Siem Reap 

In the last entry I mentioned how tired we are. Part of that is cumulative, and part is that today is Angkor Wat day. We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia last night, and it was “different” from our lives in America from the start.  When is the last time any airline from the U.S. served a complete hot meal to everyone including the economy section in a flight less than 2 hours long?  And I can’t remember when I last exited a plane by an outside wheel up staircase because the planes park out on the tarmac. The Siem Reap airport does not have jetways so tomorrow we will be boarding by climbing back up those stairs.

We are in a charming hotel, with an open air dining room, lush, tropical landscaping, a beautiful infinity pool, and a spa. We each get an hour free massage and because it’s free and his dad taught him never to pass up a freebie, Brian has decided to get his first professional massage this afternoon. 

Last night, the hotel tuk-tuk took us to a night market and then on a ride around town. Siem Reap comes alive at night; markets everywhere; everything lit up; hordes of people and motorcyclists (mostly women); very colorful; very exciting; very vibrant; and very alive. 

The best way to see Angkor Wat (which is the main reason to come to Siem Reap) is to go at sunrise to take pictures as the sun rises behind the huge temple and the reflection appears in the water of a pond that is in front of the actual temple.  We had the hotel arrange a guide, a driver, and an air conditioned car that came with icy cold water and frozen wash cloths each time we re entered the car. Because breakfast is included and we would miss it, the hotel packed our breakfast so we could take it with us. 

We left the hotel at 4:45 am and even that early the tourists just kept pouring in. Although it was still dark, the heat and humidity steamed up my glasses. It was a long  walk from where we were dropped off and an even longer one back to where our driver had to park. Because of the shear size of this temple and the fact that there are lots of stairs, only Brian went inside. I sat outside where I kept busy looking at things like the two buildings in the courtyard. They were libraries way back when, and this temple, Angkor Wat had four more libraries inside. The monks had no paper so they wrote on palm leaves. And then the hot air balloon came into view as did a huge tribe of monkeys with new born babies.   

 

                                                                                     

                                                                                                                             

We went to another temple and drove by lots more, before getting to Ta Prohm the one that was the real reason to add Cambodia to the itinerary. This is the famous one with the huge trees and jungle all around. We explored this one thoroughly and by the time we finally got back to the car, neither one of us could stay awake on the drive back to the hotel. And it was only 9 am when we returned.

  

 

 

The rest of this day we are free to nap, lounge around, catch up with this blog, read, relax, and get our massages. Tomorrow we return to Bangkok for a night at an airport hotel. Day after tomorrow we start our Emirates finale to this long anticipated trip.