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An Introduction To Cambodia General Info And Tips
he Kingdom of Cambodia is country received independence.
a constitutional monarchy
situated in Southeast Asia Cambodia covers an area of about
and counting a population of more 181,040 square kilometers. It has
than 13 million people. Most 443 kilometers of coastline along
Cambodians are Theravada the Gulf of Thailand.
Buddhists of Khmer extraction,
but the country is home also to a The most distinctive geographical
substantial number of Cham and feature are the lacustrine plains
small hill tribes. formed by the inundations of the
Great Lake. It measures about 2
The country borders Thailand to 500 square kilometers during the
its west, Laos to its north, dry season and expands to about
Vietnam to its east, and the Gulf 24 000 during the rainy season.
of Thailand to its south.From the This densely populated plain,
9th century to the 15th century, devoted to wet rice cultivation,
Cambodia represented the center is the heart of Cambodia.
of the Khmer Empire, with Angkor
as a capital. Most of the country's territory
lies at elevations of less than
The Angkor Wat, the empire's main 100 meters above the sea level,
spiritual site, is a symbolic the exceptions being the Cardamom
reminder of the time when Mountains (1,813 meters of
Cambodia was a major powerrulung elevation) and the steep
most of the Indochinese escarpment of the Dângrêk
peninsule, and remains the Mountains situated along the
country's top tourist border with Thailand's Isan
attraction.From 1863 the country region.
was a protectorate of France,
which lasted until 1953, when the The tourism industry is the
country's second-greatest source destroy the monuments, and
of hard currency in Cambodia restoration of the temples still
after the textile industry. More undergoes.
than 60% of visitors go to
Angkor, and most of the remainder The Angkor Wat complex is the
to Phnom Penh. Other tourist most exquisite example of Khmer
highlights include Sihanoukville architecture. Built in the early
(Cambodia's only port), whits its 12th century for king Suryavarman
popular beach, and the region II as his state temple, it
around Kampot, including the remained an important spiritual
Bokor Hill Station. centre for centuries- first
Hindu, and afterwards Buddhist.
The celebrated temples of Angkor Out of the reach of tourists
constitute the Cambodia's during the civil war, it has
greatest tourist attraction. The regained worldwide attention
nearly 100 temples represent now after being displayed in the 2001
the sacred remains of what was movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
once a much larger administrative
and religious centre, and were The Bayon is the other highlight
constructed between the 9th and of Angkor. Built in the 13th
13th centuries to glorify a century as the state temple of
number of Khmer kings. The three the king Jayavarman VII, it was
most splendid temples are Bayon, the centre of the then capital
Ta Prohm and the enormous Angkor and bears 54 towers, each
Wat. Most of Angkor was abandoned decorated with four smiling
in the 15th century and it was faces.
gradually cloaked by jungle.
Efforts were undertaken to clear The largest and most populous
away the exuberant vegetation city of Cambodia (about 1 million
which threatened to completely citizens), Phnom Penh was known
in the 1920s as the Pearl of Silver Pagoda. The original
Asia. Renowned for its pagoda, constructed in 1866 by
traditional Khmer and French King Norodom, was mostly made of
influenced architecture, it is a wood and, in 1962 was expanded by
major tourist destination in Sihanouk. It owes its name to the
Cambodia, as well as in Indochina fact that its floor is made of
as a whole. more than 5 000 silver blocks
with a total weight of more than
The main tourist attractions in 6 tons. The most important Buddha
Phnom Penh are the Silver Pagoda statue of the temple is,
and the Royal Palace. They sit similarly to Bangkok's royal
side by side on the Sothearos temple, an Emerald Buddha, which
Blvd and, being two separate is in this case not made of
complexes, are though visited as emerald, but of Baccarat crystal
one. Built in 1866 by the French, and dates back to the 17th
the Royal Palace comprises century.
numerous buildings, the Throne
hall ranking as the most On the Museum scene, well worth
important. Adjacent to the Throne visiting are the Choeung Ek
Hall is a 59 metre high tower. Genocidal Center- one of the main
South of it is the Royal Treasury killing fields of Pol Pot and the
and the Vlla of Napoleon III, Toul Sleng Museum of Genocidal
built in 1866 and given Crime (the infamous prison of the
afterwards as a present to Khmer Rouge), both displaying
Cambodia. horrific artifacts from the dark
era of Pol Pot, as well as the
At the northern part of the National Historic Museum/
palace grounds is situated the
About the Author:
Really Bites loves to travel and she also writes for http://www.travelweblog.net - asia travel guide.
Source: www.isnare.com
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