Cambodia - Angkor & Siem Reap

Onto Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples, a seven hour journey from Phnom Penh, which we did by boat. The prospect of being on a boat, enjoying the view of the riverbanks, getting a brief peak into Cambodian life and obtaining a tan appealed to both of us. So, at 07.00 we set steam for Siem Reap, together with 50 fellow travellers, perched on the rooftop of a boat (our choice) that sped down the river.
And the journey was not a disappointment. The scenery changed all the time - from small fishing villages to large Wats, and from people out to catch their fish for the day using small handnets to docks where ships were being built. All the while, the weather was fantastic, with the sun steadily rising in a bright blue sky. Both of us were content, dividing our attention between the scenery around and the books we had brought to pass the time.

However, after about 4 hours, we reached the Tongse Lap Lake, which covers about 20% of Cambodia's landarea. We were due to cross this massive lake to get to Siem Reap on the other side. But we (or more accurately - the skipper) hadn't really taken into consideration the effects of it currently being the dry season, so after about 2 minutes the boat met the ground. Not once, but repeatedly, to such an extent that continuing forward was impossible. The guy overlooking the engine room was sent into the water on a 'recky mission'. The fact that he could wade through the lake, at chest height, didn't bode well. So, there we were, fifty westerners on a speed boat, stuck in the middle of a lake! Undoubtedly much to the amusement of the local fishermen.
Fortunately, after twenty minutes, a small boat pulled up alongside our boat, took approximately 15 fellow passengers on board to lighten the load and guided us through a deeper passage in the shallow lake. After the 15 passengers were re-loaded, we set sail to Siem Reap with renewed speed, where we arrived at approximately 3 o'clock.

Readers of the previous entry will have remembered that Cambodia was hot, very hot. So imagine having been on the roof of a boat for a good eight hours during the hottest part of the day. Both of us looked like the proverbial Englishman on a Spanish holiday after day one - too red!(but only our faces, legs and arms - a funny sight, as evidenced by the smiles we got from the other hotel guests when we dived into the pool for a refreshing swim).

The remainder of that day, we didn't do anything other than swimming and having dinner in our hotel. A dinner that was accompanied by a 'traditional' Cambodian dance and shadow puppet show - sometimes you have to do the 'truly touristy thing'!.

The next day we started our exploration of Angkor, by bike. Based on several discussions, we had high expectations. And let us start by saying that even these were exceeded by what we experienced over the next few days. Lots of temples, most of them of stunning beauty. The highlights:

Of course Angkor Wat, the most famous temple in this all-in-all 300 square kilometer site. We visited several times: on our first day, when we explored it in detail for a few hours around mid-morning, on our second day on our way back, when we saw it in the softening evening light and on our last morning, when we got up at 04.30 to see the sun rise over it. Everytime we were taken aback by the sheer size and beauty of this temple, how well it is preserved and by the realisation that this was built more than a thousand years ago.

Then Angor Thom, an ancient city, of which some of the main temples and buildings have survived. We spent a good few hours looking at all the different buildings , the highlights of which are the main temple (Bayon) whose towers are covered in Buddha faces and a terrace that holds life-size carvings of elephants.

Also Ta Phrom, a smaller temple that is overgrown by the jungle. The beauty of this temple being that once you get out of the way of the main tourist spots, it is possible to have the feeling that you are alone and are able to absorb the beauty of the ruined temple in quietness.

Finally, just being there, cycling around for two days, getting to another temple, exploring it (they are all different), taking in the beauty and the craftmanship of these people such a long time ago and then moving on, was a brilliant experience.

It is hard to put all of this in words - suffice to say we took more than 150 pictures. A selection of these you will find attached to this entry - for the other pictures you'd better be prepared to sit through a long session of picture-showing!.
In summary - Angkor is an incredible place, it is beautiful and impressive. We had very high expectations, we were not disappionted at all. Definitely one of the highlights on the trip!


And now for something different - we have uploaded pictures to our older entries, please have a look! And if you have any comments, feel free to use the comment option in the blog or write to us!