Siem Reap, Cambodia
Siem Reap, the jumping off town to visit the Angkor Archaeological site, is a busy mad town. A lot bigger and busier than I thought it would be. I hadn’t done much research prior to my visit, so didn’t realise how many people visit each year – millions. Especially high season (December)!
It was a quick flight over from Luang Prabang and a short Tuk Tuk ride to a fabulous hostel and some cool people.
An early 4.30am start, to go buy my Angkor pass and be in place for the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I do love sunrises and try and see as many as I can. I love them because it is usually quiet and peaceful! Not the case at Angkor Wat!! I might as well have been on the London Tube at rush hour in the pitch black. Thousands of people head here to watch the sunrise and most want to be in front of the reflection pool – madness!
The sunrise was nice but not something I wanted to repeat. I went back to Angkor Wat a few times over the next few days to see it in different lights and it was a much more pleasant experience.
The other temples are incredible, especially the ones you know from the movies. Seeing them in real life is quite surreal. The Ta Prohm or Tomb Raider Temple had been swallowed by the jungle. Massive trees that would be right at home with the giant ones in Cameroon grow out of the walls of the temple, it was really cool. The workmanship and scale of some of the temples is mind blowing. The modern world has got lazy!
My Tuk Tuk driver on the second day was a friendly chap, after hearing I wasn’t married – proposed. I did give it serious consideration, as that would mean I would have a Tuk Tuk in the family and I really want to own one…!
The town of Siem Reap fills up late afternoon and through the night as people come back from the Temples. It is a fun, vibey place. Pub Street – is full of… pubs, restaurants, massage parlours ( thenice kind). For a few blocks, the senses are stimulated to the max. Hundreds of stalls selling clothes, nik naks, pancakes, smoothies. Scorpions, tarantulas, snakes, bugs on sticks. In order of preference, the snake was best, then tarantula and scorpion last, it really is not so nice! It’s funny, I had no problem eating these, but was very upset when I found a pickle in my sandwich the next day… There are fish tanks everywhere for fish massages, the fish used in SA are tiny, the ones here are big enough to take your toe off. I kept my feet on dry land!
Finished with, Temples, Wats and Pagodas now beach time!
