Cambodia – Angkor Wat Siem Reap

Angkor Wat and Siem Reap, Cambodia

You are in the middle of the jungle …. why are you here ? Like millions of tourists who visit this town you are quite probably here to see one thing only … the world famous Angkor Wat. It is seen throughout the world on screen and images and so important it even appears on the Cambodian flag. The Angkor archaeological site is a city-size complex of small and big Temples, stupas, bridges, lakes  – with one big Temple in particular. It’s spread over many square kilometres of cleared and still jungle-filled land. It takes at least a day to see it and many people need two. The complex is so big that you will need a guide and car or motorbike to get across the many ancient areas and edifices and to take it all in. It is a revered UNESCO World Heritage site. After seeing the site don’t forget to get a few beers on “Pub Street” as its locally called in their nearby town of Siem Reap. Sit down at the many open air street bars and people-watch or make new friends. The bars here are inexpensive, a bit wild and clearly cater to the huge tourist trade.

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap – Cambodia 

I visited Siem Reap in Cambodia during my month-long tour of South East Asia.

On this trip I also spent time in Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. It was an amazing time of differing cultures, sights, sounds and smells and remains my most magical long-stay venture so far.

Read how you can combine several of these countries into a easy tour and get the most of the region while there.

Click below for my trip and reviews of these places.

Singapore

Indonesia: Bali

Indonesia; Jakarta

Brunei: Bandar Seri Begawan

Philippines: Manila

Vietnam: Ho Chi Min City

Vietnam: My To and Ben Tri

Vietnam: HCMC to PPen by bus

Cambodia: Phnom Pen  

Cambodia: Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by Bus

Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia: KL to S’pore by train

Where to stay in Siem Reap

I had researched a lot for this stay. I would be more than halfway through my extensive S E Asia tour and was thinking that by now I may be tired and exhausted from the sites and in need of some urgent rest and recreation before restarting the venture.

I had heard of the great massages and body treatments in this area and so I wanted the hotel on this part of my stay to have an extensive Spa where I could relax and get pampered. Hotels were remarkably cheap in Siem Reap despite its huge nearby tourist attraction of the Angkor Archaeological site.

I decided that this was definitely going to involve more than a couple of days stay and decided on a 5 day stay, to see the sights and then spend a few days poolside, Spa-side and generally taking it easy and sleeping to recover.

The variety of hotels is immense, back-pack places were plentiful and everything in-between. The striking difference here was the sheer number of competing 5 star hotels, all centrally located and offering the world. Could this be true? There were so many 5 star hotels here it was unbelievable.

The prices in many of them was similar if not even cheaper than what I paid for 3 or 4 star places in other parts of S E Asia.

You will find most hotels are in town but remember to get something with air-con. The heat in this area, even in Winter is immense and I would not have survived without air-con. Siem Reap is a small town, you can walk to the centre and pubs/restaurants from most hotels or it’s a cheap and quick tuk-tuk drive away.

After much research I found a hotel that seemed to fill all I needed.

The one I chose was within waking distance of the centre and I noticed also near the only museum in town if I wanted to go there. I was pretty museumed-out on this trip by now and so did not make it there anyhow.

Where I stayed in Siem Reap

I chose the Prince d ‘Angkor Hotel and Spa. See link here for its website.

The hotel also boasted a concierge and organised trips to Angkor Wat nearby, had a massive pool, lobby and pool bar, two restaurants, Spa, gym, steam rooms and luscious grounds. The photos looked amazing and in truth it lived up to all expectations. It has, obviously air-con, wifi and rooms with balconies. The reviews were great and I decided this was the one.

Everything here was fabulous. The rooms were huge, decorated heavily in traditional teakwood furniture and floors, great views over the pool area and the bathrooms even have a separate bath and shower area. I dined every night in the huge restaurant as it was not expensive and the lobby bar had comfy seats with every night a different type of entertainment.

We had jazz one night, ballad singing another, traditional music instruments another, such a delight and they even had a happy hour – what more do I need!,

Staff were really helpful and arranged my temple visit and exchanged money for my trips.

If you want a really good 5 star hotel with every luxury this is the one and booking in advance I got my luxury room with balcony and breakfast at £31 per night- amazing!

A guide and car is needed to tour.

The Angkor archaeological site is so large that unless you are totally self sufficient, you will need a car and guide to take you around this enormous site.

I saw many tourists using a tuk-tuk for the day and even bicycles. They used their own maps or just cycled in general directions.

Let me warn you again – this site is massive, you cannot walk it ! A car is the most common method as the site is so big that there are roads that take you from one site to the next within the whole area. Small tour buses are seen but they are not the norm.

I used a car and guide and I only got to see around four of the dozens of temples on the site due to each temple being huge and needing a lot of time to wander them, walk back to each temple’s car park and then drive to the next.

There was so much more I wanted to see as I had totally underestimated the size and visiting opportunities here.

Top this with the fact that even in cooler months, the weather is hot and humid. Walking around for an hour can leave you drenched in sweat and do not forget to take a water bottle, as you will need it or you will have to pay the inflated prices at a drinks station – which are not many in truth.

At least I had a cool, air conditioned car to get back into to recover in between the drives between the temples, which can be over a kilometre apart.

Buy your pass at the site

You can only buy your entrance pass at the site. You cannot get it online or via an agency or your hotel.

To get your pass, they take a photo of you at the ticket booth and scan it onto to the relevant pass with a start/finish date. You must present it to enter/whenever required. For what may seem a long process that ticket only takes about 5-6 mins to process and you can keep it afterwards as a souvenir! All Cambodians get free entry so your guide or car driver get in free (assuming they are Cambodian!)

You can get a day pass, 3 day pass or 7 day pass

Prices – it is said that you can used USD or Euros or Riels (Cambodian currency) to buy the pass but I only ever saw USD advertised. Remember that Cambodia actually uses US Dollars as its national currency for 90% of transactions. I hardly ever saw anything priced in Riels.  US Dollars are accepted everywhere and by everyone, though small amounts of change may be given in Riels

• 1 day pass – US$ 37
• 3 day pass – US$ 62
• 7 day pass – US$ 72

The ticket office is open 4.30am to 5.30pm every day.

Most of the temples in the park are open 7.30am – 5.30pm, but Angkor Wat opens from 5.30am to catch the sunrise and a couple of others stay open till 7pm to catch the sunset It is open every day without exception even all national and international holiday/religious dates

Here is the site website to check any further details – click here 

Angkor Archaeological site

A little history and geography is needed to understand this site and explain away a few misconceptions so ….. here begins the lesson !

Angkor is the old Khmer word for “city”. It has come to mean capital city.

The site is actually around 15 km x 8km in size.

It is not just one Temple, of which the most famous one we have all heard off – Angkor Wat, but has dozens of large and small buildings and Temples on the site connected by tarmacked and dirt roads.

There are the remains of wide moats, paved roads and canal-ways and several water reservoirs the size of small lakes. Angkor Wat and the archaeological site it sits in, was designated as a UNESCO site in 1992.

The site still has trees and vegetation growing wild between the buildings. There are even some small villages within the compound

It lies about 5 kilometres north of the town of Siem Reap, where all the hotels, restaurant, bars etc are located and, in effect, feed and house the millions of tourists that come here every year just to see this site.

It is estimated that nearly half of all tourist visits to Cambodia in 2019 involved a visit to this site, specifically to see Angkor wat. Those visits tallied up to just under 3 million people that same year. This may seem a huge number but given the size of the site this number of visitors spread out around it usually means there are no queues anywhere.

So why was it here covered by jungle and unseen to the world for so long and who built it !

History of Angkor Wat Temple

As explained Angkor means “city” , so what does “Wat” mean. Well it means Temple. So Angkor Wat means “City (capital) Temple”

Angkor Wat was built in the 12th Century by a ruling king of the area, as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for his Khmer Empire. He intended it to be his Kingdom’s main temple and eventually his mausoleum. By the end of the 12th Century Angkor Wat had been taken over and was converted to a Buddhist Temple.

The uppermost part of the Temple in the tower is the actual sacred area and only the high priests and royalty were allowed there. The common folk were allowed into the four walls (which are around a kilometre long each) to pray.

The temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods. There are five towers that symbolise the five peaks of that mountain, the walls symbolise the nearby mountain ranges and the wide moat is the ocean.

By the 1400s there had been so much fighting of enemies in the area that the king moved his capital from here to what is now Phnom Penh to keep his capital safe. Angkor Wat was thus largely abandoned but some monks stayed and kept the temple occupied and vibrant, but it was effectively lost as a major centre

It was rediscovered in 1840 by a French explorer who declared that in his view is was greater than any Greek or Roman ruins found – praise indeed !

Facts and figures on Angkor Wat and the site 

The Angkor Archaeological Site  is one of the largest archaeological sites in operation in the world.

• Angkor Wat  was constructed with between 5 and 10 million sandstone blocks.
• Each block weighs between 1 -1.5 tons
• The stone blocks were transported from a quarry 40 km away
• The entire city of Angkor used up far greater amounts of stone than all the Egyptian pyramids combined
• It occupied an area significantly greater than modern-day Paris
• There are over 1,796 depictions of gods in Angkor Wat 
• It is seen as so significant that Angkor Wat is featured on the national flag of Cambodia
• It is the most visited site in Cambodia
• Angkor Wat itself is still the largest religious monument in the world.
• It is one of the most visited sites in the whole of S E Asia

Right history lesson over – let’s get exploring this site.

Guide and car

My guide met me in the hotel reception at the arranged time early morning.

I was initially surprised at him as he was wearing what looked like a Rangers uniform and was around 22 years old. I at first thought is he really going to know a lot about the Wat (first impressions and all that). He introduced himself and had really good English and I met my driver for the day who didn’t speak much English but took his lead and instruction from my guide.

The beige and green Ranger uniform I found out was the uniform of the official Tourist Guides to the Site.  That made me feel more reassured and we spoke more about his experience.

Turns out he was one of the people still doing excavations on the site so has first hand knowledge of the area and he explained how we were going to visit it.

We would drive to the site’s ticket office where they would process my ticket for the day . We would drive to various Temples on the site as some are 10 mins drive apart, he would explain what we are seeing at each site and in-between and each time the driver would park the car near the building and wait for us to return. Sounded fun.

In the car we got talking about non Angkor Wat stuff and I broached the subject of politics ( tricky as the country is not as liberal as the UK.) I knew that recently the PM had banned the main opposition party, jailed many of its followers including most of its leaders and one had fled abroad to escape seizure.

The only real opposition newspaper had been closed down by the PM and fined – clearly politically motivated and condemned by outside countries.

My guide was clearly not a govt supporter and we discussed lots of political issues and the state of politics, the economy and life in general within Cambodia. We talked of his plans to marry his girlfriend and that he was saving up to do so. He lived separately from her and was astonished when I said most UK couples live together before marriage (even though most don’t marry).

This was something even he, as a younger generation, could not contemplate and would bring shame on them from the community, so was unthinkable for him.

We discussed the cost of living, his rented apartment with friends and how he works.  The whole conversation was really interesting, to get a young person’s perspective on life and the world. He was particularly interested in how much things cost in the UK, eg rent, food, my watch, my sunglasses, clothes, mobile rental etc to get a comparison to Cambodia.

By the time we reached the site I hadn’t asked one question about our visit, so enraptured in our general conversation I was. This was the theme for the day however.

Arrival at site 

After buying the ticket, and having my photos scanned onto the card we set off through the entrance in the car.

Remember here that the site’s roads are generally wide, hard, dirt tracks, sometimes tarmacked. The car parks, as such are just open air spaces under the trees. Fine in the dry weather but my thoughts were about what they would be like when it is raining and thus presumably muddy.

Gate of Taku

So here was my first sight of any part of the Angkor Wat Temple and it was the Gate of Taku. This was an entrance area, next to the moat,that lead to the Temple and my guide described the building to the side as a Library for the monks.

I was allowed to go inside the building which semi restored but being so old, there was only so much restoration that could be done.

I clambered up the stairway and in and out of the various rooms and walkways. I was amazed that I was actually allowed to walk among the ruins and touch the walls and carvings of the building of what was a site 8-10,000 years old. I had been in places much better preserved and less old and been only allowed to see it from afar.

I wondered what it would like in 20 years time after millions more visitors had clambered around this site.

What struck me was that the building was very dark brown in areas even though other areas showed the stone to be of a rose colour or dark beige. I asked my guide why and it was because various fungi/moss had attached themselves to the walls and darkened it.

He said it would all be the beige colour of sandstone if it was completely cleaned off. At the moment there sufficient funds only to restore and keep it stable and more funds would be needed for the cleaning of such a massive site – as I would see in a moment.

Angkor Wat Outer walls

The walk from the entrance gateway to the outer walls of the Temple was an idyllic trip along a mainly pedestrianised, wide, earthy-orange, clay walkway.

Passing underneath full trees and small shrubs it gave respite from the hot sun, although I still felt the warmth and humidity despite wearing just shorts and a t-shirt.

So my first time here and we headed across the field/grassed area towards the main entrance. It was  in the wall up a huge flight of steps.

I was expecting hundreds of tourists around here but so glad as I saw only a dozen or – I hate crowds and this was my first delight !

The outer walls in this area, as with all the walls round the entire perimeter of Angkor Wat, contain massive engravings. These depict a battle between an ancient King and his monkey soldiers against a major Demon. These are carved into the walls and about 3 meters tall. As the walls are several kilometres long and the carvings follow them round, they are one immense series of decorations.

They are roped off from being touched, clearly that had happened in the past from the discoloration on certain carved figures, and are so dense that it takes a while to decipher the outline of the carved action. I managed to find, with the guide’s help, the famous figures of the king and the demon confronting each other.

These carving are hundreds of years old and whilst a bit worn in areas are clear and vibrant in others. It was so good to have a guide point these out and their significance as I would surely have missed them other-wise. Perhaps the people gathering round them might have alerted me though !

Angkor Wat inner area

Once through the walls and outer area, you into the inner area below the high Temple – literally high as it towers above you . This I was not expecting as the steps up to the top were clearly very steep and the towers they ascend, about 40 metres high.

For some reason I had imagined the complex to be all on one level, like a flat  area but no, this has a massive square, wide tower structure at its centre.

The inner courtyard is again a large square that encircling the square tower edifice. Rooms abounded here, some being used for onsite offices, other just empty to look inside and others more like areas, of what may be similar in Christian circles, enclosing cloisters.

Here is where the laity or citizens were able to walk, pray and congregate. The high climb to the tower was for dignitaries and high guardians only.

Upper area of Angkor Wat 

The lower area was difficult to see unless you walked the whole four sides of the area. The dark brown lichen covered walls and roofs and everything merged into one as there was no colour differentiation.

It was difficult to see any form to the buildings and decipher shapes. Only where sections had been cleaned would the cream coloured stone show through. I felt as if I was walking through the aftermath of a burned out building.

The tower ahead and above me looked daunting. The steps were very steep, each one quite tall and there were a lot of them. The unfit tourists had clearly made up their minds to just look from afar and not climb the mountainous steps.

The queue to get to the start of the steps was quite long and I was not looking forward to standing in it with the high heat, sun and humidity belting down on us. There was no breeze inside this walled area to cool us down. Luckily the queue moved quite fast and soon it was my turn to commence the ascent.

Luckily there was a handrail to one side to hold on to and the descent was by the adjoining but sperate flight of steps so at least we did not have to navigate around those coming down. Some tourists took a rest halfway up at a platform but at least a cooling breeze was felt the higher we ascended the steps.

I eventually made it to the top but had to go to one of the outer tower edges to get the maximum breeze on my body as I was now quite hot and feeling stifled from the heat and exertion. After I cooled down I could restart my exploration.

Warning – take a water bottle with you as there is nowhere to buy one at the top and you will need one after the exertion in the heat.

From the top I could see for miles over the quite flat landscape. I was now looking down on the tops of trees so it gave me a sense of the height I was now at.

The buildings here were in small forecourts and much more delicately carved and styled. Rooms ran into rooms and it was noticeable how each doorway had a floor lintel to step over.

The areas here were for the highest elites. One area, now a huge four sided basin with large steps leading down into it, was where they would bathe for purification. It would have been filled with water in its day – no idea how they got that volume of water up here.

I walked the four corners of this upper area with its sculptured towers and turrets, taking in the view  and trying not too often to look down for fear of inducing vertigo!. There were times when I was on my own in these towers and the feeling of solitude that the Monks must have experienced was clear.

The climb back down was thankfully a lot easier than going up. The steepness of the steps did make me think that just one misstep by anyone and the immediate fall straight to the bottom would be impossible to stop – probably taking out the others in front of you too.

My guide was waiting for me at the bottom – jokingly commenting on how he did not enjoy climbing the steps his first time, but still got me thinking that I had missed out on some explanations of the upper area if he had been with me. This was a sign of what was to come with this particular guide.

Hindu Statues at Angkor Wat

We walked out the lower area towards the opposite side and my guide showed me the small prayer areas on the way and the statues of the Hindu gods Vishnu and others on the way. They had been dressed in gold robes and the areas around them decorated. This was a sign of its original purpose before being converted to a Buddhist Temple.

Near these areas were also more figurines carved directly into the stone. These were mainly Apsaras, or female celestial dancers, bare chested, moving rhythmically and dressed in traditional costumes. We were surprisingly allowed to touch these carvings, which at first I was alarmed at because of the eventual wear on them.

It was also clear that certain parts of the naked upper bodies of the female dancers had been touched excessively judging by the wear and smoothness from hand touching on them!

Angkor Wat Library and moat area.

As we left the complex we entered into a large paved area containing several buildings similar to the ones we saw on the way in. Again these were libraries  and gate areas but this time the moat surrounding the complex (remember that it was supposed to signify the sea), was more exposed, cleaned up and restored to its past glory.

This entrance/exit was paved more and the ponds had been refilled with water. It thus gave the whole setting more character and an Idea of what it would have looked like in its day. The sandstone colours shone through this freshly cleaned area and flagstoned areas had replaced the orange colours earth walkways of our initial entrance.

As we left we heard a chanting and drum beat rhythm coming from one side. A quick look over to it showed a procession of monks entering Angkor Wat via another entrance area and the large crown following them. The Buddhist religious setting had suddenly come into life!

The causeway across the moat at this point was under extensive reparations and a pontoon bridge had been build nearby in order to allow people to still get across the moat. Amazingly, the bridge floated quite well and the swishing of water under each step along with a gentle sway of the bridge was quite a novelty.

It also meant we were probably closer to the water than we would have been on the original causeway.

We re-boarded our car and at this point I was so glad of the air con inside, I even told the driver not to hurry to the next site, just so I could cool down in the car!

My conversation with my guide again turned away from the site we were in and towards politics. We discussed how the only real newspaper that held a differing opinion to the government, had just been closed down in the pervious few weeks.

We talked of how the opposition leader had been arrested on trumped-up charges to take him out of the political process and how another opposition leader had fled the country in fear after attacks. It was sobering insight into the county’s politics and was not fake news from my guide, as I had been following politics here (precisely these events).

The next visit was to a place a couple of kilometres away within the archaeological site.

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom (Great city) was another city built beside the previous and again extended overtime. It has a large moat with walls encircling the city which we had to cross. In its day these walls were 8 metres tall, each 3 km long in a square formation thus enclosing an area of 9 km square.

The city area would be about four times the extent of Angkor Wat’s grounds and at its centre was another important Temple called the Bayon Temple which was on our list of visits.

From the ground you can’t get an idea of the size of the enclosure as all around any excavated site is literally jungle, trees and greenery. An aerial view, see my map at the beginning, however will show the square moat and tumbled down walls that survive and mark the extent of the city.

Our drive between the two Temples meant we arrived at the South Gate entrance first before we got to the Temple.

Tonle Om Gate (South Gate)

The gate here was again in a paved, flagstone area that lead over the moat via a flat bridge, almost level with the water.

The balustrade along the walkway over the moat contain dozens of small figures crouched on the wall and at various points the heads had been knocked in the past but there were some that had been renovated and some new heads added. The gateway itself would have had massive wooden doors and although it was damaged around the edges, its outline gave me a good idea of what it would have looked like in its day.

The moat was as wide as a large river and with some golden boats moored on its banks, gave the crossing a picturesque feel.

Back into the car again, as having marvelled at the gate to the city ,we now had to drive through what would have been the city suburbs and non religious buildings area (presently filled with trees and bushes). Looking out the car’s windows we saw so many tourists on bikes and many in tuk-tuks.

I did wonder how they were surviving the heat and the exertion of cycling along dirt roads. Maybe the breeze as they cycled cooled them but the roughness of the tracks must have been a problem.

Bayon Temple

Arriving at the temple area we parked and my guide lead me towards a track – no Temple in site. We walked a few minutes and then, through a clearing, the outer walls of the Temple were in sight.

It looked very tumbled-down and many of the walls and edifices had clearly been smashed around somewhat. I was told that this area was bombed and fought over in the Cambodian civil war and thus much damage was done to the buildings. That explained it.

The walk into the Temple was now again via steps up to a series of curtain wall buildings  but once through the walls the central area was very different to Angkor Wat.

The Bayon Temple or Angkor Thom temple or The Smiling Buddha Temple, to give it three of its common names, dates from the 12th century. The smiling Buddha name refers to the fact that there are over 220 faces carved into walls and towers. They are assumed to be portrayals of the Buddha but that has never been truly established

The temple was erected in the very centre of Angkor Thom, this 9 square kilometres walled city. It’s form is of a high, stone, three-level structure similar in shape to a pyramid..

There are apparently 54 towers, many with ornate decorations and again smiling faces in various states of repair.

As the Bayon itself has no moat of its own, those of the city are interpreted by archaeologists as representing the mountains and oceans surrounding the Bayon’s portrayal of the holy Mount Meru.

This was definitely a popular place as there were hundreds of tourists – mainly Chinese groups (yep, as usual, groups of loud, shouting, constant selfie taking, disrespectful to the building people that I encounter all over the world! Sorry, but its true. I tried to stay clear of them but it was difficult.

I waited till groups moved away and got in the camera shots that I wanted and then enjoyed the peace as I studied and took in what I was looking at. The towers were often crumbling and in a bad state but there were so many piles of rubble that it was difficult to imagine which stones fell from where.

Smiling Buddhas and dancing Apsaras

The smiling faces were everywhere and there was lots of carvings of Apsaras on the walls that had been cleaned of the usual algae that had grown elsewhere.

There were quite a few small rooms to walk through and the continuous walking up and down levels began to disorientate me – glad to have my guide who directed me to important rooms and areas.

We giggled at the clearly phallic symbols of some columns that were there to represent fertility and in one room, a small clothed Buddha statue with candles had been kept live for the true worshippers.

I was drawn to one particular carving on a wall. It was in a remarkably good state of renovation, although the beginings of the brown algae that covers many of the forest Temples here was beginning to get a hold again.

The true colour of the Temples stone shone through and I imagined how this present brown stone coloured site would have looked in its original cream coloured clean stone.

The constant climbing and descending stairways to reach various parts of the building was beginning to tire my legs so we elected to walk round the area on one level before attempting another level.

What remained of the towers varied but there were still several with the huge Buddha faces left fairly intact. Exiting the temple via a different entrance also gave me great shots back to where we had just been.

I was certainly shocked that we were allowed to clamber and traipse anywhere in this ancient Temple over 800 years old. No constraints on where we could go which left me glad to see and feel so much of it but also my inner conservationist self despaired at the eventual damage it would cause.

I did see kids hanging from statues for their friends to get silly shots of them and even tourists (yep, the Chinese in particular), clambering up into areas where they really should not be, due to the more fragile carvings and decorations to get that pic of them there posing, courtesy of their friends.

We got back into the car and again enjoyed the air con to cool us down after 30 mins of clambering over the ruins of the temple in the hot sun.

The driver took us into an area of open land that was very busy with passing and parked traffic. There were several small coaches parked on the roads here. My guide explained that here was a collection of several small Hindu and Buddhist Temples, all within 10 mins walk of each other.

He described them as less important or architecturally interesting as the ones we had seen already and another we were about to see, so I declined to see yet more of the same.

Terrace of the Elephants

However driving past you do get the view of two raised decorated terraces. One has elephant carvings and is known as The Terrace of the Elephants. You can see these from the car or get up close to inspect them on the 350 metre long and 4 metre high wall of the massive plinth.

It served as a viewing place for the Royal Family for audiences, parades and open air events several hundred years ago.

Another is called the Terrace of the Leper King. Here again the terrace is adorned with intricate carvings of all types. The terrace was used mainly as a podium for the King to address his people. I could see these mostly from the car but would definitely look at them up close and around the area if I ever went back.

Time was precious as I had a one day pass and therefore limited in what to see. If you are into these relics and beautiful remains of these temples and edifices I would recommend a longer time pass with a good guide.

Ta Prohm Temple

My guide recommended this temple to visit for several reasons. It is big, (well, to be honest several are bigger, but it is not too big to get lost in the ruins!).

He took me so far and showed me the route explaining a few buildings on the way, but then left me to explore at my own pace as he said he would take a different route and meet me at the end with the car.

It is famous for the Laura Croft scenes of the ancient buildings in the movie Tomb Raider and it is curiously interesting to see how the fig, apple and silk-cotton trees have enveloped and imbedded themselves into the fabric of the building.

This Temple was built in 1186 and originally called Rajavihara or “Monastery Temple”. It’s name today Ta Prohm means “Ancestor Brahma”.

It has buildings honouring the then Royal family members and honoured courtiers, and was richly adorned with silks, pearls and gold – important indeed.

What is now semi-jungle within the rectangular kilometre length walls of the temple, is where the residents would have lived. It would have actually housed in its vicinity around 12,000 people.

It was abandoned in the 15th century when the Khmer Empire fell. Although UNESCO has restore it, it was decided to leave the embedded trees in the buildings and to stabilise them. This would still show the semi-jungle that had taken over the Temple, after abandonment.

Here the growing jungle lichen and discoloration was more obvious than other Temples. The shades of green lichen and then white of the stone were evident everywhere and even the thick green moss that had grown on roofs had not been recently removed.

Some of the trees were huge – enormous thick trunks and towering stems that had grown into the buildings. It looks as if molten lava had been poured in streams over some buildings and left to solidify and the results were these intertwined roots.

Much of the site still contained tumbled down boulders of the walls and they had been left in massive piles. It inflamed my curiosity of what and where these stones would be if they were re-assembled.

Walking around the area meant going up and down small wooden terraces and stairways that had been built over uneven areas. This was partially to protect the site from clambering tourists but also to provide walkways over ruined areas and to provide a path for guidance as to where to walk through the ruins.

Getting any photos around this site was proving to be a challenge. Many large groups (usually of Chinese) decend upon an area, loudly chatting/shouting across to one another, blocking views and pushing in front to get the obligatory selfies and group shots like a plague of locusts. They were disruptive and annoying – yep, I’m a tourists too but some of these were here for seconds to get a photo and move on.

None seem to take in the significance and majesty of these buildings. Ok, rant over. I Just had to wait five minutes for a group to clear off as quickly as they descended and then get the pics I wanted.

I could then stand back and study more in depth the beauty here and the fascinating way the jungle had spread its tentacles of flora into the buildings themselves.

The grounds and walkways are extensive and thankfully at some points you are on your own to enjoy it. However, not having a map and there being no or little information en-route as to where you were in the complex, the route was beginning to take on a never-ending aspect.

It was at this point that I realised I should have insisted the guide come with me to explain further all I was seeing and where we were in the complex. There were some extensive buildings and very decorated smaller ones that I had no idea as to their purpose. I felt short-changed by his disappearance at this point.

The fact he said to meet him at the end was now confusing as how did I know when I got to the end. I must have a word with this guide when I see him.

After much walking and exploring in the heat I arrived at what seemed an end point. There was signage explaining the site as if I had arrived at the beginning and there was a map to orientate me.

However the guide was nowhere to be found. I wandered around, annoyed and eventually recognised the area where we had parked the car.

I searched the car park and saw our car and approached it. On arrival the driver asked me why I was not with the guide and I explained I had lost him and he was not at the end as stated. He made a phone call and located him and asked him to get back to the car.

Explaining that I didn’t want him to leave me next time, we moved onto the next sight.

Sra Srang

The next place to see was indeed different from the others.

This was a huge manmade water reservoir that was dug in the 1oth Century. It measures 700 by 350 metres and was originally an ablution pool, or a pond used for ritual washings.

It is commonly known as the Royal Bath but everyone was allowed to use it, animals were forbidden however.

At first glance it seems huge, the size of a small lake yet this is the third smallest “baray” or reservoir in the Angkor site. The nearest other one is about 15 times the size of this one. The largest one is rectangular and over 7 kilometres long !

The baray contains a multi tiered, embarkation terrace with lion statues and carved serpent balustrades. It was built on the West side of the pond in the 12th century. Around the same time steps were built down to the pool. The terrace was probably used to embark on a boat to the artificial island in the centre of the Srah, where once stood a sanctuary, of which virtually nothing remains today.

In the evening this baray is reknown for the tourists who flock here to have a great view of the sunset. However not for me today as it was far too early and I was quite tired from the day’s clambering over ruins and admiring smiling Buddhas.

Here my guide decided to engage in some quite obvious chatting up of two blond Australian girls enjoying the views across the baray. The girls, much to their credit realised what he was attempting, and rebuffed him quite well and humorously, despite his continued advances. They seemed to understand his attentions but clearly had no intention of falling to his charms.

I did remind him that he had a girlfriend that he wanted to marry in front of the girls and he sheepishly desisted. I felt I had to diplomatically apologise to the girls for his advances.

I indicated it was time to move on for my guide and that I was quite happy now to leave and get back to the hotel.

A guide is definitely needed to understand the site and I got a lot of info from mine as well as a good political insight into Cambodia. I think I may put some ground rules out the next time I hire one however!

Siem Reap

I have to admit that I spent very little time in Siem Reap itself.

My hotel was about a 15 min walk to the centre, where most of the restaurants and bars were and so I could have spent more time there but I didn’t.

The town has very little of historical interest in itself. It has a large Museum full of stuff from the places I had visited already so it didn’t sit high on my list. I had seen enough museums so far and the hotel was luxurious so Spa pampering, sleep and resting was the order of the day here.

I ventured out to see a little of the town but quickly realised it was a modernish town bereft of ancient buildings or attractive sights. Lots of hotels and ordinary local shops in what were often quite modern stores, so that was no attraction.

The area has the royal residence at one end near the museum and Raffles Hotel and an interesting local Central covered Market and river at the other. These were however no more interesting than what had already been repeated elsewhere on my tour of S E Asia.

The pub and restaurant scene is quite extensive in many ways. It clearly caters to the tourist trade and one street is nicknamed pub street due to the number of bars that line it. I took a walk down it during the day and stopped off for a beer in one place that allowed me to people watch from the shady seating area.

I could imagine it at night being a bigger buzz of activity and the funny caption on the bar awning across the street did make me chuckle. Deriding the English accompanying “drink responsibly” tag to any alcohol advert in the UK, it adverted “promoting irresponsible drinking since 1998.”

Drinks and food were still cheap here and no doubt the competition kept it so but for me, at my age, wild times were past me and the hotel’s excellent restaurant and bar sufficed for me.

Sorry folks if you were looking for bar and club recommendations here !

So, Angkor Wat and the Angkor archaeological site having been explored, I could now rest knowing that a place I had wanted to see since I was a teenager has been done.

If I had more time I would have selected the 3 day pass and probably seen more – being the “must do and see it all” type of person that I am.

I really had no idea that this site was so, so extensive, despite researching it beforehand.

You definitely need a guide of you want to get the most out of a visit here and they are not at all expensive, especially id you are a couple or group. Hire a car to get around (again not expensive) and there are companies that combine a driver and guide in the one person to make it even cheaper.

The site is a wonder like no other I have visited, so comparisons are difficult. It would be an even more marvellous site if it was fully restored and cleaned up. But would it feel as authentic? I am not sure on that one ….. Let me know what you think!

Oct 2017