12/14/13 - 12/22/13

I had two amazing days exploring the Angkor Archeological Park. I saw Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm and many other extremely interesting temples. I was having a great time in Siem Reap, but things were about to change!

I had bought a three day pass to the park, but before I could use the third day, I ran into a little problem. I got food poisoning! I went out to eat with James and few friends of his, on Pub Street. The food was ok, but later that night as I was laying in bed, I started feeling very warm and my stomach was feeling strange, not queasy, but not right. I wasn't sure what was going on at first, and a worrisome thought went through my head that I had gotten malaria. However, the next day, I found myself sitting on the toilet for most of the morning. This basically meant that fortunately, I didn't have malaria, however, unfortunately, I still felt horrible! I had signed up to go on a tour to a waterfall that day with James and his friends, but there was no way I could possible sit in a minivan for half the day. I had to cancel, but if I did, they wouldn't be able to go, so I absorbed the cost and didn't ask for a refund. I ended up spending the rest of the day in bed, feeling awful. People would come in and out throughout the day, but I just stayed in bed. I finally managed to get myself up in the evening and I tried to eat a bowl of rice, but the thought of food was totally unappealing to me. I just had no appetite. James and his friends, Shannon and Jeremy, were leaving that night, so I did manage to say good bye and then retreated back to my room to sleep. I would end up basically not eating much of anything and drinking water for the next three days.

Due to the food poisoning, I stayed in Siem Reap for a few more days to recover. I had to change hostels, though, because the first place was completely full, so I found a place with my own room just a block away. I still hung out in the common room/bar of The Siem Reap Hostel though, because it was nicer and the people there were cool. While I was recovering, I hung out with a German girl named Maxine and few other people from the hostel. It wasn't a lot of fun watching everyone eating and drinking, but I managed, with my only sustenance being a bottle of water. After a day or so, I still wasn't feeling too well, so I went to the pharmacy and got some antibiotics. Once I started taking those, I felt better much quicker. I was able to eat some light meals 12 hours after the initial dosage.

I finally felt well enough, after a few days, that I was able to use my third day of eligibility on my Angkor pass. So, I got up at 5am and took a tuk-tuk to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. It was cold and the mosquitos were out, but it was manageable. I was a little worried at first, because it was overcast and it was possible that I wouldn't be able to see the sunrise. I walked through the gates of the temple and across to the reflecting pool with a bunch of other tourist to wait for the sun to come up. The sky was clear in some spots, but there was still a lot of clouds in the sky. After an hour had passed and no sign of the sun, I gave it up as a lost cause and made my way towards the temple, to explore it once last time. However, as I was crossing the bridge, the clouds started to clear a little and the sun started to peek through. I quickly returned to my previous position and got some really nice pictures of the sun rising behind Angkor Wat. It turned out to be a very beautiful sunrise, with the clouds actually adding some atmosphere to the view. It was definitely worth the early wake-up call!

I went back to my tuk-tuk driver and then he took me on an hour long ride to my final temple, Banteay Srey. This temple was called the "woman's temple", because it said that the carvings are so intricate that only a woman could have carved them. The temple was made out of red sandstone, so it has a slightly different look to it as well. It was a very small temple, compared to other temples in the Park, but it was beautiful. The carvings, were indeed quite impressive. My favorite part of the temple, however, was not its beauty, but its isolation from the rest of the Angkor Park. It was 37 km from the main park, so not as many tourists were there. It is well-known, so it wasn't completely isolated, but it wasn't jam-packed full of tourists. There were also a couple of local children playing around in the ruins. Families actually live in the Archeological Park and so the children are raised around these monuments. The families supplement their income by selling crafts, food and beverages to the tourists, but unfortunately, the children also get involved with selling stuff. These children, however, were just playing and I got some really nice pictures of them in the ruins of the temple.

My last night in Siem Reap I was feeling a lot better. I was eating like normal and my stomach wasn't bothering me anymore. So, I figured I would have a drink with some of the amazing people that I had met. Pub Street is a thoroughly Westernized area of town that has plenty of restaurants, pubs, tourist shops and massage parlors. It has a bit of a Las Vegas type atmosphere, due to these enormous neon signs naming and pointing to the street. It's a bit of oddity in Cambodia and felt a little strange to me. However, it was where people went for a night out, so that is where we headed. We jumped around to a few different bars, including the creatively named, "Angkor What?!" The clientele was a general mix between Western travelers and young Cambodians, so at least we were mixing with the locals to some extent. I had to get up early to catch a bus to Battambang, so I didn't stay out that late, but it was fun to enjoy my last night with my new travel friends.

All in all, I enjoyed Siem Reap. I met some really cool people and saw some really amazing sights. The Angkor Archeological Park is definitely one of the highlights of my trip! Despite the food poisoning, it was still an amazing experience and I would not have traded it for anything! Actually, on second thought, I really could have gone without the food poisoning! :)