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We touched down in Siem Reap at around 9am on Saturday morning. Quite a painless journey after everything was said and down. I couldn’t sleep the night before because I was afraid of missing the flight and couldn’t stop thinking about the so called bad flight record Laos Airlines is supposed to have. Yet, all worked out good and Laos Airlines kept us feed and in no time we were in Cambodia. Part of the reason we choose to fly is because you can obtain a visa upon arrival at the airport whereas at the Laos border you supposedly cannot and they like to extort you and due to it being a weekend they most certainly would charge you double to account for overtime! By 10:30am we had settled into our guesthouse at a steep charge of 12 dollars a night! But it was worth every dollar since our room came with aircon and cable and so we had somewhere to spend the hot afternoon catching up on news and movies. Our first day we were pretty exhausted and once again we couldn’t withstand the heat. So we found a swanky bar upstairs bar with large comfy chairs to grab some lunch and to take in the street. Other than that we hide indoors recovering from our lack of sleep. Once the sun set we were willing to explore. We lucked out and were pretty much staying in the heart of things well once again in the heart of the Western World that exists in Siem Reap. We were just a short walk away from what was called Bar Street where there were all sorts of…you guessed it BARS and restaurants. We do have to admit Southeast Asia can cook and they can cook western food really well. As much as we love Thai food we have been enjoying the café’s and pizza places because they are so cheap and offer some comfort food.
We decided on beer and a pizza. You must drink all the beer Lao you can in Laos because it is dirt cheap and when you’re used to paying one dollar for a large 22oz bottled that can serve two you start to b**** at the cost of 1.50 beer in Cambodia. I know it seems absurd but you get sucked in to the pricing here and you just don’t want to pay more than you have to. Yet, you start to realize that you are bargaining with people over sometimes only fifty cents but you just can’t help it you don’t want to get ripped off J!
We woke up early on day two in Siem Reap to head to the temples. But first we had to make a stop at the bakery for breakfast. In Siem Reap we found the equivalent to JoMa which was the Blue Pumpkin and they saw our happy faces a few to many times I’m afraid. After a nice breakfast we hired a tuk tuk to take us around to the temples. It cost $20 US dollars a day per person to go to the temples plus the $10 dollars for the chauffer so we were determined to get in all that we could in a day so that we would not have to do it again the next day. It’s actually amazing how much you can see in a day and it’s hard to imagine those who spend three days at the temples. Not to say they are not worth an extensive look because they really are but they pack thousands of tourists in everyday and so you’re navigating these beautiful structures with wall to wall people and not to mention the blistering heat.
Angkor was the site of a series of capital cities of the Khmer empire for much of the period from the 9th century to the 15th century A.D. Their ruins are located amid forests and farmland near modern day Siem Reap, Cambodia, and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument which is where we started our tour. This structure is amazing given how beautiful it is in its ruined state it’s hard to imagine the once incredible magnitude and splendor that this temple once possessed. We got here earlier in the day so there were fewer crowds but in order to see the temple you must be willing to negotiate some steep stairs. You practically have to crawl up these stairs with little other guidance. No problem for Brandon but quite a difficult task for me. At the end of the day I did it and it was worth it but going up is much easier than going down and when you’re sweating everywhere it’s hard to concentrate.
Next we took in Bayon which is located within the once capital city of Angkor Thom. This was our favorite temple; it’s the one with the many faces. Next we took in Ta Prohm also one of the most popular and probably most recognizable. This temple has been destroyed by tree roots among other things and as you walk around it you stumble onto various trees and roots growing out of the most unexpected places. This was also by far the most crowded and it was hard to negotiate at times while waiting for the giant tour groups to finish their photo opps. Along the way we also took in some smaller temples such as Ta Keo but by the time we made it to Ta Prohm we were exhausted and decided to go to the Land Mine Museum as we headed back to town.
The Land Mine Museum is a must. Located just between Siem Reap and the temples but it feels a world away. The museum is located in a village that up until I think 1998 was full of land mines. In Cambodia the minute you get off the beaten path you are immediately struck by the living conditions both poor and rich. The first thing you have to realize here is that museums are not the museums one is used to. Even at the temples where they're making thousands upon thousands of dollars a day they don't really put that money into explaining the sights or even into restoration (so you have to wonder where all the money goes). So anyway the Land Mine Museum is a shack that exhibits all types of land mines and other various weapons found in the fields of Cambodia. It was set up by a guy who was forced to lay mines for the Cambodia military and who now devotes his time and energy to disarming and educating others to disarm mines. He also houses children who have been affected by land mines.
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