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Our flight out of Phuket was at 6:45am, so it was a super early morning. It took two 1 hour flights to get to Siem Reap (via Bangkok), and we arrived at 11am. There was quite a bit of paperwork to fill out to enter the country as a Visa is required. However it was a fairly easy process - $21USD and they slap a sticker in your passport. We met the hotel driver and were on our way to Pavilion D'Orient. On the way we turned the corner and there it was in the distance...Angkor Wat...we couldn't help but be giddy with excitement! Upon arriving, we were greeted with cold Lemongrass tea, washcloths, and chairs directly beneath a fan. One of the hotel staff (who was Cambodian looking but spoke English with an Australian accent) proceeded to spend 15 minutes telling us all about the hotel, what's included, our tuk tuk driver, gave us a guidebook to use for the duration of our stay, and then escorted us to our room. It's a nice hotel that has a very secluded boutique feel to it.
The best part of booking here? We have our own Tuk Tuk driver for the
entire stay from 5am - 10pm. A tuk tuk is literally a 4 seater cart attached to a motorbike, and is one of the main forms of transportation here for tourists. We quickly got situated and grabbed a quick bite before meeting Poev, our driver, who was full of huge smiles and waves upon meeting him. Just like Thailand, the people here are overwhelming nice and so wonderful to interact with. Poev took us to buy our 3 day ticket for the temples and we were off to Angkor Wat. He gave us both a cold bottle of water before we went in as it was now mid-day and HOT HOT HOT! But WOW, to stand there and see it with your own eyes....it's magical. It's been on our top 10 wish list of travel since we went to China.
Angkor Wat, meaning "Temple City," was first a Hindu and then a Buddhist temple complex, and is the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built in the early 12th century and is the best-preserved temple of all in this area, it is also the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation.
Most people know it from the movie Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie (yes we watched it again before we came just to see it!). It's truly remarkable to imagine what Angkor Wat was, and see the amount of detail and intricacy in every part of it. Every wall, column, etc. is covered in carvings.
We had a map the hotel had provided and after walking around and through Angkor Wat we decided to walk to Angkor Thom, another temple nearby...or so we thought. After walking around aimlessly for awhile and stopping to buy a bottle of water from one of the hundreds of vendors you are surrounded by everywhere, we finally asked and realized the temples are not close together. Best bet was to head back out front and get Poev to drive us over.
Entering Angkor Thom at the South gate was awe inspiring. The approach to the gate, crossing a moat, is lined by an avenue of statues on both sides. The two rows of figures each carry the body of a giant serpent - a seven-headed Naga - almost tug of war style. This gate has the most complete sets of statues as most of
the heads have been stolen. There are a few temples inside which are also fantastic, each in their own way.
Angkor Thom also includes:
- Bayon which is an amazing structure and is most famous for the big faces. It has 37 towers, most carved with 4 faces on each cardinal point, but some have three or two.
- Elephant Terrace & Terrace of the Leper King which looked out on the royal square. They feature carvings of Elephants & mythological scenes.
By the time we finished Angkor Thom it was 6pm and closing time. The Tuk Tuk becomes an instant form of A/C, which is soooo wonderful as if I didn't mention before, it's pretty hot here! I actually love the Tuk Tuk...it screams Cambodia with its rugged, bumpy, no frills ride! We went back to the hotel where we asked for an hour to shower before heading out to dinner.
Side Note: Something really funny is that we changed the rest of our US Dollars into Cambodian at the airport and quickly discovered there is no use for it. Everything here is USD and maybe that's because it's 4000 KMR to $1, it
doesn't make for easy math! A sign should have been the British couple in front of us at Immigration holding their UK passports and $20 bills, LOL. Even the cash machines dispense USD, so we spent the Cambodian as quickly as we could and it's been pretty nice. Especially since everything seems to only cost $1.
We headed down to Pub street where all of the Siem Reap (tourist) action is. There are 2 streets that no motor traffic is allowed on that are full of restaurants, bars, shop stalls, and massage places. The area also has an old market and a night market full of vendors selling any souvenir your heart desires. We walked through the night market, but were not in the shopping mood...or the mood to deal with the vendors who holler and follow you forever saying "lady buy something, you want scarf, look lady...look....free to look."
Matt decided to be adventurous and get a fish foot massage. Yes, the signs above the places say "Please feed our fish your dead skin." He even got a free beer while doing it, and said at first it tickled like crazy and then was just "weird." He's
not much of a massage guy anyway. Dinner was good, we had some traditional Khmer soup and spring rolls, along with a great green mango salad. BTW, who would have ever thought we would be eating hot soup when it's so hot?? But you soon realize it really doesn't make a difference! We wrapped up around 9:30pm and started to look for Poev where he said he would meet us. We saw a sea of Tuk Tuks in the dark and thought "oh boy," but as soon as we started walking the wrong way there he was running after us down the street. I really have no idea how in the sea of people he saw us?!?! It was back to the hotel where we totally crashed after a long awesome day!
P.S. - As we headed out to dinner, I realized riding in the back of the Tuk Tuk that Cambodia (like Egypt, China, Peru, Jordan) really ignites what I love about travel. These countries turn the dial up on high for all five of your senses simoutaneously. There are sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings that you never experience on a day-to-day basis...and they're all happening at
once sometimes. It wakes up your brain, it challenges me to do things I would normally not, it pushes me past points I would normally not think I could tolerate...showing me that I really can when my mind says "I can't." And most of all, it opens your eyes in ways words can't describe....it's the most alive I ever feel. It's exhilarating and I feel so fortunate to have this experience.
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Tom
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Cambodia
Busy day, many experiences......liked your last paragraph Love mom and dad