Where to start for Siem Reap!
This was our base for our Angkor exploring - but there is so much more to this little town. But we will start with the best stuff first, Angkor!
We organized a tuk tuk to take us the 10km to Angkor and we bought a 3 day pass as there is so much to see and we weren't sure if it was going to be too hot to be there all day. (and of course Herman has to look at everything 10 times he's so slow! (Well if you travel all the way from the UK to see the sites you should take your TIME) ha
The first day we went to Angkor Wat (the most famous) we got there at 4.30am to watch the sunrise - it was amazing and definitely worth it, we sat until the sun was high over the peaks and then we walked over the moat to the entrance. There is a great feeling off calmness from the building as well as the feeling you are in Tomb Raider or an Indiana Jones movie! The architecture is stunning and the photos cannot do it justice, we wondered down the hallways of the main structure which was still dark due to the early hour. There was not a lot of people in the structure and that made it even more weird and a bit ghostly. Inside the ruins there are also many headless Buddhas (attacked by the Khmer rouge) and beautiful murals and out into the smaller sub wats which are all very tall and equally as stunning.
There is some repair work on parts of the wat, which was interestingly funded by mostly Japan and Germany. By lunchtime it was getting very hot so we went in search of our tuk tuk driver Henry who was chilling in the shade, but before we could get to him we had to make our way through the sea of children selling postcards (10 for a dollar!!) waaater (with the deepest American accent ever heard!) and jewellery! RUN!!!
So the drive cooled us down a little and we went to Ta Phrom Kel which is a smaller but equally as beautiful temple, this didn't take too long to explore and we moved onto Phnom Bakeng which again is a smaller temple it was good though as all the tours leave at lunch time to go to lunch back in Siem Reap, so there was only a few dozen people around.
Next was Angkor Thom which we enjoyed a little bit more than Angkor Wat, it is very beautiful and mystical. We entered through the south gate stopping at Bayen which has the most amazing faces carved into the stone.
Herman also made me climb the vertical steps of Baksei Chamkrong which is actually a Hindu temple.
Next was Ta Phrom which is amazing, although it is in a state of disrepair and almost covered in tree roots, it is also where Tomb Raider was filmed.
I could go on and on listing each site but sadly the descriptions may all sound the same, so I have added lots of photos and a map!
On the second day there I got sun stroke and spent the next day in bed feeling very sorry for myself.
Considering Siem Reap is such a little town the night life is crazy, there must be over 100 bars and clubs in a 3 street radius.
We went to a Traditional Cambodian Dance show, which was very cool the dancing was really amazing the music was a bit dodgy though!
Our time in Cambodia is coming to an end which is a real shame, I really like it here and will definitely visit again.
But for now our last stop Kratie.......