Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hi everyone, it has been a few months since I have blogged.  Good to get back at it!

As an expat in a new country, you go to lots of coffees and parties with people you don't know.  One of my go-to conversation starters is, "What are some of your favorite vacation spots?"  In KL, the answer I seem to hear the most is Siem Reap, Cambodia and Angkor Wat.  I finally made it there last weekend!

I also wanted to tell you Lonely Planet, the travel book company, compiled a list of the must-see attractions in the whole world.  Their #1 destination??  Angkor Wat!!

                                                        (photo credit: Joe Holmes)
Angkor Wat, in all its glory!  This was taken at sunrise, so our day began very early.  But I am getting ahead of myself...

We went to Siem Reap with some very good friends.  They actually did most of the planning, which was a treat.  They chose an Airbnb just outside of Siem Reap.  I have stayed in quite a few Airbnbs, in several countries.  I have never stayed in one this nice!  It had six bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.  There was a nice workout room, a huge media room, large swimming pool, and two living areas.  The owners provided a fabulous breakfast at the time of our choice, even at 4:00 am!!

Here is the link if you want to check out this place:  https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6903659?sug=51

Herve`, the French owner, recommended a French restaurant for our dinner.  We went to L'Annexe.  It was outstanding, and reasonably-priced for French food.

Although the house was new and luxurious, this is what the surrounding streets looked like.

The next morning we did some shopping and visited the Angkor National Museum.  I recommend visiting the museum before you visit the temples in the area.  It gives you a better sense of what you are about to see.


This sign was in the restroom.  Oh the signs I have seen in restrooms...

After the museum, we all went to a cooking class.  This is what we saw on the way.  These three little piggies were on their way to market!  By the way, these are LIVE pigs!

Our cooking class instructor started the afternoon by taking us to a 'wet' market, where many of the locals buy their food.  You can find fresh produce, meat, other food items, clothing, and most household needs.  You can even get these delicacies-- fried crickets, roasted crickets, and beetles!

Here is a variety of dried fish for sale.  The lady on the left was waving a stick with a plastic bag attached, to shoo off the flies.

The cooking class was put on by the Siem Reap Countryside Cooking Class.  The class helps to support a large number of orphans.

This was the 'kitchen'!  No running water, no electricity, and no gas (and no air-conditioning).  All the cooking was done on these concrete 'stoves' with firewood.  This is Big Mama, although she was maybe 4'10".  Such a sweet lady.

The first thing we made was a pumpkin custard.  It had to steam for an hour.  I am at the end of the table, squeezing water through fresh coconut to make coconut milk.  No cans of Coco Lopez used here!  The custard consisted of eggs, coconut milk, and cane sugar.

The egg mixture was poured into these hollowed-out pumpkins.  The pumpkins were wrapped in banana leaves, placed in a pot, and steamed.

The custard is eaten with the cooked pumpkin.  It was actually pretty tasty!  We also made fresh spring rolls and Beef Lok Lak, which was served with vegetables and rice.  It was all delicious.  Amazing what you can cook with firewood!

 And finally-- Angkor Wat!  Our hosts prepared us a hearty breakfast at 4:00 am and our guide ($35 for the day) picked us up at 4:30.  We drove to the first location to buy our tickets.  The price is $20 for a one-day pass (we were told the price would rise to $37 next year).  By the way, USD is the most common currency in Cambodia.  Then we drove to Angkor Wat itself.

Sunrise is a very very popular time to arrive at AW.  Here is a glimpse of the crowds waiting for the perfect shot.  And since touring these temples can feel like a walking sauna, starting early is a great idea.

Our whole gang-- the Meads, the Davises, and Andie

We bought a drawing from this artist on site.

Angkor Wat (wat means temple) is said to be the largest religious monument in the world.  I won't recite measurements for you, but there is a long, long carved wall that runs around the perimeter.  AW took 37 years to build, in the 12th century.  Originally is was a Hindu temple but was taken over by the Buddhists in the 15th century.  The wall in the picture above is probably 8 feet high, or so.  The darker, shinier lower section is the results of many hands touching the carving.

Can you see the shiny parts on this carving??  ;)

When the king who started building the temple died, work stopped.  Here we see an incomplete carving.

When the Buddhists took over the temple, they painted the walls.

This is still an active temple.  Even monks need to clip their toenails.

Chuck and Flora Hall

The Davis girls in mid-jump!

Angkor Wat in a Unesco site.


The temple has three levels.  Here are Andie and I on the very steep stairs leading to the third level.  By the way, women must wear clothing covering their knees and shoulders.  To our surprise, a scarf does not count! Carey was not allowed on the third level because of her sleeveless dress.



Angkor itself is the name of the city that was the capital of the Khmer civilization centuries ago.  AW is just one of the almost 1000 temples in this region.  We were driving to another temple when we passed this pond filled with hot pink water lilies.  They are a little hard to see.  When we went to the wet market, we saw water lily stems, which Cambodians eat.

There were also elephants to ride.

Next we went to the Banyon Temple.  This road, going over a huge moat, was on the way there.  One side of the road was lined with demons but this road was lined with gods.  You can tell the head in front is a reproduction.  After all these centuries, some heads were damaged, but many were stolen.

We drove through the wall gate and saw this photo shoot in progress.

Here we are, at the entrance.

We all loved this temple.  There are/were 49 monuments, carved on all four sides with faces.

This was a fun temple to explore.  Not nearly as large as Angkor Wat, and who doesn't love all the faces?? 

The third temple we visited, and my favorite, was Preah Khan.  Our tour guide told us many things I can't remember, but I do remember that when these temples were rediscovered in fairly recent history, they all looked like this and needed to be restored.  Several countries donated money to Cambodia to restore the temples, including USA.  However, this temple was left in its natural state, so we can tell the effects of time and the jungle.  What you see in the middle of the picture are actual tree roots.

Virginia Flora and Marthanne

That is one huge tree!

Carey and Mike

Wanda and Joe.  :)  This was a popular picture spot.  And it just so happens to be the setting of...

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider!  We watched the movie the evening after traipsing around the same temples.

This scene was shot at Angkor Wat, the first temple we saw.  They turned the small lake in front into a floating village.

I know, there are a lot of pictures of this place.  But I loved it!

On our way back to the van, Joe and Mike couldn't resist playing Tarzan!

Besides temple hopping, there was some shopping.  This was a picturesque street in Siem Reap.  Another restaurant we ate at and enjoyed was Little Italy.  Great pizza!  And I make no excuses for eating French food and Italian food in Cambodia.  We all live in Malaysia and eat our fair share of Asian food!  :)

There were several galleries full of images to help us remember this fabulous weekend!
(And I want to mention photo credits to our whole group!)