they witnessed a country dormant after de- like little green gumdrops, appear off Koh dinner, guests will find their villas lit up solely cades of oppression. In Phnom Penh there Rong’s coast, and as the speedboat darts closer, by 20 or so twinkling candles, and baths were no traffic lights, paved roads, or cars. thatched-roof villas, extending over the water might already be drawn with, say, coconut People got around only on cyclos, tuk-tuks, like octopus tentacles, emerge into view. milk and lavender. and bikes. But within six months or so, the I’ve arrived at Song Saa, Cambodia’s first It’s no wonder Song Saa is usually visited as country started waking up. Roads went down, private island resort. It consists of two the relaxing end to a Cambodian journey. Al- traffic lights went up, and cars drove in. “We islands—Koh Ouen and Koh Bong—that are though those who have traveled around the got caught up in the energy of a country want- connected by a footbridge over a marine re- country first might find the resort to be a jar- ing to rebuild itself,” Rory says. serve. There are 27 villas (9 overwater, 11 in ring contrast to the gloomy poverty elsewhere, Locals in Phnom Penh didn’t know islands the jungle, and 7 with ocean views), each im- it’s only after experiencing Cambodia as a existed 18 miles off Cambodia’s southwest

SAM JAM SAM maculately designed, each serviced by a ratio of whole that one understands that Song Saa is coast, in the archipelago, but the

DEPARTURES.COM 89 UPDATE Song Saa

An overwater villa’s bedroom looks out at the Gulf of Thailand. The inspiration for the interior, conceived by Melita Hunter, came from the island’s surroundings. Materials used to decorate the space include old fishing boats, local stone, and recycled timber.

Hunters had heard about them from a Khmer with the Cambodian government to establish years after the resort opened. I am accompa- friend whose father-in-law was a fisherman. the country’s first marine reserve, now a 12-acre nying three of the Song Saa Foundation team In 2006, the Hunters rented a fishing boat no-fishing zone around Song Saa. Within members on their monthly Boat of Hope ex- and spent two weeks adventuring around the about a year the fish—barracuda, teira batfish, cursion to deliver medical and school supplies undeveloped islands. The area was pristine. slender silversides—started to come back. around the Koh Rong archipelago. Philan- “Pure white-sand beaches, untouched rain- Once the marine reserve was established, thropy is one of the activities guests can forest,” Melita says. “The people had never the Hunters handed its governance over to choose to partake in. seen a foreigner.” Prek Svay, the 645-person village across the Fifty-nine out of 64 elementary-school-aged On the last day, the Hunters stopped on bay from Song Saa, on Koh Rong. “We did children in blue-and-white uniforms show up Koh Ouen looking for lunch. The island was that through lots of education, and getting the for class today in one of Koh Rong’s four vil- covered in rubbish, which was shockingly dis- blessing from the locals,” Melita says. “The lages. But before the kids get to do the fun similar to elsewhere in the archipelago (though fishermen got the message. They stopped com- stuff—play with soccer balls we brought them, not unlike the rest of Cambodia). A fishing ing. It was a slow, gradual journey.” or color with crayons—we are going to teach family had been living and dumping garbage The Hunters soon started to understand them how to brush their teeth. there for 20 years. Waste was everywhere, in- the difficulties that Prek Svay and the other One thing to know is that my dad has had a cluding in the offshore reefs. Pigs and chick- three villages on Koh Rong were up against. long career in the American dental industry. So ens were running around. The family had cut They established the Song Saa Foundation to here I am, half a planet away from home, and down the rainforest. The island was dying. do conservation, education, and health-care of all things, I am showing these darling chil- The family said the area was becoming hard work in the villages. That’s how the idea for dren how to use a toothbrush, an instrument to fish since fishermen on about 50 local boats the resort came about: as a way to sustain the most have never seen before. I spot one tiny were throwing trash in the water. The father foundation through optional guest dona- boy who is foaming toothpaste at the mouth; wanted to leave. He asked if the Hunters tions. “This isn’t us trying to create a theme he has the biggest, brightest, happiest smile. wanted to buy his island. “We said yes!” Melita park where you can see a different world,” It’s then and there, in this fishing village, a recalls. The Hunters came back a week later Rory says. “We want to make people’s lives stone’s throw from one of the world’s most with a brown paper bag filled with $15,000. better. The foundation is sustainable. And it’s lavish resorts, that I realize that here, beauty not there because the hotel is there. It can goes beyond the richness of the temples. irst they started to pick up the trash. continue if the hotel goes away.” The founda- Beauty is in the water, sand, and sun. It’s in “In those early days we put a call out tion has since worked on many projects the art, culture, food, and shops. But, most of F to the local villages to say we needed driven by community need, like implement- all, it’s in the warmth, creativity, and hope— help,” Melita says. As the Hunters were clean- ing a waste-management facility in Prek Svay. especially the hope—of its people. And that is ing up their property—which took two years of Today that village, once knee-deep in trash, is the real luxury of Song Saa. ♦ hauling 80 tons of garbage to the mainland— clean and beautiful. they realized that if they protected their reef, Now it’s 2015, ten years after the Hunters Villas from $1,440; Kaoh Rung, Krong Preah

maybe the fish would return. So they worked began their journey in Cambodia, and three Sihanouk; 855-23/989-012; songsaa.com. ISLAND PRIVATE SONG SAA COURTESY

90 DEPARTURES.COM