A Glimpse of the Temple

As we drove through the city on the way to my quarantine hotel, the towering spires of a brand-new Bangkok landmark caught my eye. I wish I had a better picture, but this was taken out the window of a van from the highway.

When it is finished, the Bangkok Thailand Temple will be the 176th temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Announced in 2015 with a groundbreaking ceremony in 2019, the temple is expected to be completed in 2023, though I imagine there may be some delays due to the pandemic.

This will be the first Mormon temple in Southeast Asia. While non-Mormons are not permitted inside the LDS temples, they usually hold an open house and public tour to people of all faiths in the weeks before the temple is officially consecrated. These special tours are the only times that non-Mormons are permitted inside. I've never had the chance to look inside a Mormon temple, and I'll be looking forward to the announcement.

Test and Go: Back in Thailand!

After fifteen days in Cambodia for the world's longest visa run, I'm finally back in Thailand! It's been quite a trip! To be honest, I didn't really mind being in Cambodia. I'm fond of the country, and enjoyed a change of scenery. What was a little frustrating was the slow process of re-entering Thailand. But I'm back now! I'm writing the post from my quarantine hotel waiting to check out. Luckily, the process of entering Thailand is way easier than it was last summer.

I was a little nervous as I waited in line at Phnom Penh Int'l. The queue was dragging, and it seemed like nearly everyone ahead of me was having trouble with their documents. Several people in front of me were turned away, unable to board the flight.

When I got to the ticket counter, I handed over my passport. The ticket agent asked to see my Thailand Pass, a QR code sent by the Royal Thai Embassy certifying that I had a valid visa, COVID insurance, quarantine booking, and pre-paid PCR test upon arrival. She scanned my QR code, checked my quarantine and insurance documents, and handed me my ticket. "Many people cannot fly today", she whispered as the angry couple next to me were told they were missing their proper documents. 

It's a little complex to travel right now, and I definitely have sympathy for those who were not able to board their flight. It would have been a disaster if I hadn't been able to! I would have lost a lot of money on all of my insurance, quarantine, and flight bookings. Still, if you just carefully check with the embassy and follow all of the regulations, it's not too difficult. In the end, it only took me a few minutes to get through. I guess it pays to have all of your documents in order!

I had a bit of time to spare in the small departures hall of the airport, so I browsed the duty free shops for some souvenirs to take home. I picked up a little pot of Kampot pepper. Cambodia has the world's best black pepper, which is grown in the region of the town of Kampot. I have no idea what makes it so good, but every time I visit Cambodia, I have to bring some back!

The flight was uneventful. 50 minutes and one cup of hot tea later, we were touching down at Survarnabhumi Airport. It felt good to be back after the past two weeks away, but I wouldn't be able to enter the country just yet.

I first had to present my Thailand Pass and all of my documents to the Thai CDC. After clearing immigration on my brand-new 90-day visa, I found myself in the arrivals hall, where a bank of hotel staff were waiting to shuttle passengers off on their one night "Test and Go" quarantine. After a bit of confusion in the crowded hall, I found the representative for the Royal View Resort who took me in a van through Bangkok to the Victory Monument area.

We stopped briefly at Thonburi Bamrungmuang Hospital for my drive-through PCR test. I just had to unroll the back window while the nurse swabbed my nose and throat. She handed me a ticket with another QR code I could scan to check my results within 24 hours, and finally, we were off to the hotel.

A one night quarantine is not so bad! I checked in, and finally felt that I could relax. For dinner, I had some delicious cashew chicken and a Chang Beer delivered via room service.

I turned in early.

The next morning began with a cup of coffee and breakfast (eggs on toast, sausage, ham, and a glass of oj). I checked my PCR results. Negative! Now, I'm just waiting until my official checkout at noon when I'll FINALLY be able to go back home.

It's good to be back!

Moha Sangkranta (មហាសង្ក្រាន្): Khmer New Year

I only intended to stay in Cambodia for a week or so, but with COVID delays and visa paperwork, I ended up staying for 15 days. I was ready to go back to Thailand, especially as I didn't have the opportunity for any traveling or much sightseeing while I was there. One bit of silver lining, however, was that I ended up being in Cambodia for the Khmer New Year, a three-day festival that corresponds to Songkran in neighboring Thailand.

Songkran in Thailand has been cancelled for the past several years due to the pandemic, but as Cambodia (the most vaccinated country in Asia) is steadily opening up, they government is permitting the celebrations! I am in Phnom Penh, the capital, where the celebrations are more spiritual and a bit more laid-back. Everyone I have met here in Cambodia told me that the biggest water-throwing celebration in the kingdom takes place in Siem Reap. That sounds like a ton of fun! Maybe in another year!

I didn't see any water guns or splashing here, though. What I did see was markets full of these plant and flower offerings which people would buy to set out on tables in front of their homes or businesses.

As the festival approached, decorations began going up all over the city, especially at temples. One large pagoda near my hotel was festooned with colorful prayer flags leading up to the new year.

Wat Phnom, the oldest and most important temple in the city, was also decorated! I had already visited a few days before, bit I figured that paying the $1 ticket was worth it to see what was going on for the holiday.

A sort of carnival with lots of traditional food had been set up in the circular plaza surrounding the temple.

I climbed the steps up to a small Chinese-style shrine about halfway up the hill upon which the temple's large stupa is built. Called the "White Tiger Shrine", this little shrine is especially important in the year 2022 - the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac.

There was a sort of ritual going on when I arrived. As one man chanted something in a language I couldn't identify (Khmer? Pali Sanskrit?), others placed slabs of raw meat into the open mouths of the lion statues that guarded the shrine.

I did some research and found an article in the Phnom Penh Post about this ritual, which was also performed a few months back during the Chinese New Year. If you are interested, I'll link it here for your further reading! >> https://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle-arts-culture/wat-phnom-ritual-wards-new-years-woes

Essentially, the ritual consists of placing pork belly, eggs, and squid into the mouths of the guardian lions to ward off bad luck and attract good things in the new year.

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On my way back from the temple, I passed the Central Post Office, a colonial-era building which opened in 1895! Today, it is known as one of the finest examples of surviving colonial architecture in Phnom Penh.

A banner hanging above the entrance read "Happy Khmer New Year".

I poked my head inside the Post Office. There was a large shrine set up inside as well, full of offerings for the new year. It seems that the celebrations in Phnom Penh are more spiritual than in Siem Reap, which seems to lean more into the fun party side of the new year.

In the evening, loud music drew me out of my hotel room to the small park in front of the nearby Royal Palace. A sort of fair had been set up, with food trucks, snack vendors, and toys and games for sale.

Some mats had been laid down on the ground where people could sit, eat, and enjoy the music in the relatively cool evening air.

It was nice to get the chance to experience a different sort of Songkran. While I do get the impression that the festivities were still a bit subdued in Cambodia, at least they are being permitted again this year for the first time since the pandemic began. It's a glimmer of hope that things are finally returning to normal! It's also cool to see how the celebrations are a little different in Cambodia from in Thailand, though the festival shares a common root. It would be fun to visit Siem Reap for Songkran some year. I've also heard that the festival is very popular in Laos, where it's called "Pi Mai". Sometime in the future, I'll have to plan some visits to neighboring countries during this holiday season.

Life in Phnom Penh

I arrived in Cambodia on the 1st of April for a visa run. It's the first time I've had to do so since early 2020 when Thailand shut its borders and very generously offered emergency visa extensions to foreigners who were stuck in the country due to the pandemic.

In the past, a visa run could be done in 2-3 days. In fact, once, I did a visa run in a matter of hours! A few years ago, when I was switching from a business visa to a tourist exemption, I took an early morning bus to the Cambodian border and returned on the same day! Things aren't so easy nowadays, but are slowly getting better as things reopen and return to normal.

I returned to the Royal Thai Embassy on Thursday to pick up my passport and my brand new Non-O Visa! In another time, I could have even booked the $20 direct bus back to Bangkok that very night... but everything is a little slow and tricky at the moment. After receiving my visa, I had to prepare for my return to Bangkok. Coming to Cambodia was easy! Going back is a little more complicated, but still far easier than it was last summer.

After submitting all of my paperwork: visa, flight booking, COVID insurance policy, 1 night quarantine hotel, proof of pre-paid PCR test upon arrival, and closed transport from the airport to the quarantine hotel, I had to wait for my "Thailand Pass". This is the new system that the Thai government is using in lieu of the previous 14-day alternative state quarantine (ASQ) or "Phuket Sandbox".

Now, I'll take part in the "Test and Go" scheme! It's a one night quarantine with a PCR test. After I've tested negative for COVID, I'll be free to re-enter Thailand. The government website said the Thailand Pass could take 5-7 days to be issued. I played it safe and booked a ticket back to Thailand for the following Friday (15th of April). Imagine my surprise when I woke up the very next morning with the Thailand Pass document in my email inbox! Oh well... better safe than sorry. In the end, I'll stay in Cambodia a grand total of 15 days.

Still, it's kind of nice to be in a new place. I am fond of Cambodia. I just wish I could have traveled more. Much of my trip has been sitting in my hotel and working. 

However, I've tried to do some fun things here and there. One morning I decided to visit the Cambodia Museum of Economy and Money! I couldn't take pictures inside, but it was really interesting! 

The museum's exhibits were all about the economy of Cambodia - from the Angkor era to the present. It also featured the different currencies of the country, from the French Indochinese Piastre to the modern Khmer Riel.

Did you know that during the Khmer Rouge Regime there was no money? It was totally outlawed, and the country returned to a barter economy.

While waiting to return to Bangkok, I've just been taking it easy. Phnom Penh is a really popular expat destination. It's smaller and less developed than Bangkok (with a population somewhere between 2 and 3 million), but there are some great shopping malls, cafes, parks, and skyrise condos. I think that life here for an expat must be pretty nice! It's a quieter city than the Big Mango, and I appreciate the change of pace.

In the mornings, I like to pick up a can of coffee from the local mini mark and sit outside of the shop to drink it. Sometimes I will take an early morning walk around the National Museum and Royal Palace area. 

Unfortunately the Royal Palace is still closed to visitors due to COVID-19. It's understandable, but I would have liked to have visited it again. 

It seems that the government has decided to take this time to do some renovations on the beautiful old palace.

One morning I took a walk through the Old Market, which is just on the other side of the road from the Phnom Penh Night Market. It reminded me a lot of Chatuchak Market in Bangkok or other touristy markets. A monk was performing some sort of blessing ritual when I visited. He was walking up and down the aisles of the market, sprinkling holy water on people as he passed.

There's a small city park near my hotel, and sometimes I go for a walk there before it gets too warm.

At the end of a long, green stretch of lawn stands the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument. Constructed in the 1970s, this memorial is built as a Khmer monument and features statues of a Cambodian soldier, a Vietnamese soldier, and a Cambodian woman with  a baby built in the Socialist-realism architectural style of Vietnam. It commemorates the 1979 invasion of Cambodia by Vietnam. Shocked and horrified at the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam successfully invaded and toppled the regime, exiling Pol Pot and his supporters. Today, the Vietnamese are still seen as liberators who brought about the end of one of the world's most brutal regimes.

I've been trying to save money and not eat out very much. Early on, I was eating a lot of peanut butter bread and instant noodles, but once I realized I would have to stay here a little longer than I expected, I realized I probably needed to eat more "real" food. There's a little restaurant at my hotel, and they make great Cambodian dishes for just a few dollars. Their prawn fried rice is excellent!

As is the grilled pork with vegetables. I'm trying to eat more veggies so that I don't get sick while I'm here!

A change in scenery has been nice, and much appreciated after being stuck at home for a few years. However, I'm ready to go back to Bangkok. This hasn't been a vacation, but a visa run. I wish I could have done more traveling and sightseeing while I was in Cambodia, but it's difficult do to much or go anywhere without your passport (which was at the Thai embassy for much of my stay!).

In any case, it's been interesting to get a glimpse of what daily life in Phnom Penh is like. I had never really spent much time here before, and I'm happy to get to know the city a bit better.

The most important thing now is that I remain COVID- free to get back to Thailand! If I test positive during my Test and Go, I'll have to quarantine until I'm negative again, and that would be a disaster!

I brought several ATK tests with me to Cambodia, and I picked up a few more at a nearby pharmacy across from my hotel. I've been testing every other day or so, just to make sure. So far, so good! If all goes well, I'll be back in Thailand on Friday and out of quarantine on Saturday!

Silk Island (Koh Dach)

It didn't feel appropriate to combine this post in my "Phnom Penh Diary" with my experience at the Killing Fields. I felt that the Killing Fields deserved its own post and the total whiplash in tone between these two experiences - even though they did take place on the same day - just didn't feel right.

I had the day off, but it was still mid-morning when I left the Killing Fields. I wasn't ready to go back to my hotel just yet. I sat down for a Cambodia Beer at a local restaurant to figure out my next plan. The owner came and sat with me. We chatted for about an hour about Thailand and Cambodia, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and more. Eventually, he suggested that I should ask my driver to take me to Koh Dach, or Silk Island, a little island in the Mekhong just upriver from Phnom Penh.

My driver and I set off via tuk-tuk along the dusty roads back through Phnom Penh and towards the riverside. The tuk-tuk actually broke down at one point, so we had to make a brief stop at a mechanic's shop. I stepped inside a nearby Cafe Amazon for a coffee, and 10 minutes later, we were back on the road.

My driver, Samai, acted as my fixer and guide. I paid him upfront, and he arranged everything, including a ticket on the big ferry which crossed the water to Koh Dach. It only cost a few hundred riel for both of us and the tuk-tuk to be ferried across the water. While we were crossing, Samai came and sat in the back of the tuk-tuk with me, and we chatted as we moved lazily over the wide, slow-moving waters of the Mekhong.

On the island, it was just a short drive on to the silk farm, also called "Silk Island". A ticket cost just 4000 riel (or $1). I bought my ticket, and a local guide led me around the silk farm, explaining the process of how this amazing material is produced.

First, she showed me thousands of tiny white silkworm eggs. These eggs will hatch into the inch-long silkworms that spend their entire adolescence eating mulberry leaves. In fact, silkworms only eat mulberry leaves. It is all they do from the moment they are born until they are ready to spin their cocoons and turn into flightless silk moths.

The silkworms are surprisingly cute for an insect! I even got to hold one.

I was surprised to learn that silkworms are actually one of 40 fully domesticates species of animal! Modern silkworms (Bombyx mori) were domesticated from the wild Chinese silk moth (Bombyx mandarina) some 5,000 years ago! The little creatures have been ingeniously bred and engineered for maximum silk output. As a matter of fact, the silkworm is so domesticated that it is no longer capable of surviving in the wild without humans and the species as a whole is entirely reliant on human care and intervention.

When the silkworms have eaten their fill, it's time for them to move on to their next stage of life. They spin their cocoons in the bundled branches that the silk farmers have arranged. These artificial branches are then hung from warm, dry shacks in rows.

After some time, the silk worms complete their transformation into silk moths, which lay eggs for the next generation. 

But how do you turn a cocoon into a silk scarf?

The cocoons are boiled, which breaks down the fibers, allowing them to be unraveled and spun into strings of silk. My guide handed me a raw empty cocoon. "Try to tear it apart", she told me. It was impossible. The cocoons are amazingly strong!

As the cocoons break down, you can pull out the fibers and spin them into strings on a sort of spinning wheel. Like the cocoons, silk is unbelievably strong. Even a single string of silk is difficult to break. 

In its natural form, silk is golden-yellow, but it is often dyed into many beautiful colors. After the dying process, bunches of silk are strung up to dry. At this point, the rough strands of silk have already become very soft to touch.

Finally, it's time for the weaving process. Learning to make silk takes many years, and the artisanal practice of producing handmade scarves is often passed down through families.

Silk scarves are woven into intricate patterns using a very complicated loom. The process has been done this way for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It's really amazing sometimes to see how ingenious and creative people were in the past. I honestly can't wrap my mind around how someone long ago figured out how to make beautiful fabric from worms.

Because of COVID and the lack of tourists, there was nobody working at the looms to demonstrate the weaving process, but my guide explained to me how it works. It takes a long time and lots of effort to produce even one scarf! Today, it's possible to use machines to make the traditional Cambodian scarves, or kramas, but hand-made silk is still produced, and can go for hundreds of dollars!

Many of Cambodia's traditional arts were stamped out during the brief but brutal years of the Khmer Rouge regime, but the government and communities of Cambodia have been working hard to resurrect many of these traditional crafts. Like the fantastic Phare circus in Siem Reap, Silk Island is an example of how the kingdom is working to rebuild its culture following the tragedies of the 20th century. It's a long process, but Cambodia is an incredibly resilient country. I think the future will be very bright.