http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Cambodia , North en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:18:14 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:18:14 +0000 Got talked into doing the Temple bit on my fiirst full day by the tuktuk driver who took me to the hotel 18 seemed reasonable with another 20 entrance fee to the Temple area this pass covers the whole of the temple complex about 100 temples spread over 100 square km. What I thought was really cool was they take your photo with what looks like a webcam when you buy the pass and then they p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-464472.html Had a reasonably pleasant 6 hour bus journey here with the same bus company that pissed me about getting to Ratanakiri. Apparently they are usually the best in Cambodia punctual clean toilet on board stops every 23 hours decent air con and their drivers dont stop everywhere and anywhere to pick up friends or to make extra money from spare seatsThe hotel The River Garden will get a special http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-463420.html Angkor Wat Temples. The biggest grandest buddist temples in SE Asia. truely remarkable. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-462646.html Caught a bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and pace is so much less frenetic here Hired a mountain bike with one working gear and one brake and rode out to Angkor. First day was spent at Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat. Size of the temples was amazing After you enter the South Gate of Angkor Thom its still a few kilometers to its centre Roads cut through dense jungle and then the temples appear I li http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-462463.html Day X and XIBorderWe managed to cross the border after 23 hours. WUHUU Siem Reap We had 152km to drive to Siem Reap roads were nice but landscapes were boring. We arrived by sunset and found a really nice hotel for only 15usd per night. ReligionI talked with one woman from the US whorsquos been living in Cambodia for some time and she said that local people are unhappy because of their reli http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-461844.html Hi everyoneWell I've been a little slack with my updates lately.....but better late than neverWhen I last wrote I had arrived in Siem Reap and I was very excited about the days ahead of me exploring the temples in the area. I was staying in the Ta Som guest house which was pretty basic but at us12 per night you couldn't expect too much....and that price included breakfast So after I'd eaten m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-460565.html I'm not a buddhistand actually I'm not very interested in those temples neither.HoweverI was shocked by the majesty of the Angkor Wat.Those carving are fabulousThe monk looks friendly http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-460127.html And so we arrived in Siem Reap a place which must be up there with the most visited areas in South East Asia a serious tourist town and presumably of massive importance to Cambodia's tourist industry who would travel through SE Asia without at least popping in to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. We did like the town though despite constant interest from tuk tuk drivers restaurants bars hawk http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/blog-459929.html After 11 hours on a bus through rice fields villages and towns change of bus at Phnom Penh we jumped on a tuk tuk straight to a hotel in serious need of showers food and a stretch. Battambang and the hotel Royal Hotel no less had a great feel to it very relaxed sleepy town obviously making the most of tourism with lots of visitors wandering around. We went for a wee walk that night http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-459874.html So let me tell you a little bit about Cambodia...The country is fascinating with breathtaking Angkor Complex. Coliseum looks like a child's play next to this amazing creation. It is horrifying to think of events only thirty years past when you visit Killing Fields of Pol Pot. The country of warm weather and even warmer people. Cambodia is however absolutely incomprehensible when you see all th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-459399.html Day 5 Angkor WatWas nicely surprised today with the breakfast we get here at the hotel a big baguette scrambled or fried egg jam and butter very filling and would keep you going for a good few hours..Our guide turned up on time in fact he was early today we organised to be taken around in a tuk tuk with him his name is Darith Touch and I will say now he was great very obliging with our http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-458138.html Our trip from bangkok to Siem reap went very smoothly compared to some of the horror stories we had read at talesofasia.com. This was probably due in part to the fact that we arranged all of our own travel instead of going with a packaged trip from Khaosan rd which are supposedly riddled with scams. Our trip started at 515 am and ended at 2 pm whereas the packaged trips leave at 7 am and end at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-457619.html Well having spent an eventful and unpleasant time in Vietnam I was really looking forward to a change of venue.I was still fighting a fever but it seemed to be somewhat under control after 5 days so I decided to fly to Siem Reap the little town that services Angkor Wat. It was an afternoon flight and as flight time approached I certainly wasn't feeling any better. When we finally departed I was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-457155.html CambodjaOnze eerste impressies van Cambodja lijken ons te doen geloven dat Cambodja het imago van armoede en de gruwelijke geschiedenis van 30jaar burgeroorlog en dictatuur van de Rode Khmer stilaan van zich af aan het werpen is.Als we in de tweede grootste stad van Cambodja Siem Raep aankomen vergapen we ons aan de enorme resorts die als paleizen naast elkaar staan te pronken met dure Franse n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-456902.html We left crummy Dalat behind wishing wersquod never bothered and headed straight for the Vietnamese coast to a town called Mui Ne. The bus journey was much like all the rest long hot the bus driver trying hard to travel at the fastest speed possible and no toilet stops. On arrival we were greeted by the bluest of sunny blue skies and tallest palm trees beautifully placed along the seas edge w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455910.html Well you know me. It was only a matter of time before I did something dumb. We awoke yesterday raring to go on our second day of touring Angkor. It was another perfect sunny day despite weather forecasts to the contrary. Kong met us downstairs at 9am and off we went in our little tuktuk passing finally a caravan of elephants on the road. Our first stop was Preah Khan a 12th century Bu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455708.html Step aside Great Wall. Get out of here Yangshuo. Move down the list Ha Long Bay. You've been demoted Summer Palace. We have a sight that beats them all a sight that is really too fantastic to put into words. It trumps all else we've seen in Asia and honestly it trumps most ancient sights I've seen anywhere else in the world. The fantastic thing is this sight was buried in the jungle http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455291.html Motorbikes and Camrys RuleIrsquove been wanting to comment on modes of transportation on our journey through Thailand Laos and Cambodia but never quite got to it. As we will be leaving for home in a few hours Irsquoll throw it in here. Each place wersquove travelled has its own preferred common carriers. Every country has had a vehicle called a tuktuk but the configuration has varie http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455233.html Banteay SreiThe most popular sites at Angkor are overrun with tourists every day so we took the opportunity to go to two of the temples that lie some distance from town. The first is called Banteay Srei or ldquoCitadel of the Womenrdquo. It was built in the 10th century as a Hindu temple much like the temple we saw at Vat Phou. What makes it unique is that it was built of pink sandstone. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-454520.html Our first view of Cambodia from the window of our Lao Airways plane was totally different from what I expected. I had imagined a dry dusty haphazard landscape what I saw from high in the air was a lush green and very orderly scene with LOTS of water. I had imagined further that when we stepped off the plane we would be hit with a blast of hot air like a blast furnace instead it was mild http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-454382.html