Siem Reap, Cambodia
January, 2013
Wednesday, January 9 Siem Reap, Cambodia
We were up at 4:15am, to catch our flight to Cambodia this morning at 6:50am. It was only a two hour flight, but we gained an hour so we arrived at 7:50am. We took a taxi to our hotel, but arrived five hours before we were due to check-in. We ate some breakfast in the hotel restaurant, before heading out to explore. Next door was a laundry. It was $1 per kilo. We dropped off 30 kilos. We came across the old town, and the markets. It was similar to Vietnam. There were rip off polos, happy pants and a lot of jewellery. Gwen was in heaven. It was very hot, so we went back to the hotel and had a swim. There are two pools, both with elephant shaped water feature, blowing water from their trunk. We had a good swim to cool down and we tested our water-proof camera for the first time. We checked-in, had some lunch then took a siesta. At 4pm, gwen and I left the kids behind and we hired some bikes, for $1 each. We explored some more. The traffic was crazy, bkes, cars, motor-bikes zipping in all directions, especially on the national highway. We found a tuk-tuk driver, Cosca, and booked him in to take us to Angkor Wat tomorrow. For dinner, we had front-row seats to the apsara dance show on the roof of our hotel. One of the dancers looked like gwen’s cousin, Shellie. Not surprising, because everywhere we go in Cambodia, people think she is a local. At least we always get local prices!
Thursday, January 10 Siem Reap, Cambodia
We were up at 4:45am, to meet Cosca to take us to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It was cloudy, so the sunrise was not that special, but the experience was amazing. There would have been over 1000 people there at 5am waiting for the sun to rise. We had breakfast by the moat, then explored inside Angkor wat. Built by the Khmer king in th 12th century, it is considered one of the modern wonders of the world. Our tuk-tuk driver took us to Banteay Kdei, another old temple. This time we paid $2 for a guide to show us the sights and take some photos for us. The best photo was with a huge gold Cambodian orb weaving spider. Temple three was the best temple, Ta Prohm, made famous in the Tomb Raider movie. It has trees actually growing in, on and around the temple. We stopped for lunch, saw a couple of other smaller temples, before making our way to Angkor Thom, the original city that was once the home to 1 million people. Cosca dropped us off at one gate and said he would pick us up at another gate in two hours time. We had no map, so we had to ask another tuk-tuk driver for a map. The place was 4 square kilometres do of course we got lost. There were two huge temples but we could not visit them because gwen and Jamaica had their knees exposed. We found our way to bayon, which is second most famous only to Angkor wat. It is famous for the 45 towers, that each have four smiling faces looking down at you from all directions. We eventually found our tuk-tuk driver, and he took us back to our hotel so we could sleep. We were hot, dirty, sweaty and exhausted. Jamaica went for a swim, while we slept. At 7pm, we walked down to pub street to find a place to eat. We ate at the khmer family restaurant and sampled some of the local cuisine.
Friday, January 11 Siem Reap, Cambodia
I don’t know what I ate yesterday, but today was not a good day. I spent most of the day either on the toilet or in bed. I vomited up all of my breakfast, and I could not stomach any lunch. I am so grateful to frank for giving me those antibiotics before we left Australia. Gwen and Jamaica went to have a foot massage and Jamaica had her nails done. They went shopping in the markets while zeke watched HBO and I slept. At 8pm, we all took a tuk-tuk back to pub street. This time, zeke and I played it safe and ordered a pizza.
Saturday, January 12 Siem Reap, Cambodia
We had breakfast before going for a dip in the pool. Gwen and I hired some bikes, and we rode into town. We found an optical store and I bought some sunglasses. We then rode to the quad adventure place and book a 90min this afternoon. We went back to the hotel to get the kids out of the pool and we took them to KFC for lunch. We then found a tuk-tuk to take us back to Angkor Thom so that we could climb the grand temple, Baphoum. This temple was huge. It had spectacular views and was at the centre of the ancient city. We went back to the hotel just in time for the quad adventure driver to pick us up. We were all tested first to make sure that we could drive them okay. They had two smaller quads for zeke and Jamaica. Jamaica was under 12, so she needed an instructor to ride with her. It should have been zeke. He was the only one to crash. He lost control going over a bump, and ended up down a hole on the side of the road. The quad bike ride was som much fun. We rode for two hours, through rice fields, old villages, passing houses on stilts and kids walking home from school. We saw the sunset, as a hot-air balloon passed overhead. We were covered in so much dirt, but it was absolutely worth it! We went home, had a shower, then went back into town for dinner. Gwen and Jamaica stayed in town after dinner so they could look at all the jewellery in the old night market.
Sunday, January 13 Siem Reap, Cambodia
Again, we had a dip after breakfast this morning. We dropped off our last load of laundry, then hired a tuk-tuk for the day. We first went to the National War Museum, where we learnt all about Pol Pot and his Reign of Terror from 1975-1979. Our guide, Rodma, was recruited by the khmer rouge in 1975, when he was 14. His parents were sent to the fields and his house was burnt down. He never saw his parents again. He was given a gun, and set to the Vietnam border to fight the Vietnamese. He did not say a word in four years. If you spoke back to your officer, you would be shot. He saw many friends killed.He remained in the khmer rouge until 1996, when he stepped on a landmine and lost a leg. It was unbelievable to listen to his story as he took us through all the relics. He showed us a tank, and explained that the bones of his friend are still inside. We were given the opportunity to hold the weapons including AK47s and rocket launchers. We also saw a US helicopter. This was definitely worth the visit. We learnt so much. It’s hard to believe that the war only ended in 1999. The landmines were laid along the border to stop Cambodians escaping into Thailand.Our tuk-tuk driver took us to two more temples, that were a lot further out, Banteay Srei and Banteay Samre. It took over an hour, but it was nice just to sit back and watch the Cambodian villages pass by. The temples were nothing special. The first one was pink and was called the ladies temple. I played some badminton with the locals.We slept on the way back to the hotel, in the tuk-tuk. For our last dinner in Cambodia, we went to a nice restaurant on the main street. Gwen and Jamaica had to go shopping again, after dinner so they could buy some more jewellery. I think they were the local girls’ favourite customers!
We were up at 4:15am, to catch our flight to Cambodia this morning at 6:50am. It was only a two hour flight, but we gained an hour so we arrived at 7:50am. We took a taxi to our hotel, but arrived five hours before we were due to check-in. We ate some breakfast in the hotel restaurant, before heading out to explore. Next door was a laundry. It was $1 per kilo. We dropped off 30 kilos. We came across the old town, and the markets. It was similar to Vietnam. There were rip off polos, happy pants and a lot of jewellery. Gwen was in heaven. It was very hot, so we went back to the hotel and had a swim. There are two pools, both with elephant shaped water feature, blowing water from their trunk. We had a good swim to cool down and we tested our water-proof camera for the first time. We checked-in, had some lunch then took a siesta. At 4pm, gwen and I left the kids behind and we hired some bikes, for $1 each. We explored some more. The traffic was crazy, bkes, cars, motor-bikes zipping in all directions, especially on the national highway. We found a tuk-tuk driver, Cosca, and booked him in to take us to Angkor Wat tomorrow. For dinner, we had front-row seats to the apsara dance show on the roof of our hotel. One of the dancers looked like gwen’s cousin, Shellie. Not surprising, because everywhere we go in Cambodia, people think she is a local. At least we always get local prices!
Thursday, January 10 Siem Reap, Cambodia
We were up at 4:45am, to meet Cosca to take us to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It was cloudy, so the sunrise was not that special, but the experience was amazing. There would have been over 1000 people there at 5am waiting for the sun to rise. We had breakfast by the moat, then explored inside Angkor wat. Built by the Khmer king in th 12th century, it is considered one of the modern wonders of the world. Our tuk-tuk driver took us to Banteay Kdei, another old temple. This time we paid $2 for a guide to show us the sights and take some photos for us. The best photo was with a huge gold Cambodian orb weaving spider. Temple three was the best temple, Ta Prohm, made famous in the Tomb Raider movie. It has trees actually growing in, on and around the temple. We stopped for lunch, saw a couple of other smaller temples, before making our way to Angkor Thom, the original city that was once the home to 1 million people. Cosca dropped us off at one gate and said he would pick us up at another gate in two hours time. We had no map, so we had to ask another tuk-tuk driver for a map. The place was 4 square kilometres do of course we got lost. There were two huge temples but we could not visit them because gwen and Jamaica had their knees exposed. We found our way to bayon, which is second most famous only to Angkor wat. It is famous for the 45 towers, that each have four smiling faces looking down at you from all directions. We eventually found our tuk-tuk driver, and he took us back to our hotel so we could sleep. We were hot, dirty, sweaty and exhausted. Jamaica went for a swim, while we slept. At 7pm, we walked down to pub street to find a place to eat. We ate at the khmer family restaurant and sampled some of the local cuisine.
Friday, January 11 Siem Reap, Cambodia
I don’t know what I ate yesterday, but today was not a good day. I spent most of the day either on the toilet or in bed. I vomited up all of my breakfast, and I could not stomach any lunch. I am so grateful to frank for giving me those antibiotics before we left Australia. Gwen and Jamaica went to have a foot massage and Jamaica had her nails done. They went shopping in the markets while zeke watched HBO and I slept. At 8pm, we all took a tuk-tuk back to pub street. This time, zeke and I played it safe and ordered a pizza.
Saturday, January 12 Siem Reap, Cambodia
We had breakfast before going for a dip in the pool. Gwen and I hired some bikes, and we rode into town. We found an optical store and I bought some sunglasses. We then rode to the quad adventure place and book a 90min this afternoon. We went back to the hotel to get the kids out of the pool and we took them to KFC for lunch. We then found a tuk-tuk to take us back to Angkor Thom so that we could climb the grand temple, Baphoum. This temple was huge. It had spectacular views and was at the centre of the ancient city. We went back to the hotel just in time for the quad adventure driver to pick us up. We were all tested first to make sure that we could drive them okay. They had two smaller quads for zeke and Jamaica. Jamaica was under 12, so she needed an instructor to ride with her. It should have been zeke. He was the only one to crash. He lost control going over a bump, and ended up down a hole on the side of the road. The quad bike ride was som much fun. We rode for two hours, through rice fields, old villages, passing houses on stilts and kids walking home from school. We saw the sunset, as a hot-air balloon passed overhead. We were covered in so much dirt, but it was absolutely worth it! We went home, had a shower, then went back into town for dinner. Gwen and Jamaica stayed in town after dinner so they could look at all the jewellery in the old night market.
Sunday, January 13 Siem Reap, Cambodia
Again, we had a dip after breakfast this morning. We dropped off our last load of laundry, then hired a tuk-tuk for the day. We first went to the National War Museum, where we learnt all about Pol Pot and his Reign of Terror from 1975-1979. Our guide, Rodma, was recruited by the khmer rouge in 1975, when he was 14. His parents were sent to the fields and his house was burnt down. He never saw his parents again. He was given a gun, and set to the Vietnam border to fight the Vietnamese. He did not say a word in four years. If you spoke back to your officer, you would be shot. He saw many friends killed.He remained in the khmer rouge until 1996, when he stepped on a landmine and lost a leg. It was unbelievable to listen to his story as he took us through all the relics. He showed us a tank, and explained that the bones of his friend are still inside. We were given the opportunity to hold the weapons including AK47s and rocket launchers. We also saw a US helicopter. This was definitely worth the visit. We learnt so much. It’s hard to believe that the war only ended in 1999. The landmines were laid along the border to stop Cambodians escaping into Thailand.Our tuk-tuk driver took us to two more temples, that were a lot further out, Banteay Srei and Banteay Samre. It took over an hour, but it was nice just to sit back and watch the Cambodian villages pass by. The temples were nothing special. The first one was pink and was called the ladies temple. I played some badminton with the locals.We slept on the way back to the hotel, in the tuk-tuk. For our last dinner in Cambodia, we went to a nice restaurant on the main street. Gwen and Jamaica had to go shopping again, after dinner so they could buy some more jewellery. I think they were the local girls’ favourite customers!