Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
It was quite surreal crossing into Cambodia overland and it took a while for me to feel like I was in a different country. Possibly because the Thai government pretty much own the Cambodian side of the border by funding roads and building giant casinos where Thai's can come to gamble legally. It was very bizarre.
Siem Reap was quite bizarre as well. I didn't expect there to be so many massive five star hotels but I guess the eighth wonder of the world attracts people on all different travel budgets. Needless to say our humble little guesthouse was not of five star rating but it certainly did us fine. In fact the budget accommodation in Siem Reap is significantly better than anywhere else we have stayed so far.
Although Siem Reap is very very touristy it is a really cool place to hang out. Especially since every pub has beer on tap for 50 cents during "happy hour" from 9am to 9pm (Cambodians haven't really understood the concept of happy hour being for only one hour but we're certainly not complaining!) For a touristy place it's extremely cheap. Dinner at the market is US$1 for each meal. And they're actually really tasty noodle, rice or curry dishes.
We kind of got swept up drinking and eating so on the third day we thought we better get on to doing what we came here for...the Angkor temples. We went to Angkor Wat at sunset on a tuk tuk and whilst there were quite of a lot of people around we were able to lose the crowd and find a nice spot to watch the sun go down. Angkor Wat is even bigger than I expected. The temple itself is three square kilometers surrounded by an enormous moat. It's really quite beautiful (except for all the tourists ruining the tranquility).
The following day we rented bikes and rode out the temples again. It was a bit scary riding out of Siem Reap as the traffic is pretty erratic and I'm not used to riding on the right hand side of the road. We saw Angkor Wat again in daylight seeing as its kind of the main event but I was keen to move on to some of the other ones in hope I could get a photo without a group of package tourists running in front of me (Sorry I'm harping on but they really are sooooo annoying).
We rode out to Ta Prohm which is the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. It's really amazing. The trees have grown through the building and whilst it isn't as well preserved as Angkor Wat you can really appreciate the age of the ancient city. The photos don't do any justice to the size and detail of the stone carvings. They are truly remarkable. We saw a few other smaller temples as well before the brakes on my bike failed and Cal so gallantly swapped bikes with me for the ride back to Siem Reap.
There is a great night market in the centre of town selling everything and anything you can imagine. Cal bought an awesome hammock from an NGO that makes them out of an invasive water plant that damages local agriculture. We are just worried that it wont make it through Australian customs. There are also "fish massages" EVERYWHERE! Its about $2 for 20 minutes and while your sitting in the paddle pool with the fish sucking the dead skin off your feet you get a free beer. They are ridiculous and the workers harass you as you walk past so literally everywhere you go you have someone in you ear "Sir, Sir, fish massage, fish massage" Needless to say we didn't have one especially since some of the fish looked more like gold fish and not the actual healing fish. So funny.
The Cambodians are such friendly people. We are looking forward to going to Phnom Penh tomorrow.
- comments