Siem Reap, Cambodia

We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia around 10am on 8/21/08. We met our guide and headed for our hotel a few kilometers away. Cambodia is a beautiful country and they are trying hard to get out of the poverty and oppression that has resulted from years of civil war and genocide. This was somewhat apparent in Siem Reap (more in Phnom Penh) - only the main roads were paved and you see significantly more pedal bikes and walkers than motorbikes. Siem Reap is famous for the discovery of the temples of Angkor, all built from approx 900-1300AD by Kings of the Angkor period. We began, shortly after our arrival, at the oldest part of the complex including Banteay Srei (967AD), Prasat Kravan (921AD), East Mebon (952AD), Pre Rup (961AD) and Takeo (early 11th century). These temples are smaller than the famous Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom areas but are well preserved and were very beautiful.

Our 2nd day of touring began at the Chong Kneas floating fishing village. This is a village, entirely built on the water. They have floating homes, floating stores, floating schools - you name it, it floats. The inhabitants are Vietnamese who came down in the late 1970's and built this village. Several children swam around one of the floating stores and would hold up snakes and even a baby crocodile (mouth tied shut) for us to take pictures for $1!! It was crazy. There are no crocodiles in the lake now because they have been farmed out to the zoo and others sold to make purses and other items from their skin. Our first night in Cambodia we went to a restaurant with a crocodile pit. It was about 10 feet below where the tables were and you could see crocodiles – it was terrifying!

The next part of our tour took us to Angkor Wat. This is the largest of the temples, the most intact and the most restored out of all the temples. It was huge, approx 3K around. The walls had murals of Hindu mythology including the Ramayan story and the churning of the Sea of Milk. It is a beautiful temple and amazing to see how much work was put into it – it took approximately 30 years to complete.

Our final day took us to Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm. This was all of our favorite day because these temples were unique. Ta Prohm has been left almost untouched although they are beginning work to restore it. Large trees have grown up around and on the temple; crushing it in some places and supporting it in others. This is where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raiders – Cambodians are huge fans of her and the movie! Angkor Thom was the last great temple built by the Angkor kings. He was considered the kindest King of them all and created several hospitals and community centers throughout the kingdom as well. We entered through Victory gate – a colossal stone sculpture 1.5K from the temple. After exploring the temple itself we left through the Southern gate where there were several playful monkeys hopping around. We bought some bananas and feed them for awhile.

After lunch we headed over to the new National Museum of Cambodia. It was very well done and walked us through the history of each Angkor King. It also housed several of the artifacts from the temples that had been found and moved to prevent their theft. After the museum we headed to the airport for our flight to Phnom Penh.