We came here for the temples.
We really enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap. We stayed at Angkor Village, a lovely resort built in a sort of traditional style. The very helpful staff arranged our guide and driver. It would have been nice to stay longer and have a chance to visit one or two temples a day, then we could find out about them ourselves (there's a very good (though rather old) guide here), but we only had three days. I think for a short visit a guide is essential to get the most out of the temples. As well as the ruins we learnt a lot about recent history in Cambodia from our guide Thim. We bought most of our souvenirs from Artisans d'Angkor, an organisation set up to train people in traditional craft skills - many of which were almost lost during the Khmer Rouge regime.
Siem Reap is a strange place - there are enormous new hotels being built everywhere and lots of budget guesthouses, but in the town centre only a handful of bars and restaurants. Most of the time we ate in the hotel, but we did visit the Bayon restaurant (where I had "Snake Fish") and the Dead Fish Tower.
We also learned two Cambodian phrases:-
- Oken - Thank-you
- Dura - Very Much
This is one of the demons holding a snake on the causeway to Angkor Thom. There are 54 gods on the other side and 54 demons on this side. They represent the churning of the ocean of milk, part of the hindu creation myth.
Here he is again with some of his friends
This is one of the faces on a tower of the Bayon in Angkor Thom. There are four faces on each tower and fifty-four towers. The faces are probably of Jayavarman VII, the king who is responsible for building the temple.
Faces of Jayavarman VII on towers at the Bayon.
The west causeway to Angkor Wat.
View of Angkor Wat from the south-east.
The south-west tower of Angkor Wat. The people on it are waiting for sunset.
A monk sitting on the causeway to Angkor Wat. I think he was posing for a postcard, because there was a guy with a Hasslebad camera telling him what to do.
Monks walking through one of the temples.
The entrance to Ta Prohm.
A balsa tree growing over the walls of Ta Prohm.
This balsa tree is growing over Ta Som.
Carvings in the riverbed at Kbal Spean. The lingas in the riverbed are supposed to purify the water. Bathing in the waterfall downstream is supposed to remove all aggression and anger. Well I was quite calm even before I went in....
Bantay Srei.
Inscription on a doorframe at Bantay Srei. This dates from 967 AD.
Carving at Bantay Srei. The figure with the elephants is Lakshmi.
Bantay Srei.
Bantay Srei.
The Tuk Tuks in Siem Reap are a bit different to the one's in Thailand, but just as much fun to ride around in. I think the drivers had some sort of system going on to allocate Tuk Tuks to each person, we always seemed to get the same guy from the front of the hotel no matter how many were waiting.
These pictures are from the floating village on Siem Reap river where it flows into the Tonle Sap lake.
This is our excellent guide, Thim Sothea (right), and our driver, Tout Rotha.
On our last night in Siem Reap we went to an Apsara dance show. I wasn't expecting much, but really enjoyed it.
