We arrived at Siem Reap after a very easy flight from Saigon. Considerably hotter than it had been in Vietnam. At this point in the picture below, we still weren't sure whether or not Charlie would get in. His passport is now almost completely full - thankfully the fact that we had e visas meant that they did not worry about the two clear pages rule and we all sailed in!
We were met by Vey (Way) at the airport. A lovely Pooh Bear type figure who is just desperate to a. please us and b. practice as much of his English on us as possible.
We drove to our hotel which looked ok ish on arrival. However, on closer inspection of our rooms, it was absolutely revolting! Stained pillows, filthy dining area and a paddling sized pool which smelled and was chockablock full of loud tourists. (yes, we know we are tourists too, but hey!)
An emergency skype call was placed to Simon (Charlie's brother, who runs a very upmarket travel company based in Asia) and within around half an hour two of these beautiful old Mercs had arrived to rescue us!
We drove to our hotel which looked ok ish on arrival. However, on closer inspection of our rooms, it was absolutely revolting! Stained pillows, filthy dining area and a paddling sized pool which smelled and was chockablock full of loud tourists. (yes, we know we are tourists too, but hey!)
An emergency skype call was placed to Simon (Charlie's brother, who runs a very upmarket travel company based in Asia) and within around half an hour two of these beautiful old Mercs had arrived to rescue us!
We were soon ensconced in a very smart hotel who gave us special 'Simon' rates. Even with the great rate, we couldn't really justify staying for more than one night, so we moved again at lunch time the following day (again being transported in the Mercs) to a really lovely, lush place with the most amazing 'river' pool.
We had been strongly advised to get to the temples as early as possible, so on the first day we left the hotel at 0630 to visit Angkor Thom and the Bayon Temple, followed by Preah Khan, both of which were absolutely gorgeous. The whole temple complex covers an area of 10 square km and its construction pretty much ruined the country and made it absolutely unable to survive the Siamese (Thai) invasion.
Vey explaining the meaning of the various carvings and different Budda heads. If we were wandering around this in the UK we would have all signed disclaimers and be wearing hard hats and high vis vests - some of it looked SO precarious!
The incredible temple of Ta Prohm. This is where Lara Croft Tomb Raider was filmed. It has largely been left untouched since the jungle started to grow over it. Some renovation and rescue has now started, but it just makes you realise how young the jungle actually is compared to the temple which was built during 12th and 13th century.
All the jewels which used to adorn the internal walls were stolen during the Siamese invasion.
A little bit of templeitis setting in, combined with the fact that we set off at 0530! We were back to the hotel for breakfast by 0830, thankfully going in the opposite direction of the most enormous number of people.
A smiling Budda, on the entrance gates.
Look at the size of this doorway - perfect for Amy and obviously perfect for 12th century Khmer people as well.
From our tiny experience here, the country is incredibly uplifting one minute and just devastatingly sad the next. The reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge has meant that a lot of people are actually still scared of being educated. During his time of power, even wearing glasses was enough to sentence yourself to death as it meant you were an intellectual and a possible threat. Even if they can afford to, parents may not send their children to school because the fear remains. On the positive side, some children do go to school at one time of day (they have two shifts), and they then go to work - selling postcards or playing music. The downside is that some families simply need their children to contribute to the families finances and so even though school is free, the family cannot spare them to go to school.
As a tourist you are strongly encouraged not to give any money to the children as this perpetuates the problem. Instead, it is better to support charities which help the parents to work, in order for the children to learn.
Angkor Wat itself, with one of the four swimming pools below.
It was incredibly impressive due to its sheer scale, but I think we all loved the
Sugar Palm juice for sale
Mind your head!
Workers around the temple having a break from sweeping the paths.
One of the small temples of Preah Khan
off to town in our tuk tuks - we passed a lady giving birth in a taxi on the way!
Silver workinng
This Rolls Royce tuk tuk driver was absolutely brilliant. He had painted the whole thing himself and had a t shirt made to match. Meantime, the chap in red had waited pretty much all evening, keeping an eye on us as we had dinner, so he could be sure to get our fare.
