Temple running @ Siem Reap, Cambodia

Our flight from South Korea to Cambodia was a smooth flight with a short layover in Hanoi, Vietnam. We landed in Siem Reap about 15 minutes before Bob (Helen’s father) and Ann (his partner); who we nicknamed BobAnn (pronounced buh-ban). As we walked out of customs we saw a driver holding a sign that said Ann, Robert, Adam, Helen. This is when it sank in that we were in for a slightly different style of travel than our $35 per night love motel.

Feeling too shy to make small talk we waited for BobAnn to arrive before greeting the driver. Once they arrived we shared hugs and pleasantries; excited to be together on the other side of the world. We finally said hello to the driver, and then put our bags into the trunk of the van that would be shepherding us around for the next 4 days.

At the hotel we were greeted in the spectacularly decorated lobby by bell hops to take our bags, a non-caffeinated lavender iced tea, and moist towelettes. Now this was the good life... After a long day of travel we opted to eat dinner at the hotel. Our waiter was an effervescent Cambodian man who carried himself with a level of joy that said this job was his life calling. The waiter nearly had a heart attack when he learned we were celebrating an engagement; expressing even more emotion than many of our own family members. The food was good but we were all tired and don’t remember much about what we ordered.

The next morning a tour guide and our driver were waiting in the lobby to sweep us off on a day of temple hopping, first stop Banteay Srei. This was a Hindu temple built in the 10th century. It featured snake-like sculptures and depictions of demons that Helen began collecting.

The next temple was even cooler than the last. It was called Ta Prohm. It’s famous for the huge silk-cotton trees that took root over the centuries, entwining themselves in the ancient stones. 

Another highlight of Ta Prohm was a cavernous stone archway built to help release bad karma. The guide showed us where to stand how to thump our chests to get the sound to reverberate at the resonate frequencies. We listen to our guide and thumped our chest three times in order to scrub away the bad karma away, then thumped a few more times just to hear the sound.

With clean karma we went to our next temple, Bayon. Bayon was built within the last capital of the great Khmer empire, Ankor Thom. The southern gate was line with sculptures (gods on the left and demons on the right) to welcome its people.

From our tour guide we learned the predominant Cambodian monarch switched between Hinduism and Buddhism many times. With each monarch they would switch the religion of their people and sometimes destroy artifacts of the old religion. The Bayon temple is special because the king decided to include both religions. It is famous for its towering sculptures of gently smiling faces. We couldn’t resist the obligatory tourist photo:

At this point we were hot, sweaty, and a bit temple’d out. Anticipating this, the guide took us back to our hotel and we took a tuk tuk into town for dinner. We went early to get a nice couples massage. The massage ironed out the last bits of lactic acid from our 360 mile bike ride.

The next day we were given a boat tour of the stilt village, Kampong Phluk, which is situated at the edge of a massive lake. The stilts helped to deal with flooding during the rainy season. In the rainy season the lake can expand its 2,500 square kilometers to as much as 15,000 square kilometers, meaning in just a few month much of the land we were floating above would be exposed. When that happened the people would use the exposed land for farming. We were struck by the simple lifestyle these people lived. Very different than our proceeded upbringings, they often crammed 10 people into a one room house, with no electricity or running water.

After the stilt village we were taken to a farming village where we ate traditional Cambodian food cooked by some local hosts. The house supplied us with bicycles that looked like they belonged in a museum of ancient relics from before the time when Southeast Asia had readily accessible motorbikes. With the rickety bikes we pedaled off down the dirt road for a nice lap around the village.

We finished the day with Indian food at a place called Curry Walla. As you can see by the empty plates, it was delicious!

We went to sleep excited for tomorrow. The next day we were going to see Ankor Wat, the largest temple in the world, the impetus for this portion of the trip, and a lifelong travel dream of Bob’s! The next day we walked into the temple following the path of kings. We couldn’t help but feel awed by the sheer size of the temple. The guide took us past many intricate relief sculptures depicting ancient Hindu myths and wars.

The next day we returned to Ankor Wat at 5:30am to watch the sun rise behind it. Unfortunately the conditions weren’t perfect so the sunrise was lackluster. Still, the temple silhouette was a majestic sight.

With a day to kill before heading to the airport, we decided to check out a small exhibit. Rats are used in Cambodia to sniff out landmines because they’re too lightweight to set them off (unlike dogs). These rats are heroes and like many heroes they have a larger than life feel.

Cambodia was a fun place to visit, rich with so much ancient history. But with many more countries on the schedule it was time to say goodbye. Next stop Laos!