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Published: July 12th 2013
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Siem Reap was one of the places that was on my priority list because of Angkor Wat, one of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. During Labor Day break last year, I decided to purchase the ticket to Siem Reap for a long weekend. This time, I had a recommendation for a guide and a driver from a friend of mine and didn't need a visa to enter the country. Furthermore, there was a direct flight from Singapore (these were the two most important criteria for me when choosing a destination for short getaway).
Upon arrival at the airport, I was greeted by my guide who took me to FCC (http://www.fcccambodia.com/angkor/), a stylish hotel within a walking distance from the night market. I spent the afternoon walking around the market but decided not to buy anything. After visiting Luang Prabang a few weeks earlier, this place seemed too crowded and too touristy. Along the way from the airport to town, you can see rows of hotels next to each other (imagine how crowded this place during high season).
The next day, my guide picked me up at 5:30 am as I wanted to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat; unfortunately, he
came late and by the time we reached Angkor Wat, it started to get bright. Again, I felt that this place was too crowded and touristy and as a result, I didn't enjoy taking photos (my shots didn't turn well either as it's said mood determined the quality of our photos).
From here, we went to Ta Prohm as it's advisable we went there early beating the crowds. My guide was correct and I was glad with his recommendation as we hardly saw anyone at this temple. This is the famous temple where Angelina Jolie was filmed during Lara Croft movie. It's a remarkable temple as it was covered by giant trees of which roots spread most of the area of the temple. Somehow, it gave us an eerie feeling especially we were there in the morning where there were not many people. This was my favourite temple of all. From Ta Phrom, we headed towards Angkor Thom but along the way, I noticed an interesting temple made of red bricks called Pre Rup. This is one of the beauties of traveling alone as you could literally change your itinerary as you like. Unlike the rest of the temples
in the area, Pre-Rup is a Hindu temple, dedicated to Hindu God Shiva (interestingly, at the gate of the temple there was a 4 year old kid holding a toy gun persistently trying to shoot me).
I was fascinated at the size of Angkor Thom compound. It was built by King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century. Even the gates and entrance to the gates were interesting. Along the entrance on the left were the status of the demons while on the right were the statues of the Gods, surrounded by man made lake. The next step was the Bayon which had approximately 200 stone faces carved in the wall of the temple and was equally magnificent; by then, it was around 11 am but somehow, it felt like noon (I visited the country during hottest period). It was humid and I felt suffocated and started to feel dizzy (I had to lay down for a while and drank some water before I could walk to the car). I decided to return to the hotel and had some rest.
I was picked up again around 4 pm as I wanted to visit Phnom Bakheng, another temple to
have the best view for sunset in Angkor Wat. I was told we should leave early as the temple was under renovation and the authority wanted to limit the number of people for entry. Little that I knew it was a holiday season in Vietnam that loads of people came down from the bus to see the sunset as well. It was a long wait but again I was told this was THE spot to watch sunset in Angkor Wat. Patiently I waited in the sun for almost two hours and learned the sun was covered in cloud!
My guide had agreed to pick me up at 5 am the next day as I'd like to take another sunrise photographs at Angkor Wat. From here, we went to Banteay Srei, a Hindu temple, which meant "Citadel of Beauty". It's built from a red sandstone and was known as the lady temple. From here, we decided to go to Phnom Penh which was three hours drive from Siem Reap, and I had booked my accommodation at the Quay (it was a great choice as it's new, clean and reasonably priced). We stopped along the way at Kampong Thom to have
our lunch. I spent the afternoon walking around the city which reminded me a lot like Ho Chin Minh combined with Phuket: plenty of motorbikes, small hotels and bars along the main road and simply chaotic.
The next day, we went to Tonle Sap lake, the largest fresh water lake in Cambodia, and took a wooden boat to explore the lake. Unfortunately, I visited the country during its dry season - so the water level was quite low. There were plenty of boats going into and out of the lake, each of which had to take turn for the passing in the narrow river. We also passed by the floating village where 1,500 people live. They would move closer to the river during rainy seasons.
After lunch I went to visit the museum and Royal Palace and was puzzled when it was 'closed'. Having nothing much to do, I remained walking around in front of the palace gate and started to notice more and more people. Soon, I saw tons of people marching towards the palace which explained why it was closed for the day! For once, I felt like a CNN reporter capturing the moments in the
middle of the crowds. Later on I learned that the people had protested against the government for the hike in land prices.
We headed back towards Siem Reap in the afternoon and I decided to stay at Lotus Hotel this time (also booked via Agoda). I visited Hotel de La Paix and had lunch there before heading towards the airport the following day.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Angkor Wat
Our guide picked us up at 330am and we walked with flashlights to sit and wait. We loved our sunrise but you are correct about the crowds. Our pictures were fairly good but the silence before the sunrise was amazing. Large number of people sat and stood quietly waiting for the morning sun. Glad you enjoyed some of the other temples.