Siem Reap, Cambodia

We spent the last four days in Siem Reap, including Christmas Day.  Siem Reap is home to Angor Wat, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of ancient Khymer Hindu and later Buddhist temples.  A great population lived here in 200 AD to 1500 AD. The wood and thatch homes and shops of the city have disappeared over time.  However the stone-built temples remain, ornately carved and archecturally far advanced for the time.  Some temples exceed the height of Chartres in France, using quasi arches of stone.  There are possibly a hundred sites, all unique.  One (Ta Prohm) is Indiana Jones-like, with huge trees invading the walls and temples.  Another is miniature with incredibly detailed and well-preserved carvings of gods, elephants, monkeys, serifs and other ornamentation.  Of course, Angor Wat itself is the largest religious monument in the world.  The monument and the land that once contained the streets, homes, markets and such of a city are surrounded by a wide moat and tall walls.  At one time, every surface of the walls and temple were engraved or carved with gods and various designs.  Truly amazing!  Check it out online.  We spent 2 days exploring various parts of the site.  We even got up at 4:30 am to see the sunrise at Angor Wat.  Unfortunately, we picked the one day with clouds at sunrise.  Still, the reflection of the temple on the water was beautiful.  I forgot to mention that our transportation to and from Angor Wat (about 5 miles one way) and about the huge site was done by tuk tuk, a motorcycle pulling a 2 or 4 seat cart.  Lots of fun.

Our day 3 in Siem Reap--Christmas Day, we hired a car to take us to 2 remote sites.  At the first, we walked up a steep trail to a place where many carvings had been done on the stones in the river.  We were glad to have checked out this area early in the day because as we headed back to the car, we met an enormous group of tourists huffing and puffing their way up the hill.  We next explored Banteay Srei and found it to be the best preserved of all the sites.  We had a lovely lunch there in a shady restaurant.  We returned home about 4 pm for a dip in our pool--oh, did I mention the temps are now in the low 90s with high humidity--a drink and then dinner out on famous Pub Street (again reached by tuk tuk).  I had envisioned Pub Street as a gathering of young 20 something's and backpackers drinking their way from pub to pub.  (I'm not disparaging that as we were like that once.)  Instead, I was surprised that it was made up of many small, intimate restaurants with loads of people in their 50s, 60s and 70s in addition to the young set.  Of course the price of things in Siem Reap (much more expensive than Vietnam) probably filtered many young people.  Apart from 50 cent beer and water, dinners and lodging were about 50% more than our most expensive in Vietnam.  Siem Reap depends almost entirely on Angor Wat tourism.  It could be compared to Springdale, UT near Zion National Park.  Things cost more there because it is the only place to stay and eat near the park.  Christmas Day was our best day yet in Siem Reap.  The four of us shared many laughs and good wishes from the local people.