I'm still in Cambodia and am waiting for my visa so that I can get back home. The border conflict is escalating, but I'm just stuck here in Phnom Penh living my life.
I had the day off on Saturday, so I decided to get out of town on a break from the big city. I decided to book a one-day tour of Oudong, which would take me to a nearby province outside of Phnom Penh to visit the kingdom's historical royal capital city.
Sean, my guide, picked me up in a van along with our driver promptly at 8:00 in the morning. We began driving out of the city as I drank my canned coffee and Sean told me about Cambodian history. Oudong, where we were headed, was the capital of the kingdom from 1618-1866... but more on that later.
Our first stop, about a half-hour outside of Phnom Penh, was Koh Chen Island, a village known for its traditional silverworks.
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Cambodia, despite having Buddhism as its official religion, guarantees freedom of religion to all, and there are Muslim, Taoist, Hindu, Catholic, Protestant, and even Mormon communities in Cambodia (although about 97% of the population is Buddhist).
The silver workshop that we visited, however, was run by a Catholic family, evidenced by the framed Divine Mercy image hanging on the wall.
We left the workshop and drove on to the foothills of Oudong Mountain to visit the Vipassana Dhura Buddhist Meditation Center of Cambodia, a premier Buddhist temple, Dharma school, and meditation retreat sponsored by the Royal Family of Cambodia.
The grounds of the complex are sprawling, encompassing dozens of acres of beautiful Cambodian countryside.
As we admired the paintings and my guide explained them to me, an elderly, white-robed nun entered the hall to pray at the shrine. She greeted us and, with my guide as translator, proudly told me that she was almost 90 years old.
We walked on to the monastery's library, which was a grand and ornate building full of bookshelves with the entire Pali Canon (the Theravada Buddhist scripture), as well as writings, scrolls, books, texts, and journals of famous monks.
The monastery also houses the tallest statue in all of Cambodia. This serene Buddha image towers over the compound in a meditative pose.
It was dark and quiet inside the prayer hall. The only light in the room came through narrow slitted windows high up near the ceiling. Like in the other hall we visited every inch of the walls and ceiling were covered in elaborate paintings telling stories of the life of the Buddha and his teachings.
Oudong was the capital of Cambodia before Phnom Penh, and was once a grand city, but tragically nearly everything was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s when they took over the city as one of their last strongholds. Today, nearly all that remains of Oudong's history are the handful of chedis on the mountain.
Cambodia is a beautiful country, and I'd love to see more of it. Now that Thailand's new e-visa system no longer requires in-person applications at the embassy, I'll be able to travel around a lot more freely in the future, and hopefully I'll be able to visit more of Cambodia.
The chedi itself holds a Buddha relic, and is not open to visitors, but there's a small room just below it contains hundreds of Buddha statues, bought and donated by wealthy supporters from across Cambodia, where visitors come to pray, meditate, and have their fortunes told by an old man with a small, bundled palm leaf book.
The books are made of thin strips of palm, each containing a fortune, all tied together with string. After making a small donation, you can raise the book above your head and stick a tab, which looks a bit like a guitar pick, somewhere inside the bundle of pages. This randomly chosen spot will be your fortune, which the old man will read. If it's good, then you are all set! If it's a bad fortune, however, you have to do it two more times. If the majority of fortunes are bad, you are in for a bad time.
My favorite structure on the mountain was the Preah Ang Doung, a chedi with carved faces representing the Hindu god Brahma looking out in each direction. Although Cambodia is officially a Buddhist country, Hinduism has deep roots.
After touring the chedis, it was time to descend the mountain to Oudong Market for lunch. We took a walk through the market looking at all of the local dishes, which included things like field crabs, grilled snails, barbecued chicken, and more popular Cambodian food.
We had grilled chicken served with rice. My guide also bought a bag of snails. I was hesitant to try them, though. I stuck with the chicken and let him enjoy the snails!
This temple was much older than the meditation center we had visited during our first stop of the day. It was quiet, and we didn't see anyone else around. It was extremely peaceful, and I can understand why people come here for meditation courses and retreats.
This place was also once a Khmer Rouge killing field. While the most infamous killing field is Choeung Ek, located just outside of Siem Reap, the regime utilized fields across the country for torturous executions.
The 7th-century Ankorian brick temple features a natural rock formation around the linga shrine, a sacred element in Hindu worship around which the temple is built. The construction around the rock is so inconvenient and unusual that it must have been very spiritually significant.
The woman who welcomed us to the workshop told me that her family had been silversmiths for five generations, and that they are working hard to preserve the ancient Khmer silver working culture which was nearly eliminated during the short but brutal reign of the Khmer Rouge.
She was working on delicately hammering an intricate design into a large pot while her young son sat beside her sketching designs. She said that he practices drawing traditional Khmer designs for one hour every day so that one day he will be able to take over the family workshop.
Off in the distance, we could see the peaks of Oudong Mountain and the historic chedis which adorn it.
First, we entered the dining hall. This is where the temple's monks and novices sit and eat their daily meal together. The hall is arranged in order of seniority: highly ranked monks sit on a raised platform slightly higher than their juniors.
In Theravada Buddhism, monastic seniority is not based on age, but rather upon how long one has been a monk. The Supreme Patriarch himself could resign and then re-ordain and immediately become the junior-most monk in the world. An 18-year-old monk who ordained yesterday would rank higher in the monastery than a 90-year-old who had ordained as a monk ten times over and who had re-entered the monkhood this morning.
The hall was bright and colorful, and the walls and ceiling were adorned with illustrated panels depicting the life and previous life stories of the Buddha.
This monastery is home to Buddhist monks, novices, and nuns, and is one of the largest in all of Cambodia.
Those who stay at the monastery live in small, humble huts on the grounds. They are plain and sparse, but all of the needs of the occupants are provided for by the laity. Donations provide food and money for utilities and upkeep, and a small clinic onsite takes care of the health needs of the residents. It's a simple life, but a peaceful one.
The library contains a receiving room where distinguished guests, as well as members of the Cambodian Royal Household, who tend to come to this monastery to meditate and pray, are welcomed.
To mark its distinguished honor as a royal favorite, the library's second floor chapel is decorated in dozens of brightly colored stuffed peacocks, and one specific shrine is even flanked by two extraordinarily rare albino peacocks.
Big Buddhas:
Before leaving the temple compound, we stopped to visit the main prayer hall, which was one of the tallest wat buildings I've ever seen in my life. The photos really don't do justice to just how big this building actually is.
My guide told me that the building is almost always locked except for special occasions, but today the door was open, and we were able to go inside. He was extremely happy. He told me it was the first time he had ever been inside the prayer hall, despite running this tour for years.
Next, we drove up Phreah Reach Throap, or Oudong Mountain, to begin our hike along the "Dragon's Back", a steep set of stairs named so for the way that they wind and climb up the hills to the mountain's peak. The mountain is covered in several chedis, the oldest several centuries, which contain ashes of former kings in a sort of royal tomb complex.
The monumental loss of life during the short rule of the Khmer Rouge is, of course, the main tragedy of the period, but the destruction of history and culture is another very real but often forgotten aspect of Pol Pot's plan for destroying and rebuilding Cambodia according to his vision.
There were 509 steep steps to climb to get to the top of the mountain, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it was very hot and humid, and I was sweating pretty badly by the time we got to the top. We stopped to buy a cold bottle of water and rest for a minute or two before we continued our exploration of the royal tombs. My guide explained each one to me, telling me all about when it was built, by whom, and for whom.
The tallest and most impressive structure on the mountain is the Preah Sakyamoni Chedi, which is also the newest. It was built in 2002 and contains a relic of the Buddha.
The location of this important chedi, one of the most important spiritual sites in all of the kingdom, is not random. It's an important symbol of resilience and rebuilding and was built as the country entered the new millennium with a newly restored monarchy after a brutal and tragic 20th century.
The views of the Cambodian countryside from the platform at the big chedi were incredible.
Except for Oudong Mountain, this part of Cambodia is almost completely flat, and I could see rice fields, temples, villages, and forests spreading out below me for miles and miles.
I've been to Cambodia so many times over the past few years. Besides Thailand, it's the country that I've probably spent the most time in (either Cambodia or Vietnam. I would have to do the math.), but besides my few visits to Siem Reap and my time down south in Sihanoukeville and Koh Rong, I've never really had the chance to get outside of Phnom Penh, and that's a real shame.
Cambodia is a beautiful country, and I'd love to see more of it. Now that Thailand's new e-visa system no longer requires in-person applications at the embassy, I'll be able to travel around a lot more freely in the future, and hopefully I'll be able to visit more of Cambodia.
The chedi is named after King Ang Doung, himself the namesake of the royal mountain, who ruled from 1848 to his death in 1860. After turbulent centuries of internal strife, civil war, and royal infighting, Cambodia was weak. Siam and Vietnam had cut the once-powerful empire down to just a fraction of its size, and Cambodia was at risk of disappearing forever.
The king, in a controversial move but one which ultimately saved his kingdom, reached out to the French government for help. While his negotiations ultimately led to the 90-year period of the French protectorate of Cambodia, they saved the country.
King Ang Doung also established a legal codex, strengthening and stabilizing his country, and is the progenitor of Cambodia's two royal houses. According to the newly restored (as of 1993) Kingdom of Cambodia, the Royal Throne Council elects the king for life from either of these two houses.
One dish that intrigued me was grilled honeycomb, which was served with chili, cilantro, and garlic. I'd like to try that sometime.
My guide bought us lunch, and he, the driver, and I sat down on a raised platform to eat.
Oudong, located just an hour or so outside of Phnom Penh, is a popular weekend getaway for people looking to escape the city. We visited on a weekday, so it was still fairly quiet, but the market becomes very busy on the weekends, and people will order delicious food and eat and drink beer while reclining in hammocks and talking and spending time with their friends and family.
"I was a Khmer Rouge kid", he told me, as we ate our lunch. "When I was a baby, I nearly starved to death. The people in my village each gave me a bite of rice to keep me alive."
Every story that I hear of the Khmer Rouge sounds so absurdly horrific that if it had happened in a fictional story, nobody would think it was believable. It's shocking and sobering to think about how cruel and evil humans can be to one another.
On the other hand, it's amazing to see the strength and unity of humans in the face of such evil. It's truly incredible how Cambodia, though still working hard to develop, is trying to rebuild and create a new, peaceful future. It's so important to hear these stories, no matter how hard they are to hear.
After our delicious lunch, we got back in the van and drove on to visit the Sontte Wan Buddhist Meditation Center, another old temple complex located on a hill in the outskirts of Oudong.
Today, the temple maintains a small shrine containing bones which have been found in the area.
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The temple opens to the west, framed by sandstone doorposts and intricately carved columns. Its walls are adorned in designs so ornate that early French researchers described this temple as a "flying palace".
The next stop was Srey Krup Leak Temple, an ancient Khmer ruin located on the slopes of Phnom Baset, a hill not far from Oudong Mountain in Damnak Village of Kandal Province.
Our final stop before heading back to the city was Wat Sowann Thamareach, a new Ankorian-style temple compound meant to evoke the glory days of the ancient Khmer Empire.
The main temple building, which is still under construction after work slowed due to funding issues during the COVID pandemic, is a towering and cavernous hall which echoes with the squeak of bats who live high up in the dark shadows of the domed roof.
The massive temple even features a replica Bodhi tree, which represents the tree under which Buddha was meditating when he gained enlightenment.
It was late afternoon when we drove back into Phnom Penh. I had had a great time, but I was tired and was ready to wash the dust off of my feet (literally!).
I learned so much about Cambodia during my half-day tour. I really appreciated the chance to get outside of the city and see a less-visited part of the country.
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