Siem Reap, Cambodia over Lunar New Year - Part One

Our first excursion outside of Korea into the surrounding countries took us to Siem Ream, Cambodia.  It was a trip I had been planning since last Halloween, three months ago.  I had done all the research, booked all the tour guides, counted out every dollar needed, and covered every minute detail to make the trip perfect.  But in January, the news hit that US Citizens were at risk for being detained in China.  It was retaliation for a Chinese person being detained in Canada.  I started to panic.  Our flight to Cambodia required a layover in Guangzhou, China.  Were we at risk of detainment?  I didn't know.  State Department Travel Advisory
After weighing all the options, it seemed that the risk of being detained was low.  We weren't even going to leave the international terminal of the airport.  I started to relax.
But on the day of the trip, my anxiety came back.  The time spent in the Guangzhou airport was really very short, but I was on edge the whole time.  It was a huge sigh of relief when we boarded the next plane to Siem Reap. 

Landing in Siem Reap, the steps from the plane let us down right to the tarmac.  The airport sat there looking like the Polynesian Resort at Disney World.  The air was hot and humid and we were ecstatic.  We had just left 32 degree F weather in Korea and were in no hurry to get back to winter.  Willow had a smile that went on for days.  She immediately declared she wanted to live in Cambodia and stay there forever. Our hotel had sent a Tuk Tuk driver to meet us.  A Tuk Tuk is a little carriage pulled by a motorcycle.  No seat belts, no windows, and no doors.  We enjoyed the wind on our face and seeing the motorcycles whiz by with 3 or 4 people on each, usually 2 adults and 2 kids.  But, I was glad to see most of them wore helmets.

Our hotel was off the main strip and definitely not grand, but it was exactly what we needed.  It had a pool, a breakfast buffet, enough beds for all of us to sleep comfortably, and they sold mango shakes at the bar.  Oh, and air conditioning!  We spent the first night by the pool.  We tried Cambodian fried rice, served with an egg on top, and Cambodian beer.

The next morning our tour of the temples began with a helium balloon ride 170m (557ft) up in the air.  I had booked this as a surprise for the family.  Poy Pines, our guide, was bursting to make the big reveal when we got there.  We were just outside the temple area, but due to the hazy morning, Angkor Wat was just barely visible.  In the picture you can see the main entrance crossing over the moat surrounding the temple.  We could also see the surrounding village and countryside from above.  I was so proud of myself for not being too chicken to get on the platform.  It turned out to not be scary at all!

Angkor Wat is just barely visible in the haze.

I plotted on a map all the places we went, to help give an idea of the layout and distances between.  The legend lists the places in the order that we visited them.

This covers the entire area we visited over the trip.

This zoomed in area shows most of the temples we saw on the first day.

From the balloon, we drove through the South Gate of Angkor Thom and stopped at Bayon Temple, at the center of the complex.  There is a large moat around the entire Angkor Thom complex, with 4 gates, one at each of the cardinal directions.
Bayon Temple has 54 towers, one for each province of Cambodia, and each tower has 4 sides, each side has a face pointing in one of the 4 cardinal directions.  So, in total, it has 216 faces.  It was built at the end of the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII.

Our guide, Poy Pines, was very knowledgeable about the different carvings and could tell us the story depicted in each scene.  He also knew the best route to take through the temple and the best photo op spots.

Outside the temple, we saw a large Buddha statue with a Buddhist nun and monk sitting in front of it.  They tied lucky strings on our wrists and said a blessing over them.

We saw a few elephants for hire, but the kids were horrified.  They know that sitting on an elephant's back is very harmful to the elephant.  They didn't want to contribute to anything that would cause an animal harm.  I was so proud of them!

Then we hiked north to the Terrace of the Elephants.  Poy Pines said that it was like an ancient coliseum where the King would sit and watch the processions pass in front of him.  At some point along the wall the elephant carvings stopped and there were men with bird wings instead.

Our guide came with a driver who would drop us off on one side and then pick us up on the far side, once Poy Pines called him to signal we were ready.  It was very convenient to not have to walk back to the start point each time.
We drove out the North Gate of Angkor Thom and stopped for photos.  I think the South Gate is more visually striking because it has been restored, but it also had WAY more tourists clogging it, so we did not stop for photos at the South Gate. 

South Gate of Angkor Thom

Next we drove to Banteay Srei, which, if you refer back to the big map at the top, is the northern-most temple, set some distance away from the cluster.  Banteay Srei is also known as the Lady Temple because it is made out of pink sandstone and shines pink and gold when the light hits it.  It also has an entrance that looks a bit like a jeweled crown.  The bas relief carvings here were very detailed and at a much smaller scale than Bayon.  Banteay Srei is also older than Bayon, having been built in 967.  This temple was made to worship a Hindu god, Shiva.  Unlike the other temples we visited, it was never converted to be a Buddhist temple. 

The hole Charlie has his pinkie in was made by machine gun fire during the civil war with the Khmer Rouge.

This foundation stela is engraved in Sanskrit writing.  It contains the dedication and description of who built it and when.

For lunch, we stopped at the Kruosar Khmer Restaurant.  Eric and I ordered Angkor beer and the Cambodian staple, Fish Amok, served in a hollowed out coconut.  The hammocks on the side of the building seemed to be where people rested after eating a big meal (or where the tour guides and drivers sleep while their tour groups are eating).

charging pole for your cell phones

The restaurant was across the street from Srah Srang (note its location on the zoomed in map).  Srah Srang is known as the King's bathtub.  It is a smaller reservoir than the two big ones Western Baray and Eastern Baray, but was enhanced when the Eastern Baray started to malfunction and not hold water anymore. 

From there, we drove to Ta Prohm.  This temple has many names, but most recently it is called either Tomb Raider temple, or Angelina Jolie temple.  This is where Angelina Jolie filmed the Cambodian scenes in her movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.  Cambodians seem to love Angelina Jolie and credit her for the sharp increase in tourism after the release of the movie.  Our guide, Poy Pines, said that Siem Reap went from receiving 9,000 tourists in a year to now 4,000,000 tourists in a year.  In the most recognizable portions of the temple, from specific scenes of the movie, there was a line so long to get your picture taken there, it felt like waiting in line at Disney to get your picture taken with the princesses.

Proof of dinosaurs?

The last temple of the day was the biggest of them all, Angkor Wat.  Between 1010-1220, Angkor Wat supported at least 0.1% of the global population. 
We walked in via the least popular entrance, the East side.  I was almost convinced we had somehow found a time of day when most tourists aren't around.  That is until we reached the center of the complex and I saw all the crowds.  We walked out the West side, among throngs of people, trying to get their picture like it was Cinderella's castle at the end of Main Street.  Sorry for all the Disney references, but I just couldn't escape the parallel. 
Angkor Wat is such a huge complex, it is impossible to capture it in a single photo.  It's hard to appreciate its enormity when only corners of buildings can fit in a frame. 

The moat around Angkor Wat

outer building, near the moat

outer building, near the moat

The road from the East entrance, lightly traveled by tourists.

Even from this distance, the entire thing is not within the frame.

Going up the stairs to the second terrace level, looking back down on the first terrace level

Flat Stanley came with us!

Charlie likes the Apsara dancers carved in the rock behind him.

Looking up to the third terrace.  We didn't have the patience to stand in line for our turn to get up there.

The original staircase up to the third terrace.

Standing on the second terrace, with the third terrace towers behind us.

You can see the helium balloon in the far distance.

Standing in front of the West entrance

The water level was low, but I still managed to catch the reflection of Angkor Wat.

After our day of touring temples, we went back to the hotel to swim and relax before being whisked off to dinner at the Koulen II Restaurant.  It was a buffet, with a dancing show to entertain us.  The style of dance is called Apsara and is named for the female spirit of the clouds and waters in Buddhist and Hindu culture.  We had seen carvings of Apsara at the temples. 

dragon fruit and papaya

coconut jelly squares

To Be Continued....