Siem Reap....Angkor Wat!

Meaning Siamese Defeated… We flew from Sihanouk to the newly built airport in just under an hour. The small twin prop plane rattled and rolled the entire way but we made it. Siem Reap is located in northern Cambodia, far from the southern beaches but a short tuk-tuk ride to Angkor Wat, or Temple City, our sole reason for coming here.

The Siem Reap National Museum

The museum had more information on the history of Cambodia than I knew existed. Tickets are $12 each and worth the multiple hours one can spend inside. The exhibits go into beautifully presented historical components of Khmer life. 

Artisans Angkor

A non-profit teaching youths various craftsmanship skills. We toured the workshop while students carefully chiseled away sandstone, bit by bit to reveal the final project. You can even try for yourself. 

After a month-long diet consisting mainly of fried rice and too many plates of food I can't pronounce, I was happily surprised to find a Mexican restaurant, owned by a southern Californian called Maybe Later. There are quite a few expats here and they brought their love of food with them. Lost City Pizza Society is run by a couple from Texas. They're setting up a pizza stand to train locals and eventually let them run it and keep the profits. 

When we can, we try to eat local cuisine if the stomach and the wallet allows. The wallet allowed pretty much everything here so.. We found hand-pulled noodles, duck dumplings, pork back fat, too many soups, lok lak and the obligatory sushi. Never backing down from an adventure we dove right in. 

The buffet - អាហារប៊ូហ្វេ ស្រីខួច ខិនថេនើរ

We walked by the buffet that blared music until 2300, every night. The large barn style doors were closed by day but at night they'd open and a thousand scooters would be parked out front, almost matching the number of tables inside. The restaurant was just across the street from our home stay and was $6.99 for an all you can eat buffet. The night before we headed out to Angkor Wat we decided to give it a try. 

As we walked inside, the number of tables kept multiplying, this place was huge but mostly empty. We were greeted by a friendly staff who showed us to a random table that had two campstyle propane stoves sitting on the table. He then gave us each a plastic bin in which we were to collect the raw food sitting in a long line in the center. There were no less than 10 people whose only job was just to keep walking around the food with their wands trying to keep the flies away. 

There were so many options, of which I only recognized three; shrimp, oysters and bacon. There was so much meat and seafood I've never seen before. Some had fins, others had grins. I grabbed a little bit of everything and went back to the “kitchen.” We had no idea we had to also cook the food. Our waitress added a little butter to the pan on top of the stove, smiled and left. Ok, here goes nothing. I threw the unknown meat on the skillet and another waiter helped Alisa place the shrimp into a pot of boiling unknown stock. Meanwhile we shucked a few oysters on ice and wondered what the hell was going on. 

Piece by piece, I pulled the unknown meat off the skillet, split it so we both could taste, then eventually used way too many napkins to spit it out. It wasn't that it was spoiled and surely it wasn't because it was cooked incorrectly, it just had a Mr. Ed or Fido taste to it, maybe mixed with a sprinkle of feline flavor. We later saw kangaroo and cobra on another buffet menu so there's really no way to tell what we ate. 

Besides the bacon, which was mostly fat, the cold oysters and shrimp, everything else ended up right back on the plate. We cleaned off the skillet, paid and walked away totally dumbfounded and still hungry but not really. I hoped we could keep the oysters down, at least until after sunrise. Bye for meow…

Angkor Wat

We met our driver and our guide Sam at 0430 for a full day of touring Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples after catching the rising sun. Most people set up right next to the bank of the mirrored pond, but Sam walked us back to the southern library that was centuries old and motioned for us to walk up the narrow steps. He explained this was the best spot, because we wouldn't have to stand for the next hour and a half and we would be higher up, seeing the sunrise first. We then chose to sit on the top step with our backs resting on one of the columns, waiting for the rising sun. He said most people leave the pond before the sun actually rises to get into Angkor Wat as soon as they can. 

We waited, sitting “comfortably” on a centuries old monument. Slowly the night began to lose its grip across the land. A fire ignited behind what Alisa thought were palm trees as she asked, “Is that Angkor Wat?” I know I have somewhat of an ocular advantage over her, but the symmetrical pillars would still be pretty odd looking palm trees. Without coffee or breakfast, barely awake, this made us both appreciative of the funny moments and the changing of the colors and sounds. The swallows sailed, the cicadas woke and life around us turned the entire area into a symphony of both movement and stillness. This ancient building was standing still, as it has been for centuries. We did as well, taking in the changing colors with a deep state of calmness. It was a beautiful moment we both will always cherish. 

Once the horde of people left the pond, they entered Angkor Wat and turned right. Sam took us down to the water for some pictures. 

We then went into the temple where we turned left. We usually don't book guides but we needed a driver as well, the entire archaeological site is huge! Angkor Wat, although beautiful, is just a small piece of this intricate historical area. Seriously, they sell seven day passes and I could see how it would take that long, if you went to most of the temples, probably longer if you did every one of them. 

We lucked out with Sam. After so many years of guiding, he can pinpoint, based on the calendar day where the sun will rise on the horizon, he also has an eye for photography and suggested some interesting frames, not just a place to take a selfie. He had a knack for knowing when and where people were and how to avoid them. Some places were entirely empty except maybe one or two other people, it was an exceptional tour in every way. 

After climbing too many temples and eating lunch (you guessed it, fried rice) we had to call it a day. Angelina Jolie never ran by the presently called Tomb Raider Temple, but I did find this hottie. 

It was called the Jungle Temple before the movie. The way nature reclaimed the land was impressive. The temperature was 96 and it wasn't even noon. We were both drenched. Sam said we had to see at least one more area, Bayon Temple. Ok, Ok, just one more. 

Bayon Temple

Most of the standing temples or monuments were built when Hinduism ruled the land. Buddhism was slowly introduced and centuries later changed back. Bas reliefs of Budda were scratched out, heads were removed. Eventually Buddhism came back and is the predominant religion today. The carved faces on pillars are impressive independent of which version you go with. The history is long and storied, if you're interested I would definitely recommend heading to the Siem Reap National Museum before visiting the temples. 

After a long day and getting our Mexican food fix we headed back home and crashed. The next day we had a 90 minute deep tissue massages for the amount you would tip in the US. 

A one day ticket for two to Angkor Wat will set you back $74 and the guide and driver will be another $65. If you get a chance to visit this amazing area, please find Sam. Reading his bio will give you a peek into the depth of his knowledge and wisdom. Tell him we said hello and be sure to ask him what a linga looks like, he's also hilarious.  https://angkorguidesam.com/