A few weeks ago, two girlfriends and I visited Siem Reap, Cambodia. You ask, "Siem Reap? What in the world is in Siem Reap and why would you want to visit Cambodia?" When we were in the US there were many times that we saw on National Geographic or Discovery channel programs on the area of Angkor Wat. So since were are in Asia and when else would we be able to visit the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. And since chances were slim (to none) that Scott and I would be able to go with the kids when the opportunity to go with friends I jumped at the chance. The entire trip was planned, scheduled, and paid for just the week before we left so there was no time for "planning" and doing a lot of research ahead of time. So the three of us just packed our bags (for backpacking ~ see Scott's previous posts) and away we went.
We arrived late on the first day and immediately upon checking into our first hotel we booked a tour guide and driver for the next day. We asked to be picked up early so we could get out and see as much as possible. We walked to pub street and the night market to get a bite to eat and to "window shop" to check out the local wares.
The next morning we were up early, as the tour guide was going to pick us up at 830am. When the guide arrived at the hotel he informed us that it would be a busy day. First we had to stop and purchase our 3 day passes to visit the Angkor Archaeological Park which encompasses approximately 390 square miles. Needless to say we packed in as much as we could be could not come close to seeing all there was to see in the area.
We proceeded to head into the main area at Angkor Wat. All I can say is WOW! All the programs that we saw on tv could not come close to the magnitude of this wat. We were all very surprised at the refurbish work that was being done. However since this area is over 1000 years old upkeep would have to be ongoing.
As we walked with our guide through the temple (wat) one can not begin to imagine how the people made this incredible and magnificent temple. The aspara carvings on the walls to ward off evil gods and the amazing artwork carved into other walls in hallways was impressive. The huge 65 meter lotus like towers were a beauty that I have never seen before. Walking around the 1km square, I had a difficult time not tripping over my feet because I kept staring in complete awe at the massive temple walls. It's very difficult to write how impressive this area was, as words cannot come close to describing what it was like. Between the 3 of us, we took about 700 pictures of this area alone.
After leaving Angkor Wat, we took a short ride to Bayon. Bayon is famous for its 1000 faces. Here there are 37 standing towers, mostly with four carved faces. Rumor has it that King Jayavarman VII had the faces carved to keep an eye on the people of the kingdom.
This temple also is said to have some roots in the Chinese culture. We were quite surprised to see how many tour groups seemed to be from "home". We also noticed that even though we were in Cambodia the tour groups forgot they were not in their home country (spitting, hacking, pushing, no space, etc...) It was not until we had spent some more time that the tour groups left (as they are in such a hurry to see 'everything' yet not see anything). It was surprising to us that we were almost the only ones there and it was quite peaceful to wander around and see the ins and outs of this wat.
The third temple of the day had some link to American pop culture ~ Ta Prohm. This was where the famous Angelina Jolie movie "Lara Croft, Tomb Raider" was partially filmed. This temple is also under refurbishment with cranes and scaffolding around. This temple was my favorite of the day with the massive fig and silk cotton trees growing up through the towers and corridors.
This temple was also interesting as you could see the progress that the government has been doing to upgrade the area. Outside the main temple area there were huge stones with numbers and letters listed on them. We asked the tour guide and he confirmed that the letters were where the stone belongs and the number was the chronological order that they should be replaced.
After these three wats, we were all very tired and so very hot. The temperature was a balmy 35C (95F) with very high humidity. It felt like August in Suzhou. We headed back to the hotel then to Pub Street for dinner and a cool drink. We scheduled the tour guide and driver to take us out again the next day to do the small tour circuit to include the countryside and the land museum.
Stay tuned for part 2 of the temple tour.....
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