Blogs from Angkor, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 5

Hi Followers, We woke up a little more refreshed after yesterday, we went out to get breakfast at a little restaurant down the road; delicious, we had omelettes and warm french stick. We then hired old looking push bikes with baskets on the front for $2. But i think if you look around you can normally get push bikes for $1 and mopeds for about $2 for a day. We cycled over to the area that holds the Temples of Angkor. It took us about 45 minutes to cycle over to the temples, the roads weren't too busy, which is lucky because they drive on the other side of the road here. We finally made it over to the temples. We had decided to get the three day pass ($40), which you can use over a ... read more

My guide took me to the fabulous Angkor Wat Temple complex. I remember reading about this when I was quite young, back them it seemed like an enchanted place that you’d only find in movies I never thought I’d actually get here. It’s also where parts the film Tomb Raider were filmed. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Cambodia, attracting about 4 million tourists each year. The temples were built about 900 years ago. There are about 100 temples in the complex. Each king would build one, after he died the next king would build another that was slightly bigger. They really should have invented recycling about 800 years earlier. Sadly many of the temples were badly destroyed in the civil war, there are ongoing an international efforts to restore them. Even New Zealand ... read more

Cambodia really challenged me. I wasn't really ready for it, especially when everything in Thailand was so well set up for backpackers. I arrived in Cambodia and immediately noticed this huge difference - the roads were crazy, there was a lot of rubbish around, and everything felt to much poorer. It took me quite a few days to get used to it, before I started to enjoy Cambodia properly. I found Phnom Penh too much, but started to relax much more in Battambang (despite getting eaten alive by bed bugs). Then I hit Siem Reap and everything started to look rosy :) It did get me thinking though, about how different backpacking is from every other type of travel experience. When my mum goes on business trips, her company is part of a scheme called Fly ... read more

We join the throngs hurrying along excitedly towards the orange glow emanating from beyond the silhouetted ruins of Angkor Wat to the east. The energy is palpable as it's certain the day is about to open with a spectacular curtain raiser, feeling like a pilgrimage as the throngs narrow in order to a cross a bridge over the moat, heightening the contact, the chatter, the excitement. Entering through a gateway into the main plaza, a long stone causeway stretches away towards the black quincux of towers silhouetted in a pink marbled sky. A decade previously I crossed this same bridge. Back then, as I entered the main gateway into the main plaza, I took my position amongst the hundreds who already lined the steep banks and outer walls whose cameras feverishly and futilely flashed away into ... read more

ein strahlend blauer himmel mit weiterhin erbarmungsloser sonne begrüßt uns an einem neuen tag unter den alten khmer. nachdem meine liebe freundin, kathi, so vom banteay srey tempel geschwärmt hat, ist jener unser erstes ziel heute und auch, wenn wir mit dem timing bezüglich menschenansturms versagt haben, imponiert dieser platz besonders! auf dem relativ kleinen tempel areal sammeln sich unüberschaubare mengen filigranster figuren und reliefs. wir umrunden den tempel zweimal, um einen besseren gesamteindruck zu erlangen. jede noch so unscheinbare säule wird von mustern geziert und meist von kleinen betenden figuren kurz über dem boden abgeschlossen. fast ist es ein wenig anstrengend, all die details erfassen zu wollen. durch wald und dörfer fahren wir wieder nach süden, zum banteay samre tempel, einem der wenigen, die beinahe unversehrt geblieben sind. nicht nur die jahre, auch die ... read more