Siem Reap - the jewel of Cambodia (oh yes, it really is!)

28 July 2008

I wasn't fully 'with it' in the morning and got myself very confused. I looked at an old bus ticket and thought 'OMG, I will miss the bus" because it had an earlier time then I had remembered. I paid for my room but in my confused state, I think that I paid double what was actually owed. In Cambodia, people won't tell you that you've made a mistake unless you haven't paid enough. Oh well, what's done is done! When the penny finally dropped and I realised that I was looking at the wrong ticket, I was able to relax and went to have some brekkie at the restaurant. I had lots of time to eat and then walk to the bus station. While waiting for the bus, I got chatting to two French girls at the station who were also heading to Siem Reap. The bus left late but I was on my way - yeesssss, at last!!! It was another long bus journey and I had to endure Cambodian karaoke again! This time, the guy sitting next to me joined in - just my luck! Thankfully, I had the earphones for my phone so I played music to try and drown out the sound. The journey wasn't too bad until we got nearer to Siem Reap and, to my surprise, the roads were similar to those in Ratanakiri.

When we arrived in Siem Reap I shared a tuk tuk with the two French girls. The tuk tuk driver, we all agreed, was a complete moron. He was driving over all the holes in the road on purpose and was laughing as he did it. We were not impressed. The girls had reserved a room in advance at a guesthouse but I hadn't. I had a look at a room there but wanted to check out others. I wondered around the town with my rucksack (as usual) finding out prices and checking out the accommodation. I didn't want to spend more than 5 USD per night. I came across a guesthouse called the Dead Fish and asked about a room. A guy there was very friendly and enthusiastic. He was about to show two other girls the rooms so he said I could join in. He showed us the rooms (twin rooms for the girls and single rooms for me). The last room he showed us was a triple room and said that we could share it. I thought that was odd because he knew that we didn't know each other. Anyway, it worked out at about 5 USD per person per night and had all the trimmings (A/C, TV etc.). As the girls were fine about sharing with me I thought, "Why not!" so we took the room and checked in.

I found out that the girls were sisters from Indonesia and they were really nice. I dumped my stuff and agreed to meet the girls at the guesthouse at 4pm. Then I went off to explore the area. I didn't get very far though because I found a market that had some really lovely clothes at really good prices. I just couldn't resist it and bought a lovely summer dress, 2 t-shirts and a pair of fisherman's trousers all for 15 USD - what a bargain! After spending all that money, I went back to the guesthouse and met up with the girls. We all decided to get the one-day ticket because we didn't want to spend three days looking at the temples. It isn't possible to buy just a two-day ticket. We found out that we could purchase the tickets the evening before and actual use it that day as well as the next. Because they had had a very long bus journey from Thailand, only one of the girls wanted to do that so I got a tuk tuk with her to the park.

I didn't realise how far away the temples were from the centre of Siem Reap. We arrived at the ticket office and were told that we would have to wait 10 mins to get our tickets. What I didn't realise until then was that the tickets are individual to each person because they take a digital photo and scan it onto the ticket so it can't be used by anyone else. I suppose it helps to stop ticket touts from making some money. While we were getting our tickets, there was a foreign guy who was trying to buy tickets for a few people but he couldn't for that reason. He was really annoyed. I could understand why he was annoyed because he would have had a wasted journey and would be going away empty handed unless he bought his own ticket.

Once we had got our tickets, the tuk tuk driver drove us to the best place to see the sunset - apparently! As he drove us around, I began to realise how big the park actually was and the size of the temples. We went passed Angkor Wat and it looked very impressive. We reached the bottom of a hill and walked up to an Angkorian temple. Climbing the steps was interesting because they were very narrow and uneven. It started raining - typical! - and it was cloudy. There were a fair few people there waiting for sunset but we didn't get a good view because to the weather. We descended and were driven back to the guesthouse.

The girls went out to the night market for some food. I decided to stay at the guesthouse because I needed veggie food. I used the Internet, had a lovely meal at the funky restaurant attached to the guesthouse, which had traditional Aspera dancing. Then I had a shower and went to bed.

29 July 2008

We woke up really early so that we would have the whole day at the Angkor Archaeological Park (the formal title). We had brekkie and then met our tuk tuk driver outside. We had negotiated a fab daily rate of 10 USD for all three of us.

We began with Angkor Wat. According to good old Wikipedia it was built between 1113 and 1150 and is thought to be the world's largest single religious monument. It really is an amazing site to see. It is massive, has a moat and is set in a lovely, peaceful setting. It was so much better than I expected. Do believe the hype - it's amazing! I don't know much about architecture, building design or construction but it scores highly on all three in my book! After that, we went to Angkor Tom and then to Ta Prohm. The Bayon temple was really fantastic but Ta Prohm was my fav after Angkor Wat. I have got some fab photos of it but you have to see it to believe it. It made me wonder what can first - the building or the trees? It was a buddhist monastic complex and some of the original vegetation was left uncleared by archaeologists. Part of Tomb Raider was filmed there apparently. I wouldn't know because I never watched it. The people selling anything from incense to souvenirs were entertaining but you just can't escape them. They are everywhere! You can here the ladies selling pineapples from miles away - honest! 'Lllaaaadddiiiieee, pineapple?', they would shout in an ever increasing tone.

After starting really early in the morning, we began to flag in the afternoon, especially after we came out of one of the temples the wrong way and walked a very, very long way back to the tuk tuk. The driver found it immensely funny. Once he had stopped laughing, he asked us if we wanted to go to another temple that he referred to as the 'Lady temple'. It was some distance away. None of us were jumping at the opportunity but we decided to go and see this apparently unmissable temple. It wasn't really worth the effort though. It just wasn't as impressive as what we had seen earlier in the day.

During the day, my camera battery ran out - again! I keep forgetting to charge it up because the battery lasts such a long time. I wasn't so concerned about not having the camera because I was able to take photos with my phone but the lens was exposed. The cover doesn't close automatically when the battery runs out so I had to hold it and try and keep the lens clean. I was concerned about dust scratching the lens so, when we got back to the guesthouse and after I had charged the battery a bit, I went to a few photo shops for some help. That was a waste of time because they refused to clean the lens for me and just wanted to sell me a cleaning kit. I really didn't need anything extra to carry around. I was desparing because it seemed to me that no one would do something out of the kindness unless they were paid for it. 'It's all about money', I was thinking. I can understand why but it just gets to me sometimes. One of the girls suggested going to an optician's so we did. They were really nice. They gave me a cleaning cloth and a squirt of solution so that I could clean the lens there and then. Bingo - job done - one clean lens and one happy person (me!). That restored my faith in human nature.

After all that, we went for a walk about the town. Siem Reap is actually quite nice but has been built for tourists - understandably. The girls booked their bus tickets to Phuket for the next day. I had to make a decision. Do I stay one more night, do I go to Battambang or do I go to Phnom Penh? Decisions, decisions! Eventually, after a lot of uncertainty, I booked my bus ticket for Phnom Penh for the next day. That decision was based on time and money.

We had dinner, wandered about the night market where I bought a new pair of fake designer sunglasses (you don't really have much choice) and then went back to the guesthouse. All in all, it was a really good but very tiring day. The girls were great company. I was glad to have hooked up with them. It just wouldn't have been the same wandering around on my own.

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