Hello Cambodia! We flew into Siem Reap for a five day stay in a local airbnb property before our boat cruise down the Mekong River. We caught a Tuk Tuk from the airport, and it was a 20 minute ride to our apartment. Three duffel bags and the two of us were a tight fit, but it worked fine. And in the evening it was a little cooler, so the ride was quite comfortable.
Our days in Siem Reap went according to plan, and we have had some amazing experiences. While staying at Ananda’s Lodging in Siem Reap, a simple but nice studio room, we began a three day sightseeing tour in an air conditioned vehicle- instead of the usual Tuk Tuk. We had pre-booked in South Korea, and it was a good choice. Vanna, our English speaking guide, showed us many temples in the area including Angkor Wat, as well as Kulen National Park, the local Siem Reap market and the Artisans Angkor, famous for its traditional craft skills products such stone carving, wood carving, lacquering, gilding and silk processing.
During our three day tour, the driver stayed with the vehicle while the three of us (Tim, me and Vanna) walked the temples and heard about Cambodian history. There is an interesting relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism in this area of the world. The Hindu stories were written to create moral ideals for followers to aspire to and there are many gods and many stories as the religion dates back to pre-historic times. By the end of the three days, we were thoroughly confused by the many Hindu gods and the mixing of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. Smile. Thankfully we didn’t need to have it all sorted out in order to enjoy the beautiful temples and people of Cambodia.
Angkor Wat is the the most famous of the temples. About one kilometer square, while a moat over 150 m wide surrounds the temple. The most crowded of the temples, but our guide was able to schedule our trip and route in a way that we missed the worst of the crowds.
One of the most surprising things was how nearly every surface of every temple was decorated with ornate carvings, telling the story of Hindu legends, the stories of the royal families, and showing the lives of the community.
We also had a chance to see the sunset from the top of Hindu temple Phnom Bakheng- but the sunset wasn’t anything special, and we spent an hour and a half sitting on the sun-baked temple waiting for the sunset. However, the next morning we had a chance to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat – and the weather and sky cooperated. We had a beautiful morning, watching the sunrise in the cooler temperatures. (Both photos below are as shot- no editing)
Angkor Thom temple. The temple is smaller than Angkor Wat, but the surrounding walled grounds are three km on a side, again with a large moat.
The “pink lady” temple ( Prasat Banteay Srei) was one of our favorites. Smaller than the others, because it is made of a harder pink limestone which was less available. Because the stone is harder, the carvings have held up better over time. And, it’s a little more out of the way, so less tourists.
We sure enjoyed having a “luxury” guided tour. Three days was a good amount of time to see the highlights, without being rushed. And, as we sat back in air conditioned comfort, watching the sweating tourists in their Tuk Tuks, it felt like luxury. Being met at the a.c. cooled car with wet towels to clean our hands and faces, and restock on cold water felt great. It also gave us a little time to cool down before we headed out to see the next temple. The photo below shows how most people visit the temples- and how the drivers kill some time while waiting for passengers.
A common sight along the road was a metal stand, filled with bottles containing an amber liquid. I asked our guide, and he said it was low quality gasoline that you could buy for your moped or Tuk Tuk.
We were most taken by the kindness of the Cambodian people. We appreciated the honest and genuine hospitality of our hosts. If we were unable to communicate through the Khmer (of which we knew none!) or English language, these friendly people would be patient while we tried “charades with a smile”. Thankfully this worked 95% of the time! While sad to see the poverty we were very glad to learn of some of the reasons behind it; the many nations who have laid claim to this land, and how they manage to live through great hardship. Something Vanna said to us was if we see a Cambodian traveling outside of Cambodia ‘they must have a substantial amount of money.’
Part of a day was spent going north to Phnom Kulen national park, where we had a chance to climb a tower to visit the reclining Buddha.
In the park we saw their picnic grounds, with many families enjoying lunch or a swim in the river.
Part of the park has a smaller holy river that was used by the kings in ancient times to bathe. Much of the stone riverbed was carved with miniature Hindu Shiva Linga, which are religious statues found in all the temples.
Ok- and a few more temples. We won’t try to keep the remaining temples straight as we saw so many of them.
It felt amazing to be able to walk in and around so many of these temples- it’s hard to believe we can get so close and personal with history.
These stubby butt lions are at most of the temples.
The walkways and “railings” at the temples are amazing. This is one of the four bridges that led across the moat to a temple.
A view from the walkway in front of the “hospital” temple (one of several ) that was built by King JayavarmanVII, around the year 1200. He built a system of national roads, health facilities, and other projects to improve the welfare of his people.
At the end of each day, the air conditioned comfort of our apartment was a pleasure. We were greeted each day by the house cat, who obviously was relaxed and in charge.
On the last day of our tour, we asked Vanna if we could go to the Siem Reap central market instead of the normal night market that was on the schedule. We had walked through part of the night market previously, and it was primarily for the tourists. Not needing to see more souvenirs, we opted for the local market instead. On our 45 minute walk through we saw no other Westerners, but did get a nice glimpse into the normal routines of the Cambodian people.
A lunch counter serving snacks.
And a couple of final shots of Siem Reap. Notice the wiring on the poles, and the mobile Tuk Tuk restaurant!
Looking across the Siem Reap river at night.
And now it’s time to head off to our boat cruise down the Mekong- we’ll have a chance to post a second Cambodia post, and our Vietnam pics once we get to Taipei.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for all who actually read this entire post! God bless you. Love, Deb and Tim
