Cambodia – Mo’s Adventure

I enjoyed Siem Reap and Angkor Wat so much that I wanted to share the experience with Mo. So when I went to apply for my Vietnamese Visa in Phnom Penh I asked for a multiple entry visa and I told Mo to get the same so we could visit Cambodia from Hanoi and return to Vietnam thereafter. By the way – Vietnamese visas are so easy to obtain. There is an online e-visa service which responds within minutes with your visa details. At the embassy in Phnom Penh it took just an hour for me to obtain the visa.

But I digress – this is all about our flying visit to Siem Reap. And I do mean flying visit. We flew in from Hanoi on 3 Oct and out to DaNang on 5th Oct. We stayed in a private room at the Ondederz hostel so Mo could get a feel for hostel life but not have to share a room with 15 others!

First order of business was to stroll the streets of Siem Reap,
visit my favourite pub, The Picasso Bar, and investigate Pub Street and the night-market.

Angkor Wat

We were collected at the hostel at 04:30 in the morning by our friendly Tuk-tuk driver and taken to the visitor centre to buy entrance tickets and be on time for sunrise at the main Angkor Wat temple. It is so well organised, the visitor centre opens at 05:00 and so do the coffee shops and breakfast stalls.

As before, I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Suffice to say visiting Angkor Wat is an incredible experience. Angkor Wat was the capital of the Khmer Empire for 600 years from 9th to 15th century. There are hundreds of temples in this vast area, some as much at 100 kms away. At its peak it was the most populated pre-industrial city in the world with more than a million inhabitants.

Cambodia is a country of great depths and heights of emotion.
The Killing fields in Phnom Penh represent all that is horrific, tragic and sad. Angkor Wat represents all that is good and sacred and joyous. I was so happy to be able to accompany Mo on her visit to this beautiful, awe-inspiring World-heritage site

Sunrise

Exploring Angkor Wat

We spent several hours wandering around the vast temple that is Angkor Wat. It is huge and there are so many nooks and crannies to be explored.

Angkor Thom – Bayon Temple

The Bayon Temple, built in the 12th century – stands in the centre of Angkor Thom. There are 200 massive faces facing in all sorts of directions and so many rooms and galleries. The ground floor gallery depicts scenes from everyday life while the upper floor has scenes from myths and legends.

Ta Prohm

The most popular temple because of the huge ficus trees and “Tomb Raider” Extremely busy at all times of the day but worth a visit.

It was a long day, we also visited Baphuon and TaNei Temples and we were exhausted. We opted not to stay for sunset and headed back to Siem Reap for a well-earned beer and delicious Cambodian food. If you are visiting South East Asia then this area is a must-visit. Plan on spending a few days in Siem Reap and environs.

Watch this space for my adventures in China – coming soon!