Blogs from Angkor, North, Cambodia, Asia - page 82

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 24th 2006

Saigon to Singapore. We've had a few comments from various people wondering if I have gone home - as there haven't been any pictures of me (Richard), so we decided to prove i'm still here and let me write the blurb too. Although, photoshop can do wonders, so who really knows where i am, some things never change! On the flight from Hue to Ho Chi Minh, Annabet was decidedly dicky & I wouldn't normally offer to carry two great big rucksacks while trying to find our guesthouse, but it seemed the best thing to do, so that she didn't collapse. A quick check of the room and the obligatory negotiation to get to an acceptable price, then annabet took to her bed/bathroom/bed/bathroom routine. We were hoping for a quick upset tummy and better by tomorrow, ... read more

The Incredible Temples of Angkor

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 23rd 2006

Me and Angkor Wat

Quest for the Golden Carrot

I arrived in Cambodia through an "unofficial" border crossing from Laos, set deep into the forest off a long, tiny dirt track. Immigration control was a small wooden hut, and we were obliged to give a bribe to the officers that manned it to let us through; this is standard procedure. Once on the other side, we boarded our transport to Siem Reap, which I like to call: The Rust Bucket. But who am I to judge? As far as I know all vans in Cambodia have doors held together with masking tape, that don't fit the frame, and ocasionally fall off. Perhaps cracked windscreens and no glass in the front windows are the norm, and who needs two windscreen wipers and headlights when one will do? Maybe I'm not used to engine radiators hanging from ... read more

The Adventure that is Cambodia

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 23rd 2006

Welcome to Cambodia

Off The Grid

Well getting into Cambodia was certainly an adventure. Once you cross the Thai-Cambodian border the roads dissappear and are replaced with muddy pits they call streets. For the next four hours you are bouncing around in a car to no end. The guy in front of me hit his head on the ceiling at one point. Our driver also ran over a dog on the way and just kept going. I guess stuff like that does not matter here. It does seem to be any matter to which side of the road you drive on here. You are suppossed to drive on the right, but people really just drive on whatever side of the road they feel there car or motorbike will be able to drive on. There are so many holes and dips in the ... read more

VERY Early Day at the Temples

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 19th 2006

Angkor Wat

se asia06

Hello again everyone...two quick updates for ya, not to bad eh? After our day at the Killing Fields and shooting range we were pretty tired so we just decided to chill at the OKAY Guesthouse and watched a few movies with our new Cambodian buddies Ala, Rotana, O, and Siena. All of these guys worked at the Guesthouse and they spoke pretty good english, but their accents were sooo funny! They would make fun of each other in english and we got a huge kick out of this...at the same time these guys were cool to hang out with, they told us about the lots of politics and corruption in Cambodia, and about some of the underground stuff that goes on, pretty sketchy stuff. They also wrote our names out in Khmer, which is the official ... read more

I'm all templed out!

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 19th 2006

Angkor Thom

drew emerson gmail com

I arrived in Siem Reap Airport and found myself a way to get to town - motorbike me thinks, I'm getting to like this mode of travel! The bike ride to the centre of Siem Reap cost only one US dollar and I was met by a fairly nice Cambodian dude, around my age. On the way in we had a good chat and he offered to be my personal driver (for a fee, of course!) for the next few days while I visited the famed Angkor temples. I thought US$40 sounded like a pretty good deal and he wasn't having any of this bargaining business and, besides, if I had bartered him down he just wouldn't have driven as far as I would have liked. For the uninitiated, the temples of Angkor are ancient Hindu/Buddhist ... read more

Inspiration!!

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 17th 2006

Entering the World of Angkor

juggernaut

If you ever wanted to go to a place where you will be truly inspired to sit and meditate on your own life as well as the world surrounding you, then you must come to Siem Reap and visit the temples of Angkor. Three days I spent at these man-made wonders and I don’t feel as though I should leave. Amazing jungle and wildlife meet magnificent temples, many of which date back to the turn of the 11th century. On my first day I hired a driver to take me around on his scooter (motorbike). The day started a little later than I had hoped it would, but after the horrendous drive the night before from Bangkok to Siem Reap I was happy to catch up on some sleep. We still managed to see many temples ... read more

Temple Time!!

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 16th 2006

Slight cloud cover...

openyoureyeskaty

Yes!!! the day had finally come to immerse ourselves completely in ancient and revered rock and rubble...the time to crawl out of bed at 4am..the time to realise that because the day is breaking behind the cover of very slight cloud we won't see the epic 'sunrise over Angkor'...but also a time to realise that 10 minutes after sunrise is also a pretty beautiful time to be around...and a time for jumping on that 'sunrise' bandwagon to pass... so..on with the day!! began by recording a 'happy birthday Kips' video in front of Angkor which everyone around the peaceful (before we got there..) lake thought was hilarious...a little white girl talking and blowing kisses to a camera at 6am...Angkor draws all sorts obviously... And then we set off..this time as a four...Me, Ruth, Domi and Davin, ... read more

Angkor, encore.

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 15th 2006

Turn-down at Sala Bai

Will and Alex

After our lazy day in Vientiane, we got an early night. Our Vientiane-Siem Reap flight was scheduled to leave at 6.30am ! According to a charming American NGO worker we met in the pool of Le Parasol Blanc, it used to be timetabled for 6, but the air-traffic controller never made it out of bed in time so it got pushed back half an hour ! Apocryphal maybe, but funny. Our taxi was waiting for us at 4.45am (urgh). All was quiet as we silently drove out of Vientiane (no other traffic, hence no honking - a bizarre experience owing to its exceeding rarity). We checked in and whiled away the time until immigration opened (was still closed when we arrived !) listening to some Chinese passengers hacking and spitting. Nice. I know it's a cultural ... read more

Jumping on the Band Wagon...

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 15th 2006

First Glimpses...

openyoureyeskaty

Yep...after 5 weeks in Cambodia we finally took the big leap up to Siem Reap and viewed some of the world's most astounding temples... The build up was pretty intense, considering Angkor Wat is (as Ruth would say) hugely iconic in terms of national ID for Khmer people and its plastered all over their flag, its the name of their national beer ('my country, my beer')..and every other shop is AngkorNet, Angkor Handicrafts blah blah blah...and ofcourse, on the backpacker trail its the first thing that people ask you if you've seen...its certainly a S.E.A. travelling rite of passage... and so, at 6am on Saturday I was to be found being pushed and shoved as I stood on the corner that Capitol Travel occupies in downtown PP...those that know me will know i'm my happiest when ... read more

Cambodia

Asia » Cambodia » North » Angkor July 14th 2006

It's a hard life driving a tuk-tuk

Mark and Lorna

Our first stop in Cambodia was in Siem Reap, home to the many temples of Angkor. We bought a three day pass to the temples and set out to do our best to see as many as possible. On day one we did the main temples, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, they were very impressive. We managed to fit quite a lot of temples in the next day, many of the smaller ones which were still great to see. On the last day we went to Banteay Srey, the most intricately carved one. Around some of the temples we saw wild monkeys and at Phnom Bakeng there were elephants carrying people up the hill. After Siem Reap we flew to Phnom Penh, the capital, so we could learn about the atrocities the Cambodian people suffered in ... read more

Brief history of Cambodia

Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, whose Angkor Empire extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Subsequently, attacks by the Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the ...more history

Forum Topics for Angkor

Poipet, where to go fro...Posts: 6

Cambodia Visa to sharePosts: 3

weekend/day trips from ...Posts: 4

Pleiku-Banlung (Le Tanh...Posts: 1

Travellers SicknessPosts: 11

Solo travel in CambodiaPosts: 5

PP AccomPosts: 3

border crossing siem re...Posts: 4

pursat in in central ca...Posts: 1

Where to stay and what ...Posts: 1

visa extensionPosts: 10