#71 best destination in the world

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

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  • Museum chronicling the Cambodian genocide
  • #21 of the top 25 museums in the world
  • Was used as an execution center

Choeung Ek

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  • Site of a former orchard and mass grave of victims of the Khmer Rouge
  • Known as The Killing Fields, where the Khmer Rouge regime executed over one million people between 1975 and 1979

La Plantation

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  • Sustainable family project utilizing traditional farming and modern processing
  • La Plantation produces black, red, white kampot pepper and fresh salted kampot pepper, red long pepper, turmeric, bird chili and local fruits
  • Grown traditionally and harvested by hand, presentation, tasting and guided tours are offered
  • There are two restaurants, and a Khmer cooking class
  • Tours in the rural countryside are pulled by cart by water buffalo

Bokor Hill Station

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  • Collection of French colonial buildings constructed as a temperate mountain luxury resort and retreat for colonial residents in the early 1920s at the top of Bokor Mountain in Preah Monivong National Park
  • Abandoned for long periods of time, modern infrastructure has made the location easily accessible as re-development is taking place

Otres Beach

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  • Strip of white-sand beach lined with tamarisk and casuarina trees

Battambang Bat Caves

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  • Every evening at very near to specific a time, thousands of nocturnal bats taking flight from the surrounding caves in a massive formation of dark, black clouds

Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau

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  • Khmer Rouge execution site
  • The Khmer Rouge killed their victims on top of the cave at the rim of a daylight shaft or ceiling hole and then threw the dead body into the cave
  • There are a number of caves at Phnom Sampeau that have traditionally served as Buddhist temples
  • Today there is a large glass memorial in the cave next to the skulls and bones and a golden reclining Buddha
  • A memorial, assembled from cyclone fencing and chicken wire contains human bones at the base of the stairway

Angkor Wat

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  • #1 of the top 25 landmarks in the world
  • Largest religious monument in the world, at 402 acres
  • Originally a Hindu temple, it gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century
  • Masterpiece of high classical style of Khmer architecture
  • Designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ta Prohm

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  • Buddhist monastery and university
  • Built in Bayon style from the 12th-13th centuries
  • Is in much the same condition in which it was found with an atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

Kbal Spean

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  • Angkorian era archaeological site situated along the Stung Kbal Spean River
  • Consists of a series of stone rock relief carvings in sandstone formations of the river bed and banks
  • The motifs for stone carvings are mainly myriads of lingams (phallic symbol of Hindu god Shiva), depicted as neatly arranged bumps that cover the surface of a sandstone bed rock, and lingam-yoni designs
  • There are also various Hindu mythological motifs, including depictions of the gods Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Lakshmi, Rama, and Hanuman, as well as animals, such as cows and frogs

Preah Vihear Temple

Preah-vihear

  • Ancient Hindu temple built on top of a cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

Costs

Number of Days: 28 days

Best Time To Fly: Nov-April

Airline ticket: $1,422

Seattle -> Phnom Penh (round trip) $1,422

Food: $9/day x 28 days = $252

Entertainment/tours: $301

Airbnb/hotel: $43/day x 26 days = $1,118

TOTAL: $3,093