Other things to do while in Siem Reap

Being at the temples the whole day or maybe most of your stay in Siem Reap will result to temple burn out. Here are other fun things to do while in the province.

1. Hang out, eat and drink at Pub Street

The name of the street came form the numerous pubs, restaurants and shops that opened on it. This is where we headed for our meals and shopped for our souvenirs. At night, the streets were blocked from most of the traffic so people can walk freely. It is a lively place where most, if not all, tourists come to relax after a long day from the temples, to have fun and listen to music.

Huge adorable fella we saw while walking along the street. 

We dined in The Red Piano Restaurant. It was where Angeline Jolie also dined and hung out while filming in Cambodia. We arrived at the perfect timing of happy hour which meant that soft drinks were free.

I think what I ordered was Pork in Sweet and Sour Sauce. It tasted fine but I was not satisfied with the amount of rice with it. (hehehe)

We also tried the Tomb Raider cocktail which was initiated by Angelina. They have a promotion which states that every 10th sold is free and every 500th drink sold will win the cocktail (I guess this means it's free), a t-shirt and 100 USD cash. Well the night was still young at the time we were there so I think there weren't yet a lot of people ordering the drink.

2. Watch an Apsara Show

We didn't really plan to watch one also because we didn't know of such. The hotel staff offered this package with land transfers, buffet dinner and Apsara show. Since we didn't have any plans, we gladly accepted the offer. We were promptly picked up from our hotel and transferred to another hotel, The Amazon Angkor, where the event was. There were a lot of Chinese tourists who went ahead of us and were with us at the table. Drinks were not included in the meal but it was affordable at $1 for a liter of water. When we arrived a group of local musicians exhibiting their skills with their instruments were already on stage.

Later on while the guests were seated and eating, Apsara dancers showed their talents on stage. An Apsara is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. In these dances, the Apsara is played by a woman with a tight fitting traditional dress whose graceful gestures are codified to narrate classical myths or religious stories.

We were amazed at how talented these ladies were. Their fingers seem to bend backwards and even though they had difficult dance movements or they have to stand with only 1 foot on the ground, they were still graceful and nice to watch. By the way, the package for this whole event was 10 USD.

The food was ordinary but seeing this kind of dance for the first time was truly an experience.

3. ATV Ride through Cambodian rice fields

We planned way before that we'd try a friend's suggestion to ride an ATV. We emailed the company months prior and on the day, the staff promptly fetched us from our hotel.

It was the dry season when we went so the roads were really dusty. We drove through some quiet streets and rice fields...

and stopped for a spot to see the sunset.

I'm sure there are other ways to enjoy while in Siem Reap. Again with our short stay, this was the most we can do. Thank you for reading and 'til my next blog! :)

The Jungle-Temple of Ta Prohm

The second part of our Angkor Wat tour was concentrated at the temple of Ta Prohm. The construction of Ta Prohm as a Buddhist temple began in 1186 A.D. The design of the temple is not like the previous ones with steep stairs and elevations. This was a flat kind of temple with only a few stairs.

As per wikipedia, Ta Prohm was singled out because it was "one of the most imposing (temples) and the one which had best merged with the jungle, but not yet to the point of becoming a part of it." It is composed of a number of towers, corridors and closed courtyards.

Ta Prohm is extensively ruined but can still be explored. While we were there, we observed that some parts have been closed off from tourists as it was being restored.

Some corridors were impassable and risky of falling debris. Nevertheless, a lot of restoration are going around the temple to keep the safety of visitors and maintain the lost-in-the-temple/ jungle atmosphere. 

Another thing that made Ta Prohm famous is that this is where the movie of Angelina Jolie, Tomb Raider, was filmed. Our tour guide said that the producers of the film was able to gather permit to close the temple from visitors when they shot the film.

Tall and sturdy trees seem to rise up and swallow the temple walls. The roots of the tree below looks like that of a snake's body.

We had fun posing as secret agents looking for some criminals hiding on crevices and roots.

There were surely a lot of trees and roots around. 

Look how mighty the roots of these fig and silk-cotton trees impose themselves on the temple walls.

Visiting Ta Phrom last was a sweet conclusion of the whole tour. Going into the temples and its corridors felt as if discovering a temple in a jungle. It was a mesmerizing and wonderful experience. Thank you and 'til next blog!

Sunrise at the Angkor Wat Complex

We stayed at Bou Savy Guesthouse while we were in Siem Reap. We asked for them to arrange a whole day trip to Angkor Wat for us. They did arrange for us a driver and a tour guide but the trip would start at 8am. Since we wanted to see the sun rise in Angkor, we paid a bit more for the tour.

This was our kind driver who fetched us from the bus station the night before and woke up the next day at the early hour of 5am to send us to the temples.

A short drive from our hotel and we were asked to step down at the main entrance road to pay for the entrance fee. We bought a one day Angkor Pass worth 20 USD. There were also other choices such as 40USD for 3 days and 60 USD for 7 days.  Afterwhich, we drove again towards Angkor Wat. I was anticipating for the view but I can't see one single thing except for the road and the headlights. 

When we arrived at the entrance, I was surprised that there were already hundreds of people going in. They were guided by their tour guides with flashlights. After the guards checked our  entrance ticket/ ID, we just followed the crowd. Everybody was looking for a nice spot to view the sunrise from.

The wait was quite long. I wanted to take photos of the temple and its grounds without people but with the crowd, it was impossible. 

I went nearer the pond to try and take for my own a photo of the temples and its reflection. The sun was not yet up and there was a small breeze. Thus, this photo.

It was a long wait and I feared that we were waiting in vain. I persuaded Wincee to go a little bit closer to the towers so we can have our picture taking. This was already around 6am. 

From our place, we can only see this view. 

It seemed hopeless to see the sun because somewhat the clouds were covering it. We waited for a few minutes and almost gave up when we heard the roar of the crowd. People were stirring because the sun eventually came out. We ran towards our original spot and saw that the sun was now aligned to one of the towers. The day we came was one of the three days in a year that this happens.

Okay, time to get a better shot. 

People were frantic to get a lot of photos. The temple ground was wide and there were a lot of place to get nice angled photos. It was just difficult to get a good shot with the crowd. However, it was amazing to share the view with others. Managed to get cute shots.

Here's a short video of me and Wincee trying to say hello from Angkor Wat. I wasn't able to talk much. I was still mesmerized.

Ok, had to make a serious video now. Still having quite a loss of words though. Apologies.  :)

After the adrenaline-rush-producing sunrise, we now felt hungry. We went back to our driver who patiently waited for us at the gate and drove back to our hotel to have breakfast and freshen up.

Angkor Wat tour coming up next! Thank you for your time. :)

One Day Tour at Angkor Wat - part 1

I've always wanted to visit UNESCO world heritage sites. One of them is Angkor Wat, the number one attraction of Cambodia. I can still remember my teacher in Civics and Culture mentioning this to us in class. I never bothered to dream about travel at that time but now travel is my addiction.

Going back to the temples, we showed the guards our entrance IDs again. This time we went with our tour guide, Mr Chenla (sorry, forgot to get the correct spelling of his name). Our hotel was also kind enough to provide us a dozen of bottled water placed in an ice bucket to combat the heat and thirst while going through the temples.

King Suryavarman ordered Angkor Wat's construction in the 12th century to serve as his official temple and royal capital city.This is the straight path towards the towers. But this view only provides at least 3 towers. We were asked to go towards the left side for a different view.

This side from the pond enabled us to see the 5 towers. Our guide suggested this pose which we gamely did. It came out nice. :)

Going towards the entrance of the first building into Angkor Wat was a stone balustrade of a seven headed serpent or "naga". In the Sanskrit, this represents power, water and fertility in many Hindu texts. The Khmers adopted this Hindu Indian myth.

A lot of beautiful carvings were on the walls of the Central Angkor Thom. These were about the stories of their gods such as Vishnu conquering the demons, Churning of the Ocean of Milk and Battles of the Gods and the Demons. Observe that the stones are now shiny because in the past tourists were allowed to touch them. Now, a rope or a wooden barricade is placed to distance the tourists from the walls. 

We were led towards the left (or maybe the north) side of the complex. It was something like a corridor where we saw a groom and bride having their photo shoot. Not to be outdone, we had ours too.

We were led by the guide a bit further outside the gate and asked us to have a jump shot. Another cute idea from him!

There were guards who regulated the entrance to the towers. They did not allow tourists who were wearing shorts, sleeveless tops or mini dresses that didn't reach the knees. I was allowed to come up because I've put on my jacket. I roamed the second floor of the complex. The stairs were very steep. 

Up close with the center tower.

We came back down and was led to a great hall so massive we appeared very small.

Heading out of Angkor, we passed by the South Gate of the Angkor Thom. It is a challenge to wait for the area to be empty of people. I was lucky to have this shot of Wincee.

From here some tourists would opt to ride an elephant towards the Bayon temple.

The Bayon

Next, we headed out to Bayon temple. This is the central temple of the ancient city of Angkor. This was built around 1190 AD as a Buddhist temple but with Hindu elements. 

Bayon is famously known for the huge stone face of Avalokiteshvara. Here is also where tourists are able to have a nose to nose photo of the stone face.

There is an estimated 216 count of the face of the bodhisattva of compassion on the temple.

The temple had a lot of passageways and rooms in it. The place is as crowded as Angkor. We had to get a good timing to take photos without photobombers. This time Wincee took a  photo of me and in a split second after this was taken, people were coming in from different directions.

Some tourists opted to have their photos taken with Apsara costumed women. This had a fee of course.

Baphuon

Just a short walk from Bayon is another temple often times overlooked by tourists. The Baphuon temple was built in the mid 11th century and is a three tiered temple mountain dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva.

Unlike the temples we have visited earlier, Baphuon almost feels like it's a temple all to ourselves.

We had to climb steep stairs again to reach the top. There were no guards this time to regulate the dresses of tourists.

This is where Wincee was able to literally have a "Temple Run" kind of photo.

Me, sitting like a boss. Enjoying my view from the top.

This is the west wall of Baphuon. I really thought there was something about the bricks that at first glance was only piled up. From my readings, I found out that this was actually constructed as the face of a reclining buddha in an abstract form. 

This concludes the first half of our tour. We were dropped off at a nearby restaurant to eat lunch and rest a bit before starting the second part.

Thank you for your time and 'til next blog! :)