Blogs from Angkor, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 4

Our first morning in Cambodia is one that has been much anticipated. We have our morning routine down pretty good. We get up about 90 minutes before we have to meet our guide. This morning was a 6:30 wake up. The three of us can shower and get ready within an hour; that leaves 30 minutes for breakfast. The hotel is really nice and not what we expected. As well as the breakfasts at every hotel have been great. Eight am rolls around and our guide, Nok, picks us up for our day of bike riding to the Angkor temples. We drove a short distance to get our park passes and then hopped on the bikes. It was great to be active today and not riding around in a "nap trap". The first temple was a ... read more

04 juin 2015 : Nous passons toute la journée à Angkor, tout d'abord à Angkor Thom puis le fameux temple d'Angkor Vat. Le bus nous dépose à l'entrée du site qui comprend les deux sites et même d'autres. Une fois le badge en poche, nous prenons les tuk-tuk (petites remorques attelées à des motos) pour nous déplacer de l'entrée jusqu'à Angkor Thom puis d'Angkor Thom à Angkor Vat. Nous visitons tout d'abord Bayuon et ses 54 tours à visages représentant Jayavarman VII sous son aspect divin surgissant de chaque côté. Le Palais Royal s'étend sur 600 mètres et comprend le temple Phimeanakas, la terrasse des éléphants (une vaste terrasse surélevée dont les côtés sont ornés de bas-reliefs représentant des éléphants) et la terrasse des lépreux qui doit son nom à une statue qui y fut retrouvée. ... read more

Filled with an abundant breakfast, we checked of the old city hotel and set our sights on beginning cycling 2.5 hours east of Bangkok, in Khao Yai national park. Picking up our bikes and truck with the family team of Dad, Mr Black, and two sons, Nutta (shortened to Nut) and Not, we merely made 2km when mechanical failures appeared. Swift work sorted them out after ten minutes, and waiting around I realised my camera was dead having been charged the day before I quickly sucked some life back into it from my tablet. Standing behind a pillar and small plants at a road side stall, bent down, it seemed I had missed the eye of Nut, acting as the sweep, who was to remain at the rear. So I took off at good pace to ... read more

Flew Cambodia airlines today to Siem Reap arriving late in the afternoon. We were given time for a little rest after checking into our hotel Le Meridian. Boarded a bus to another hotel for another magical evening of outdoor dining around a pool accompanied by Apsara & folk dancing, music and good company. Dinner was a buffet with a varied selection of mouth watering food but oh the surroundings - just beautiful. They were celebrating earth day and all the hotels participated by turning off their lights and lighting candles for 1 hour at 8:30pm. Our hotel offered complimentary drinks during that time so we had a nightcap in the candlelight and went to bed.... read more

In Siem Reap I have so much to write about. It’s overwhelming and I haven’t had time, but this afternoon, while the gang is out in rural villages, having a rice harvesting experience and riding on an ox cart, I’m hanging out in my room at the Amasura hotel, one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed at. I’m having some stomach “issues” and now all four of us have had them. I was last. I’ve decided not to write about the specific activities that we have done as tourists though if you’re a tourist you should do these things. The temples are magnificent, we visited a half dozen, each one from different periods and in different states of deterioration (the youngest one was from 1,100 CE. They are wonderful to visit for so many reasons, ... read more