Day 4: Angkor Wat

We woke up at 5 am to catch the sunrise at what is often called a wonder of the world, the Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and the sun didn’t show up until around 8 am. The reason that sunrise at Angkor Wat is so hyped is that unlike most monuments, the Angkor Wat is built facing the west, so the sun rises from behind it. The reflection of the Angkor Wat falls on a lake in front of it. The Angkor Wat is not a stand alone temple and is part of the Angkor Thom, a large complex of temples. Many people spend up to 3 full days there. The sad side to that is that Angkor Thom is now private property and charges $20 per day. The complex is so large that you need to either bike or take a tuk tuk to get from one temple to another. There a small route and a larger route depending on how many temples you want to see. Florence and I took the smaller route. 

The temples at Angkor Wat went far beyond the temples I have ever known. They are more like historical ruins, with a few statues of Buddha here and there (though it was originally built for Hindu use). The colour of the walls is beautiful, mainly dark grey with tinges of green moss and the occasional red sandstone colour. There is no functional use of the temples we saw in the religious context. Its mostly a tourist spot where people walk around. Unlike other temples I’ve seen, the temples at Angkor Wat involve a lot of exploring and getting lost, much like you would in an ancient palace. The Angkor Thom is multi storey and very big in itself. After many stairs and galleried floors, you reach the core central area where there are three stone structures resembling stupas/mountains on top. This place is filled with rocks and tourists sitting on them. 

We spent over an hour exploring the Angkor Wat before we moved to the next temples. Most of them were similar in that they all had similar structures and materials with which they were constructed. They varied in size and complexity. Some temples were quite small and didn’t play as much with my sense of direction. There was an element of mystery in many of the temples. Some of them had unknown faces carved, like the Bayon, which was personally my favourite temple. Others were still incomplete for unknown reasons, likely to be the death of the creator. There was reconstruction work going on at every other temple we went to. Other countries’ governments were helping in conservation efforts such as the Indian and Chinese government. 

The Bayon temple was one with multiple mountain like structures with faces carved on them. You could go up to it and see the faces up close. 

Some of the temples in construction were a blend of old and new, not in a nice way. One of temples for example, had white concrete, red sandstone, grey rock and green moss all together, which definitely reduced the beauty and authenticity of it. 

Another interesting temple was one which was such a maze that it was very common for tourists to get lost inside. It also had many trees with roots outside the ground. (I wish I could remember the name of the temple) 

While driving from one temple to another, we came across some great architecture. There were stories told through depictions on walls and statues built on railings, as if welcoming tourists. 

We conversed with our tuk tuk driver for a while. Turns out that he only recently started earning through a tuk tuk, as he was a chef earlier. He worked at an Italian restaurant, but apparently that paid less than driving a tuk tuk and had more work. His salary as a cook was $100 a month. 

By noon, we were both exhausted and ready to go home. We had spent 7 hours walking around temples and the sun was getting to us. After spending a few hours napping, I went to the night market for dinner.   

I ate khmer curry, a coconut based curry with pumpkin, carrots and your choice of meat.

I also tried a cashew milkshake, something that seems fairly popular here. It was interesting, that’s all I can say. I think mine had far too much added sugar for me to enjoy the shake.

I got a $3 back massage after dinner. I almost got a khmer massage but I was told that its similar to a Thai massage in which they beat you to pulp. Later I discovered that it isn’t as brutal as the Thai massage and is more about pressure points on your body. 

I bumped into the night market's art center, an area selling handicrafts among other types of souvenirs

Day 3: Night Market at Siem Reap

Our bus ride to Siem Reap took 3 hours longer than expected. We were under the impression that Siem Reap is 3-4 hours away, but it took over 7 hours in the end. The bus was pretty comfortable. It was air conditioned and they gave us bottled water, breakfast and wet towels. During the ride, we got to see many villages and rural areas of Cambodia. Apart from abandoned houses and dusty roads in functional villages, houses on stilts above water were a common sight. 

Fish Amok, a traditional Khmer (Cambodian) dish. I was
pleasantly surprised by the perfect spiciness and texture. 

At one point, we stopped to pick up stranded passengers whose bus had broken down an hour ago (apparently, this is quite a frequent thing in Cambodia). What was most interesting was that the bus conductor just pulled out seats in the standing space that runs down the middle of the bus and the new passengers sat on them for the rest of the journey. Since this was the end of the festive season, many of the travellers were families with small kids who kept crying. We got to Siem Reap around 4 pm and took a tuk tuk to our guest house. The owner of it was chinese and Florence was able to use her language skills effectively to help us figure out our plans in  Siem Reap for the cheapest possible prices. 

Night Market Adventures
Our photographer, a friendly old woman pretended that she was
going to run away with our camera just after she took this
photo. 

Our guest house is quite close to the  night market and pub street area, which is super touristy and filled with street sellers, bars, massage parlours and food stalls. Its much safer here than Phnom Penh and we can walk around at night without worrying about safety. But once again, this is probably the most upscale area of Siem Reap. We saw some of the non fancy parts of town on our way to the guest house, and they looked very much representative of a developing country. Even on pub street, prices are quite cheap. Florence and I ate local food just outside of pub street for $3 per person. There are loads of money changers and ATMs. People speak english. 

We enjoyed the night market. We got fish massages, but I refused to put my feet in for more than a few seconds at a time. The fish biting was a strange sensation.