It was so much fun and the scenery was beautiful. We passed through many local villages in the countryside.
The washrooms were clean and I didn't have to miss out on the view while in there.
All in all the journey took around 9 hours from start to finish. During our research we read about the many scams that take place at the border. Rumors that said people would be pulling us in all directions trying to scam us, needless to say, when we arrived we were ready for battle. The whole process went smoothly, almost to our disappointment, and we had no issues crossing the boarder... Nothing that we read about came true and it was a pleasant experience. I would highly recommend this transportation option to other travellers in the future.
We showed up at Cashew Nut hostel hoping they had open rooms and luckily they were able to accomodate us. It was a great location and the rooms were clean. They also served a great breakfast in the morning that was well priced.
Day 71/72- We woke up late and enjoyed a lazy morning at the hostel. We figured out a game plan for our stay in Siem Reap, then made our way to Kompong Phluk to see a floating village on the Tonlep Sap lake. The drive through the country to the village was absolutely beautiful and it offered sights that were different from anything we'd seen thus far. The floating villages were much larger than we expected and they offered a real look into the daily life of the rural Cambodians that lived there. We were literally motoring down their front "streets", observing life on the food plains.
A little herb garden on the lake of course.
If you look closely, you can see a little doggy coming our way.
The local fisherman counting their daily catch.
A secondary school right on the water, I would love to visit this classroom.
Two girls singing their hearts off, accompanied by a little dance routine.
Mike and I enjoying the adventure as we exit the flood plains and enter the open lake.
This floating village has approximately 3000 inhabitants and most of the people who live there earn their living from the lake in some form or another. During the dry season when the water dries up, they build temporary homes on the lake and live in them until the rainy season returns. Most of the villagers were quite welcoming as we rowed through their front yards, smiling and waving as we passed by.
We left the floating village just as sun began to sink behind the horizon and we captured some pretty awesome photos of the sunset.
We got our tuk tuk driver to drop us off at pub street for some dinner then back home for a nap before a really long and eventful night! I'm guessing for anyone who has been to Cambodia in the last 10 years or so, pub street is a newer addition. Though tourism creates unauthentic environments like the one seen on pub street, it is very clear by the new infrastructure that tourism in Cambodia is an important piece of this war torn country's ecconomy. There is construction everywhere and things like electrical poles and roads that have recently been updated.
We went to sleep as soon as we got home until Mike woke up at midnight to watch the opening weekend of the NFL. I joined him at 3 am to watch one of the games and eat breakfast before we left at 4 am to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. It is important to get there early as thousands brave the morning to try and witness natures curtain being pulled back on one of the 7 wonders of the world. The pond on the left hand side gives the best view point for a photo of the sunrise, as it restricts people from getting in front of you. The gates open at 5am to buy tickets and we bought the 3 day pass for $40 each.
It was a cloudy few days in Cambodia so the sky gave us an assorment of blues and silvers for our photo.
Mike shot a sweet time lapse video of the sun rising over the Angkor Wat temple.
After the sun rises most people go into Angkor Wat to beat the crowd but we had something more important to do. We raced home to witness Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys "rise" in there own way, over the New York Giants... again. Quite a few different shades of blue and silver to start our day.
After a quick nap and some dinner we were off to the Circus! Cambodia has many programs put in place for troubled youth, to teach them the skills necessary to provide for themselves. These programs aim to keep kids off the streets as well as build a strong sense of self worth. The circus is one of those programs and it is called Phare Circus Cambodia. Any of the tickets sold go directly to the students and the program. The show we attended was called Eclipse and it was a suspense filled spectacular spectacle. There were acrobatics, to the most amazing juggling I have ever seen, to fire dancing (yes, Chudi they were wayyy better than you) and strength balancing, it was an impressive show.
It was a circus out there!!!
Day 73- Woke up early for a day of temple touring and our trusty tuk tuk driver Sokean was waiting for us. I did a lot of research on whether or not to get a guide for the trip and most people recommended that it was worth the money, so we went ahead with it. We paid $35 US for the full day but unfortunately, our guide was not as qualified as we had hoped. Communication was very difficult and we were unable to get many of our questions answered, not to mention that some of his facts were inaccurate. For other travellers considering the same question, I would suggest getting a guide who speaks your language well. Though the scripted information received from our guide was interesting we were unable to get the more in depth understanding of the temples that we were hoping for. We had purchased a guide book on the Angkor temples that would have sufficed had we known better before hand but we made sure to use it on our next visit to the temples, the following day.
Our first stop was the ancient city of Angkor Thom and the Bayon Temple. The Bayon temple is famous for the 4 stone faces that look north, south, east and west as a means of protection. They symbolize one of the states of buddhism, leading the way to enlightenment. It is speculated that the face is of bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, who is meant to embody the compassion of Buddha.
Mike got a special kiss from the famous Buddha.
Reclining Buddha depicts Buddha before his death, just before reaching nirvana.
Next we walked to Phimeanakas temple.
Terrace of Elephants was a terrace used by the king to welcome his victorious army as they returned from battle.
Ta Keo temple. This temple represents Mount Meru, which Hindu mythology considered to be a mountain at the center of the world. I wasn't feeling well so Mike walked to the top of the very steep steps to see the view.
As we walked through the jungle I saw something familiar in the trees....I could see it from a mile away... or should I say, smelt it? See the ressemblance? Teresa how did they get a replica of our famous Pinto nose?
Finally we were going to the temple that has been on my bucket list for some time now.. it is famous for it's role in Tomb Raider and although I had never seen the movie (until this trip), I had seen photos on National Geographic and I swore I would see it one day. Ta Prohm shows how much time has passed since it was built in the 1100's, as the jungle has slowly consumed the stone. This temple has been left in in it's natural state with only restoration being done to keep doorways and walls from collapsing.
Every corner offered another view worth capturing.
Look out for spiders in there Mike! What a wimp.
Ta Prohm makes you believe in magic, as little pieces of ancient history "peak through" the vines of the jungle wall. Can you see it? She can see you.
Are you wondering how the trees grow on top of the temple? This is actually the result of birds. They drop seeds as they fly over the temple and the seeds grow in place. As the roots mature, they push through the boulders and stones until they reach the earth. Sometimes they don't even reach the ground and they continue to grow on the rock. In many cases, the trees actually support the temples and strengthen their structure but this has become an issue with these famous trees. When the trees die, they collapse and bring the temple, who has become a part of them, down with them.
Moss and greenery paint many surfaces of the stone temple.
After a pit stop for lunch, we went to Angkor Wat. This is the biggest religious temple in the world. Like many of the temples of Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat was also built originally as a hindu temple. The temples were places of worship and were dedicated to the Gods Shiva and Vishnu. At the time of their construction, in the 12th century, the king in power as well as most of the population were hindu. As time passed and a new king who worshiped Buddhism came to power, the temples were converted to buddhist temples. All of the dedications to Shiva and Vishnu remain, although Buddhist symbols were added. It was a little confusing to see the temples with momuments to both Hindu and Buddist religions all under one roof. After many questions and research, the best we could understand is that society, for the most part, was tolerant of both religions and allowed them to coexist.
As we arrived at Angkor Wat the rain began to pour, luckily we had a huge temple to take shelter in.
Four pools on the inside of the temple. One of which was dedicated to the king for bathing.
A carving on the walls of the gallery depicts the king riding on his elephant.
Out of all the temples from our day, Angkor Wat was my least favorite. I didn't find the architecture as interesting and the detail on the stone was not as intricate and beautiful as some of the others.
Day 74- We had another day of exploring the temples before heading to our next destination. We opted out of the tour guide and Mike used the book he purchased at the market to take us around the remaining attractions. This was much better and more information than the guide was able to give us the day before.
Our first stop, Preah Khan. Built by the same king who constructed Ta Prohm, this 12th century temple was made in honour of the kings father. It has been left in the same condition as Ta Prohm with old stones scattering the ground, leaving a reminder of how grand the temple once was. The trees here have also slowly devoured the temple walls.
Next to Ta Prohm, this was my favourite. Chambers, doorways and hidden corridors remain in the shell of the building, reminding me of a favorite childhood movie, The Secret Garden.
Fantastical spiderwebs everywhere we looked. (turns out fantastical is a real word!)
Mike guiding our exploration.
The rain pouring in through what used to be a roof.
The next image shows the old homes of the many buddhas that surrounded the walls of Preah Khan. They were removed during one of the kings reigns, whose name I could not pronounce nor remember, as it was converted back to a Hindu temple after a century long stint as a Buddist temple. (It appears as though it was not uncommon to flip flop the temples like this, from century to century)
What I found exciting was imagining how european explorers must have felt stumbling upon such incredible ruins. All of the temples spread out to cover more then 400 square km. Though the stone temples are all that remain of the Khmer civilization it is said that they were surrounded by great cities and home to thousands of residents. To play the role of the french explorer as we walked through the temples and think of how incredible it must have been, gave me butterflies.
Next we went to the landmine museum, which came highly reccomended by Mike's cousin Lee who had also visited Cambodia nearly 10 years ago. The museum has changed a lot since Lee and Brie's visit and part of me wishes I could have seen it while it was still in its raw and real state. The museum holds a gallery of disassembled land mines. These thousands of landmines were extracted from the ground by one man and his wife.
Aki Ra has been recognized worldwide for his efforts to remove landmines from the many villages around Cambodia and even surrounding countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. Aki donated his time and efforts for free to remove landmines. He significantly reduced the number of annual landmine victims in Cambodia. He truly is a life saver. Him and his wife also take in children affected by landmines and care for them. His old home, which used to house the thousands of landmines, has since been closed and they now reside in the new facility close to Banteay Srei. He also has a school and home on his property for children who struggle with disabilities. Before he began removing landmines, 1 in 300 Cambodians were directly affected by a landmine, by 2013 only 111 landmine victims were recorded. This was a truly eye opening experience that taught me a lot about Cambodian history. It also gave Mike and I our first exposure to a group of communist extremists named the Khmer Rouge, who ruled Cambodia in the late 1970's. With the country decimated from civil war, the Vietnam war and a lack of reasources, the stage had been set for the extremists to take power. The Khmer Rouge would sacrifice everything, including the lives of the civilians to achieve economic progress and the adoption of their extremist ideals. Neither of these goals would be achieved. The more information we gathered the sadder this story got, involving mass genocide and large scale poverty. The long term effects of this temporary reign can still be felt today as 1 in 4 Cambodian civilians were executed between the years of 1975 to 1979. Cambodia and Cambodians are truly a testament to the resilience of humanity when considering the incredible impact of war, landmines and extremist activity in the area.
On a lighter note, this was a huge furry spider that crawled on Mike's neck while at the museum.
After that very eye opening experience, we were off to Banteay Srei. This temple was the only temple not built by a king. Instead, it was built by a monarch and it was quite the controversial monument back in the day because the beauty and detail surpassed that of the other temples built around the same time. There were questions of how the counsellor could afford to build such a work of art.
Banteay Srei quickly became my third favorite temple of the trip. It easily stands out from the other temples because of its pink color and the intricateness of the carvings. It is best to go in the late afternoon when the crowds are minimal and the sun descends, allowing the pink color to really show.
One of my favorite photos from our visit was of this wall with the various patterns and colors coming together to truly showcase the detail of the temple.
Our visit to Siem Reap was truly amazing and it surpassed our expectations of Cambodia. Now off to the Capital city Phnom Penh.
Amazing temples! I like the look of Banteay Srei best! This whole post is just like a scene out if survivor!!! Another classic Mike pic too, love it!
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