The post below details my time in Riem Seap, Cambodia on Oct 5 - 6, 2014.
Oct 5, 2014:
Today I traveled from Bangkok to Riem Seap in Cambodia. I needed to take a taxi around 7:15AM, so I was up around 6:15 AM. I checked out with much head nodding, surrendering my luggage to many helpful bellmen while they hailed a taxi.
The taxi was a meter, but he didn't cover the tolls as I learned on the first one...as we approached he turned to me for the money. Luckily I remembered the amounts from Friday - the first would be 50 THB and the second would be 25 THB.
We got to the airport so fast - a great driver, plus no traffic. Note to self - next time, explore Bangkok at 7 AM on Sunday morning.
I flew Bangkok Airlines to Cambodia. I was cheap in buying this ticket and was expecting to have to pay dearly for the weight of my baggage. The line for check-in was ridiculously long, when I noticed a baggage drop off line associated with a kiosk check-in. So I went to the kiosk - lots of agents helping and then headed to baggage drop-off. I was the only person in line there. I put my bag up and it was 33.7 kg...the heaviest of the entire trip...oh great. All of those special Bangkok purchases! She said I had to removed a few kg since they had a limit of 32 kg. I took out a large bottle of water and put it back on the scale to figure out what else I needed to remove. It had dropped to 32.6 kg...she said, that's enough. Wow...nice. I stood waiting for her to tell me it was going to be $70+ US, but she tagged it, put a heavy sticker on it and then handed me my claim ticket, pointing the way to security. Thank you very much Bangkok Airlines!
I still had my left over "premium lane" card from China Airlines flight and I noticed that the regular security line was terrible, so I thought I would try my luck. The agent took a double look, but allowed me in the Premium security and immigration access lines. Very nice!!
There were no issues with security, no pat downs, no baggage search.
Once in the terminal, there were tons of high-end shops; however, no bookshops/convenience stores with postcards. I finally found a keychain at a Thailand specialty store.
A cool display in the airport:
I had a breakfast sandwich at Burger King along with hash browns...so tasty!!
The flight was uneventful. It was mostly full of an Indian school group.
No issues with immigration or customs in Cambodia. The taxi driver was waiting with my name on a sign, so loved that convenience. I never found an ATM at the airport...so never got Cambodian cash.
The roads to the resort started off pretty good - mostly paved, but complete disregard for any lanes, traffic laws, etc. We were passing in on-coming traffic, across double lines. After about 10 minutes, we turned onto a mud road - probably typically a dirt road, but there had been much rain. It was very rough roads to the resort with major pot holes. Was surprised that the driver was so careful.
The resort folks met me at the entrance and were extremely welcoming. Early check-in was available and was very easy. I got unpacked and settled, then scheduled a 2-hour massage.
I was rather hungry now, so decided to have lunch at the resort, by the pool. Lunch was chicken stir-fry with lemongrass and a diet coke.
In the room I noticed that laundry service was available and was very cheap - $0.60 for a pair of underwear. So I put together a full load of laundry and took down to the front desk.
At 3:00, it was time for my 2- hour massage. I think I fell alseep for much of it, but the best part was the head and face massage at the end.
After the massage, I ended up sitting by the pool for a very long time - lots of journaling.
The pool area of the small resort:
I even had dinner by the pool/bar with some wine. Tomatoes and mozzarella to start, then a grilled beef with french fries. Both were pretty disappointing, but shouldn't expect too much. The beef was so tough and pretty poor quality. Funny - someone else tried to order it after seeing it on my plate, plus it was the special. Suddenly it was no longer on the menu...they only had one serving!
I met group of 4 guys that had been by the pool earlier - all nice. All caucasian, but lived all over - China, Shanghai, Orlando and LA.
Off to bed around 12 midnight.
October 6, 2014
Today was my only full day in Cambodia.
I got up and ready by 8:35 AM. I went down for breakfast in the courtyard area by the pool. I selected tea, OJ, baguette with butter and jam and fresh fruit. As I sat there, I got more and more hot. It was already very humid and quite warm. I could feel the sweat forming and ultimately starting to run down my chest and back. I already felt nasty and had been outside for all of 10 minutes...this might be a long day!
I had to go back to the room to dry off my sweat and then headed back down to meet the guide. I ended up being a few minutes late - about 9:05 AM. Perhaps badly, I've learned that it doesn't matter if I'm late for a private tour - it is my tour and my time to be used as I'd like.
It was the same driver as who picked me up from the airport. The guide was a truly certified guide - with a uniformed shirt and official badge and ID.
I had arranged the small circle trip which included 3 major Angkor temple areas - Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom. As we were exiting the resort, the guide mentioned that I would need to buy a Temple pass for $20 US...that would have been helpful to know in advance!
I did not leave the resort yesterday and everything that I had was just charged to the room - taxi, massage, lunch, dinner, etc. - so I didn't realize that while Cambodia has their own currency - the Cambodian Riel - everything is quoted in and payment is expected in US cash. I didn't bring much US cash with me (less than $100) since I assumed I would not need it until my last stop in Hawaii. I just happened to put about $45 US in my wallet before leaving the room, thinking I could try to exchange that as needed.
The pass office was about a 10 minute drive from the hotel. There was a huge line on the front side of the building, but we pulled to the back. Evidently there's a special desk just for the official guides. The guide escorted me up, my picture was taken, I handed over the $20 US and within about 30 seconds I had an official pass for the day which included my picture. I had to show the pass multiple times throughout the day.
After another 10 minutes of driving, we arrived at Angkor Wat. Upon initial arrival at the temple site, I'll admit I was a little disappointed. All that you see is the outside gallery and the tower is mostly gone (from weather and destruction during the war with Thailand in the 1980's). We get out of the car and head towards the structure. The guide begins to tell me more about the history of the Khmer civilization from around 800 until around 1500. During this time there were about 65 kings all of whom tried to build a temple to preserve his legacy. Given the short reigns of most of the kings, many of the temples were never finished. Angkor Wat is one of the exceptions since the king (Survavarman) was in power for more than 50 years. It was built over 30 years in the early 1100s. The temple grounds were built with very high-quality materials and at the peak had over 300,000 people working on it - in the quarries getting the stone, smoothing the rock, building it, chiseling the sculpture, etc.
Some pics of the gallery:
Carvings in the Gallery:
This was the original god structure that was at the top of biggest tower, but was moved to the gallery over time. It's ten arms were broken off during the war in the 1980's:
One of the reasons that Angkor Wat is the best example of surviving architecture from the Khmer period and why some consider it one of the 7 wonders of the world is because of the quality of construction. The most exterior portions are very large pieces of limestone. The limestone blocks are so large, perfectly smoothed and aligned with the paired pieces that no cement or other binding material is used in the construction. Underneath the limestone are layers of volcanic rock. The fountain has many layers of sand, all submerged in water to make it very strong. There is a man-made moat that surrounds the entire Angkor Wat complex - partially built for protection, but also to keep the foundation wet, thus very strong.
An aerial shot I found of Angkor Wat for you to get a perspective of the size:
We walked the first causeway the crosses the moat to explore the first gallery. What is so spectacular seeing so close in the gallery is all of the detailed carvings that were done by hand. Almost every surface is extensively carved with incredible amounts of detail. Surprisingly, much of the carving has survived since it was covered.
From the first gallery, then we proceeded towards the main temple and I suddenly was awe struck. The grandeur and size of the main temple is shocking and breathtaking. There is a main causeway that connects the first gallery to the main temple. There are very exact dimensions for the causeway which are associated with the lucky numbers of Hinduism.
One of the key pictures everyone has to take is the reflection of Angkor Wat on the lake:
Many of the relief carvings throughout the temple are of Apsara dancers...in various sizes.
All of the temples in Angkor are built with odd-numbers of levels. Angkor Wat has three levels. The original staircases between the levels are incredibly steep. The center staircase was the easiest and only used by the king. The side staircases were used by the rest of the royal family and attendants (the common people were not allowed into the temple)...and these were the ones that were very, very steep. Luckily, more modern staircases were built in one section so that tourists could climb to the top. The center temple is over 50 meters high and offers spectacular views of the area. Nothing in Siem Reap can be built higher than the center tower of Angkor Wat.
Getting ready to go back down the stairs!
Made it down:
After more than an hour of exploring Angkor Wat, we walked out the east (or back). This did not originally exist, but a causeway was built across the moat on this side in the 1900's. We found a few more structures along this way.
Before I realized it, we were out of Angkor Wat and the driver was waiting for us. How perfect!
The guide and I jumped in the car, enjoyed a cold bottle of water (the temperature and humidity was really rising!) and we were off to the next stop - Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm now has multiple nicknames - Jungle Temple as well as the "Tomb Raider" Temple. In the Angelina Jolie movie "Tomb Raider", this is the temple that was used throughout the movie. I never saw the movie, so all of that spectacle was lost on me.
On our walk into Ta Prohm, there was a band playing. All of the members were handicapped by land mines throughout Cambodia:
This temple is mostly in ruins. The king that started this temple fell from power before it was finished and after time, the site was abandoned, with the jungle taking it over. There are very large, mostly hollow trees that are growing up in the middle of much of the structure. Restoration of the site has been in progress for many years with only a small portion completed.
The one restored section:
When we finished at Ta Prohm, it is nearing 12:45 PM and the guide suggests that we stop for lunch and then head to the last site after lunch. We headed to a nearby restaurant that served Cambodian food. We walked in and I thought he was going to join me for lunch. He directed me to the table after talking with the host (this makes it sound fancy, which it is not!)...then tells me to enjoy lunch and take my time. So I ended up having lunch by myself.
I ordered a stir-fry with chicken, mushrooms, carrots, lemongrass and a few other things thrown in, along with rice. It was quite tasty and just a little spice. I had a glass of mango juice to go with it.
In all of the temple sites and just outside of the doors at lunch, there are small kids - probably around 5 or 6 years old trying to sell you things - postcards, magnets, books, whistles, bracelets and various other useless things...all $1 US. They are very persistent and don't stop when you say no, they just try harder, following you along. Usually after about 50-75 feet, then they give up. At the restaurant, I was looking for the guide after finishing lunch...evidently the kids are not allowed in the restaurant...but about 7 of them were waiting at the "exit" (it was all open air, so not exactly a door). As soon as I stepped out, then the pleading started. I didn't see the guide, so I stepped back...pleading stopped. It became a game - in and out, in and out - selling starts, selling stops. When I would stand "inside" the small group would line up with puppy-dog eyes waving their goods, but wouldn't say a word and I would shake my head - no. When the guide finally arrived, they followed us all the way to the car.
For the afternoon, we headed to the Angkor Thom area which has several temples, and we visited three of them. The afternoon heat and humidity was much worse than the morning. We passed through the Victory Gate entrance. When we got out of the car, the guide said that we would be walking and touring for almost 2 hours...I may have groaned.
After seeing Angkor Wat, all of these temples paled in comparison. The first one (Phimeanakas) was surrounded by multiple swimming pools - the Royal Palace which had been built with wood on in this same area too, but no longer existed and the area had been taken over with trees. The towers of the top level and all the covering at the top were missing. The steps to the top were also quite steep - the guide really dissuaded me from any interest in climbing to the top.
Victory gate entrance:
The entry gate into Phimeanakas:
One of the swimming pools:
The second temple was a bit larger (Baphuon), but much of it was in ruins.
The last temple (Bayon) was quite interesting - it had faces carved in many of the surfaces - so offered many cool pictures. There were also very impressive relief carvings that told the story of the temple being built - the workers in the quarry, bringing stones, the carvers, the making of meals, etc. These were all surprisingly very well preserved even though they did not have much covering.
Some of the incredible hand carvings detailing the construction of the temple:
I was so happy to see the driver's car as we left the last temple. I don't think he was expecting us, as the driver was asleep with the windows down.
We passed tons of moneys on the way out:
We headed back to the resort. I apologized to the tour guide when getting out that I didn't have more US cash - I could only give him a $5 tip.
Back in the resort, I asked about spa availability as well as about my laundry. I went to change clothes into swim trunks and headed to the pool. I got a diet Coke and almost immediately got in the pool. It felt so good...I was still so hot. I swam a few laps, floated, just had a great time in the water.
Within about 30 minutes - around 4 PM, it started raining very hard and never really stopped for the rest of the night. A few times that it slowed down and the workers would clear the pool deck area, but never completely.
When the rain started, I moved to a table next to the bar and stayed there for a while. My view for a while:
At one point, my laundry was delivered...so, I took it to my room, changed out of my wet clothes and headed back down.
Talking with folks at the resort, we covered so many topics, but what I found my interesting is the way that people in Europe and Asia travel is so unlike the US. For them to come to Cambodia is like us going for a long weekend to Chicago or NYC. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful destinations within the US that I think we somewhat isolate ourselves...I think I read a statistic during this trip that less than 30% of US citizens have a passport.
Given the rain, many of us decided to stay in for dinner at the resort. I had the creamy curry with chicken and rice...it was delicious!!
Off to bed around 12:15 AM.
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