Cambodia and The Angkor Wat Half Marathon

Cambodians are some of the nicest people on Earth. Nikki and I took a 45 minute flight over to Siem Reap last weekend to participate in the 15th Annual Angkor Wat Half Marathon, and were continually impressed by the huge smiles and general friendliness of these people who have endured so much. Just look at Nikki's pictures above to get a sense – my favorite is the little girl running through the lotus field.

We arrived Friday afternoon, checked in to our fantastic hotel – which had the aura of an elegant Indiana-Jones-esque outpost – and headed downtown to get some grub. We dined al fresco on fish amok and other regional specialties while tuk tuks (moto-taxis) filled the streets and the biggest bugs I've ever seen filled the air (no wonder so many are eaten here!). We meandered through a narrow shopping/dining alley to find the night market, where Cambodian dancers took to the small stage and little kids danced and played amidst traditional music.

The next day we headed South to the Tonle Sap – a massive freshwater lake supporting millions of people living in floating villages. The size of the lake increases 4-5 fold between the dry and rainy seasons, so the position of the villages also changes throughout the year. We took a boat out and saw people moving their houses, taking in their catch, and selling their wares on the water. There was even a floating full size basketball court! We bought some notebooks/pencils and brought them to a Vietnamese-run primary school where we practiced our language skills with one of 3 teachers responsible for the 300 pupils. We hopped back in our tuk tuk and headed to a nearby temple/archaeological site, but not before stopping at a lotus farm where cute kids brought us flowers and lotus seeds to eat. The stunning site we visited was one of hundreds in the Siem Reap area and situated next to a modern Buddhist temple. After poking around for a bit and meeting a student of the monks, we grabbed a bite to eat in a peaceful butterfly garden in town, and visited the very well done National Museum, where thousands of the Angkor artifacts are on display. After a lovely dinner by the pool, we headed to bed early to prepare for an early morning…

The alarm went off at 4:00 AM and by 6:00 we had grabbed brekky, taken a bus to the site, and were watching the sun come up over Angkor Wat. There were something like 4,000 people participating, so it was a madhouse, but Nikki and I both fared pretty well. The race course wound through the huge site, passing giant temples, beautiful lakes, and the occasional pile of elephant droppings (yuk!). Nikki ran the 10k in just over 60 minutes, which was a 10 minute personal best – not bad for training on a treadmill. I placed second in the half marathon in just under 1:16, barely edging out a Japanese celebrity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neko_Hiroshi) and losing to the Cambodian national star by almost 6 minutes. There was even a little coverage in the local press: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010120645172/Sport/hem-bunting-cuts-it-in-half.html. The race itself was started by a Japanese Olympic marathoner and was designed to raise money to bring artificial limbs to land mine survivors (which is a huge issue in Cambodia) and save kids from HIV/AIDS. It was really touching to see participants in the wheelchair and artificial limb categories and you had to admire their determination. A handful of other folks from the US Consulate also ran and I think they have convinced us to sign up for another iconic race in May, along the Great Wall of China.

It was a quick trip, but we really loved getting a little exposure Cambodia. We are looking forward to a return visit in February, when we will get to see Phnom Penh and more of the temples at Angkor Wat.