Three Weeks in Cambodia

 
Greetings folks,
And a Happy New Year to you all.  Marianella and I landed back at home just yesterday after an extended winter vacation in Cambodia which began in mid-December and stretched through Christmas and the New Year.  I will admit, before we left on the trip I was a bit apprehensive-would three weeks in Cambodia be too much?  Would we be able to stay interested and engaged throughout our travel in the country?

Fortunately, no such issues crept up for us; in fact, I could see three weeks in Cambodia easily morphing into three months and remaining quite content in this beautiful country.  After our initial flight into the capital city of Phnom Penh, we traveled by bus, boat, and tuk-tuk (you'll read/see more about that soon) to visit ancient temples, stroll the streets of old French colonial towns, relax on tropical beaches and learn more about the tragic history of Cambodia that occurred within our lifetimes.  Present throughout our travels were the people of Cambodia, who enhanced each stop along the tour.  It cannot be overstated how kind and welcoming the Cambodians were to us throughout our vacation.

So, after sifting through the approximately 2500 pictures we took during the trip and the various thoughts I want to share, I have decided I'm going to divide Cambodia into two blog entries;  this first one will address our trips to the town of Siem Reap and the various Wats (temples) that we visited during week one of our trip.

My Minnesota genes have not prepared me for Decembers where the temperatures hit the mid-90s coupled with similarly high humidity, but I had to adjust rather quickly to such conditions when we visited Siem Reap, particularly since our days were spent trekking through the various temples that surround this little city.  The amazing this to consider is that this is the best time of year to visit the area-it really becomes scorching in a couple months and then the rainy season follows, so we spent our days jostling through the temples with scores of other tourists.

Stifling heat and lots of people are usually not my recipe for a good time, but the temples overwhelmed any potential negatives.  Those who travel in southeast Asia have a term called "temple fatigue" which refers to reaching the point where you are no longer impressed by the grand, ancient structures that populate the region.  However, I doubt that anyone experiences this malaise when visiting Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm and the other incredible temples that all exist within a stone's throw of one another. I'll start the fun with the grandaddy of them all. . .

Angkor Wat

 
Built in the 12th century, this is believed to be the largest religious structure in the world.  Originally built as a Hindu temple but converted to a Buddhist temple at a distant point in its history, it remains a venerated religious site for practitioners of those religions who are surrounded by swarms of tourists throughout the year (wikipedia tells me that the site receives somewhere between a half-million to a million visitors each year).  I will allow the pictures to tell the rest of the story:
Angkor Wat at sunrise:

Interior Shots of Angkor Wat:


 
 
 
If you notice on the left side, you'll see intricate sketchings, which surround all four sides of the wall before entering into the interior of Angkor Wat:

A close-up look at a partial piece of this artwork:
 
Buddhist shrine within Angkor Wat:

Your typical tourist pictures:
 
 
Bayon
 
While Angkor Wat may be the headliner, it was not our favorite site to visit among the temples; that title goes to either Bayon or Ta Prohm (which you'll read about soon).  Bayon is located in the center of the ancient city Angkor Thom and stands as testament to the great king Jayavarman VII, important to note because it's his face that you see repeatedly carved onto stone (over 200 such carvings) as you traipse through this monument.  It was pretty funky-from every angle, through every door and window, around every corner you would see a large smiling face looking down upon you.
 South Gate entrance to Angkor Thom:

Sentries stationed along the south gate entry:

 Inside Bayon:


 
 
 

 
 
 
Ta Prohm
 
The other contender for our favorite site-if you ever seen Tomb Raider, you should be familiar with Ta Prohm as it figured prominently in the movie.  As all of these temples are located in jungle territory, some have been swallowed up if humans neglected them over the years and Ta Prohm was one such site.  Currently there is quite a bit of work being done at the site to refurbish and keep it functional, but as the pictures show, the jungle has won several of the battles-if the trees were to be removed, it would cause great damage to the site, so they remain, impacting how Ta Prohm will evolve through the years.  In its current state, it is incredibly cool to visit and walk amidst the ruins and the atmospheric trees and vegetation.


 
Peek-a-boo:




The fight against nature:


Other Sites
Although we spent three pretty full days visiting the ancient sites surrounding Siem Reap, it was just a drop in the bucket of the entirety available for us to see.  There were many grand ruins that we merely drove quickly past because there wasn't enough time-as I mentioned to Marianella, if you airlifted one of these overlooked temples to Minnesota, it would be the #1 tourist attraction in the upper midwest, but here many such sites sat relatively unvisited due to its more famous/interesting neighbors.  One of the nice things about these sites was the peacefulness that didn't exist at the other sites; we had moments at these various sites where we could contemplate the grandeur and immensity of these undertakings constructed centuries ago.
 

Elephant Terrace (Angkor Thom):

 
Banteay Samre: 

 
 

 
Floating Village
While we could have spent a month exploring the temples, we only had a three day pass for the four days we were in Siem Reap and to be honest, it was alright to step away for a day from the ancient sites.  On this off day we jumped on a boat and traveled out to visit the floating villages of Tonle Sap Lake.  This is an immense lake that basically provides all the freshwater fish in Cambodia.  The interesting thing about the lake is how its size is quite dependent upon the seasons of the year.  During the rainy season, it expands to its greatest size while during the dry season it recedes into a relative shadow of its grand, rainy-season self.  The families who fish this massive lake adjust accordingly to the seasons, pushed out to its very perimeter when the rainy season occurs and drawn towards its center when things begin to dry up.  We visited at the in-between season; the rainy season had departed a couple months ago and the dry season was a couple months away on the horizon.  What we were able to see was quite interesting-homes, schools, churches, and even basketball courts buoyed above the lake's surface by several empty 50 gallon barrels at the bases.  It was quite apparent that it's a pretty challenging existence for these families and this was before we visited the orphanage of those children whose parents fell victim to typhoons and other storms while out fishing.
Our driver leading us out to the floating village:
 
The Catholic Church:

The Buddhist Temple:

 
Children at a school we visited:


 
Village Life:


 
Heading home from school:

 
Siem Reap

 
When the days would end, we were able to enjoy the charming delights of this small city, which is located so very close to the tourist attractions but yet maintains a warm and inviting environment.  As with most other tourists, we found ourselves visiting the Pub Street area in the afternoons and nights where a wide variety of options existed-restaurants, bars, spas/massages (foot massages by fishes!), shopping, music.  After the sweltering days, we enjoyed the warm nights of this vibrant little community. 
Tac, our tuk-tuk driver during our time in Siem Reap; these little contraptions should exist everywhere-a motorcycle pulling a comfortable four passenger open-air cart was an ideal way to experience Cambodia:
 
One of the newly discovered joys in life-waving to schoolchildren from the back of a tuk-tuk and having them respond with a smile and/or wave:
 
We chose to avoid this restaurant; didn't want to chance chowing on a kangaroo!:
 
 My fish feet massage-you place your feet in the tank and for 15 minutes little fish nibble on the bottom of your feet and toes.  Ticklish!:
 

So, it won't be too long before you hear from me again, as I'm be back within the next few days with the second installment of our trip to Cambodia.  I hope part 1 was interesting enough to come back for part 2 :-).  Until then, take care and stay warm~Tim