We arrived in Siem Reap on Saturday and left on Monday morning. Siem Reap is the gateway city to the Angkor temple complex which is over 900 years old. Many of the temples were overgrown by the jungle, but are now being restored. Of the over 1000 temples in Cambodia, over 500 are in this region. We visited Angkor Thom (carvings of everyday life), Angkor Wat (largest religious complex in the world), Ta Prohm (where silk cottonwood trees grow throughout the temple), and other smaller temple areas. The temple complex is beautiful. The creativity, history, and magnificence of all the different temples is astounding.
Soun, Siem Reap Guide
Our guide and his family suffered under the Khmer Rouge regime. His father died from starvation and hard labor and his uncle and cousins were killed. The children and parents were separated. He secretly learned English and lived in a monastery while he finished his schooling. In addition to his personal story, he has also been candid about the contemporary state of Cambodia. For instance, all the treated water goes to hotels and tourist areas. Our guide is working on creating safe water for the people in his community.
Tuk Tuk
We traveled by tuk-tuk (a motorbike pulling a cart for 4 people) to the night market in Siem Reap. The market is huge with most items selling very cheaply. There are also many massage places--lots of foot massage (including sticking one's feet in a giant aquarium and having fish nibble your feet). What was quite a sight was to see about 25 people giving massages to another 25 people all at the same time!
Up at 5 am and off to the airport to go to Phnom Penh.
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