Siem Reap - Cambodia

Spending 4 days 3 night in Siem Reap is more then enough for my experience. i would also recommend that you go in December, the weather is just nice, not to warm and not raining season, best of all the pond in Angkor Wat is not dry up so you can snap beautiful picture ^^ .

let out journey to the ancient world begin...... our hostel includes transport from airport to the hostel ><>la....

most of the small roads in Siem Reap is dirt road so don't be shock!

this is taken outside of our hostel hehehe

the hostel owner gave us a map n briefly suggest where we can visit and if you are lost...always look for the river

the 1st day we decided to just walk around the town since after we had our lunch in our hostel (most of the hostel offers lunch and dinner, of course it's not free) and to the tab!

This is FCC Angkor - The Siem Reap version of the Foreign Correspondent's Club on Cambodia. Same service and the food one expects from the FCC brand. Located along the river near the King's Residence.

local street food... didn't try any because don't want to risk food poisoning before going to Angkor Wat :P

after 15 minutes walk from the hostel we reach the Center Market

we did some souvenir price survey...hehe

then to the wet market

there is so much to see and to buy (here is where you bargaining skill come in handy)

we bought some t-shirts, we bargain until US$2,50/ t-shirt

we were really happy about it since the original price was US$5/ t-shirt....until we went to the night market they sell only US$2/ t-shirt and you don't need to bargain it's a fix price ...damn

but well we had fun ><

after shopping we had our afternoon tea @ Blue Pumpkin

it's a chain store.... the pastries is great, i would recommend this place

after a delicious ice cream we came across a small gallery....forgot the name but it's quite unique

look at the wiring... :S like in Bangkok

ah! the famous Pub Street...here is where all the restaurants, pubs, bistros & etc are.

we had our delicious dinner @ Le Tigre de Papier..... food is great and big portion too but the price range is about US$4- US$15...local dishes(khmer food) are cheaper and they also have Italian food (e.g Pizza..) it's delicious about US$8-US$10.

But totally recommended we had our dinner twice here :)

After dinner we walked to the night market which is quite near by for more shopping. We walked back to our hostel which is about 30 minutes away or you can take the tut-tut for US$1

the next day, as early as 4am we have to get ready and start our adventure to Angkor wat. We booked us a tut-tut about US$23- US$28 for the whole day. The Opening hours of Angkor Wat is 5am - 6pm so it's best to arrived at that time to wait for the sunrise @ Angkor Wat!

we bought the 1 day ticket which cost US$20/pax

to know the prices and other informations ------- > http://www.travelingmark.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/angkor-entrance-information.jpg

make sure you don't go during dry season runs from October - April, Blowing like a hair-dryer set to high.

While November - January are quite cool (high 20 Celsius) and also the peak season where lack or rain and the cool weather. By March travelling can be uncomfortable and April the heat can be excruciating.

From May - October is the raining season, it's disadvantage to travel during this period as the dirt road can turn to heavy rutted and pot holed mud pits. Plus the rives might even flood up.

after seeing the sunrise, time to explore inside of Angkor Wat

my 1st reaction was " wah... wah ... WAH" it's really an amazing feeling

It's really one of a MUST see before dying wonders of the world!

Boon @ Angkor Wat ^^

Built 12th century by Suryanarman II in honour of the Hindu God, Vishnu and also as his own burial place.

Boon exploring this ancient temple

admiring the beauty of Angkor Wat ^^

Boon reading a book that i bought from a little girl at the entrance of Angkor Wat. There are always many sellers at the temples who offer cold drinks ,books or camera film as well as a range of handicrafts. Theu can be very persistent...expecially in the morning that is how i bought this book about Angkor Wat for US$5 ( she was aggressive, the book was from US$15 :P)

So it's good to know Khmer for " No thank you" = "atay aw kuhn". Bargain for all goods

love the details

wow! the middle part of the temple

too bad, they were restoring the temple on top...so people are not allowed to go up :(

Apsara, are Hindu and parts of the Buddhist mythology, half-human, half-divine women in the palace of the god Indra live.

you can see Apsara everywhere on the wall

Hindu Mythology and the power of the Kings dominate all elements of the design. The 5 huge tower represent the peaks of Mt. Meru, home of the Gods.

The 800m relief covering the wall of the 1st level gallery in the central complex, illustrates many legends. The most famous scene called the "Churning of the Ocean, of Milk" depicts 88 devils and 92 gods churning up the sea in an attempt to make ambrosia, a substance which confers immortality on those who take it. Best light is in the late afternoon.

more restoring work

i forgot what this wall is about....i know that it tells a story...hmm..

me @ Angkor Wat

some small building in Angkor Wat

one of many Buddha statue in Angkor Wat

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Next, to Banteay Srei.... It's not actually in the normal 1 day tour itinerary so if you want to visit Banteay Srei the Tut- tut will extra charge as it's about 25 km away from the main temple area. But i highly recommend, the temple is more detailed ornamentation then the others, with hard pink sandstone.

small details

Banteay Srei is also one of the smallest temple in the region of Angkor

the back view

the pond surrounding Banteay Srei

next, Pre Rup It's a temple mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction in 961 or early 962

The temple's name is a comparatively moden one meaning " turn the body". This reflects the common belief among Cambodians that funerals were conducted at the temple, with the ashes of the body being ritually rotated in different directions as the service progressed.

the weather gets really hot during afternoon.... be sure to bring a scarf (good for heat and also good for you to cover from the dust

panorama view of Pre Rup

I've forgot where this is....i'm not sure if it's part of Ta Prohm

Buddha face tower entrance

alot of the structure are in pieces

Boon @ god knows where ><

details on the walls, some are about intense meditation or praying figures

black & white pic ..... alot of these Apsara in all the temples

some of the structure are not stable so .... careful!

here i'm sure it's Ta Prohm

you might remember the scene here from the movie Tomb Raider

Roots of a spung running along the temple

picture credit goes to Boon :)

entrance of Angkor Thom

as you can see here stone figures pulling the head of the snake ' Shesha' from the famous Hindu story : the myth of the Churning of the Ocean. i think this is the south gate(victory gate)

the place is really huge

cool right!

Angkor Thom, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII. Royal and high ranking staff were allowed to live within the walled city

this is the Terrace of the Elephants, built by Suryanarman. Rows if sculptured Garudas form the central section

Terrace of the Leper King, named after the main statue - Yama, a naked god of death, convered in lichen, thus giving the impression of a leper (This reproduction, the original Leper King Statue is in the National Museum, Phnom Penh.

it's huge...looking over Prasat Suor Prat, is a series of 12 towers in Angkor thom

walk further east, another temple i guess

you can climb up with the stairs on the right side of the temple

pieces of stone of the temple, i think they will restore it to it's original place as i saw marking on the stones

last, the famous Bayon, a temple in the centre of Angkor Thom, a must visit site after Angkor Wat. Dominating the temple is the 45 m tower surrounded by 51 smaller towers. All with eerily smiling faces carved into them

what is left are the door frame

standing at the entrance of Bayon looking at this amazing temple....admire it with my mouth wide open

me @ Bayon

i remember there is some story about this figure....something about being the most beautiful girl...i think...can't be sure

see the eerie smiling faces, that i'm talking about

we didn't managed to go all the places in Angkor thom as the want to rush to another site to see the sunset

*another site in Angkor thom i recommend is Neak Pean, located in the center of 5 lakes(sometimes dried)/ Seems to be floating on a naga - a holy snake

last but not least to Phnom Bakheng to see the sunset. you can go up the temple with elephant which cost US$15(if i'm not mistaken) or walk up by foot for free :)

the stairs are really narrow....so for the whole trip it's good to wear a comfortable sandals or sport shoes

everyone sitting and just enjoy the view

the whole Angkor marathon was really tiring

if you are thinking of renting a bike to cover the temples.....think again...i'll suggest the Tut- tut if you are only visiting Angkor Wat for 1 day

the next day we decided to rent the bicycle to cover other areas of Siem Reap

I've forgotten how much it cost renting the bike for a day but it's not that expensive! :)

we rent it from our Hostel ( Happy guest house ) It's cheap (US$3/night), clean and the owner speaks English really well

our private room for US$6 / 2 persons but if you want air-conditioning u'll need to add another US$3. It come with a private toilet too :) overall we were really happy with our stay there

We visited the Angkor National Museum, It's a little pricey(US$12/pax) but we decided to go anyway. Turn out it's not really that bad..It actually quite informative. I'll recommend to those who didn't have a guide book to come here 1st before you visit Angkor Wat.

actually it's not allowed to take photo in the museum but we managed to snap few before we've been discovered :P

after that we though of cycling to Angkor Wat to admire the beauty one last time before we head back the next day... on the way there and also the way back we stopped by Le Meridien for 5 stars toilet facility....hehehe we parked our bicycle just outside the main entrance...cool right! the staff was really friendly... they knew we don't even stayed there and yet we were being treated with respect and warmness, we even visit their mini exhibition of Cambodian art!....you don't have this in Europe :P

As we were approching Angkor Wat.... one of the guard stopped us and asked for your pass.. We said we have visited the Angkor Wat yesterday but we wanted to get a last glimpse of this ancient temple. He was reluctant at 1st but finally gave in to our persuasion....so nice of him

* we didn't bribe him ok

we got to chat with the locals.....it's was a relaxing day

trying some black & white pic of the locals

alot of the locals come here during the weekend just to enjoy the view

small river or pond surrounding the Angkor Wat

amazing panorama view...simply breath taking

at night of course we did our last minute shopping :)

the next morning we had our morning flight back home! Oh! another important info

make sure you don't spend all your money because you'll need to pay for the airport tax which cost US$25 for international and US$6 for domestic flight... :S quite expensive

but It is really a nice place to visit :) i love Cambodia

~chum reap leah~