Siem Reap - truly a wonder!

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On arriving in Cambodia the economic difference in comparison to Thailand was striking. The Thai side of the border is ordered, clean, policed and barricaded to prevent touts and hawkers coming in (although the tuk-tuk driver who took us there tried to fob us off with over-priced visas at his friends shop before the border, but we started walking off without paying him and he soon changed his tune - beware folks, read up on prices before you go because they will try to rip you off!). The Cambodian side is crowded, chaotic, swarming with touts and hawkers and littered with buildings peeling in the heat. However, we were guided through by a government volunteer, who also works as a tuk tuk driver, who advised us on what to expect to pay for a visa, told us the governemt had trained people like him to help here as tourists kept complaining of getting ripped off by corrupt officials and overpriced taxi's and led us to the waiting area for the free tourist bus to the coach station. At fisrt we worried that he was a very good con amn, but, he turned out to be telling the truth and was just there to help. The coach station turned out to be a tourist only one so no bargains like in Thailand, but the fare to Siem reap was cheap and the bus was comfortable with entertaining and friendly Khmer guys on board who told us all about the town and what to look out for.

Siem Reap is famous the world over for the incredible temples of Angkor Wat, one of the Ancient wonders of the world. And, believe me, they truly are wondrous. We bought a 3 day pass to properly explore the area, which is far more than just Angkor Wat. We spent the first day walking, the second cyling, and the third exploring the more far flung temples by tuk-tuk. Hundreds of temples are spread out over several miles, some restored and maintained to the highest possible standards, some half over-ridden and hidden by wild and lush jungle – these were my favourites.
Ta Prohm, where Tomb Raider was filmed, is spectacular. Partly tumbled down, overgrown by trees and with roots the size of houses snaking over it walls, this place is truly magical. It was early morning when we arrived at it and the sun was penetrating cracks in the walls and gaps in the leaves to lend the palce a magical glow. Birds twittered and butterflies skittered and I felt as though I'd been transported to some primordial past. Every other temple we visited was equally stunning, yet individual. Bayon, with its huge sculpted heads beaming beatifically down conjured up images of raiders of the lost ark and the pyramid shaped Pre Rup offers phenomenal views from its peak. Angkor Wat itself carries intricate and beautiful carvings all around it, telling stories of the Khmer religion , and it's oddly shaped domed turrets form a beautiful silhouette against the early morning, or evening skies. We both adored the temples, the sheer size meant that, even if thousands of tourists were present, there was always somewhere to go to escape the crowds. Bands of monkeys prowled the grounds, playing and tugging a scrap of orange cloth between them – I dubbed one the monkey monk as he slung it across his body and loped gracefully away.
You need to learn to say 'no' at Angkor Wat as there are children and adults everywhere selling everything from postcards, to woven bracelets, to water and books, all seemingly at the price of 'One daaaalah'. If you bought something form every one of them you'd soon be bankrupted, plus the government and local charities encourage you to donate time and money to orphananges, schools and charitites rather than the street kids themselves as they're trying to get the kids into school.
Siem Reap is far more than Angkor Wat though. The museum is well worth a visit before you go to the temples themselves as it contains the artefacts removed from the temples and gives you an excellent history of the site. We visited it on our first day in siem reap and found it a great appetiser for the temples themselves. Just outside Siem reap is the Tonle Sap lake which hosts thousands of floating villages. Samun, the delightful, friendly and chatty chap who was a wqaiter and concierge at our hotel was raised on the lake and told us about it as we ate on our first night in siem Reap. It sounded like a place we had to visit – particularly as we live on the water ourselves! We took a boat out to one of them and loved it. The homes are all built on floating platforms, as are the shops, schools, church, market and hospital! The locals all have little boats to get around in and earn a living from the tourists that visit as well as from fishing. As we shot around in our boat, a little boat came alongside,carrying a woman and her 2 kids who were smiling and waving. In the blink of an eye the little girl was on board our boat with a couple of cold drinks. We were amazed, she couldn't have been older than 4 and she'd jumped from boat to boat without a care in the world and with a huge grin on her pretty little face – we had to buy the drinks after that daredevil stunt! We also had a visit from a couple of young boys and their mother, carrying a python which we posed for pictures with in exchange for a dollar. The tourist station/fish farm/crocodile farm/restaurant in the lake keeps these snakes and lets the locals borrow them for the day for this very purpose – quite a novel idea for a little business! The guy giving us the tour was also lovely, keeping in trend with every Cambodian we'd met so far, and was constantly laughing, smiling and chatting away. We had a fantastic day and were treated to a gorgeous sunset as we returned to shore.

We cycled a lot around Siem reap, on old bikes with no gears and squeaky saddles and peddles! It was great fun once you got used to the Cambodian way of driving … you can tell the french ran the country for a while, the general attitude is, if there;s a space, go for it quickly, if not, try the pavement or force your way in! As a cyclist this was pretty daunting at first, especially when mopeds were shooting at me head on in the allocated cycle lane (they're really not just for bikes, but for anyone who casn fit down them and avoid traffic), but I soon got used to it and was dodging and swerving like a native! Fantastic fun!

Before we left Siem Reap we had a night on the town where we ate snake (chewy), crocdile (tough chicken) frogs legs (like chicken wings) and other assorted meats on a khmer bbq then met a crazy Scouser who was going on about the moon and had lost his shoes, a very relaxed Belgian and an Austrailian Cambodian visiting his family. They were all great fun and we had a fab night on the tiles!
Siem reap and Angkor Wat are must-sees on any trip to South east Asia – go to the temples early and stay there late, there's so much to explore and the experience is magical.

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