Blogs from Knar, Siem Reap, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 3

Well arrived at Siem Reap airport after quite a bumpy flight and remember a really early start - so not in best mood. Well we had to get a visa on arrival and to be honest not looking forward to it. However, all I can say is I was totally wrong it was really smooth and efficient not at all what all the books said it would be like. We go outside the airport arrivals hall which is so sweet - and there is a board with our name on it. To say we just booked the tour over the internet a couple of days ago and all correspondence had been through email with no deposit left - I was pleasantly surprised. We had to get some American Dollars to pay for the tour so the ... read more

Long day. Woke up and headed to check out more temples in Angkor and Ta Phrom Temple, the temple where they filmed Tomb Raider with the tree. The temples were awesome but it was so so hot! I just wanted to get back to an air conditioned hotel room. When I arrived back around noon, I decided it was time for a massage. I got a full body, hot oil and stone massage for $8 for 1 hour! Yay! And it was awesome! I just wish I had more time here to take advantage of it. Afterwards, headed out to FCC restaurant, as recommended by Ian and Fredrik :) It was lovely and the best part was the fruit shake made of the freshest fruit of the season. It was the yummiest thing ever! My driver ... read more

I landed in Siem Reap yesterday. Of course, the weather is still unbearably hot and humid. I met a lovely couple, Jon and Ellen on the plane. Not sure why I seem to meet couples, but it just so happens that I do. We spoke of travelling and life and made plans to meet up for dinner when we got into Siem Reap. As for my hotel, it is quite large, decently nice, and clean. It definitely isn't as nice as my other place in Phnom Penh, but it will do. I took a quick nap when I arrived in my hotel and decided it was time to head straight to the pool. It was lovely and the water was perfect! After about an hour, I took a shower and got myself ready to do some ... read more

After the worst journey due to all the waiting round in queues to get over the border we learnt that we are patient people. Due to the long journey we met a few friends along the way and all ended up staying at the same hotel. When we crossed the border we became millionaires, 200 pounds =10,000 (Thai) Bht = 1,000,000R = $300!! Its hard working in 4 currenicies, the empty space in our pockets where our mobiles once where is now filled with calculators. Our first trip in Siem Reap was to a floating village on Tonle Sap Lake, over 1000 families live on the lake either on boats or raft houses. It was crazy, our boat steering wheel broke and the driver some how steered us to a floating garage where he got a ... read more

So after attempting to save the best for last it was now time to check out the temple of all South East Asian Temples; Angkor Wat. At almost 1 square kilometre, it sure is spectacular in it's grandeur and you can see why it's such a proud emblem of Cambodia. However, it's also a tourist stampede. The challenge becomes trying to take that picture of a lonely ancient temple between one drove of people and the next. Adam's pick of the bunch was Ta Prohm, which he dubbed as perhaps even more spectacular than Angkor Wat. Unlike Angkor Wat, there's been an intentional effort to leave it in a semi state of neglect. Cotton trees stand high on tops of the temple, the giant roots entangled in the walls threatening to suffocate the temple itself. It ... read more