Our last stop in Cambodia, Siem Reap. Overall we found it similar to the capital, Phnom Penh, with a busy centre full of markets, restaurants, bars, motorbike tuk tuks and fruit stalls galore (they did have something different in the form of ‘pub street’ a clear favourite of Dean’s!) Our hotel (Suorkear Boutique) was located down a county lane opposite a field of friendly Water Buffalo which was a five minute tuk tuk ride from the centre and as a result the hotel put on free rides too and from (we felt like we had our own chauffeur for a few days!)
One evening we got tickets to Phare, the Cambodian Circus. The show was set in a ‘big top’ tent where we were crammed in to watch the hour show which was full of dance, acrobatics, magic tricks and music. The show is part of a social project set up to help young Cambodians from disadvantaged backgrounds and was well with the money.
We also did a very full on day trip visiting the impressive temples of Angkor, where apparently there is no greater concentration of architectural riches / ruins anywhere in the world (it really was endless, we visited six enormous temples in one day but there are many more). The first (which only took a casual three hours to see the ‘highlights’) is the worlds largest religious building and Cambodia’s national symbol called Angkor Wat. Whilst we can imagine the National Trust deeming some of the areas ‘dangerous’ to explore (the odd wooden poll holding things together and stairs so steep you were lucky to fit a few toes on) we felt it all added to its charm. Its amazing to think that these temples were built back in the 12th century and took thirty odd years to complete. Imagine that, its literally a lifetime! You couldn’t help but be impressed with the detail that has gone into the stone work, the religious stories carved into the walls and the temples built so high in the sky it was difficult to reach them (all this in the heat that we struggled just to walk around in).
Cambodia to us was slightly more relaxed (less beeping ringing in your ears from the traffic!) than Vietnam (Hoi An being the exception) and it was great to see a country with such a rich history really coming into its own. May be one day we will be back (once we can face rice and noodles again that is!)
The Snow Adventures 