After a 5 hour somewhat hair-raising bus trip from Phnom Penh we were pleased to check in to our hotel in Siem Reap. (Our hotel in Phnom Penh arranged bus tickets and pick up.)
Siem Reap is the centre of the Wats which were built around a thousand years ago or so. Most of the construction was done by Indian traders who were forced to wait in Cambodia for the winds to blow the other way after the monsoon season. They left an amazing series of shrines which were slowly overgrown by the jungle and have only recently (in the last 150 year or so) been rediscovered.
On arrival in Siem Reap the tuk tuks were lining up to not only take us to the hotel but to offer us transport for 3 days around the wats. Negotiation is the name here, A basic 3 day tuk tuk tour should be around $USD50. Any extra excursions are understandable. We paid $75 and had 2 extra visits, one to the lake and another extension up to some mountains.
Day 1: The tuk tuk driver was waiting for us at 0800hrs as arranged and every other day he was on time too.
First stop was Angkor Wat where we spent 2½ hours before moving on to The Bayon, Baphuon and finally Ta Prohm later in the day. The drivers all know good places for lunch too.
On arrival in Siem Reap the tuk tuks were lining up to not only take us to the hotel but to offer us transport for 3 days around the wats. Negotiation is the name here, A basic 3 day tuk tuk tour should be around $USD50. Any extra excursions are understandable. We paid $75 and had 2 extra visits, one to the lake and another extension up to some mountains.
Day 1: The tuk tuk driver was waiting for us at 0800hrs as arranged and every other day he was on time too.
First stop was Angkor Wat where we spent 2½ hours before moving on to The Bayon, Baphuon and finally Ta Prohm later in the day. The drivers all know good places for lunch too.
Not sure where some of the following photos were taken but I
will do my best to get the correct places for them.
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| The Causeway leading to Angkor Wat |
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| The main temple pagodas at Angkor Wat. |
Unfortunately the over head conditions were horrible in terms of the sky and so many of the photos have a washed out sky. The photo here took some time to hide the signs of restoration. One can see the green screening through the tree and also to the side of the central tower. Even though scaffolding and green screening stuffs up a photo, we would be complaining about the lack of preservation and eventual loss of such important archaeological treasures!
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| Inside the main gate at Angkor Wat |
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| Carved details alongside windows |
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| War elephants, part of a 100m long mural. |
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| Traditional dress |
A local dance group at Angkor Wat seemed to be part of the tourist spectacle and were very good at posing for photos, if you paid $USD20. Their group seemed to be pretty good at avoiding "free photos" so I had to resort to a sneaky shot with a long lens.
Next stop was The Bayon.
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| The Bayon |
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| Elephants on parade |
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| Guardian at Baphuon |
Last stop on Day 1 was to one one of the most spectacular must do sites in Cambodia, Ta Prohm. If you have only one day here, then this is top of the list of visits.
The trees have for many hundreds of years slowly overgrown temples and will eventually destroy them. Several movies have been shot here. Three photos here to give an idea of the dilemma, restore or leave?
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| Ta Prohm |
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| Ta Prohm |
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| Ta Prohm |
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| Petrol station on way back to Siem Reap |
In most villages in Cambodia, there are stalls selling petrol by the bottle. Any plastic drink bottle or glass bottle is used so that the many tuk tuks and motor bikes can get a litre or two. Not sure how many fires result but any spilt petrol, match and wooden structures make for a disastrous combination.
Day 2: We were
away by 0750hrs to Preah Khan, Tom Som, Mebon, Pre Rup and Banteay Kdei.
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| Entrance to Preah Khan |
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| Preah Khan |
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| Apsaras, Hall of Dancers, Preah Khan |
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| Preah Khan exit |
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| Ta Som or Mebon |
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| Ta Som or Mebon |
The day ended at Kampong Pluk, a fishing village on Tonle Sap
lake – the largest lake in South East Asia.
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| Tuk tuk driver, on way to Tonle Sap Lake |
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| Fishing village |
On the shores of Tonle Sap Lake is the fishing village of Kampong Pluk. During the monsoon the lake rises a consideration height and increases in area by several thousand square kilometres, hence the house on stilts.
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| Waterway at Kamong Pluk |
We did go out onto the lake but there was nothing much to see there.
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| Going home from school |
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| Kampong Pluk |
Day 3:
First stop today was Banteay Srey then to Kbai Spean for a
walk up the mountain. This was over 50km from Siem Reap and hence the extra $s
for the tuk tuk. Lunch stop at Banteay Samre with a final stop bak at Pre Rup
for some photos.
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| Reconstructed door at Banteay Srei |
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| Banteay Srei |
A long ride in the tuk tuk took us to Kbai Spean and a 1.6 km walk up near the top of a mountain where there are some incredible stone carvings in the river. No photos worthy of inclusion here though. The butterflies were amazing.
In the afternoon of Day 3 we were nearly "wat'ed out". Banteay Samre (lunch stop too)was on the way back towards Siem Reap but not many tourists to clutter up the photos I took there!
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| Banteay Samre |
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| Banteay Samre |
On the way back towards Seim Reap we passed through several villages and stopped for a bottle of Johnny Walker for the tuk tuk. As mentioned earlier, petrol is sold by the bottle and at his stop, where this young chap was having a sleep, all manner of bottles were lined up.
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| Cambodian housing |
On last stop was to get a photo of Pre Rup which we stopped at on a previous day.
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| Pre Rup |
