Wow! We are in Siem Reap, Cambodia and off to explore the famous Angkor Wat and other temples with the V and A Villa's tuk tuk driver, Chia. First, a more than satisfying breakfast of eggs, baguettes and fruit and stocking up on tea and coffee. We opted for the "Small Tour" of temples offered by V and A Villa using one of their tuk tuk drivers for $15 US for the day. Our three day Angkor pass cost $40 US but free for Luke.
We all fitted in the tuk tuk and putted off. Chia was a carefully and steady driver and it was wonderful travelling through the forest and seeing monkeys and imagining what lay beyond!
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| Our tuk tuk and driver, Chia |
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| Happy tuk tuk-ers |
First stop: ANGKOR WAT! Angkor Wat is vast and just as photos we have seen. One of the wonders of the ancient world and there it was looming in its magnificence before us in the morning light with the clear blue sky above. Perfect weather for the day of exploring ahead. I have taken a few days to process all of the amazing places around Siem Reap. It was seriously one of the most memorable days ever for me, on parallel with seeing the Pyramids or the Colosseum for the first time. What we didn't realise was that this was one of the many temples in this area and they are all different and all marvellous, but it is the biggest.
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| Still morning at Angkor Wat |
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| Attempt at the family photo - 4 out of 5 of us are looking at the camera! |
Angkor Wat, meaning Temple City, is a working temple and has been since it was built between A.D. 1113 and 1150, and encompassing an area of
about 200 hectares. It is one of the largest
religious monuments in the world.Angkor Wat was firstly a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, and then in 14 th Century it was
converted into a Buddhist temple and statues of
Buddha were added. Most of these have been taken over time but there are some remnants. The thing that kept amazing us was HOW ON EARTH did they build this enormous structure and carry such huge rocks up such treacherous heights.
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| The Northern Library | |
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| Holding up the walls! |
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| Boys will be boys! |
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| When you are small enough to pretend you are a statue! |
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| When you are strong enough to hold up a temple! |
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| When you are brave enough to climb up steep and irregular steps! |
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| A different perspective- once you are up, you have to get down! |
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| Awesome! |
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| Temple adventures |
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| No longer headless... |
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| Top of tall tower |
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| View from the top of the tall tower. | | | | | | |
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| Spying on the family from the top! Luke wasn't allowed up because he was too small, so we took turns. |
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| Thai dancers |
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| South aspect of Angkor Wat | | |
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| Traditional handstands! |
We walked right through to the other side of the amazing Angkor Wat to a forest area where monkeys were playing and no other tourists seemed to venture. The big kids did their traditional handstands!
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| Friendly monkey! |
We piled back into our tuk tuk and drove on to Angkor Thom. This was a huge and vast complex and so Chia dropped us off and directed us to meet him down the track. More treacherous climbs and wonderment. Somehow we got separated and Luke and I waited at one gate, while the big kids were waiting elsewhere and Karl walked to the end of the complex.
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| Angkor Thom |
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| Amazingly intact. |
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| Looking in all directions - Bayon Palace |
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| Corridors of little doorways |
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| Reflection of Bayon | |
Angkor Thom or great city was the last capital of the ancient Khmer kingdom. As well as the main palace, there is the Baphuon and Terrace of the Elephants. It was hot and dusty by the time Chia
rescued Luke and me and subsequently found Karl. We eventually found Tim and Annika who were understandably hot, cross and relieved all at once.
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| Luke walking along the cause way to Baphuon but Luke wasn't permitted up the steep steps! |
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| Elephant Terrace |
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| More steep steps! |
We were all tired and hungry and so took up Chia's offer to take us to somewhere for lunch. There are lots of little plastic chair and table cafes around the temples. No doubt Chia got a cut from the place he took us to - corruption is rife! Apart from Karl who objected to being taken to the cafe and chose only water, the rest of us enjoyed some delicious Cambodian dishes for about $6 US each and felt much better after the refreshment. The toilets were clean and free for Angkor pass holders like ourselves.
Our afternoon plan was for a few more temples and they were all fantastic! Two symmetrical shrines, Thom Manom and Chau Say are similar in design and state of repair. There are restoration works happening everywhere which is great to see. The before and after photos are simply mind blowing that piece by piece, the temples are being restored to the former shape instead of ruins.
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| Chau Say Tevoda |
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| People resting in the hammocks are everywhere! |
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| Thom Manom |
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| The utter privilege of sitting on a window sill that is 1000 years old! |
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| Tim and Luke scrambling up Thom Manom |
The little stalls outside the temples are keen for
business and often send their children out to bring you in! We needed
water and were quickly offered sweet smelling pineapple for $1 US! $US
is the preferred currency in Cambodia. It was so refreshing and sweet!
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| Typical little stalls everywhere |
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| Little girl with big knife getting our pineapple ready.... |
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| Deliciously sweet pineapple! |
Ta Keo was our next temple. This temple has three very steep sets of
steps with no railing or any protection. Risky business but so much
fun! I can't understand why Luke has not been allowed up to two of the
temples because of their height when they have wooden stairs with rails.
This was way more dangerous. it was cool at the very top with a fresh
breeze! AAAAH! We met a couple from our train yesterday and swapped
border crossing stories! We had all managed to avoid scams but had had
to be wise to avoid them!!
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| Quite risky! |
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| The daunting climb at Ta Keo |
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| The going up is just part of the challenge!! Luke is way up near the top! |
By this time we had walked quite a few kms of temples but energised by
Ta Prohm - the famous jungle temple. It was like a scene out of Indiana
Jones with some parts crumbling and huge rocks and door ways leaning
precariously and other parts engulfed by strangler figs. No one
complained of tiredness. We were all awestruck! I didn't know when to stop taking photos as it was SO wonderful!
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| Would you trust a doorway in this condition! |
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| Right size for Luke |
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| Jumgle versus ancient temple. |
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| Unbelievable |
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| Which will win? Tree or Temple? |
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| Some preservation but how are the trees' growth retarded? |
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| This part had been reconstructed from rubble- before and after photos were stunning. |
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| Tim scales to heights! |
By this time, the dusk was approaching about 5PM and Chia took us to one last temple Pre Rup to watch the sunset. There were loads of people milling around on and over the ruin and once again, safety wasn't paramount!
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| Long shadow of evening! |
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| Pre Rup |
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| Sun flares over ruins |
We stayed at the top for some time in the evening light but descended prior to sunset and got back into the tuk tuk. We drove past Sra Srang, and saw the red-orange fireball of sun over the lake. At this stage my camera battery was exhausted and so no more photos!
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| Sra Srang |
And so we arrived back at V and A Villa, dusty and tired and ready for a Cambodian meal. The meals served at the hotel were simple and tasty and topped off with mango or pineapple smoothies were perfect. We did walk to Pub street after dinner for an ice cream from Lucky supermarket but I think our tiredness made the 3km return walk feel like a marathon. It is the dodging of tuk tuks and other vehicles that make an evening walk stressful and not relaxing! Bed was most welcome!
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