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Donna and I jumped on a flight from Danang, Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon. We spent a couple of hours in the airport before we took a Vietnam Airlines jet to Siem Reap, Cambodia. You can fly direct from Danang to Siem Reap (but we had a change in plans... so you may want to look into that route if that is your travel path)
Anyways, after sharing the plane ride with a huge group of touring Koreans, we arrived in Siem Reap International Airport. (We were told that many Koreans and Chinese tour Siem Reap via large tour groups.)
We took a taxi to our guesthouse "Ivy 2" ($6/night total!) and arranged our transportation to the temples the next day. At "Ivy 2" we opted for no A/C because the nights here in Cambodia are cooler, and were happy with our choice. The staff was very friendly, the food was good, and a nice lounge area was nice to pass the time. The only down fall was that there were no screens on the windows and the rooms lacked mosquitoe nets - we just cranked the fan!!
We spent the next two days at
the Temples scattered around the area. The first day we traveled by car - a bit more expensive, but nice when the rain starts pooring. And, the A/C was much appreciated too. The second day we used a moto-dop (motor cycle with trailor attached), and it was great!! The wind from the acceleration was enough to keep you cool, the views were better, and our driver was amazing - plus it was 1/2 the cost of a car :-)
Now, the big topic - the temples... They were quite spectacular in many dimensions. First, the size of them varied, Angkor Wat being the largest. Angkor Wat is the most famous of temples and upon visiting, you can understand why. It is not only the largest single temple, but the detail of everything is truly amazing. Almost every inch of every wall in this entire temple is detailed with beautiful carvings and art-work. This is quite a feat when you consider that the temple is a few square miles in size. The entire temple is also surrounded by a huge moat (at least a football field in length at all sides). When you consider when this thing was built (several
thousand years ago), it makes it even more amazing. The temple is also filled with an interesting mix of Buddhist and Hindu art (the art changed depending on the religion of the king while the temple was being built). One of the great things about Angkor Wat is that people are allowed access to almost all parts of it. Donna and I climbed up this extremely steep wall which gave us a great view of the grounds. Plus there are random things like monkeys walking around the temple (see pic).
So what else is there to see in Siem Reap aside from Angkor Wat? ANSWER: TONS OF OTHER AMAZING TEMPLES! Angkor Wat is just the tip of the iceberg. There are at least a dozen other temples within a few miles of Angkor....so off to the others we went.
I can't go into detail about all of them as you could write an encyclopedia on the details of all the temples, but Donna and I agree that these temples were so amazing that we need to see them again in our lives.
Donna and I also spent an hour at a nearby museum which described the horrors
that Cambodia has had to deal with regarding land mines. Thousands of locals have been maimed and left without limbs from the thousands of land mines which are unfortunately still planted deep in the jungles of Cambodia. Currently there are several non-profit groups whose whole job is to find them and de-activate them. I included a pic of some of the recovered and defused land mines from the museum.
So during the rest of our time in Siem Reap we ate lots of food (great pizza, btw), and just had a great time. The town is not too large and there's a good bar scene as well. Donna and I just soaked in all the local culture for three days and then took a boat across the Tonle Sap lake and up a river to our next destination: Battambang.
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Mr. Kuhn
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Wat
Finally more WAT!