Blogs from Siem Reap, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 197

We zijn vanuit Laos vertrokken met een vlucht vanaf Pakse naar Siem Reap, Camodia. De vlucht was erg goed bevallen, ondanks de slechte reputatie! Vliegtuig zag er goed uit en we kregen een lekker ontbijtje. Siem Reap blijkt een enorm op toeristen gerichte stad(je) te zijn. Veel grotere (dure) hotels & veel cafe's en restaurantjes (best wel modern). Daarbij heeft Femke de souvernir marktjes al ontdekt, harstikke leuk om daar te gaan kijken (wel oppassen, zoals altijd/overal). We hebben ook al gemerkt dat de Cambodianen een stukje agressiever zijn in hun aanpak om goederen te verkopen. Je hoeft maar ergens naar te kijken, en ze namen al gelijk al je maten op (zoals ons gebeurde bij een kledingszaakje). Nadat we 's morgens aangekomen waren, zijn we naar "the floating village" geweest wat wel leuk was om ... read more

Hiya. We woke up very early to get the boat to Siem Reap via the Tonle Sap Lake. However as we were rushing to get ourselves together we had a bit of a 'problem' as the reception guy gave us the wrong bill. Maz told him that it was wrong as the amount was too little but he said ''no, no its okay'' so we just paid the lesser amount and then got into the cab that was waiting for us to take us to the port. However! the reception guy soon realised his mistake and called the cab man (very small town)! and put Maz on the phone to him... what a pilarva! Then the reception guy came rushing down to the port and was acting like he didnt remember us giving him any money ... read more

To reach Siem Reap - base for visiting the mighty Angkor Wat - we opted for a boat ride. The weather was hot and legroom was at a premium. All the same, the trip was not altogether unenjoyable as we basked in the glorious sunshine on the top deck of the small vessel. After about five hours we arrived at the dock in Siem Reap and were greeted by about a thousand hotel representatives and rickshaw drivers; these individuals know exactly when all tourist boats and buses arrive into town and they accordingly go straight down each time to tout for business. So, after a small argument with one tout (who was putting everyone and their bags in danger of falling into the sea by getting up on the deck to solicit potential customers), we got ... read more

No matter what we’d been told, NOTHING could prepare us for our adventure today! The temples of the ancient Khmer kingdom, which were built sometime in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, are absolute marvels. We spent a completely exhausting day today just scratching the surface of the hundreds of temples here. Apparently Jayavarman was a busy dude…building temple upon temple to honor his rule. Thank God we finally got our guide back. Dara is an amazing guy and he and his family’s life is quite amazing…really made this experience that much more personal. We started at Ta Phrom. This temple was built by Jayavarman to honor his mother (though we suspect was secretly built to vamoose her out of Jayavarman’s own house at Angkor Wat!). Unlike Billy’s mom, just having his siblings all ... read more

.....population 60,000,000" say the kids selling postcards, bangles and books in Siem Reap. It's pretty repetitive but is done by such sweet kids that it's impossible to get angry.....and it beats the adults whose response is to say "Lovely jubbley" or reel off a list of Premiership players. Siem Reap is a fascinating place, its main pull is the temples of Angkor including the most famous Angkor Wat. The temples bring in masses of tourists ranging from backpackers to rich western tour groups. The hotels, restaurants and bars cater for such diverse groups with $10 guesthouses alongside famous names like Raffles where rooms can be up to $2,000 (a night!). The tourists obviously are the main reason for the number of kids selling their wares, they are fairly present in town but congregate mainly around the ... read more