We've spent the past few days exploring the temple complex of Angkor by bicycle and tuk tuk. It is difficult to describe how wonderful they were. We recommend checking them out for yourself!
One of my favourite things about travelling is waking up in the morning and not having any idea of what the day ahead of you will bring. Last Wednesday morning we took the bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia on route to see the temples. We left at 6am and were told that it would only take 8 hours, so we had planned at arriving around 4pm. We didn't end up arriving until 10:30pm that night. The adventure included stopping three times to eat - two hours for lunch, one hour for dinner, and about 40 minutes for drinks. We also had to cross the border, which took another two hours or so. At the border it took them at least a half hour to figure out how to transport 40 of us who were on the big air con bus to Siem Reap. They finally figured it out and sent two lots of us in a minibus and the other lot in a taxi.
It was only 150 kms to Siem Reap from the border but with the road conditions, it took five hours. When we finally arrived, they convienently dropped us off at their friend's guest house, where we all booked in. It ended up to be alright for $4 a night for a room. Naturally in all of the confusion throughout the day we got to know several people on the bus. We met a really nice Canadian couple from Caledon (near TO), Susanne and Bob, and another guy from Saskatoon.
Angkor is considered to be one of the great man made wonders of the world. The temples started being built in the 9th century and the building process lasted over the next 600 years. Angkor in its time was the capital city of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia and was home to over one million people. It has really only been opened to foreign tourists over the past five years since travel to Cambodia opened up after their civil war ended in 1997. The temple complex is huge and the only way to get around to explore is by bicycle, tuk tuk (motorcycle taxi with a cart), or by motorcycle.
Thursday was one of the top days of the trip. We started the day off by watching some of the Australian Open while having breakfast. It is such a treat to be in a relatively similar time zone to watch the tennis. We then rented bicycles and biked out to see the temples, which were 10 km from Siem Reap. We were in awe right away as we came upon the famous Angkor Wat. We spent a couple of hours exploring the temple grounds (one square km) before moving onto the next temples, Bayon, Terrace of the Elephants, and Preah Khan. Bayon was my favourite with 37 standing stone towers with faces on them. Throughout all of the temples there are carvings everywhere which show stories and characters from Hindu mythology, historical wars, and scenes of everyday life. It is so difficult to explain what the temples looked like without pictures to show and even they wouldn't do justice. The only way to enjoy their true beauty is to check them out yourself - they're a must see!
Outside each temple, there were little stalls set up by the locals to sell food, drinks, and souvenirs. There were always children around wanting to look after your bike while you were in the temple. They would do it for free as long as you would buy postcards, bracelets, books, or drinks from them when you came out. We didn't have locks for our bikes so we thought it was a good deal. After the first two temples we were filled up with 10 postcards, two books, 10 bracelets, and three drinks. We then realized that there wasn't a worry of anyone stealing our bikes so no more bike-sitting was needed for the rest of the day.
Our bike ride home was one of the highlights of the day. It was a two and a half hour bike ride from where we were in the temples. We were peddling as hard as we could to beat the sun setting. We ended up hitting Siem Reap right at rush hour and this is where it got fun. The streets were absolutely packed with motorbikes, tuk tuks, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, minibuses, cars, trucks - you name it - and we were in the middle of all of the madness. Families don't usually have cars in Cambodia but rather motorcycles; therefore, the entire family goes on the bike or anything else they want to transport (dead pigs, flocks of ducks, bicycles, etc). People drive very slowly compared to Thailand so it felt very safe, but still there were people going in all directions. Stop signs and lines on the road meant nothing. We just biked along and took it all in - it was unbelievable. We spent the evening enjoying the quaint downtown of Siem Reap. There were quite a few interesting restaurants to choose from and stores to wander through.
The following day we had organized a tuk tuk driver to take us around the temples we had missed including getting to Angkor Wat for sunrise. The tuk tuk drivers in Cambodia are extremely slow and safe compared to those in Thailand. The sunrise was spectacular with it's pink glow - well worth the early morning wake up call. We spent the rest of the morning going temple to temple. We finished our time at Angkor with a hot air balloon 10 minute ride overlooking the temples below.
On our way home, our driver had recommended the war museum, so we checked it out. It was good to learn more about the 25 year civil war, which ended in 1997. It was also good to learn more about the land mine situation, since Cambodia is known to be one of the worst in the world for land mines. Our guide was a land mine victim and had lost a leg and partial sight. He had also lost his entire family in the genocide, so he had some very emotional tales to tell. One in 236 Cambodians have lost a limb to a land mine explosion and there are still about five people a day who are injured across the country. It is quite sad since they not only lose a limb, but they are then often rejected from society and usually have to sell their homes and beg on the streets. Our guide told us that if he goes totally blind his boss had already told him that he would no longer have a job and his brother told him that he might as well hang himself then.
That evening, we went to see traditional Khmer dancing with Bob and Susanne. There was a huge international buffet dinner served before the dancing began. The dancing was really good but you know me, I love to talk, and ended up chatting most of the time with Bob and Susanne, who were great fun.
The next day we took the fast boat down the Tonle Sap River to Phnom Penh. It was a scenic ride with the many water villages to see along the way. We took a day off from sight seeing to completely unwind and watch tennis in our hotel room. It was nice to have a bit of a break.
Today we went out to see the sights of Phnom Penh. A very pokey tuk tuk driver took us to see the Killing Fields, the Royal Palace, and Wat Phnom, which were all great to see. But I still think what amazed me most was the city streets completely buzzing with people on motorbikes absolutely everywhere.
Tomorrow we are taking the bus to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam.
Until next time!
Jill