After the touristy madness of Siem Reap, I decided to visit Battambang, a very chill town. Even though it is Cambodia’s second largest city, there’s not much to see here – mostly the bamboo train and the bat cave, so there aren’t many tourists. I stayed here for a couple days, just soaking in the ambiance – and of course, visiting the bamboo train.
Travelogue: Angkor Archaeological Park
Angkor Archaeological Park! Angkor Wat! Angkor Thom! Bayon! If not for Angkor Park, Siem Reap would be utterly devoid of tourists. But as it is, every day a phalanx of tourists descend upon the park, and it’s probably one of Cambodia’s greatest sources of income ($20 per person per day for an access permit!) Many people choose to do Angkor Park slowly, over the course of a couple of days, but I chose to do a grand one-day tour, from sunrise to sunset, and visiting all the most famous temples of Angkor Archaeological Park.
This will be a very photo-intensive post!
Travelogue: Siem Reap
From the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, I traveled to Siem Reap, the tourist capital of all of Cambodia and home to Angkor Wat – which will get its own article later. The thing about Siem Reap is that it is totally a tourist town, built to accommodate the millions of people who fly into Cambodia just to see Angkor Wat – so there’s not much here aimed at backpackers, but a lot aimed at more mainstream tourists. Still, if you get away from the touristy parts, it’s an okay city.
Travelogue: Phnom Penh
Back on the road, in Phnom Penh! Oh, how I’ve missed it, backpacking! Sure, taking a break in Taiwan is awesome, but there’s something about the rest of southeast Asia – the noise, the heat, the endless tuktuks, the feeling of adventure.
Interlude: Taiwan’s Honor Guard
During my time in Taipei, I saw Taiwan’s honor guard at both the Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial and the Sun-Yat Sen Memorial, guarding the two statues of CKS and SYS respectively. Kind of like the guards at London’s Birmingham Palace, but without those silly hats.
There are three branches of the Taiwan’s army – the army, navy, and air force. And each branch has its own honor guard – white for the air force, dark blue for the air force, and camouflage greens for the army.
For the most part, the honor guard does not do much – stand to attention, look handsome, and pose for the cameras. But every hour on the dot, there’s a changing of the guard, as two guards come to replace the two previous guards. And when that happens, there’s a nice 5-10 minutes ceremony, as the current guards stand down and the replacement guards stand to attention. It reminded me of the nutcracker.
Supposedly the army has the best changing of the guard ceremony, and the air force has the worst. So of course, every time I show up at either of the memorials (5+ times), it’s always the air force on duty…
Video!
Quite a crowd gathers to watch the changing of the guard – especially tourists from mainland China. There are like, a billion mainland Chinese tourists that flock to Chiang-Kai Shek’s and Sun-Yat Sen’s memorials to watch the changing of the guard.
Travelogue: Jiufen
Jiufen (九份) is another old mountain town in Taiwan turned into a tourist destination, similar to Pingxi (平溪) and Shifen (十分).
Travelogue: Maokong
While in Taipei, I visited Maokong (貓空, literally ‘cat empty’), a mountain area known for its tea, and accessible by gondola. I had to visit.
The gondola to Maokong starts from right near the Taipei Zoo (which I did not visit), and oddly enough has a fountain show. I sat here for a bit, read, and waited for the show to start. It was pretty good. The fountains are set to spurt, sway, and spin in time with classical music.
Travelogue: Pingxi
Before leaving Taiwan, I saved the best for last – Pingxi, a scenic area about an hour and a half away from Taipei by train. This area is actually a collection of towns – Pingxi (平溪), Shifen (十分), and Jingtong (菁桐). All used to be known primarily for coal mining, but have since become a major tourist attraction, especially with tourists from the mainland. This area has decent scenery, but is primarily famous for its sky lanterns.
Travelogue: Lukang
While staying in Taichung (台中), I made a day trip to the historical town of Lukang (鹿港, literally ‘deer harbor’), an hour or so away by bus. The most interesting part of Lukang is its historic street, well-preserved and filled with old shops selling old products.
Interlude: Giant Rubber Duck
Presenting, the giant rubber duck (小鴨 – small duck) of Taiwan, as viewed in Keelung harbor.
