Contrary to my initial impression of this Cambodian state, Siem Reap is an utter delight to visit. I am ashamed to have thought that Siem Reap was backward and the only excitement there are the ancient temples.
I touched down at the spanking new Siem Reap International Airport, which is barely a year old. You would never have thought it was an airport - it looked more like a lobby of a resort hotel. Love it!
Siem Reap's people are just plain polite and patient. Gone are those dark days when gun-totting Cambodians walked the streets, no thanks to the hard life brought upon the people by Pol Pot and his fellowmen.
And by golly! Most can speak fluent English, although a strong local accent is apparent. Who cares? I'm already happy that I can be understood.
Kat, Irene and I were hosted for free at the 5-star Angkor Palace Resort & Spa. We were very thankful for their hospitality as this is the peak season, and seldom would hoteliers offer complimentary stays during this lucrative period.
Angkor Palace Resort & Spa is a delightful place. I took this shot (above) from the steps that separated the lobby from the rooms. Awesome, eh? One has to walk through the lovely garden to reach the rooms. Somehow, I did not mind the walk although the afternoon sun was rather scorching.
And the room was pure bliss too! When I stepped into my room, all I wanted to do right there and then, was to topple onto my bed and sleep!
Basked in soft yellow lights, the ambience is sleep-inducing. And the bed was terrible comfy! In fact, waking up every morning to attend the conferences was pure torture!
As my room faces the garden, I have a nice view of the pool, the greenery and the ponds. A little al fresco balcony allows me to sit and switch off my mind to the rest of the world.
I must also mention that as a guest of Angkor Palace Resort & Spa, you are treated almost like royalty. I was picked up from the airport by a Lexus. Once I alighted at the hotel, I was directed to the breezy, spacious lobby and asked to take a seat while a staff helped me with the paper work at the counter.
Yes, someone actually checks in for me while I was served a refreshing cocktail and warm face towel.
And no, I was not enjoying special treatment just because I am from the media. I noticed that all other house-guests are being attended to this way. How wonderful!
If you are keen to visit Siem Reap, do consider getting yourself housed at the Angkor Palace Resort & Spa.
While I was in Siem Reap, I also took the chance to visit the famed Angkor Wat and the other temples.
Yippee! I just love these historical places! If I had a choice, I would have gone off to study archeology in University! Alas, archeology does not have a future in Singapore. And I can't imagine being away from my family and loved ones for too long!
Back to my temple trekking! My first stop was to Angkor Wat.
What a magnificent entrance!
Very often when I get to experience something wonderful and Joshie darling isn't with me to share in the joy, I would feel sad.
Stepping out of my rented ride and facing the full glory of Angkor Wat, I started to cry. So drama, I know!
But it was truly overwhelming to finally be able to see Angkor Wat for myself, and if darling was by my side then, he would have loved it too!
Go on, feast on these photos! I took more, but I shall not plant ALL here.
I spent three hours walking through, stopping occasionally to admire its many carvings, some of which have already been worn away by age, others vandalised.
Angkor Wat is like a spectacular maze! Long narrow corridors span the temple's interior like elaborate cobwebs, and its walls have carvings of Apsaras (fairy dancers) and others.
Dang! I should have spent a little more money and hire myself a guide. But stingy me did not, so I had nobody to relate the tales behind these ancient artworks and the history of the temples. At one point, I was so desperate to know what the carvings on a stretch of wall meant that I tried to loiter close behind a Caucasian family to eavesdrop on their tour guide! So Singaporean hor?
In certain corners of the Angkor Wat stood statues of Buddha. Worshippers clothe these statues in swaths of royal yellow and turned these corners into glorious "temples" where visitors could come and pay their respects. The smell of incense seemed oddly calming and I spent much time cooling off in the shadows and watching the locals pray at the foot of Buddha.
My visit to Angkor Wat culminated at my arrival at the highest pyramid, its steep sides rising imposingly. I surrendered. There was no way I could climb that structure in my sandals! Yet even the most well-made sport-shoes will not help.
The steps are indeed steep, and others before me who dared scale the final pyramid had to do it with their hands as support.
Look - see how one has to climb this? Without railings and safety features, going up seemed a daunting task. Every step was of different width and height. Some steps were even chipped off. That's not all. If you managed to scale it, you'll be faced with an even tougher job of getting down!
So I just sat around to rest my feet and check out other more courageous visitors.
I was dead tired by the time I finished touring Angkor Wat and my feet were threatening to rebel. It isn't an easy walk through Angkor Wat! The stone floors are uneven, some are cracked. The steps are high with irregular widths, so I had to tip-toe on some, while walk side-ways on others.
I spent the rest of the evening soaking my feet in the bathtub.
I visted Bayon, Ta Phrom, Preah Khan and the Elephant Terrace on my final day in Siem Reap with Kat and Irene. We started off early in the morning and managed to see these temples before rushing to the airport to catch our flight!
Bayon is also a magnificent temple with towering structures and is known for its humungous Buddha carvings.
The architecture for Bayon is simply amazing. I stood inside an enclosure with openings on four sides. And when I look out at every side, there would be a Buddha's face perfectly aligned in view. The photo above is taken from within the enclosure. Do you see the carving of Buddha's face on the wall behind us? Cool, right?
Oh, and we also took a hot-air balloon up into the skies to get a bird's eye view of Angkor Wat. Blast the morning fog! We could hardly see a darn thing! And it ain't cheap! USD$15 to see fog.
OK lar... at least I saw the moat surrounding Angkor Wat, so better than nothing.
As for Ta Phrom and Preah Khan, these temples are famed for their monstrous trees and big-ass roots that grow over the temple structures like some alien tentacles.
Despite how gross the tangled roots appear, this is my fave shot. You may not be able to tell, but this tree is TALL! I had to sprawl on the dusty ground to take this shot, and still I am not able to catch more of its base.
This particular tree is scary-shit. Look how its roots dwarf me? Utterly gross and spectacular at the same time.
If you look closely, there are actually two trees entwined. Sadly one has died and it was chopped off. In fact, several trees have been chopped off due to decay. Much of the temple of Ta Phrom and Preah Khan has also fallen to ruins, with some entrances blocked by fallen stone slabs. Real pity.
Irene and Kat who had visited these temples three years ago said there were so much destruction now.
I read somewhere that the temples rest above a water table, which is slowly but surely depleting. Without proper water management and conservancy, the water table will be be emptied and the land would not be able to support the massive stone temples. Along with daily visits by SO many people, the temple would just collapse.
If things are not done to salvage these ancient structures soon, our children may not even get to see these majestic temples.
The walkways leading to the temples are often lined by massive stone statues. Many of these statues have had their head hacked off. Our driver told us that the Thai soldies from waaaaaay back did that so sell or to keep. Tsk tsk.
That's one of the walkways leading to the Elephant Terrace, named so because of carvings of elephants on its walls. However, we did not spend much time here.
While I was at the temples, I also found time to look at the wares sold along the streets by the locals. Most stalls sell sandstone carvings and paintings of Angkor Wat, Bayon and Apsaras, as well as Cambodian silk scarves.
I ended up buying two slabs of sandstone carvings for USD$6 cos the stall keeper looked so genuinely forlorn and said that he has been there since early morning and I was his first customer. I'm a weakling. If he was acting, he should join Hollywood.
And of all things, I also bought a book on the Pol Pot regime for USD$7. It helped lull me into slumberland every night. I am still fighting to complete the second chapter. Gah!
Apart from my history excursions, I also went round the old town on a cyclo, much like the Thai tuk-tuk. For USD$2, I got ferried to the old market and also enjoyed a complimentary facial exfoliation from the sand flying into my face.
Take the car - always. Siem Reap is too dusty.
Khmer cuisine is generally nice. I love the Amok Fish, which taste like milky Tom Yum gravy. Slurp! I would say Khmer food is a nice cross between Vietnamese and Thai food. But Kat says the Cambodians are strongly proud of their cooking, and would insist that the Viets and Thais stole their recipes.
Whatever. Nobody will ever know who copied who.
Apart from the cheaper restaurants down Pub Street (a stretch of pubs and restaurants frequented mostly by Caucasians and tourists), we also tried this fab place called Viroth's. I don't know its address. I just know it is within driving distance from Pub Street and is highly recommended by the staff at Angkor Palace Resort & Spa.
The staff wasn't lying! The ambience is soothing and the food is great! The pricing is twice as expensive than the Khmer restaurants down at Pub Street, but absolutely worth every cent.
And when we aren't eating, we spent the night drinking!
In Touch (also at Pub Street) is another good place to slurp your booze and laze your bum. Music is just nice to allow easy conversations.
The cocktails are also cheaper than what you would find in a place of similar standards in Singapore. For example, a Long Island Tea costs only USD$4!
We loved In Touch so much, we went there for two consecutive nights!On the second night, we spent three hours downing cheap Angkor beer, listening to the live band and playing cards. And our bill was only USD$5.
Irene thought the meagre amount was hilarious for a place this comfortable
Do visit Siem Reap before commercialisation sets in and prices starts to soar. Even now, USD is the currency being used by tourists!
Not everything is cheap. Quality hotels there can get quite dear, and a can of Coke from a roadside stall can cost you USD$2! Bugger.
But I want to go back again soon. This time with Josh!
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