Siem Reap

Updated 22 Jan 2017

Siem Reap was our third stop on this trip. After Halong Bay we had to take a bus back to the Hanoi airport (just lovely!). The flight to Siem Reap was about three hours so it's a fair distance.

Siem Reap is a city in north western Cambodia. It's main claim to fame is its proximity to the ancient Khmer ruins (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, etc.).

We arrived in Siem Reap on Christmas Eve and were amazed at the Christmas decorations and lights that the local businesses and hotels had set up. Obviously it was all for us tourists as the majority of Cambodians are Buddhist and couldn't care less about the birth of Haysoos.

A shot from the bus.

They put us in a Park Hyatt in Siem Reap. Top notch.

The salt water pool.

The courtyard.

Bright and early on Christmas day (no presents to open so we may as well get moving) they pile us into the bus and off we go to the first ruin: Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century so it's not really that old like the pyramids, still pretty old though. It has been rejuvenated over the years so it's not even much of a ruin anymore.

This is probably the picture most people would recognize as Angkor Wat. And everybody makes a big deal about the reflection in the pond.

We got there early, probably by 9 AM and the crowds weren't too bad yet but but the time we left it was standing room only.

The carvings on walls were quite complex and abundant. They must have had many craftsmen working.

This is a Hindu god. Not sure which one and not sure what he's doing in Buddhist building. Intruder!

This was some sort of bathing pool.

One of the reflecting pools.

That's about enough of Angkor Wat.

So we all jump on the bus again and head to another ruin: Angkor Thom which apparently means "Great City"

Below is an artist's interpretation of what Ankor Thom looked like before it was in ruins.

Thanks to: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra - Flickr: L'exposition "Angkor : la naissance d'un mythe" (musée Guimet)

A bunch of pictures from Angkor Thom.

So that took care of the morning.

After a genuine Cambodian lunch and genuine Cambodian beer

we go to Ta Prohm also known as the Tomb Raider Temple. It's called that because Lara Croft Tomb Raider was filmed there. Remember that one? A classic! HAH!

A pretty cool place with about 10,000 people.

The entrance (which we did not go through but exited from)

These huge strangler trees cover everything and, apparently, are the reason for the destruction of the walls. Their roots just go into every nook and cranny and eventually the building blocks come falling down.

There were so many ornamentals there we couldn't get close to get our picture taken.

I wanted to get a clear shot of this wall but the stupid twat kept taking selfies. Oh well...next time.

A pretty cool place.

That was the end of day one in Siem Reap.

The next day they had this brilliant idea to take us back to Angkor Wat for "first light". Knowing then what I know now I would have just stayed in bed.

Anyway they got us up at 5:00 AM to see the sunrise. But the sun doesn't rise until about 9:00 AM and it rises behind a bunch of trees so all we saw was the sky getting lighter and lighter. Big hairy deal!

There was a lot of people there - not just our group so I guess it's a big deal.

So this is what we saw.

A lot of people were there. This is just one small group.

The bald headed knob at the left side of the picture was in our group. Only guy I would steer clear of. Had to be at the front all the time. Even though he's 6 foot 10 he didn't mind blocking everyone's view.

More ornamentals practicing getting married in front of everyone.

After this they took us to a Buddhist monastery for champagne and pastries.

Some of our group. Wendy (Australia), Bev (Canada), Ross (Australia), Terry (Canada) and Bob (Australia). All good folks. The guy in black on the right was Nghia our guide. Great guy.

We're going to Australia in spring 2018 and will visit with Bob and Ross (and Wendy and Morag).

In the afternoon we're taken to the Beng Mealea temple. This is a temple in the jungle that, until recently, was very difficult to reach. It has not been restored like the temples and ruins that we saw yesterday. It is pretty much just as it was found.

Just a bunch of pictures.

That's quite a few pictures and probably enough but there's more here if you want more.

Otherwise that's the end of Siem Reap. Tomorrow we start the river cruise.