Cambodia - Siem Reap - Angkor Wat Impressions

Besides the Wikipedia, the World Heritage Angkor.com website has a lot of information about the temples' histories and a good guide to the temples. It's a site worth exploring if you're interested in more detail. The photo links here are just a few of the dozens we have posted at hutchings.smugmug.com. You are welcome to visit the 2007 Jan-Feb Japan & Cambodia: Angkor Wat gallery.

Well, we got to Siem Reap 1 Feb as planned, and arrived at our first hotel, the Sokha Angkor. It was after 9 pm (6 am Pacific) so we had a snack and went to bed. We weren't too jet-lagged, because of our 10 days in Japan. The room was large and very nice, clean and modern, actually more deluxe than we'd expected. The bathroom was very comfortable and modern, with a large tub, shower, and all the conveniences.

Next morning, the breakfast was included, so we had an excellent buffet, a little of everything, trying especially the exotic and sometimes unknown items that are characteristic of southeast Asia. Lots of delicious fruit, including the well-known pineapple, banana, papaya, but also some I didn't recognize. The pastries were very good, thanks to the French Colonial influence. Many of the other dishes were French, or European/US, but there were a lot of southeast Asian dishes, too. Here's a map of Siem Reap, and a map of the Angkor Wat temple complex (the original size is even larger).

We set out for Angkor Wat using the tuk-tuk mode of transportation, a kind of covered cart pulled by a motorcycle. Our No. 11 piloted my Mr. Kear weaved in and out of traffic, miraculously avoiding other tuk-tuks, motorcycles, bicycles, buses, taxis, etc. We bought a six-day pass to the temples for $60 each, then went first to Angkor Thom, a temple complex with many structures inside the walls. (photo: Stan at the entrance) We explored the vicinity for a couple of hours. Points of interest were the Baphuon, the Phimeanakas, the Terrace of the Leper King, and the Terrace of the Elephants. We had a snack at the Blue Pumpkin (Angkor Wat branch), which lived up to reports that it is clean and serves good coffee (photo: Kiyomi and our snack), and then headed in to Angkor Wat itself, about 2 square kilometers (about 500 acres). It's about a half mile walk to enter the central area (photo: Stan at the outer entrance), about 15 minutes; then there are various concentric layers (like the skin of an onion). We explored a couple of hours, then headed back to the hotel. After showering and changing, we went to the Victoria Hotel's L'Escale Restaurant next door where we each tried the "Khmer Extravaganza" menu showcasing the uniqueness of the local cuisine, about 12 items of typical Cambodian/Khmer cuisine for $25. We had the popular Angkor beer to drink. All of it was very good to delicious. Some excellent curries, and the green papaya salad was great. The desserts had French influence, and were all quite tasty.

On Saturday 3 Feb after another fine buffet breakfast, we had a great Spa experience at a really reasonable price. One very nice feature of the hotel was the korng thomm (similar to Indonesia's gamelan, a wood xylophone) and khim (a hammered dulcimer) concert in the lobby during the afternoon. We then moved to Le Meridien Hotel, and went shopping to some of the nearby Cambodian arts and crafts shops, looking at carvings and statues and silk goods and all kinds of stuff. Kiyomi was especially interested in the silk. After a light lunch, we headed back to Angkor Wat, to continue exploration of the literally miles of carvings (photo: Kiyomi examines the bas-relief walls). The walls are carved in bas-relief history of human battles, battles between the gods and demons, or humans and demons, and battle scenes from the Ramayana (a Hindu epic). As counterpoint to the battle scenes, many of the columns were decorated with Apsara dancers, mirthful, playful sea-sprites. Dinner at Le Meridien was a special Cambodian food sampler combined with a great dinner buffet, and a Cambodian dance program, presented outside with musical accompaniment and under a full moon. We loved all the food, everything was so unfamiliar but so tasty, using different spices and herbs than we're used to, and of course many different vegetables and fruits. Most of the meat was familiar - beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, etc. It was truly a delightful feast.

After a buffet breakfast, on Sunday the 4th, we returned to Angkor Thom to see the central Bayon in more detail (photo: Stan and Kiyomi at the Bayon). There was still a lot to see and investigate: several more buildings, each with detailed bas-relief and carvings, and the fascinating architecture of the structures. The four-faced towers were particularly impressive - huge towers with faces looking in the four directions (photo: Stan below a 4-face tower). We see the faces used in many souvenir items - paintings, carvings in all media, etc. We visited Bantay Kdei and Sras Srang (the king's swimming pool) on the way back to the hotel. (photo: Stan & Kiyomi, dinner at Le Meridien)

Monday the 5th saw us shopping in the vicinity of Le Meridien prior to moving closer to downtown. We then changed to the boutique Hotel de la Paix. It's a smaller hotel, has been on the site for many years, but was recently renovated to a very modern decor. It's very convenient to the shopping and restaurants in Old Town. We visited Ta Prohm famous for the roots and trees overgrowing the temple walls. It was pretty amazing how the trees took over (photo: Stan by tree roots). Kiyomi's guidebook recommended the special dinner in the Meric Restaurant, like a Japanese kaiseki, so we signed up for it. We had a sunset Khmer photo: dinner on a swing in the courtyard. There were about eight courses served one at a time, and we had the Angkor beer with it. photo: The courtyard was very beautiful, too.

Tuesday the 6th we hired a car and went out to the countryside to visit a few interesting places. First we went to Mt. Kulen, a "mountain" that represented Mt. Meru and the Himalayas, and where the Siem Reap river begins representing the Ganges to the Hindu people who came here many centuries ago. They apparently were practicing a form of asceticism that involved self-inflicted pain and suffering. One of the main attractions was the 1,000 lingas (phalluses) and the one yoni (female organ) carved into the riverbed. You cannot see them during the rainy season when the water is high, but we could easily see them when our guides pointed them out. There are other carvings, too, one of Vishnu, and other deities. After the Hindu occupation, the Buddhists came in 16th century and carved photo: a huge eight-meter (26 feet) reclining Buddha carved out of the top of a photo: huge solid rock. This was a major attraction, and people come from miles away to light incense and pray. The other attraction was the waterfall (photo: Kiyomi and our guides at the waterfall), where families come to have a picnic, especially during April when the harvest is done, and it's just before the rainy season starts. On the way back we had a very nice lunch at a roadside shop that seemed to be popular with the locals; our driver assured us it was good food, and safe. He was right - the food was excellent, and the three of us ate for about $7. Then we went to the pink sandstone temple of Banteay Srei (photo: Stan), and Pre Rup. For dinner we went to the Khmer Family restaurant, and tried the Curry Sampler for two, which consisted of three different curry dishes in a delicious coconut stew plus a rice dish, served in palm leaves - all were delicious. We had two Angkor draft beers apiece, the bill was only $11.

Wednesday the 7th was a shopping day for souvenirs, silk goods, and just browsing. Then we decided to visit the photo: Roluos Group of ruins. These were built earlier than Angkor Wat, and were actually the inspiration for it. The architectural design became the model for future temples. We stopped by a Khmer silk shop and Kiyomi found some beautiful items, including hangers for her obis. We had dinner at the Soup Dragon; with a name like that you can guess we had soup. It was very good, and the two of us ate for $13.

Thursday the 8th we did go back to Angkor Thom to finish our exploration, especially the Elephant Terrace, which we had short-changed our first day. For dinner we went back to the Khmer Family restaurant, this time we had the Amok Sampler for two, which consisted of three different amok dishes (chicken, beef, and fish in a delicious coconut stew) plus a rice dish, served in palm leaves - again, all were delicious. We went for the Angkor draft beer, again two apiece: the bill was again $11.

Friday the 9th was our departure day, so the morning was spent packing. In the afternoon, Kiyomi had a facial at the Sokha Hotel, while Stan enjoyed the Cambodian music in the lobby. Our evening flight took us to Bangkok's new airport, where we had a delicious authentic Thai dinner (we could tell by the way our lips and mouth burned from the chili peppers! We went to bed early for our A.M. flight back to San Francisco.

If you have comments or suggestions, or just want to chat,