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Published: January 14th 2008
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Angkor Wat
Tegan and I in front of the Ankgor Wat temple. Monday January 7, 2008 - Thursday January 10, 2008 There are way too many things to share about the three days we spent in Siem Reap. We absolutely loved our time in Siem Reap and feel it will likely be the highlight of our vacation in Southeast Asia. As a result of having so many impressions and opinions to share, I’m going to try and keep this blog entry blunt and brief.
We arrived Monday morning bright and early at 8:00am. Our hotel picked us up at the airport. We stayed at City River Hotel. The hotel was definitely more on the budget side for us on this trip. The rooms were very plain, breakfast was a mediocre buffet. However the staff was absolutely terrific, meeting all of our needs. The shower water temperature fluctuated from freezing cold to intensely hot. Given the modest $40/night, we were still very satisfied with our stay at City River Hotel.
On Monday through Wednesday during the day, we spent a great deal of time touring the temples. Monday and Tuesday with a guide, Wednesday on our own. Each time we rode around in a tuk tuk, enjoying the breeze after some
Enjoying the Shade
Near the West entrance to Angkor Wat, this little guy was out for his noon meal. hot temple exploring. Below is a list of the temples we visited, comments included where appropriate.
- (Mon) Angkor Wat: Perhaps the grand daddy of them all. Detailed carvings line the outer walls, with five towers in the interior. It’s easy to spend several hours here. Remarkable when you consider it was built in the 12th century. Absolute must see.
- (Tues) Angkor Thom: Fortified city with five impressive gates. Several of the following temples exist within Angkor Thom.
- (Tues) Bayon: Over 200 giant faces of Avalokiteshvara are carved into this temple, often in a series of four, one for each direction. Many other detailed carvings adorn the walls as well. Filled with tourists, but otherwise a must see.
- (Tues) Baphoun: A bit like a pyramid in design, we didn’t get to see much of this temple. Most of it was closed off to the public as there was a major restoration project going on with blocks of the stone strewn about everywhere.
- (Tues) Phimeanakas: Probably the steepest climb we encountered. It’s a small temple with very little to see in the way of interesting carvings. The numerous tourists attempting to climb the ridiculously steep stairs
Angkor Wat Climb
Stairs inside Angkor Wat. are the real attractions here. If it were in the states, this place would just scream lawsuit!
- (Tues) Preah Palilay: If you like trees with your temples, this one provides a good photo opportunity with a few growing at the entrance. Aside from that, it’s small and easy to miss.
- (Tues) Terrace of the Leper King: Our guide stated that the terrace was a location for cremations. The back wall of the terrace had a very cool carving of elephant trunks scooping up lotus flowers. I found the maze like trench around the terrace very interesting as the walls were covered in detailed, well preserved carvings of apsara, demons, and snakes.
- (Tues) Terrace of Elephants: Very long, highly detailed terrace depicting a train of elephants on the sides of the terrace.
- (Tues) Ta Keo: A brief stop before lunch to see this temple. The temple seemed a bit unfinished as none of the common carvings were found here. This was a great temple for climbing with several stories of steep stairs. Nice view from the top.
- (Tues) Ta Prohm (a.k.a. Tomb Raider Tree Temple): Very popular temple with the tourists. Some of the best photo
opportunities seem to be here as various trees seem to mold their way into the stone of the temple. Tree roots invade and disfigure different parts of the temple walls.
- (Tues) Banteay Kdei: Not terribly memorable now that I’m looking back. Perhaps it was the long day of temple viewing that makes it difficult for this temple to stand out.
- (Tues) King’s Pool: Large pool apparently built for the King. Only he and his many women were permitted to swim in this pool as the story goes. Not terribly exciting to see, but at worst it’s a five or ten minute visit.
- (Tues) Prasat Kraven: Apparently one of the oldest temples, as it’s made of clay brick instead of stone. Some interesting carvings exist inside the small temple. Good to see if you’re interested in seeing the changes in the temples as the centuries passed.
- (Tues) Phnom Bakheng: Atop a hill, it’s a popular spot to watch the sunset or sunrise. The temple itself seemed fairly uninteresting in comparison to the many other choices. We stayed here at sunset. The temple was extremely overcrowded. Looking back, I wish we had found a place more secluded where
we could watch the sunset.
- (Wed) Banteay Srei (a.k.a Lady Temple): Very precise carvings adorn the walls of this temple. Beautiful. Its only drawback is that it’s much further away from Siem Reap then the other temples. We had our first bonehead tourist moment heading here. Not thinking, we visited the temple by tuk tuk. The obvious choice looking back would have been car. The ride was roughly one hour, one-way by tuk tuk. Seeing as we were only one of a couple tuk tuks on the long stretch of road, it was obvious we stood out as being dumb tourists. The upside was that we got an opportunity to really see some more rural parts of Cambodia.
- (Wed) Ta Som: Smaller, less popular temple. The eastern gate has been overrun by a tree and therefore makes for some nice pictures. Just a short stop along the way.
- (Wed) Preah Khan: Possible ex-university, we really enjoyed exploring the maze of corridors. At our point of exploration, the large complex almost seemed deserted. We really enjoyed the feeling of being alone while we wandered around the grounds. It was a good way to finish our exploration of all
the temples on this trip.
Aside from the Angkor temples, we also spent some time walking around Siem Reap. We watched a traditional Apsara dance while dining out one night. It was a cute little show, but not really a must see. We also spent some time walking through the Old Market area. Tegan has said many times on this trip how she hates having to negotiate while buying goods. I think it’s an interesting process, but agree it’s mildly insulting when the process begins with an alarmingly high response to “How much?”
As I hinted at, we really adored our time in Siem Reap. It’s really just a small town bustling with activity largely due to it being a gateway for the temple exploration. The city and its people are very charming and seemingly accepting of the increased tourist activity. As much as we loved Siem Reap, it’s hard to feel like we’ll ever return now that we’ve seen the temples. However, if ever we were presented with a good opportunity to revisit, I’m sure we’d welcome it with open arms.
The next stop on our trip will be the sunny beaches of Koh Samui,
Thailand.
Random Observations/Nuisances
- Seems like everywhere you go some young child is trying to sell you souvenirs. It’s overwhelming, and terribly sad. You can tell the kids would much rather be off running around.
- Oddly, the only franchise we came across in Siem Reap was one Dairy Queen. It was at the airport. I would have guessed a McDonald’s, but DQ was the king in this town.
- The locals in Siem Reap were so very friendly. Smiles were aplenty.
- Although I have a feeling Bangkok will be much worse, crossing a street at a four way intersection almost seemed like a leap of faith. It’s very rare to see a stop sign or stop light at an intersection.
- Don’t even bother picking up any local currency (riel), everyplace in Siem Reap seemed to prefer the U.S. dollar.
- Motorbikes rule the road. I don’t know how they did it, but sometimes we’d see four people on one bike.
- The cries of “Hey lady!” (for Tegan you smartasses) and “Tuk tuk?” greet you around every corner. Every sales pitch is complimented with a smile, no matter how often you reply “No thanks.”
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Brian
non-member comment
Souvenir peddlers
We experienced the same thing in Chichen Itza, the Mayan ruins in Mexico. The trip sounds eerily similar, with the exception being that the stones were arranged in a different design. :-) You guys are doing a great job with the photos! Enjoy the beaches, man... the BEACHES!