Getting Riel in Cambodia

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After a long bumpy ride to Siem Reap, the taxi car stopped and transferred us over to a tuk-tuk. The tuk-tuks here are a bit different in that they are actually like little carriages hooked up to motorbikes. The bike tuk tuk driver drove us around looking at places to stay and we settled on a cheap guesthouse just outside the center of town. For those who don't know, the currency here in Cambodia is Riel, but they actually use US dollars just as much or actually more than Riel. Basically they don't deal with coins so anything less than $1 in change is given in Riel and sometimes depending on what they have in their register you just get a mixture of currency for greater amounts as well. This was a bit confusing but we're catching on. (it's 4000 riel to $1).

The first evening we went to Ankor Wat (via tuk tuk) to watch the sun set and see the temple at night which was pretty cool, although the sun set wasn't much to look at thanks to cloudy skies. We got our three day passes (to start the next day) which would allow us unlimited access to all the temples and ruins of Angkor.
That same evening we arranged for the same tuk-tuk to pick us up at 5:30 the next morning to take us to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat (supposed to be great) and drive us around to some of the sights that were more spread out. We figured we he would go where ever we wanted but that wasn't the case. They have a set itinerary and want more money if you want anything different. Of couse we wanted something different so we weren't with thousands of other tourist so we skipped the Angkor wat in the morning (sunrise was cloudy and unimpressive). This worked out very well because we were the first ones at the next ruins literally clearing the cobwebs from the site as we went, this was much more enjoyable than being hearded around like cattle with the other tourist. Onther reason to skill the big attraction is to save the best for last so each ruin has some kinda of charm, which they did. Our itinerary was; PreahKhan, Neak Pean, Ta Som East, East Mebon, Pre Rup, lunch, Bantea Kdei, Ta Prohm Sra Srang Resevior.

All the ruins were great and really made us feel like we had stepped back in time. Some are more restored than others and several of them have trees growing in and around and through the structures, which is adding to the decay but also makes it feel like you're in some sort of fairytale setting. Most of the ruins of Angkor date back to between the 9th and 13th centuries, many having been "remodeled" or added to by various kings over the years. Many of them were built with hindu influence but then buddhist images were added as Buddhism became more prevalent. There are many different styles of architecture and stonework, and some very impressive carving work done in the stone. Angkor Wat, the main attraction, is the largest religous structure in the world, and the sheer size of the place is really incredible. Hopefully the pictures will give you some idea.

Aside from the ruins, the other somewhat entertaining, sometimes annoying, feature of Angkor is all the kids (and some adults) trying to sell us everything from guidebooks to bracelets to scarves to coldwater. Most of them speak very good english, enough to bargain with us anyway, and some are incredibly smart and full of knowledge gained from talking to so many tourists. One kid even knew that Alaska was the biggest state and that Juneau is the capital (more than many Americans know!). They are relentlessly persistent in their sales pitch so we'd try to distract them from their job by talking to them about other things. Sometimes this worked but sometimes the only english they knew was the bargaining..."you buy from me? 10 postcards, $1, special price for you!" We should throw in the amazing statistic that over 40% of the population here is under 15 and you can really see it. The young people are very friendly though and mostof them will stop what they are doing to say hello, how are you, where are you from, etc. We actually did buy a guidebook from one of the kids because the ruins were pretty overwhelming and we really knew nothing about them...this was really helpful, but now we have way too much info to type here.

The second full day visiting the ruins we rented bikes since the route we wanted to take was manageable and it was way cheaper than a tuk tuk. Unfortunately, we discovered, after biking the 30 minutes to Angkor Wat, that we had forgotten to charge the camera battery and only had a few pictures worth of battery power. We decided it was best to just go back after burning the last of the battery and charge up, then return later in the day. When we had gotten it charged up again, the rain had stopped and the sun came out, which sounds good, but it meant a hot afternoon! We visited Bahkeng, Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Bahkeng (again, without the rain), then watched a beautiful sunset as we were leaving.

Our last day of ruins was on bikes again, but this time we got started with a fully charged camera at 5:30 AM with hopes of catching the sunrise (it was clear skies overnight so we had high hopes)...the tricky part was getting there in time, meaning we raced along on our single speed bikes weaving through tuk tuks, motorbikes, buses, cars, and running stoplights with the rest of the traffic. We did manage to see a really amazing sunrise with Angkor Wat in the foreground, but 15 minutes sooner would have been even better. After drooling over the beautiful views and taking lots of pictures, we grabbed some breakfast and started touring some more ruins. Today we saw the rest of the Angkor Thom group, which consists of about 9 or 10 different structures, Thommanon, Chao Say Tevoda, and Ta Keo. You may have guessed from the great sunrise that today was hot and sunny, even with the early morning start. We guzzled water all day and got some great farmer tans/burns.

Cambodia overall has been a great place to visit, minus the road trip part, although that was pretty entertaining. The food here is also quite good, not as spicy as in many other asian countries, but they provide spices and peppers for you to add if you want. A couple funny things we noticed....every morning on our way to the temples, we saw kids playing badmitten in the streets (or on the sidewalks), and I mean at 5:30 and 6 in the morning! Also, certain night clubs were still open at 5:30 in the morning as we were heading out to the temples. Granted we never actually saw anyone go into or come out of these clubs (in the morning or evening), but there were a bunch of locals sitting around outside who looked far from sober. Another thing to get used to is the absence of 7-11!!! (in Thailand they are on every corner, literally). The streets here are really dusty, even the paved ones, which takes some getting used to. The funny part is they really like to keep the dirt clean by sweeping it every day. Really, I'm not exaggerating here. They have whole crews of people with brooms sweeping the dirt, both in the city and out at the temples.

We talked to one of the locals who works as a Tuk tuk driver during the tourist season and he said that during the wet season, everything pretty much closes up and things are really tough because there's very little work and nothing pays very well. The standard of living is a lot lower here than in thailand I think. But the prices of things don't seem to be any cheaper. Perhaps this is because they are trying to make up for the time when nobody is visiting. Tourism is obviously such a huge part of the economy, at least here in Siem Reap.

Next we will be heading to Laos, hopefully by plane tomorrow.

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Photos

Bas Reliefs at Angkor Wat
There were several walls of these carvings, each wall depicting a story or historical event. The detail was amazing, as was the length.

Bayon
Be sure to look closely and you will see faces on each of the sides of each tower.

10 Postcards, one dollar!
Trevor actually ran away from this kid and he ran after him, he was very persistent.

Biking along the Elephant Terrace
This is part of the Angkor Thom group of ruins

Comments

[George]

Cool photos
I don't know much about Ankor Wat, so it was neat to see those photos. It looks pretty amazing.