Cambodia is located in the heart
mainland of Southeast Asia, which conjures images of a glorious and mysterious
past and rich of the cultural heritages, particularly the world's renowned
ancient temple city whose magical image draws ever-increasingly tourists from
all over the world.
The divergent facets of the
Kingdom provoke both the serious and casual traveler, generally charmed and
sometimes bewildered by its mysteries. Not only Angkor Wat, Bayon, Taprohm,
Sandstone of ancient holy places, the giant
roots of ancient trees, the
graceful shapes of Apsaras and some temples buried in the jungle, hill tribes
settled in the remote areas, colorful pagodas, strings of pristine islands and
the century beach, as part of cultural tour that Cambodia is proud of her
presentation, but also the splendor of the Khmer civilization and its people
who have shown their friendliness everywhere you move in the country.
For most, Cambodia first conjures
up the legendary Angkor (the magnificent Empire erected by Kings between the
9th and 13th centuries) that continues to admiration from Khmers and foreigners
alike. The humanity and disaster of the nature have failed to compromise the
awe of Angkor. The temples remain with an enigmatic grandeur, as a testimony to
the Empire that symbolized the country at the present day.
They are the silent witnesses to
the perennial cycles of life, which occur with each rainy season. The Kingdom
emerges from its lethargy and springs back to life. Clouds, swollen with
moisture, burst their monsoon rains to fill in the Tonle Sap (Great Lake ) that
bring over thousands tones of fresh water fishes.
Every year, the country is
transformed in a nature cycle, which is unique to Cambodia. The flow of the
mighty Mekong River swells until it forces the Tonle Sap to reverse its course,
pushing up stream from the ancient capital. Every year, the reversal of the
river is celebrated with the country's most spectacular Water Festival in
November.
