Day 1

At a few minutes after 7am our shuttle bus arrived to pick us up at the Pavilion Hotel to bring us to our bus. It finally deposited us next to the "luxury" bus departing at 7:30 after first picking up passengers all over Phnom Penh. The ride to Siem Reap was slow and it took us about 7 hours. We got to see some of the Cambodian countryside en route. The bus was far from a luxury limosousine but was comfortable enough. At the dusty Siem Reap bus station we were met by our driver from the hotel who transported us via tuk-tuk to the Wooden Angkor hotel.

Our first surprise was that we weren't planning to stay at the Wooden Angkor Hotel. The hotel we had reservations at, Hotel 89, had changed names and moved up the street. We weren't too concerned as the new property was very pleasant and has become the norm throughout Cambodia were greeted very warmly with iced cold lemongrass honey lime tea.

We checked in and rested for a couple of hours and had lunch at the hotel's delightful rooftop bar/restaurant before meeting our tour guide, Son, for our sunset viewing. Son and the driver Chheoun showed up promptly at 4:30pm and after paying $40 for our 3 day Angkor Wat pass soon we were climbing up the temple at Pre Rup for a view of the sunset over the jungle. It was a somewhat cloudy afternoon, but we were lucky to see a pretty magnificent sunset. We had incorrectly assumed the sunset would be over the temples, but it was only over the jungle. Pre Rup is a popular sunset spot as it is taller than most of the other temples (our thigh muscles can vouch for this).

After sunset we returned to the hotel to shower and then took a tuk-tuk to the Pub Street section of Siem Reap for dinner. We had no idea what a charmer Siem Reap would be! So many smart and trendy cafes, restaurants, spas and souvenir shops line the alleys around the night market. We decided to eat at The Angkor Palm for a traditional Khmer dinner. We had yummy smoothies and the Khmer sampler which included regional specialties such as amok, chicken curry, spare ribs and "morning glory" - basically sautéed mixed greens.

After dinner we walked around a bit and found a cute spa called "U & Me Spa" where we both got wonderful foot massages ($6 for an hour). Relaxed after the massage, we were delighted that our same tuk-tuk driver found us and brought us back to the hotel for $1.50. This driver, Mr. Phea, would turn out to be our near-personal driver for the rest of our stay in Siem Reap. As we settled into the hotel room we found it clean and well stocked with amenities (especially for a price of $20/night). However, as this is a tropical climate and the hotel contains hallways that are wide open to the outdoors, there were plenty of critters scampering about. Nothing too alarming - in fact we actually slept better knowing there was at least one gecko in our room as we hoped it would eat anything else that chose to spent the night with us!

We hit the sack early as tomorrow Son is picking us up at 5am for our sunrise visit to Angkor Wat and visit to a host of temples.

Day 2

We awoke at the ungodley hour of 4:30am to be ready for our pick up. Normally getting up at 4:30 and "vacation" don't appear in the same sentence, but when visiting Angkor Wat things are different. The goal is to get to Angkor Wat for sunrise to see the colors over the temples. Son explained that of the dozens of temples at the Angkor Wat complex, Angkor Wat is the only one to face West and thus the sun rises behind it. As would become the norm here, tourists were swarming all over the place even while it was still pitch black. Good thing Efren bright his flashlight. Most of the tourists getting up so early are Japanese, but there are many Koreans as well.

The sunrise was pretty with lots of pink hues, but the backlighting made good photos of the temple difficult. Even with our new camera we felt somewhat marginalized by the gadgetry of our fellow tourists - in some cases the lenses for the cameras were longer than they were! After sunrise we walked the good distance to the actual Angkor Wat temple. Volumes have been written about the history, and we will only mention a high level summary here. The temple was built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation - first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. It is the world's largest religious building.

The temple has come to represent Khmer architecture and has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture and its bas-reliefs -- nearly every inch of the temple is carved.

The size is enormous -- the outer wall encloses a space of 200+ acres. The outer wall is 4.5m high, is surrounded by open ground (grass and mud) and a moat that is 190m wide. We accessed the site over the moat by a causeway that is over 300 m long. The monument was made out of enormous amounts of sandstone which had to be transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 25 miles away. The stone was presumably transported by raft along the Siem Reap river.

Since the 1990s, Angkor Wat has seen continued conservation efforts and a massive increase in tourism. The temple is part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, established in 1992 and has encouraged the Cambodian government to protect the site. From what we could see, the number of tourists is only increasing. This has led to a boom in prosperity and building within Siem Reap, although we learned the rest of Siem Reap Province is now one of the poorest as most younger people are leaving the rural areas to make their living in Siem Reap. Of course with lots of tourism come many negatives, including children at the sites trying to sell knick knacks and books for a couple of dollars. Although persistent, we found the vendors not nearly as aggressive as we're seen in other places.

Overall Angkor definitely didn't disappoint, but we made it known to our guide that we wanted to return on a later day in the afternoon when the temple would be bathed in the sun's rays for some better photo opps. Also of note is that Efren managed to loose his hat somewhere in the complex -- he seems to do that on every trip!

Hard to believe that after all this sightseeing it was only 8am. We stopped for breakfast at a roadside restaurant where Efren enjoyed watching the preparation of "fresh" chicken for his curry. The next stop after driving through the Angkor Thom gate was the Bayon Temple.
The Bayon is a richly decorated temple built in the late 12th century or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, and the Bayon stands at the center of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Buddhist kings.

The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces (216 of them) on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple is known also for two impressive sets of bas-reliefs.

Since the time of Jayavarman VII, the Bayon has suffered numerous additions and alterations at the hands of subsequent monarchs. During the reign of Jayavarman VIII in the mid-13th century, the Khmer empire reverted to Hinduism and its state temple was altered accordingly. In later centuries, Buddhism became the dominant religion, leading to still further changes, before the temple was eventually abandoned to the jungle.

The temple sits at the exact centre of Angkor Thom and has no wall or moats, these being replaced by those of the city itself. Within the temple itself, there are two enclosures and an upper terrace. All of these elements are crowded against each other with little space between. Unlike Angkor Wat, which impresses with the grand scale of its architecture and open spaces, the Bayon gives the impression of being compressed within a frame which is too tight for it.

After absorbing Bayon Temple's intricate jumble of stone and faces, we moved over to the Baphuon, located just northwest of the Bayon in Angkor Thom. Built in the mid-11th century, it is dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. As is typical, it was later converted to a Buddhist temple. The temple was built on land filled with sand, and due to its immense size the site was unstable throughout its history.

By the 20th century, much of the temple had largely collapsed, and restoration efforts have since proven problematic: a first effort begun in 1960 was interrupted by the coming to power of the Khmer Rouge, and records of the positions of the stones were lost -- requiring the solving of a massive "puzzle" to put the thousands of pieces back together. It was finally put back together and reopened to the public early in 2011.

Our last stop of the day was Ta Prohm -- a kilometer outside the main set of Angkor temples. What makes Ta Prohm stand out is that it has been left in much the same condition in which it was found: the photogenic and atmospheric combination of silk cotton trees with elephant-trunk-like roots growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor's most popular temples with visitors.

This was another temple built by Jayavarman VII around 1186, and it was dedicated to his mother. After the fall of the Khmer empire in the 15th century, the temple of Ta Prohm was abandoned and neglected for centuries. The trees growing out of the ruins are perhaps the most distinctive feature of Ta Prohm.

More recently, the temple of Ta Prohm was used as a location in the film Tomb Raider. Apparently Angelina Jolie fell in love with the Cambodian people during filming, and eventually adopted a child, Shilo, from Cambodia.

We were absolutely pooped by this time and headed back to the hotel. It was only 12noon, but we had a very full day. We took a long nap before heading back into Siem Reap for dinner at the Red Piano -- supposedly one of Angelina's favorites. The food was ok, but the drink named after Angelina was quite tasty indeed. After another round of massages at U & Me Spa we were back in the hotel ready for bed.

One other thing to mention. Throughout Cambodia, we have noticed on several occasions that locals would come up to Efren and start talking to him in Khmer. At first we thought they were just being friendly, but it turns out many of them thought Efren was Cambodian based on his appearance! However, Efren realized he was truly not Cambodian when he went to try on some tee shirts. Despite being a "S" (small) size in US, he barely fit into a "M" (medium) in Cambodia -- and was more comfortable in a "L" (large). Craig, of course, had a hard time finding the XXL tee shirts needed to fit him comfortably.

Day 3

We waited for our guide in the lobby at 8am. To our surprise, Mr. Son was not there, but instead a different guide Mr. Khoeurn met us. Unfortunately Mr. Son's uncle passed away and would be unable to guide us for the next few days. We were at first a bit hesitant about the new guide, but we soon learned Mr. Khoeurn was an excellent guide as well.

Our first stop of the day took us about 70km away to the ruins of Beng Mealea. Beng Mealea is what Ta Prohm used to be like before the tourists discovered it -- a largely unrestored site that allows that true "Indiana Jones" feeling as you're walking over the rubble, through dark chambers and over hanging vines. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit here as we felt more at one with the jungle than with other tourists -- we were more likely to hear the calls of wild parrots than that of clamoring tour groups.

Along our journey Khoeurn gave us a very thorough history of Cambodia from pre-Angkor times to the present. This included information about the recent history and atrocities during the Khmer Rouge regime. Being a young guy, Khoeurn is also very tuned in with current Cambodian culture and filled the time telling us interesting stories about current Cambodian life. This spanned the range from the type of food eaten, education, politics and sex :)

Our next temple stop after lunch was a quick visit to the 3 Roulus group temples. These temples, Preah Ko, Bakong and Lolei, were built before Angkor Wat and mark the dawn of Khmer classical art.

Our final stop for the day took us off the temple trail. We visited the floating village and forest of Kompong Phhluk on the shores of the Tonle Sap Lake. The village is bizarre as all buildings are built on massive 6-7m high stilts. Today, at the very end of the rainy season, the water is right up to the top of the stilts. In a few months after the scorching dry season is underway, there will be very little, if any, water here and the houses will appear perched high overhead on the stilts. The town was very atmospheric and the locals friendly. We stopped for a coconut juice on a little floating restaurant.

The village was accessed by boat ($20 per person) from a pier and the entire boat journey to/from the village and motoring through it took about 3 hours.

We then returned to the hotel and freshen up a bit before heading back to Siem Reap's "Pub Street". We first stopped at a delightful coffee shop called the Blue Pumpkin. We sat upstairs in the air conditioned section and sat on the cushy couch and had a drink. We then experienced Khmer BBQ for dinner where they provide a little hibatchi-like grill and a bunch of meats for you to cook yourself. The juice runs into a tray at the bottom and with the addition of water, veggies and noodles forms a great soup at the end. All this, with drinks, for less than $4 per person. The only problem was that sitting at the table was akin to getting a steam bath from the cooking. All hot and sweaty, we returned to Blue Pumpkin for some cold refreshments before going back to U & Me Spa for our ritual foot massages. Life is good!


Day 4

Our final day in Siem Reap started with a pick up by Khouern at 8:30am. Today's itinerary included some of the minor temples of Angkor Wat along the so-called Big Circuit. The main temples that we saw a couple days ago are on the Small Circuit as they are closer together.

Our first stop was at Banteay Srei. This temple is actually a bit distant -- about 30km from Siem Reap and it took about 1 hour to get there. It was definitely worth the trip! Unlike other temples, this one is cut from stone of a pinkish hue and included some beautiful stone carvings -- often regarded as some of the finest on Earth. The temple is small and shady and has a lotus studded reflecting pool in front. Banteay Srei means "citadel of the women" and legend has it that it must have been built by a woman as the carvings are too intricate to have been carved by a man. There is some controversy as to the date of construction -- some feel it is after Angkor Wat due to the sophistication of the carvings, but other data points to a dating around 967. Whenever it was built, it is sure a gem!

Next we were on to Eastern Mabon temple. The construction was very similar to Pre Rup which we saw at sunset on the first day. We reached here at noon and without any shade, the climb to the top was extremely strenuous. After checking out the marvelous stone elephants capping each corner we headed to lunch.

After lunch we hit Banteay Kdei. At first we found the temple somewhat unimpressive, but by the time we reached the far end of the huge structure we enjoyed the entrance gate being consumed by a large tree. We then headed to Ta Som which again offered great views of trees growing out of the ruins as well as another carving of one of the ever-present faces we saw at Bayon. Next we stopped at Preah Neak Pean which was accessed by a long wooden causeway and was partially submerged after the rainy season. The temple apparently was used as a hospital and built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century.

Our final stop of the planned itinerary was Preah Khan, a totally massive complex. Very beautiful indeed as the site is a maze of corridors, carvings, lichen covered stonework and the usual trees sprouting from the ruins. After Preah Khan we headed back to Angkor Wat for a view of the temple with the sunlight bathing the structure in the afternoon glow. We then headed back to the hotel and bid our wonderful tour guide and driver farewell.

It was about 4:30pm and our flight departing Siem Reap didn't leave until 11:50pm. We asked at the front desk if we could pay for a "half day" at the hotel so we could shower and relax a bit. Of course the friendly folks at the Wooden Angkor were fine with that and we showered up before hitting Siem Reap one last time. We decided to wear our "Same Same" tee shirts that we had purchased earlier. These shirts are very popular with the tourists. They say "Same Same" on the front and "But Different" on the back -- supposedly as reference to the many temples at Angkor that appear the same at first, but actually are very different.

Mr. Phea had informed us earlier in the day that he wouldn't be at the hotel today, so he couldn't take us to Siem Reap Pub Street. But, he said he'd be there in the evening and would wait for us at our usual corner at 8:30pm. So thoughtful! We made a final trip to U & Me spa before eating delicious pizza and burgers at Le Tigre de Papier (we had enough of Asian food!).
We wondered around a bit more and that typical end-of-vacation depression started to sink in as it became all too clear that our trip was about to come to an end. We looked for Mr. Phea, but couldn't find him so we took another tuk-tuk back to the hotel. We checked out and were waiting for our ride to the airport when we had a lovely farewell discussion with Chan who was the manager on duty at the hotel. She thanked us incessantly for coming to visit them, and asked that we come back again soon. The genuineness of this exchange, as has become the norm in Cambodia, is unbelievable and simply underscores how gracious, welcoming and friendly the Cambodian people are.

We took a tuk tuk to the airport which took about 30 minutes. We had requested Mr. Phea, but Chan had already reserved a different driver. The other driver was fine, but scared us a bit when he pulled over to the side of the road just outside the airport to take a leek. Something you don't see back home! Again, just to emphasize the kindness of the people, on our way to the airport Mr. Phea drove his tuk-tuk along side ours to wave to us and wish us a safe journey!

At Siem Reap's airport again we were struck by the pleasantness of the people. Everyone from the check in agent to the security screeners were chatty and wished us a safe journey and another return to Cambodia soon. Given the wonderful time we had here, we might just be coming back in 2012!

We boarded our Asiana flight to Seoul without incident, except that Efren couldn't find his boarding pass stub upon entering the plane and was nearly sent back to the terminal! The 5 hour overnight flight to Seoul gave us a chance to nap a bit and prepare for tomorrow's planned day trip into Seoul as we both have ~10 hour layovers at the airport before connecting to our SFO flights.

Day 5

We arrived at Seoul's Incheon airport around 6:30am. Our plan was to spend a few hours visiting the main sites of Seoul before returning to the airport for our late afternoon flights. Craig was flying Asiana all the way to San Francisco, so he was all set. Efren, however, was connecting to a Singapore Airlines flight. We decided to play things safe and go to the Singapore Airlines transfer desk to pick up his boarding pass now so he wouldn't have to do it later. Big mistake!

The Singapore Airlines transfer desk wasn't in the main terminal, but in a separate concourse. We boarded the underground train to the concourse and quickly picked up Efren's boarding pass. Then it got interesting. All immigration facilities are located in the Main Terminal, so we had to go there to exit the airport. However, we couldn't find an entrance to the shuttle to take us back there, so we asked at Information. Apparently once you are at the concourse, you are unable to leave! We felt like Tom Hanks in that movie where he was trapped at the airport! This was an unfortunate turn of events as we really wanted to see Seoul, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't too bad. We spent the next several hours hanging out in the Star Alliance lounge catching up on sleep and relaxing.

The final wrinkle was that Craig's Asiana flight actually departed from the Main Terminal, so he had to get back there. As there is no typical passenger access, Craig was escorted there privately with an airport official! It turns out about 20 passengers per day end up at the wrong terminal and need this private escort back. Since Efren's flight departed from the concourse, they would not allow him back to the Main Terminal even with an escort -- so there was no way for us both to visit Seoul. Keep this bit of information in mind if you have a long layover at Incheon on plan to visit the city!

We both arrived at SFO within about 1 hour of each other and headed home. Both of us are already starting to think about the tasks at work that lie ahead and are wishing this wonderful trip didn't have to end so quickly.

What we will likely remember most is the incredible hospitality of the Thai and Khmer people. The beach, sites, food and temples are amazing, but the people really made the difference for us on this trip. Although it is easy to get wrapped up in our own personal stresses and issues, traveling helps put everything in perspective. No matter how demanding and stressful our lives seem to be, nothing compares to what the Cambodian people endured just a few years ago under the Khmer Rouge. The beauty of travel is that it makes you appreciate what you have, and is reason enough to start planning our next trip.

We really hope to be back very soon!