We arrived in Siem Reap just before
5pm and decided not to get over zealous by trying to catch the sunset that day (the tuk tuk driver pretty much told us it would be frantic and we probably wouldn't make it). We were tired & didn't want to bother, knowing we would still have 2 full days to work with after this one. However, let me just say, that Siem Reap is a town you could easily spend a week in- riding a bike through the ruins of Angkor, eating out at the various restaurants, checking out the night market, and just relaxing in the small town. It's got a nice atmosphere to it, & it is really a place that is meant to be explored slowly, not rushed. We didn't exactly feel rushed during our 3 days there, but we easily could have stayed a week & not been bored. We went for a nice meal that evening and roamed around the night market. Cambodian food has some Thai & Vietnamese influences in addition to curry and lots of love for coconut- their national dish 'amok' is based in a creamy coconut sauce. The dishes are quite varied and each meal I had was different for me--some i really liked, others were just ok, and others I wasn't a huge fan of. However, overall, the food is quite good, I just need to learn some recipes to work with and re-create the best options...
My most comfortable and sturdy sandals broke right before we left Myanmar so I wanted to find a decent cheap pair at the night market. In addition , my sunglasses were so scratched up that I decided I needed a new pair of those too. Found some cheap bamboo flippy floppys for $2 & some nearly perfect Ray Ban knock offs also for $2 --good start Cambodia :) Before we left Siem Reap, I would add a few more Ray Bans to the collection as well as a Longchamp purse. ;)
Fun fact: Cambodia is where a lot of brand name clothes are made-H&M, Zara, Mango, MANY others- so you get the same clothes for a fraction of the price. Regretfully, we didn't find a lot of time to market shop while there and I had limited amount of room in my suitcase, so I didn't really take full advantage of this opportunity! Maybe next time!!
We decided to hire a tuk tuk for the whole day at Angkor for the next day (this is how it is usually done). We didnt wake up for the sunrise on this morning, but instead spent the whole day at the temples and scoped out our favourite spots. Having a tuk tuk driver was both good & bad--good because the ancient city of Angkor (Angkor actually means 'City' in ancient Sanskrit) is massive and spread out so you can't realistically cover a lot by bike or foot- bad because, even though the driver gives you as much time as you need at each place, you always feel like you are on someone else's time and need to ask permission. However, it was perfect to get the driver the first day, see the main stuff, orient ourselves to the place, and then be better prepared for bike riding the next day. This way, we knew what we liked, where we wanted to return to, and how to avoid the droves of tourists (potentially)!
The day was fun (aside from smacking my head on one of the temple ceilings and getting a mild concussion) but we were a bit annoyed at lunch time & sunset was a bit of a weird experience. Our driver took us to an area for lunch close to the Ta Prohm temple (the Lara Croft temple). We were hungry but he seemed to just bring us to a specific restaurant he chose, instead of letting us shop around. This really annoyed me, & I realized he was probably getting commision from the place he brought us to. We decided to walk away & choose our own spot to eat--not choosing the one our driver suggested. He couldn't say anything to us but you could tell he wasn't happy. The place we did end up choosing was right next door, and it was slightly cheaper, but throughout our meal we were constantly hassled to buy postcards from this adorable little girl (it was her mothers restaurant). She seemed to be on auto pilot trying to sell us these various postcards. However, Tom did manage to get a smile out of her---she was adorable! Later, our driver didn't act outright rude to us, but he did seem to rush us a lot more & was clearly trying to finish the day faster than we had wanted to. Luckily, we had a map ofthe temples & knew some things we wanted to see, so he was forced to just go with our itinerary---sometimes it really pays to plan and know things or you might get screwed over! The sunset was also a bit of a weird ending to the day. Our driver took us to 'apparently' a not-so-popular spot for the sunset, except that it was absolutely packed with people! Funny thing is, April is the hottest month in Cambodia, & this is supposed to be the off season! In addition, when we got to the top of the hill where the temple was (a 10 minute hike) they would not let us up the temple because I was wearing shorts & Tom had a sleeveless shirt (our driver told us this would not be a problem at this temple---we noticed that each temple seemed to have its own rules about dress codes). So we were on a hill with a heavy tree line, not able to climb the temple to see the sunset. Stupid situation, we roamed the area for a while trying to find a decent spot. Realizing this was a pointless endeavor, we started hiking down the hill catching the (cloudy) sunset as we walked down. It didn't really set over any temples and there was a lot of cloud cover so we didn't really miss out by not being on top of the temple. That evening, we ate at a restaurant called Butterflies garden- a restaurant for a good cause helping employ disadvantaged Cambodian youth (obviously this was all Tom's find!). It was a tad more expensive than other places we have eaten but well worth the cause. Then we roamed the night market again- Tom hates this activity and I love it! ;) I made some small talk with the lady that sold me my Longchamp purse and I learned that her brother lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I asked her if she had ever visited Canada, and she just strained her lips, shook her head no, & said 'too expensive'---- I hear ya sister!!! It IS too damn expensive! Especially after experiencing Southeast Asian prices!
We called it an early night after renting some bicycles for the next day--we wanted to see the sunrise
at 6am the next morning. We got up at about
5am and brought a bag of bananas and oranges with us to snack on. Our day plan was to see the sunrise, hang around the temples until about
9am, return to the hotel for breakfast, and then bike around the temples again from about 3-7. Our hotel was not that close to the entrance, so we covered quite a few kilometers that day!! We made it to the Angkor Wat temple about 30 mins before the sun rose over the horizon. Minus the droves of gawking tourists and more A-gang groups that I could have ever fathomed in 1 location, the sunrise was quite magnificent. It didnt turn as many different colours as I was told it would, but I have to admit I haven't seen too many sunrises in my lifetime that were that nice! The mayhem of the Angkor Wat sunrise was over at about 645am. All of a sudden, half the tourists were gone, and as we biked into the interior of Angkor Thom (a complex of temples further north of Angkor Wat) the tourists dwindled significantly----splendid! We biked through the main entrance gates and saw monkeys frolicking around on the side of the path. We did something quite stupid that I blame on the fact that it was still so early in the AM: Tom suggested I give one of the monkeys a banana. As I took the grocery bag out of my backpack and took out a banana, the biggest monkey suddenly lunged at my bicycle, fiercely swiping his hands. He freaked me out and I sort of dropped/threw the bag of food at him. Tom got angry at me and tried to get the bag back, but then the monkey lunged at him & he freaked out as well, & then one of the smaller monkeys came at him. He started to move away and all of the monkeys (there were about 5 of them) started to focus on the food--we booked it out of there! They got quite a feast of oranges and bananas due to our stupidity!! Who gives monkeys food, seriously?! However, in retrospect, we weren't scratched or bitten so it could have been much worse!!
We spent the rest of the morning riding around the lush green forests of Angkor---this day was an amazing highlight moment!!! It was hot, but the beautiful canopy of the forest made the heat bearable. And we could go at our own pace, exploring smaller temples and ruins that other people had just ignored. Particularly, we found these incredible ruins right off the road that looked just like the Ta Prohm/Lara Croft temple but on a smaller scale! The ruins were completely entangled by massive trees growing through them in every direction. It was amazing. We played around and frolicked there for a little while, no one else around! That was definitely my favourite part of Angkor--even though it is a very touristy place, it is still so spread out that you can find pockets of it to call your own, & you can still enjoy the splendor of it as if it was just yours (you just need to know where to look)! It felt different & yet similar to Bagan---Bagan wins with the sheer amount of its temples, but Angkor wins with its surroundings --lush, green, & jungly! Much easier to explore Angkor with its tree cover also!! I think overall Angkor beats Bagan for me :)
We explored all morning and then returned to our hotel just in time to catch our free breakfast that ended
at 10am ;) We decided to hide out from the sun from about 10-2 by spending time at the hotel, in the pool & planning the next legs of our travels. After that, we grabbed some food in town at a recommended place called Blue Pumpkin, and, shamefully, I steered away from traditional food & ordered pasta for lunch :P I was craving some comfort food I suppose ...! In addition I found a fantastic juice called 'Lolita'---shout out to Luscious Lolita!! ;)
The plan was to return to Angkor for sunset--Side Note: in case some of you are confused....I am referring to 'Angkor' as the whole city of temples located just outside of the town of Siem Reap, Cambodia. 'Angkor' is the ancient Sanskrit word for city. Within the 'city', all of the temples have their own specific names---most famous is Angkor Wat (famous sunrise pictures are almost always overlooking this temple). The whole massive complex of Angkor has 3 big sections---if you wanted to see it all comfortably it would take a week! We only had 2-3 days so we didnt see it all---some say they all start looking the same after a while, but i would argue that going to more remote temples and getting off the tourist map would have been a worthwhile adventure !
Anyways, we scoped out a temple called 'Pre Rup' for sunset that day (we had read it was a good, less busy spot to check out the sunset). However, it was cloudy when we got to the temple and it was looking bleak that any sunset would occur at all! Regardless, we climbed to the top, took a picture of the amazing sky and waited. Eventually, it became obvious that the cloud cover was just getting worse. So we decided to start the bike back (we wanted to avoid riding our bicycles in complete darkness). On our way back we stopped several times just to stare at the sky---the amazing fluffy clouds on the backdrop of a pink and purple sky with random flashes of lightning in the distance----one of the most amazing skies I have ever seen!!! Pictures couldn't quite capture how unbelievable it looked!!! After all the stops along the way home, we did end up bringing the bikes back after dark---so worth it though!!!! We ended our night in the town centre once again, sipping some margaritas after our busy & tiring day! :)
The next day we took a minivan to Phnom Penh which involves some hair raising moments on the highway (Cambodian drivers are crazy!) & took about 5 hours. We were excited to explore Phnom Penh ...
