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Anne Sweeney

By: Anne Sweeney

Angkor (photo) is a magical place, mysterious and vital, an Emerald City of palaces, temples and towers so high that only the gods are meant to see the tops.

It rises above the jungle, shining with the spirit of kings and conquerors, artists and poets, gods and goddesses. That spirit lives in Siem Reap, the town surrounding these legends. Once a sleepy backwater, Siem Reap is poised to become Asia's premier travel destination - inspiring, exotic, astonishing. The arts that flourished in the original Khmer Kingdom are being revived and reinterpreted. Silks, silver, antiques and carvings, spill from the bazaar, the stalls near the temples and the stylish shops that fashion lush Cambodian fabrics into striking clothes and accessories. The great hoteliers are already here. Raffles operates the venerable Hotel d' Angkor and Orient Express brings its special aura to the Residence d' Angkor. Cuisine spans Paris to the Pacific - Asian, Australian and French, nouvelle and old.There are many ways to see Angkor - by helicopter, hot air balloon, even by elephant. But the Khmer gods are in the details and their magic is most potent in the quiet forest, with the light glowing on the sandstone carvings.

THE AUTHOR

Anne Sweeney is president of Anne Sweeney Communications, a New Jersey-based firm specializing in travel, food and hospitality accounts. She writes frequently on these subjects as well as on politics and business. She is also WOWtraveler.net's US PR representative. Anne began her travel career with Pan American World Airways and first visited Cambodia in 1968. Still dazzled by the grace and grandeur of the Khmer civilization, Anne sees Cambodia rising rapidly to become a major destination. "This is a gorgeous country. Angkor is the key to tourism but there is much more to see-and much of it is unspoiled. Phnom Penh still has much of its old French Colonial grandeur and the temples and palaces rival anything in Europe."

Anne Sweeney
President, Anne Sweeney Communications, NJ, USA
Anne.Sweeney@WOWtraveler.net

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