December 31st 2008
Feeling much brighter today, we've arranged to meet our driver at 10am to take us to Angkor Thom, the fortified city, so a light breakfast at the hotel and we're on the road. The heat of yesterday has definitely dropped a little too so as we make our way along the bumpy roads the breeze could almost be considered cold – well not quite but it's a relief all the same.
Passing Angkor Wat for the 2nd time we head into Angkor Thom through the southern gate and about a mile or so later stop at Bayon, the main temple in the exact centre of the city. While it's showing it's age – at 800 years old we'll let it off – this is beginning to feel more like it, a labyrinth of passages and steps with, so the guidebook says, 216 faces of the King staring down at you everywhere you look. As we walk round can't help thinking that one day they'll stop people doing what we're doing now, they'll have to just to stop the stone from being worn away, feel lucky and guilty all at the same time...
A short walk passing by a huge stone Buddha and we're at Bauphuon - “the world's largest jigsaw puzzle”. On a much smaller scale, the layout of Bauphuon is similar to Angkor Wat, only problem is that during the mid 1900s the whole place was taken apart as weather/vegetation was steadily destroying the buildings, work stopped during the civil war and all records of the stones were lost. The task now is to rebuild the whole site from stones that were scattered over 10km sq. The French are backing it and according to their sign work will be completed in September 2009, hmmm, je ne croix pas.
Back to our driver, who seems to be able to pick us out of a crowd at 50 yards, and a short hop to 2 terraces – Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King, the former of which is 300m long and would've been where the King watched parades from, all very impressive.
Driving again and out of Angkor Thom, passing by Ta Keo, to get to Ta Promh. Apparently used as a set for Tomb Raider, this place is remarkable by the ravages of nature that have taken such a tight hold on much of the masonry. Like Bayon, another labyrinth of passageways although without the steps, we find a quiet corner to study the guidebooks and have a rest. Being a bit slow on the uptake it hits me that this whole area is simply a vast city with all the non religious buildings taken out. In Bangkok, the Wat's were on almost every corner, if you took out all the hotels/shops etc then you'd be left with something like we have here in Angkor, and as only the religious buildings were made of stone these are the ones that were left. Angkor was apparently a thriving metropolis of 1m people when London was a town of 50,000, so it's all making sense now...
We ask our driver to take us to the museum – without being specific this could've meant 1 of 2 places, the Land Mine Museum or the Angkor Museum, and we get the latter. Unfortunately our driver can't park right outside so we have to fix a time for him to collect us and ultimately we don't really give ourselves enough time to enjoy this place properly, but the gallery of 1,000 Buddhas is worth the entrance fee alone.
Back to the hotel and we bid farewell to our driver. $20 for today, a 5 hour personal taxi service, excellent.
As it's still only mid afternoon we head down to Bar Street for some late lunch, which is at the other end of this small town so is a good excuse to simply see what goes on here. We have tickets for the Hotel's New Year's Eve party tonight, which appear to have come as part of our booking, it's going to be a toss up between here and Bar Street (the band are murdering Europe's The Final Countdown while soundchecking so maybe it will be Bar St) either way I'm expecting a more subdued New Year's Eve than normal as we fly off to Vietnam tomorrow.
Showing posts with label siem riep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label siem riep. Show all posts
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Day 6 – Siem Reap
December 30th 2008
Woken at 8am by someone wishing to make up our room – will give him the benefit of the doubt today, maybe the Do Not Disturb sign had fallen off – have a snooze before heading down for Breakfast which unusually, but very welcome, for this trip is included in our stay.
As I'm still feeling a little fragile we decide to limit our movements today so as to see much more tomorrow. So around lunchtime we venture out of the hotel to head for Angkor Wat itself.
We immediately flag down one of the official Tuk Tuk (not quite the same as Thailand, more of a motorbike towing a small carriage on the back) drivers and are heading off on some of the worst roads imaginable to Angkor Wat.
When it does level out though this is a great way to travel. Again, nobody's going too fast so it's just a case of allowing the cooling breeze to wash over you. Our driver, who's English, like most people we've encountered here, is incredible, points out various things on the way and helps us get the correct ticket from the booth.
So, Angkor Wat. Well, it is of course spectacular but... The but is that given all the guidebook and general hype we're expecting something that could never actually meet our expectations and so while it seems almost crazy to say this we're perhaps a little disappointed. Angkor Wat is vast, and given its age that alone is incredible. What's left of the carvings etc are fascinating and you can only imagine what it must've been like when it was built. Unlike the Golden Palace of Bangkok though it isn't a feast for the eyes and while I'm taking photos of course there isn't the variety of things to actually look at.
We managed to come during the quiet part of the day so when we do leave a few hours later the whole place is teaming with people. Remarkably we find our driver almost straightaway and it's back to the hotel. Different route, slightly better roads! Before he goes we book him for tomorrow.
Evening in the hotel to catch up with journals. Big day tomorrow going to Angkor Thom and perhaps some other places, we'll see. Oh, and it's New Year's Eve of course so hopefully we'll be able to party a bit too.
Woken at 8am by someone wishing to make up our room – will give him the benefit of the doubt today, maybe the Do Not Disturb sign had fallen off – have a snooze before heading down for Breakfast which unusually, but very welcome, for this trip is included in our stay.
As I'm still feeling a little fragile we decide to limit our movements today so as to see much more tomorrow. So around lunchtime we venture out of the hotel to head for Angkor Wat itself.
We immediately flag down one of the official Tuk Tuk (not quite the same as Thailand, more of a motorbike towing a small carriage on the back) drivers and are heading off on some of the worst roads imaginable to Angkor Wat.
When it does level out though this is a great way to travel. Again, nobody's going too fast so it's just a case of allowing the cooling breeze to wash over you. Our driver, who's English, like most people we've encountered here, is incredible, points out various things on the way and helps us get the correct ticket from the booth.
So, Angkor Wat. Well, it is of course spectacular but... The but is that given all the guidebook and general hype we're expecting something that could never actually meet our expectations and so while it seems almost crazy to say this we're perhaps a little disappointed. Angkor Wat is vast, and given its age that alone is incredible. What's left of the carvings etc are fascinating and you can only imagine what it must've been like when it was built. Unlike the Golden Palace of Bangkok though it isn't a feast for the eyes and while I'm taking photos of course there isn't the variety of things to actually look at.
We managed to come during the quiet part of the day so when we do leave a few hours later the whole place is teaming with people. Remarkably we find our driver almost straightaway and it's back to the hotel. Different route, slightly better roads! Before he goes we book him for tomorrow.
Evening in the hotel to catch up with journals. Big day tomorrow going to Angkor Thom and perhaps some other places, we'll see. Oh, and it's New Year's Eve of course so hopefully we'll be able to party a bit too.
Day 5 – Bangkok to Siem Reap
December 29th 2008
Alarm goes off at 9am to go to the gym in our hotel – do we? Erm, no, back to sleep for a while.
Simple morning of packing up ready for our pickup at 11:45am. Our driver is early and we're away from the hotel into the heavy Bangkok traffic. While this driver actually inspires confidence, he's perhaps the most miserable person we've come across in Bangkok which is a bit of a shame but no complaints as we get to the airport in good time.
The whole checkin experience is incredibly efficient. I don't know if this is due to a lack of people travelling or this is how it always is but we're checked in within 5 minutes and through passport control in 10.
With 2 hours to kill then within the airport – which is also vast, think T1, T2, T3 all put together – we settle into a cafe for lunch and catch up on our journals. After we finish our sandwiches and I'm typing away, with no prompting one of the serving staff walks over and hands me a piece of paper with a wifi username/password – these are really nice people the Thais.
We're flying Bangkok Airlines, “Asia's Boutique Airline” - well not sure what that means but the service is efficient and we leave on time.
It's only a short hop to Siem Reap, no sooner have they handed out the (unexpected) lunchbox than the captain is announcing 25 minutes to landing. On approach we fly over a huge flooded area, is this a delta, I think so but did give up geography in the 3rd year so not sure – it's certainly not an unexpected flood as we can just pick out houses in there, people are living on the flood plain with houses on massive stilts.
Siem Reap airport doesn't get that much traffic, yet. We land, get to the end of the runway, turn round, and taxi back down the same runway to get to the terminal building! Hong Kong used to be like this but at least you taxied alongside the runway not actually on it. There is 1 other active plane on the tarmac with 2 others that look like they're in for a good while.
The e-visa we got at the last minute certainly pays dividends as we avoid a queue comprising of about 2/3rds of the people on the flight who have to buy their visa before passport control, we're through in 5 minutes.
Our driver is waiting for us, another phew moment, and we head for the hotel. This is definitely backwater Asia we've just hit. At least 10 or 20 motorbikes for every car on the road, seemingly no rules of the road other than everyone has right of way, but thankfully nobody is actually going fast enough to cause any problems.
Or hotel, the Somadevi Angkor, is well placed just back from the main street through Siem Reap and is excellent. The air conditioning in our room is powerful stuff so when we do head back out in the evening for a bit of a wander it's like walking round with a bonfire permanently in front of you, the heat hits you in the face and there's a constant smoky aroma in the air. The “hassle” from outside the oasis of our hotel is nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. The Cambodians take no for an answer it seems. We get as far as Bar Street, to check out possible New Year's Eve venues – a banner proclaims that the whole street will be the biggest party in town so that's promising but unfortunately I'm not feeling so good so we head back and call it a night.
Top tip, don't even bother with the local currency – while it's of course accepted everywhere, all pricing is in US$ so you find that you're constantly having to multiply all the prices by 4,000 to get to the price in Riel.
Alarm goes off at 9am to go to the gym in our hotel – do we? Erm, no, back to sleep for a while.
Simple morning of packing up ready for our pickup at 11:45am. Our driver is early and we're away from the hotel into the heavy Bangkok traffic. While this driver actually inspires confidence, he's perhaps the most miserable person we've come across in Bangkok which is a bit of a shame but no complaints as we get to the airport in good time.
The whole checkin experience is incredibly efficient. I don't know if this is due to a lack of people travelling or this is how it always is but we're checked in within 5 minutes and through passport control in 10.
With 2 hours to kill then within the airport – which is also vast, think T1, T2, T3 all put together – we settle into a cafe for lunch and catch up on our journals. After we finish our sandwiches and I'm typing away, with no prompting one of the serving staff walks over and hands me a piece of paper with a wifi username/password – these are really nice people the Thais.
We're flying Bangkok Airlines, “Asia's Boutique Airline” - well not sure what that means but the service is efficient and we leave on time.
It's only a short hop to Siem Reap, no sooner have they handed out the (unexpected) lunchbox than the captain is announcing 25 minutes to landing. On approach we fly over a huge flooded area, is this a delta, I think so but did give up geography in the 3rd year so not sure – it's certainly not an unexpected flood as we can just pick out houses in there, people are living on the flood plain with houses on massive stilts.
Siem Reap airport doesn't get that much traffic, yet. We land, get to the end of the runway, turn round, and taxi back down the same runway to get to the terminal building! Hong Kong used to be like this but at least you taxied alongside the runway not actually on it. There is 1 other active plane on the tarmac with 2 others that look like they're in for a good while.
The e-visa we got at the last minute certainly pays dividends as we avoid a queue comprising of about 2/3rds of the people on the flight who have to buy their visa before passport control, we're through in 5 minutes.
Our driver is waiting for us, another phew moment, and we head for the hotel. This is definitely backwater Asia we've just hit. At least 10 or 20 motorbikes for every car on the road, seemingly no rules of the road other than everyone has right of way, but thankfully nobody is actually going fast enough to cause any problems.
Or hotel, the Somadevi Angkor, is well placed just back from the main street through Siem Reap and is excellent. The air conditioning in our room is powerful stuff so when we do head back out in the evening for a bit of a wander it's like walking round with a bonfire permanently in front of you, the heat hits you in the face and there's a constant smoky aroma in the air. The “hassle” from outside the oasis of our hotel is nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. The Cambodians take no for an answer it seems. We get as far as Bar Street, to check out possible New Year's Eve venues – a banner proclaims that the whole street will be the biggest party in town so that's promising but unfortunately I'm not feeling so good so we head back and call it a night.
Top tip, don't even bother with the local currency – while it's of course accepted everywhere, all pricing is in US$ so you find that you're constantly having to multiply all the prices by 4,000 to get to the price in Riel.
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