Siem Reap: ANGKOR WHAAAAT?!?!

Parts of our three day visits among Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and the sites in Siem Reap:

The map of Angkor Wat and surrounding historical sites.

Angkor sites sign.

A bumpy carnival music overnight bus ride to Siem Reap and I arrived as groggy and grouchy as ever. We were let out of the bus and tons of tuk tuk drivers were there ready for business. The guide books actually mention the overnight buses purposefully making your journey terrible so you arrive to town desperate and lackthe energy to negotiate or argue. That is what I call awful. We somehow got a $2 ride which was the listed price from our out-dated Lonely Planet. Good deal. The driver, named Tola arranged a plan for us to use his tuc tuc driving services for a three day tour around Angkor Wat.

We settled on $53 for three days including sunrise and sunset days on certain temples. Tola is a good guy.


Angkor Wat is an “archealogical site” full of temples, a few pagodas and mainly mini CITIES or old ancient communities all within the outskirts of Siem Reap. Angkor Wat was listed on the World Heritage List in the 90’s. It is amazing and Kevin and I have only explored for one day thus far. We have a three day pass which is $40 per person and printed with your photo on it. The tourism Angkor Wat brings in allows for a lot of financial support. Most of the areas are surrounded by paved roads and employees keeping everything tidy, including bathrooms across the whole stretch of sites.

Today we started at 7am and saw the Roluos Group which includes: Preah Ko, Bakong and Lolei (pagoda).


At 10am we spent TWO HOURS at Preah Khan which is in the Large circuit. At 12pm we had lunch at “No. 9 “ stall I enjoyed a delicious sour soup with pineapple and other good things. Kevin had a beef dish. Sweaty and already quite exhausted but well hydrated we headed to Neak Pean, Ta Som and East Mebon. On our way back to the hotel the driver Tola left his badge at a site so he dropped us off at Prasat Kravan which we also thoroughly enjoyed. Not sick of temples. They are all so different. If not obviously they have listed significance in a $5 book we picked up. Amazing how important, special or unique each one was. The dates of erection, the colors, the carvings, the size, the architectural design/layout and purpose for each of these sites differ.

ROLOUS GROUP

Preah Ko




said goodbye to the site and the little girl trying to sell us postcards.


Bakong

the entrance door with a square window revealing the top of the temple

walking up towards the main temple

view from walking up more and more steps

made it to the top of the main temple within this site

me with the broken elephant statue

Lolei (and the pagoda next to it)

what this new small site looks like. It is falling down and help together with wooden panels.

The morning sunrise over the structure.

what was inside what they call the "library."

the view of the side of the pagoda from Lolei.

Little local kids playing around the site.

A funny little boy who really wanted to be in my photos. Sneaky little smile. :)

Entering the pagoda (shoes off)

Incredible paintings covering absolutely every inch of wall.

A very kind monk posing for me with the beautiful Lolei site in the background.

close-up.

adorable tiny kids feeding each other

breaking up candy and eating little bits.

Preah Khan

This tiny little boy was a part of a musical group. This group of individuals were victims of land mine explosions, leaving them with missing limbs. The boy was healthy and he was an amazing musician.

Neak Pean

Ta Som

East Mebon

Prasat Kravan