Day Nine - Siem Reap Temple-Free

Aw, no more temples. When planning our trip, we decided to stay an extra day in Siem Reap so we'd have time to check out the town and surrounding areas. Here's what we did.

The Happy Ranch Horse Farm. This farm is a ten minute ride outside of town. We had considered booking a trail ride here (they're highly rated on Trip Advisor), but I let my allergies win out. And, I'm not gonna lie, BoonPak wrecked my thighs, and riding a horse did not sound like fun.

I still wanted to see the Cambodian horses, they're smaller and have zebra-like manes compared to Quarter Horses. We asked the friendly Australians that run the place if we could take photos, and they were fine with it.

As Mr. Han drove us back to town, he stopped when he saw a chicken fighting a duck.

Chicken vs Duck. Victory went to the Chicken.

He said it was a one in a million sight to see and was so excited.

On our orientation drive around town upon our arrival to Siem Reap, we drove past a park that we vowed to come back to. It's a beautiful, peaceful place across from the Grand Hotel.

Many, many fruit bats hung from the trees. They looked so small hanging so high up, but when one would occasionally fly from branch to branch, they were shockingly large. Fortunately, they sound like birds, which helped neutralize the fear factor.

I sat on a park bench and journaled. On my bench arm, I watched a spider trick and kill a fly. Oh cruel world.


Mr. Han was kind enough to pose for a photo at the park.

If you want an excellent driver and guide when in Angkor Wat, I cannot recommend him highly enough and he truly enhanced our visit. If you would like to book him for your visit, he can be contacted by e-mail at hanmony005 (at) yahoo dot com.

We had Mr. Han drop us off downtown near a section of town known for giving cheap haircuts. Hubs got a fine $2 haircut. One of the men in the shop was fascinated with our camera, and Hubs let him play with it during his haircut. He actually took some excellent photos, this being one of them:

We walked back over to Pub Street for lunch at Le Tigre D'Papier. I had Khmer Cannelloni, a mild chicken curry wrapped in rice paper, covered with cheese, and baked until golden (served with bread). It was good, but too rich. Curry + cheese = too much. And now I know. Not every cuisine needs an Italian twist :)

Hubs made a more sensible choice of Beef Fried Noodles and they were delicious.

We went back to the hotel and Mr. Han picked us up to go to Tonle Sap Lake. The journey there was foretelling, the roads were gutted with potholes from the floods. These potholes made Chicago potholes feel like golf course divots.

I now look back, and can say without a doubt that the living conditions on the Tonle Sap Lake are the poorest and saddest I've ever seen. You know how you always see poverty-stricken cultures in Africa and everyone is always amazed at how happy and smiling the people are despite their poverty? I guess that's what I was expecting on the Tonle Sap Lake. Cambodia is a third world country. They've been through terrible, terrible hardships in the last half century. And the people do seem happy and resilient. But not the people on the Tonle Sap Lake.

Most of the homes are simply large wooden row boats with hut-like structures on top of them to make a home. It's hot and smelly. Of everywhere I've been in the world, this is the place I'd least like to live.

Mr. Han's commentary didn't help. He said he once lived on the Tonle Sap Lake as a fisherman and only slept a few hours each night out of fear that his expensive and coveted fishing nets would be stolen. He also coldly mentioned that the mosquitoes were terrible at night.

Okay, I know that was a lot of negativity in the last couple paragraphs. I don't know what I expected to gain from visiting the Tonle Sap Lake. I suppose I just wanted to see a community that was built on water, unlike anything I'd ever seen. And it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. I left feeling so blessed for the life I have.

When I got back to the hotel, I did what any over-privileged, guilt ridden person would do. I got a facial. It wasn't the best, but for $10 it was fine.

For dinner, we went to Koulen Restaurant, a huge banquet hall, to watch traditional Khmer dancing. The food was selection was massive, buffet style, and I ate too much. The dancing was unique; slow, controlled movements, very hard to do and they made it look easy. All the music was played by musicians positioned next to the stage, which was a great touch. At the end, you could go onstage and have your photo taken with the dancers, which was hilarious because the dancers looked so uncomfortable with it.

Equally awkward for all involved.

Back at the hotel, I tried to have a cocktail, but I was too tired to drink most of it, physically and emotionally.

Siem Reap - Day Eight

Today was the last day of our 3 day temple pass. We left the hotel at 6:30 am to go back to Tha Phrom to take more photos before the crowds arrived. Plus, it was so cool, definitely worth two visits for us. It's one of my favorite places I've ever been. Here's a couple more photos of new trees we found on our second visit.

After Tha Phrom, we went to a silk farm. We learned how the silk worms are raised and how their cocoons are painstakingly stirred in hot water to separate a thread to create a single strand of silk.

We also saw how the silk is dried and dyed.

Then we got to wander through a few rooms filled with traditional looms where artisans still handweave fabric. I would never have the patience for it (it takes three days to make a scarf), but it was a beautiful process to watch.

Cultural moment of the day: I ate a silk worm. How very Andrew Zimmern of me. Squishy, not my favorite texture. Our guide at the silk farm said Cambodians usually have them fried with lime, served with beer. That doesn't sound half bad.

Then Mr. Han drove us the the Rolous Temples. The first one was Preah Ko, which had amazing white stucco that's lasted through the centuries. There's also writing in all the doorways that's incredibly well-preserved. It doesn't look anywhere near as old as it is.

The other temple was Bakong which had dark stones and steep steps. Animal statues surround the perimeter.

The Rolous Temples were pretty far away from Siem Reap. By the time we got back, we had lunch at our hotel restaurant, since one restaurant lunch was included in our package. (Whenever I haven't mentioned lunch, a sandwich lunch was provided by our hotel, in a cooler so we could take it with us when we left in the morning. This was awesome, so convenient, and worth paying a little extra money so we could eat lunch where and when we wanted.)

Hubs had fried rice with an egg.

I had beef kroeung, a traditioanl Khmer curry. Delicious, not spicy (not that I dislike spice), with lime and colorful peppers.

After lunch, we headed out to Phnom Bakheng. We hiked on a trail up to the top of the hill to get to the temple. Well worth the hike for the amazing views of the surrounding jungle and Angkor Wat framed beneath the trees. There was also a view of the Tonle Sap lake, definitely worth the hike up.

Angkor Wat in the distance



People staking out spots for the sunset

Since this was the last day of our temple pass, we had to go back to Angkor Wat for our last sunset. Again, no great colors, but great people watching and so peaceful, even with all the people. We were fortunate to get some amazing monk photos, some of my favorite photos from the entire trip.

We chilled at the Villa for a little bit, then headed to Pub Street. We ate dinner at The Red Piano, a Belgian restaurant, so we took a break from regional food for the evening.

I had spaghetti with chicken, ham, mushroom, and coconut cream sauce. The coconut was definitely there, but not overwhelming or too sweet. It was a very interesting, unique dish that I'm going to try and recreate at home one of these days. I had a Tiger beer, the best beer in the region IMO.

Hubs had a steak and fries. The fries were nowhere near as good as the fries in front of the Belfry, just saying.

2 entrees + 2 drinks + 1 shake + tip = $25

After dinner we walked through parts of the night market, every seller bombarding us. After awhile, it becomes overwhelming, and it was something I never got used to during the trip.

Siem Reap - Day Seven

Today we left the hotel at 5:30 am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. It was cloudy, so the sunrise wasn't as spectacular as it could have been, but it was fun to be at the temple with so many other people just as light began to leak into the sky.

Then we rushed over to Tha Phrom before the crowds hit. Tha Phrom ended up being the highlight of the whole trip. It's a temple filled with amazing trees whose roots have overrun the buildings.

It looks like something out of a movie, something prehistoric and futuristic at the same time. So, so cool.

It's not a huge temple by any means, but there are many trees. You could easily spend a couple hours discovering every awesome root growing into every mound of ruin.

Apparently, some memorable shots from "Tomb Raider" were filmed here. I did see the movie, but have no memory of it except that I very strongly disliked it. I really don't want to watch it again, but after the trip, we might just Netflix it and ingest loads of alcohol before viewing.

Though we tried to avoid the crowds by arriving around 7:30 am, there were still more people than we would've liked. Go early. I would plan to get there at 7:00 am at the latest if you like your photos tourist-free.

After going back to the hotel for breakfast, we were back out to explore more of the region on the tuk-tuk. The first stop we made was at Pre Rup, a beautiful amber against the bright blue sky.

The we drove for half an hour up to Banteay Srei. Along the way, we saw the beautiful countryside. The tall grass, workers in the field, children playing, water buffaloes grazing. It was beautiful and peaceful.

Banteay Srei has pinkish stones etched with intricate carvings.

Every temple in the Angkor Wat area has children standing outside of it that try to sell you guidebooks, postcards, or beaded jewelry. Every single one. They get you on the way in, they get you on the way out. It's very depressing.

Banteay Srei had the heart-breaking story of the trip. These kids that were playing in the pond were some of the sellers. They followed us on the path as we were trying to leave and one little boy would not take no for an answer. When he finally gave up on his post cards, he looked at me and said, "Can I have your water?" A child asking for my half-drunk water. It wasn't hard to give up.

Cambodia was flooded in the fall, along with Thailand. We ate lunch in the tuk-tuk on a large bridge, twenty feet above the stream, which had been completely flooded over a couple months before. Hard to imagine.

Mr. Han took us to a stand on the side of the road where a woman was making palm sugar. The juice is squeezed from the tree fruit (which remains on the trees), then it's cooked and stirred in a wok-type pan until it's solid. Or it can be kept in liquid form. If solid, it's cut into disks. The palm sugar is so delicious and sweet, a more complex version of our refined sugar. We bought 3 packs of 10 for $1.

Then we went to Ta Som. Walk through the entire temple past the very end to see the tree growing over the doorway. It's worth the trip, but it's probably the only thing you need to see at the temple.

After that, we drove to Neak Pean, a cleansing pool where the sick came to be healed. Depending on what ailed you, you were directed to one of the four different spouts to be healed. If you were in dire straights, you were sent to the flying horse because you needed a miracle from heaven.

The last ruins of the day was Preah Khan. There are two beautiful trees in this structure that used to be a university. There's also a unique two-story pillared building that looks very Roman.

We drove back through Angkor Thom and stopped at Angkor Wat hoping for a spectacular sunset. Unfortunately, it was still cloudy, so no great showcase from the sun. Still romantic, though.

Twelve hours is a lot of temple-ing. We saw so many amazing people and places today. And we capped it off with a fabulous dinner at The Sugar Palm Restaurant. Appropriate after our sugar palm purchase. This is perhaps the best restaurant in Siem Reap, even if the side street it's on looks a little scary, it's not. Our hotel was on that street and it was fine.

The restaurant is on the second floor of a traditional Khmer house. Thatched, high roof, everything wooden. It's a beautiful space. And the food is solid. We started out with the crispy spring rolls.

I had the prawn amok, a mild curry, popular throughout Cambodia. The amok at Sugar Plum sets itself apart because it's prepared like a souffle. Curry souffle! Who doesn't want that? It was delectable.

I don't remember the name of the dish that Hubs got but it was a small bowl of minced pork and chili sauce that you dipped raw vegetables in. The cocktails were also stellar.

Appetizer + 2 meals + 3 cocktails + water = $32

A fine meal at a fine price. Highly recommend this restaurant.