Siem Reap - First Days

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HCM to Siem Reap. Pickup time from the hotel was 8.30. We wake here at 6.00 each day so no trouble packing before leaving. The plan departed on time which maybe is the norm as there is not a lot of aircraft traffic here. In 40 minutes (barely enough time to complete official travel documentation) we landed in Cambodia. Quickly though immigration it’s only 7km from the new small airport to the city centre. We are staying at the Day Inn Angkor resort (everything has Angkor in its name - the love the temples). It’s a major culture shock for us as the town is small, there is little traffic and few visible people. Infrastructure is minimal and roads are sided by red dust (just like a western movie). We swam at the hotel pool and headed out or a brief walk to get supplies. Drinks pool side on return then Declan and I played a kicking game (with a big shuttlecock type thing) with tuk tuk drivers out the front of the hotel. In a clash of feet I hurt my big toe. Nothing some good icing will not fix. Dinner at a beautiful little restaurant called Khmer Kitchen traveling to and back by motorbike with a covered trailer attached. Fun. Shopping Note. Most things are sold in US $ and when you get change back, big notes are US and small notes are the local currency Riel. Mighty confusing as the rates are very different.

Day 2 in Siem Reap was set aside to visit the Angkor temples. Of another travel blog recommendation we had hired a driver and air-conditioned car for $20US for the day. A great way to get around. Ancient Angkor is huge and we chose to see just three of perhaps 50 different complexes. It was a stunning day. We had expected big crowds as we had head they have over 4million visitors a year but for us we found many quite spaces. We visited Angkor Thom (12th Century city) first then Ta Prohom (site of the Tomb Raider film) which is a 13th century temple/monastery and lastly the granddaddy of all Angkor Wat (12th century and the world’s largest religious monument) which represents the Hindu universe.

Angkor Thom is 3km’s square and has temples, city complexes, moats (all full at the moment given it’s the rainy season). We loved the forest areas and peacefully walked through them. A highlight was the many smiling faces in stone. A hugely pleasurable two hours was spent here. Next stop was Ta Prohm, a city of 12,000 in its day. It has many hidden spaces and is grown over by strangler figs and silk cotton trees that entwine themselves through the buildings to create a mysterious feel. After an hour we dined in a restaurant by a moat and then drove to Angkor Wat where there is 200hectares of buildings and grounds. It was hot work and we loved the experience. Around the base of a central building is over 600metres of relief sculpture depicting ancient Khmer culture. We sat many times in the shade and just soaked it all in.

Expectations for the temple experience were exceeded. Naturally it was swim time when we returned (I’d been swimming in my shirt most of the day already). It’s a delightful pool. Dinner at another small café near “bar”street. Great food, drink, fans, comfy chairs and excellent service for $24. As we headed back to our hotel the heavens opened adding to the already flooded streets (no drains) which were filled whilst we were out for the day. Rain is very localized it seems.

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