As my dad would say: The thing with ruins is that there are too many rocks lying around and most of the time they are broken! Anyways, we still went to Siem Reap after a long bus ride from BKK to the Cambodian border. There are several people who try to get your money. There are those who want to tell you that you had to apply for a visa for Cambodia with them (and pay $10 more then at the boarder) or you will find the boarder police charging an extra 100 Bath for? (I guess not waiting 2 hrs and their attention and appreciation for pimping their wage). Then in Cambodia you will find those who want to tell you that you should exchange your money into the local currency. The exchange rate has been so bad, you have no idea. Wherever you go and pay with US$, you will get full dollars payed back and the cents in Riel paid out (1$ - 4000riel). We arrived in Siem Reap and as it started to rain, we took the next Guesthouse.
In the morning we rented for 1$ a bike and started our way on flat roads to the Ankor Wat site.
Just before the first temples you have to stop to buy a tickets, there are some options:
1 day = US$ 20
3 days = US$ 40 (our choice)
1 week = US$ 80 (no 100% sure)
We did the small loop that day:
1. South Gate of Angkor Thom
2. Bayon
3. Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Leper King & Elephantes
4. Victory Gate
5. Ta Keo
6. Ta Prohm
We had an impressive welcome at one of the gates. You can see that the time had already left it's marks on it, but what we were to see would blow our minds. Be prepared. In 3 days we took over 500 pictures and words are not able to express this site. If you want history, go and look on Wikipedia!
Tuk-Tuks are the main way of transport around.
The endless stone carvings were in all different kind of shapes and conditions.
As nature is unstoppable, it had taken back a lot of it's territory.
Nowadays this guard tries to stop the nature to do further damage!
Here are also spots where scenes for Tomb Raider were shot.
After a long day on the bikes and in the heat we were back in our guesthouse just before the big rain started. The next day we planned to go to the market and visit a couple of art galleries. We were able to look into this workshop and enjoy some of the art of "Theam's art gallery".
On the market we were seduced by the dried meat. The special secret are the scooter fumes and dust of the street! You can't beat this flavoring.
Good hearted as we are, we went to buy some baby milk for this lady as she didn't want money. Afterwards we read on Wikitravel.com that it is not uncommon that they sell it back to the shop owners afterwards and share the money. I really hope she took the milk for the baby and our good will wasn't abused!
In "Diwos gallery" we found many beautiful objects, pictures and statues, unfortunately out of our budget (and some of them a little to exposed...)
Just before the evening rain we were back at home.
The next day we went back to the ruins to look at more stones. Our buds were now used to sitting on the seat and riding around. Today we had a couple of highlights on the program.
We did the Large Loop:
1. Pre Rup
2. East Mebon
3. Ta Som
4. Neak Pean
5. Preah Khan
6. Ankor Wat
The famous big palace.
A frog king from an ancient time.
Beautiful stone carvings. Many of them!
Destroyed art made to timeless objects.
Huge walls in the palaces with carvings of soldiers and scenes of war.
The nature around it was very pretty and truly made for kings.
Also there are many temples to visit that are further away, but to drive there and back is a day trip. We sticked to the area we were able to reach by bike. Always have a lot of water with you it was extremely hot (35 - 40 degrees Celcius). There are everywhere food stalls and cold drinks for sale. Be aware that it is about double as expensive as in Siem Reap. You have to bargain and you will get a 15-39% "discount". If you go by Tuk-Tuk the driver will try to lead you to a food stall, so he would get a commission. Choose your own restaurant and bargain!
In general on the market it is important to bargain. Whatever price they tell you it is mostly only 25-50% of the first asked price.
In the evening we visited the Acodo Orphonage to experience some Cambodian traditional dances performed by kids. It was very amusing to watch the small ones full of enthusiasm and the bigger once full of commitment.
The donations are used to create a better now and a brighter future. Volunteering is possible as well for anybody who wants to do something good and rewarding. The kids were very outgoing and we had a chat to many of them afterwards and would have loved to stay longer with them and get to know them better and help with our abilities.
As mentioned before, we took so many pictures which tell more then words. Have a look for yourself right here
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