Our short trip into Cambodia to visit the ancient Angkor Wat temple complex was one of the highlights of our travel adventure. It comes a very close second to our visit to Petra. We enjoyed the whole experience – not just the temples but the time we spent in Siem Reap and exploring the surrounding countryside. The scenery was breathtaking and reminded me of scenes of the countryside in southeast asia that I’ve seen in movies and documentaries over the years. The people were so friendly and genuinely welcoming. What surprised me most, despite the tourism around Angkor Wat. was how untouched the local villages and countryside seemed to be. Siem Reap, the launching point for trips to Angkor Wat, was obviously a tourist’s playground complete with souvenir markets and ‘Pub Street’, a street of neon signs advertising every type of tourist restaurant. But you don’t have to wander far to éxperience authentic Cambodian towns and markets.
We booked an Airbnb in Siem Reap. It was just outside of the center of town. We had an entire house to ourselves, in the same compound as the owner and his family. Our children had the opportunity to meet and interact with his children that were about the same age. They were very curious about our kids. They picked vegetables and fruit from around the garden and bring it to us to try. The owner, who had personally picked us up from airport upon arrival, spent quite a bit of time with us explaining how to get around and how best to visit the temples. He was very sincerely proud of his home, his country, and Angkor Wat. He organized a Tuk Tuk for us to take us out to the temples each day. The Tuk Tuk and driver cost USD20 per day. He would pick us up in the morning and take us around to the temples and wait for us at each stop.
This area was the center of the Khmer Kingdom from the 9th to the 14th centuries. There are so many temples and they are all just so spectacular. This is the largest religious monument in the world. The temples were originally constructed as Hindu temples, they were gradually transformed into Buddhist temples towards the end of the 12th century. They are all in various states of disrepair and in some cases, are quite unstable.
I’ll start with Angkor . This is one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia. It was built with sandstone blocks that were quarried from the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen, more than 50km away and floated down the Siem Reap river on rafts. According to the inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 workers and 6000 elephants.
The upper level is accessed by incredibly steep stairs. Children are not allowed due to the danger of climbing the steep stairs. To be honest, I had trouble climbing (and descending) the stairs; they triggered my fear of heights the same way hiking around the edges of cliffs does. Ronan was so upset that we had to leave them unattended in the courtyard. Brett and I felt so bad about leaving them, and worried about leaving them basically unattended that we rushed around the interior of the temple.
We spent a lot of time wandering around all the temples. We had a guidebook and we read about the important features and history of each temple as we visited them. Writing this now, I have to admit I don’t exactly remember which temple was which. They were all so spectactular. I took more pictures than I can count since everywhere we looked was just such an amazing scene that we couldn’t believe we were lucky enough to experience. I’ve included a selection of photos here.
It was really amazing to see how the trees have encroached on the temples and in some cases, grown over and within the temples. This was most striking at Ta Prohm where the temple has been engulfed by the jungle. Ta Prohm was used as a location for the film Tomb Raider. There really isn’t much that can be done to stop the damage and further encroachment of the jungle into the temples. In some cases, the roots of the trees are destroying the structures. In other cases, the roots are so intertwined with the structure that they are supporting the structure. It really is an amazing sight to see these beautiful, historic man-made structures being reclaimed by mother nature. We are very grateful that we were able to see these temples in their current state.
After the very hot days wandering around the temples, we welcomed our evening tuk tuk ride into Pub Street. We know it was as far removed from real Cambodia as possible but it was a bit of a guilty pleasure at the end of the day. The food was always great and it was so relaxing to pick restaurants where we would all find something we would like. Each night we’d end our night with ice cream rolls – one of our favorite desserts on the trip. Fresh cream is poured over a frozen flat-top and any number of ingredients from fruit to chocolate are added to the cream and chopped up and mixed. As the mixture starts to thicken and freeze, it is spread out over the flat surface and then something resembling a scraper is used to scrape the frozen mixture of the surface and form rolls. We saw (and ate!) these all over southeast asia.
After a lot of sunshine and a couple of good cocktails one night, Brett bought a deep fried scorpion and a spider from a vendor and ate them down on a dare. The kids will always remember that night I’m sure. They were so excited and impressed that he did it.
We broke up the temple visits with a cycling tour in the countryside around Siem Reap. You don’t have to go far to get to the real authentic Cambodia. Small villages with local markets and no tourists except for our little group. We booked a tour with a small outfit where the tour guide took us on a tour of his native village. He started the tour with a visit to his mother’s food stall.
We rode our bikes first to a local market where our guide walked us through and explained the various foods that were for sale. Some we got a chance to sample as well. This is where I first discovered my love of longan, a fruit similar to the lychee.
After the market, we continued on our bike ride through the countryside. I was proud of the kids with how well they did on ill-fitting bikes on rough roads.
We stopped at a local school, the same primary school that our tour guide had attended. The kids were so excited to see us. The experience was a bit overwhelming. Iain got a bit scared with all the commotion and the attention. Brett and I will never forget the experience. The kids were so excited and so happy to see us. They were also so expressive and they all wanted to hug us.
After the school visit, we headed off to a boat ride to a village for lunch. The village was located on a flood plain and all structures were built up on stilts. The restaurant had a beautiful view over the river and the village.
The last stop on the way back to Siem Reap was at a roadside stall for a snack. I had seen these stalls with neat rows of bamboo but didn’t know what they were. Turns out they are a very tasty treat called Kralan. Steamed sticky rice is mixed with soy beans and fresh coconut milk and stuffed into a hollow bamboo which is put on the fire for one two two hours for the beans to become soft and the coconut cream to vaporize and be absorbed by the rice. We learned that this was a very popular meal/snack for local Khmer since it is highly nourishing and does not need to be refrigerated for several days before going bad. Delicious.
Cambodia captured our hearts. We really only scratched the surface and will return one day when we have the time to do it justice. There is so much natural beauty, a rich history, and a wonderful and warm people that are so proud and happy to act as hosts to showcase all these amazing aspects of their country. There’s no mistaking that it is a poor nation and we can’t help but worry and wonder what has happened to all the people we came in contact with since COVID19. What little they do have is because of the tourism industry. We will be happy to return when we can to experience more of the country and help support the local economies.