Having arrived in Siem Reap the day before Steph, I spent most of the day resting and recovering. In the evening I met up with Kenza and was a little too frail to handle the onslaught I faced when I left the hotel - tuc tuc drivers, taxis, restaurants, massage parlours, bars, children selling books, men and women with amputated limbs - everyone just yelled at me at the same time. They all wanted something - money, my custom - I was quite shocked at first and grew to really dislike this aspect of the town. Another thing that shocked me was that everything was so Western - the bars, restaurants and shops. Firstly, all the prices were given only in dollars, as if the local currency did not really exist and secondly everything was expensive. The main area of Siem Reap has clearly been built exclusively for tourists, the streets having names such as 'bar street' and 'side alley' and the sad part is that most of the bars and restaurants here are owned by foreigners, so very little of the money spent goes to the locals.
Between the town and Angkor is the largest collection of luxury hotels that I have ever seen - Le Meridian, Sofitel - in terms of luxury their guests lack for nothing, and are clearly unaware that their grounds back onto the slums in which the local people live. That is the problem with Siem Reap - you can visit the town and the temples without realising how poor the people really are. You can travel round the temples by elephant, helicopter, hot air balloon, and have every kind of comfort without seeing any of the suffering of the locals - it is really tradgic.
The town aside, our stay in Siem Reap was incredible, thanks to the Angkor temples. We decided to purchase the 3-day pass, thinking that 1 day would not suffice - and we did not regret this decision. On the first day we hired a tuc-tuc and decided on a circuit that took in most of the famous temples, plus a few smaller ones. We started the day with a climb up to visit a hill-top temple, with fantastic views over the others. The temple may have been in ruins, but its beauty and splendour were still apparent.
Our next stop was Bayon, the temple containing over 3000 faces. This was again in ruins but just amazing - the faces were so clearly defined and each seemed to be different.
It was a very hot day but we continued visiting right to the end. Our final stop was at Ta Prohm, the temple where nature has decided to reclaim what man tried to take. It is the temple with trees growing under, over, through and around it. Some of the trees are over 20m high and their roots are enormous. It is simply incredible, a clear demonstration of the power of nature and really beautiful.
The next day we visited the renowned Angkor Wat at sunrise, along with thousands of others. The temple is so large that it didn't seem busy ad the views of the sun rising were amazing. After taking numerous snaps we spent the next few hours wandering around the temple and its grounds. It is very well-preserved and absolutely magnificent. I again saw a snake in the grounds, a small green snake that I thought was quite cute, until I read the chapter on snakes in the guide book that warns about these small, venimous snakes!
On the final day of our pass we hired bikes and cycled around the temples, visiting a couple that we had not yet seen. We cycled for about 5 hours and it was lovely. The area surrounding the temples is beautiful and very shady, so despite the heat I did not get sun burned! We then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the hotel and around the town.
Our final day in Siem Reap was spent writing postcards and buying paintings, before heading to the most modern airport I have ever seen. From Siem Reap we were flying to Luang Prabang in Laos, where we would be spending the next 10 days of our trip. |
Photos Cambodge
Carnets de voyage Cambodge
Vidéos Cambodge
Carte Cambodge
Guide de voyage Cambodge
Santé Cambodge
Billets d'avion Cambodge
