Fields of Dreams

Discover a once-great empire—and “Pineapple” pizza—with a holiday in Cambodia

Story and photos by David Jenison

For decades, most people saw Cambodia through the prism of the Oscar-winning 1984 film The Killing Fields, which depicted the unspeakable horrors of a sadistic regime, a widening Vietnam conflict and a tyrant named Pol Pot. Cambodia turned the corner with 1993’s UN-sponsored elections, and Hollywood soon supplied a new set of celluloid images as a sexy Angelina Jolie rocked the Angkor temples in 2001’s Tomb Raider. This former French territory now draws millions of tourists each year, and while the temples are the main draw, there’s a local culinary innovation that could merit its own big screen immortality. Should Tinseltown take the bait, the film could be called Pineapple Express 2: The Pizza.

Cambodia ironically enjoyed its first free and fair elections the same year that Happy Herb Pizza opened its doors and sparked a cannabis cuisine craze. Travel guides flooded the Phnom Penh restaurant with ink, and as new locations popped up in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, imitators rolled out faster than Lady Gaga wannabes. While it’s fun to imagine old Italian grannies rollin‘ in for pepperoni pie and unwittingly rollin‘ out higher than Afroman, you actually do have to request the “happy” upgrade. Just make sure they know you want it happier than a Georgia pitbull teeth-deep in Michael Vicks throwing arm.

Smokin‘ Pot, with two restaurants in Battambang, builds on the culinary craze with “happy” meals like chicken soup and baked chicken. In fact, low-grade cannabis is used for flavoring in many restaurants, and at one time a person could buy a kilo bag for 20 bucks right at the Central Market. Cannabis is still technically illegal, but green-friendly restaurants and guesthouses continue to abound despite the occasional crackdown. Just use caution when smoking in public, both to avoid the police and for personal safety, since crossing a Cambodian street is often like a human game of Frogger.

Cambodia might’ve turned Numero Uno pizza into Numero Cuatro-Veinte, but there’s more to the country than Wolfgang Puff.

Cambodia is the heart of the once-great Khmer Empire, whose 12th-century peak included the modern-day
territories of Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. This legacy still radiates at Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO heritage site featuring the most awe-inspiring temples SE Asia has to offer. The massive Angkor Wat is the park’s postcard image with massive castle walls and giant towers that aim for the heavens, while the Bayon temple mystifies visitors with hundreds of trippy faces carved into 54 large-scale towers.

Lara Craft groupies should recognize Ta Prohm, a beautiful temple that emerges from the jungle with massive tree roots intertwined around ancient stonework.

The Elephant Terrace also deserves mention as guests kick it old school with an elephant ride fit for a Khmer king.

Temples aside, tourists can explore history’s dark alleyways with the real-life Killing Fields and S-21 Prison Genocide Museum. Likewise, the Silver Pagoda and Temple of the Emerald Buddha (created in the 19th century with French technology and Cambodian designs) offer a glimpse of Phnom Penh as the Paris of the East before the French and American conflicts devastated the region. The big city also boasts riverboat rides down the Mekong and wicked partying at Heart of Darkness, an infamous nightclub with a body count. Beach junkies can also head south to the Gulf of Thailand for the sandy shores of Sihanoukville, a seaside jungle town that once hosted Jackie O.

These days, a person doesn’t have to be a Dead Kennedys fan to sing about a holiday in Cambodia. Sure, that’s probably the least appropriate pop culture reference that could follow a Jackie O. shout-out, but Cambodia is all about putting tragedy behind it and creating a bright, new, shade-wearing future. For travelers, this means dirt-cheap lodgings (go Top Banana, avoid Me Mate’s Place), French-fusion architecture, glorious ancient temples and delectable restaurant offerings. Jackie and Jolie visits are nice, but there’s a whole lot more to Cambodia’s sweet allure.

www.topbanana.biz, www.visitcambodia.com.