Blogs from Cambodia, Asia - page 4

This morning we returned to Angkor Wat because when we were there on Monday we were not able to visit ‘Heaven’, the topmost part of the temple, due to it being a Buddhist holy day. We had Cholna drop us off at the eastern entrance so that we could do the steep climb up to ‘Heaven’ in the cool (?) of the morning and while we were feeling full of energy?? It was also interesting to see the eastern entrance which is also attractive, but not seen nearly as much as the western entrance. We were all suitably dressed for heaven this morning. I missed out on this section of Angkor Wat when we were here in 2010 because my skirt was deemed too short. My skirt was right on knee length, which I thought was ... read more

It rained again during the night. Quite a lot actually! When we went out to meet our driver, Lin, there were huge puddles in the unmade road outside and we had to pick our way to the Mercedes minivan to keep our feet dry. But, before we left our room for our day trip we had made sure that we would have everything we might need in our day packs. Raincoat, tick, water, tick, toilet paper, tick and the Go Girl, tick. What’s that? people might ask. Well, a week or so before heading to Vietnam and Cambodia I was stressing about the whole squat toilet thing and decided that maybe I needed a ladies urination device so that I could pee standing up! Some research ensued and, not only are these a thing, they go ... read more

Today we explored the temples in the old capital of Angkor Thom. After Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom is probably the best known and most visited area amongst the temples and ruins of Siem Reap. This city, surrounded by a large wall with enormous gates and a crocodile infested moat was once home to as many as one million people. It is worth noting that this was at a time when the population of London was fewer than 100,000 people. Our first stop was at The Bayon which is a richly decorated Khmer temple dedicated to Buddhism that was built late in the 12th Century or early in the 13th Century as the state temple of the King Jayavarman VII. The Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman’s capital, Angkor Thom. The temple is characterized by the ... read more

Oh, dear, yesterday I started out with a bit of a headache, popped a couple of Aspros and managed to make it through the day OK. Last night, at bed time, I started to feel a bit congested and this morning I seem to have developed a proper head cold. Damn it! Our tuk tuk driver from yesterday afternoon, Cholna (sounds more like Jonah), ran us down to Pub Street last night and made arrangements to pick us up at 9.30am this morning to start visiting temples. First on our list today was Ta Keo. Ta Keo was the first sandstone temple mountain to be built by the Khmers. Its lack of carving makes it unlike other temples in the area and suggests that the construction was never finished. It is comprised of two terraces, a ... read more

This morning we docked at Kratie Town during breakfast. We were able to watch from the dining room as we were tied up to the rickety timber platform that serves as the dock here. The street on the riverbank was lined with tents and people and had a festive air about it. Leng explained that officially the Water Festival is celebrated in Phnom Penh between the 10th and 12thof November, however it is celebrated earlier in the provinces. I think as soon as the water recedes from their farming land they have reason to celebrate because they can plant their crops. After breakfast we stepped down onto the dock and - keeping to the joists! – made our way over to the bouncy gangplank. After bouncing over the gangplank we climbed the uneven concrete steps up ... read more