Templing in Siem Reap

It was the last day of our semi-Indochina trip and we did save the best for last. It was easy to decide which place to go in Siem Reap and it was no other than Angkor Wat. Coming from Ho Chi Minh by bus, we arrived at 10pm from our 14-hour trip. I previously booked a hostel called Topsky and the location was very convenient and walking distance to the night market (more on that later). It was relatively new and they had spacious rooms so do check them out in hostelbookers.com. They also allowed backpackers to work part-time in exchange of discounted price for accommodation. At least that;s what the Caucasian guy told me when I asked why he was carrying our bags to our room.

Next day, we started off with a really great breakfast. Sumptuous pancakes for only $2.00, mueslix with yogurt and fruit plate ($3.00), and semi-sweet, semi-hot chicken curry ($2.00). Their lemon ice tea was cheap too for only $1.00. We indulged in breakfast while waiting for our tuktuk driver to pick us up. We had a deal with Vantha, the one who brought us to the hostel but it was his brother-in-law SokChan who showed up. Well we didn't complain since he was good in English.


So we headed to the Angkor Wat main entrance to buy the tickets. For one day it was $20 each while $40 was for 1-week pass. I was surprised they took a picture of us individually and was printed on our tickets. For verification, I guess.

Sokchan showed us a map of the whole Angkor Wat and it was a huge area. We were only there for a day so he chose the temples which was most convenient given the limited time. We did mention we wanted to see the sunset so he suggested the route and schedule so we could get a good spot for the sunset viewing. Okay so here are the temples we visited by order of visit:

Our 8 temple stops in Angkor Wat

1. Banteay Kdei
    It was the first temple we visited so we were still eagerly exploring every nook and cranny. And it was a good starter as there were few people coming in.


2. Ta Phrom
  Lots of tourists here. It was an iconic temple because of the Tomb Raider movie. Also, it was famous because of the tree that sprouted over the temple. There were a lot of good detailed carvings too.

Elegant detailed carvings		The famous tree of Ta Phrom
	This is only one side of the Ta Phrom temple

Angkor Thom was the biggest area where the Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants, Baphuon and Bayon temples were "housed" within its walls. It spans 9 sq. km

3. & 4. The Elephant terrace was the facade to the Phimeanakas and the Royal Palace area.

The elephant terrace (Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod)

Facade of the Royal Palace Area (Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod)

5. Baphoun
  My sister and I climbed up steep steps to see the breathtaking view. It sure did not disappoint. Going down was harder though.According to the brochure, it was built dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva.

Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod

Baphuon temple became an instant favorite

6. Bayon temple
  From the brochure, it is one of the largest Mahayana Buddhist temples in the Angkor complex. I was initially fascinated by it because of the head carvings on the structures.

Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod

Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod

7. Angkor Wat temple
The most popular and I think had the farthest path to walk to get to, it was really amazing to see the Angkor Wat with your own eyes.

Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod

Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod

8. Phnom Bakheng Hill
 We had to walk about 15 minutes uphill to get to the temple. We were there around 4pm to avoid the crowd (thanks to our driver Sokchan) and was able to get a good spot to view the sunset. It was another breathtaking scene.

Photo by: Kryssa Balangcod

Finally, ended the day at the Pub Street in time for the night market. Had dinner at this restaurant that served grilled food. (Wasn't able to take note of the name of the place) I ordered their Khmer dessert, an array of the local desserts. The ingredients were sweet potato, banana and coconut and other stuff and they were all delicious.

We were able to try Amok restaurant the next night and tasted authentic Khmer food. Full of flavor and spices, we had a great Khmer degustation!

There were still a lot of things we were not able to see, lots of temples we hadn't visited and things we hadn't tried. Definitely will come back again.