Bakong, Roluos Temples, Siem Reap
After a long struggle with various vendors over who should get the business of selling us lunch, water, coconut etc… we distributed the business evenly among them. Heidi even bought some clothes, for the first time here, because the quality and design is usually not that grand here near Siem Reap. Continue Reading →
Beng Mealea, Siem Reap
Beng Mealea we saved for our last day of sightseeing, since it is so different from all other temples. It is completely unrestored, surrounded by dense vegetation and overgrown with trees. It is about 80 kilometers from Siem Reap, so we decided to invest in a stiff 60 USD taxi ride. Indeed, the last time we used a Tuk Tuk for a longer trip, Heidi was suffering endlessly: the dust in her eyes and behind her contact lenses would not disappear for days! Continue Reading →
Street Vendors, mostly children, Angkor Archeological Park, Siem Reap
What makes Cambodia so different from Laos is its relentless street vendors. In Phnom Penh, it was the Tuk Tuk drivers and the motorbike-taxis we had to deal with. Apart from fending them off, they would feed us with incorrect information regarding opening hours etc… and so trying to convince us to go somewhere else with them, of course! Continue Reading →
Kbal Spean, Siem Reap
A bit weary of temples? Head out to Kbal Spean, in the midst of the jungle, a 1.5 hour north of Siem Reap. The trip itself is scenic, since the road runs through a Cambodia as rural as it can be: rice paddies, villages with their characteristic stilt houses, lots of children walking to or from school, hardly any traffic… Continue Reading →
Ta Prohm, Siem Reap
Definitely our favorites, since both are jungle temples partially overgrown with trees! Their giant roots embrace walls, bring them down, pry them apart or keep them from collapsing. Continue Reading →
Angkor Wat from an Hot Air Balloon, Siem Reap
A few weeks before returning home, a thorough check into our finances revealed that Heidi was able to save some money over the year we were traveling. These unexpected modest riches made her light-headed. Continue Reading →
Bayon, Angkor Thom, Siem Reap
Between the 12th and the 16th century, Angkor Thom was the capital of the mighty Khmer Empire. The outer enclosure is still intact and encompasses the 9 square kilometers of what was once a striving city of an estimated one million people. At that time probably the most populated place in the world! Continue Reading →
Angkor Wat, Siem Reap
So why is Angkor Wat so much more famous than all the other splendid temples all around it? The main reason is that it was never abandoned, like all the other sites, when the capital of nearby Angkor Thom was moved to Phnom Penh in the 16th century. Until 1941 monks lived here and most important, took care of it. The other reason is that it is an architectural masterpiece of fine proportion and rich in details. Continue Reading →
Tuk Tuk to Angkor Wat, Siem Reap
Most people spend between 1 to 3 days visiting the various sites spread out over a vast area. So a visit naturally requires some kind of transport. Sporty travelers bike the 7 kilometers out to the temples and then the not so short distances between the sites, others hop on the backseat of a motorbike. We chose to hire a Tuk Tuk that took us around for three days, for 12 US per day. One day, we even went top class, more about this under “Extravanza”. Talking about money, tickets are 20 / 40 / 60, for one day / three days / one week. Continue Reading →
Bayon, Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Who has not heard of Angkor Wat, one of the biggest, most highly eulogized religious buildings in the world? Few newly arrived tourists are aware that they will explore a vast number of monuments during their visit here, temples, cities, shrines, reservoirs etc… with famous Angkor Wat being only one of them. Quite a few of them, like Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm or Banteay Srey, to name the most famous, can easily compete with the so famous Angkor Wat or even surpass its magic! Continue Reading →
