Siem Reap (Week 36.5) March 8, 2009 A 2.5-day visit to the temples of Angkor, in Siem Reap province, was eye-opening... and hot. View fullsize After exhausting Bangkok Airport's 2 km shopping zone, we sit down and wait for the flight. View fullsize We were actually served full lunches on the 35-minute flight! View fullsize Alighting takes place old-school-style ... View fullsize ... walking across the tarmac, into Siem Reap International Airport. View fullsize Our "boutique" hotel was ultra-modern and comprised 7 rooms total. View fullsize I'm told Viroth is a Thai name. View fullsize In downtown Siem Reap, motorcycles are used for transporting all sorts of things. View fullsize Mum models her hat as we walk into town. View fullsize The town's streets were lined with tuk-tuks à la Cambodge... View fullsize ...which are really rickshaws pulled by motorcycles. View fullsize There were several markets in Seam Reap, almost all of which catered to tourists. View fullsize In Thailand, we do not hang bananas. View fullsize A touristy restaurant we walked past. View fullsize Relaxin' at a bar-esque restaurant. All restaurants are open-air, despite temperatures in the high-30s. View fullsize I'm not sure what kind of business this is. View fullsize Traditional Cambodian scarves were sold at almost every shop and stall. The US dollar is king. View fullsize Nevertheless, change is given in Cambodian Riel for amounts less than US $1. View fullsize An old, European-inspired house is left abandoned on the side of a road. View fullsize Girls ride home from school on their bikes. Bikes are a very common form of transport here -- for locals and tourists alike. View fullsize The next morning, up and out by 5am to see the sun rise over an ancient man-made lake. View fullsize We were in the company of another 3 dozen tourists who'd come for the same reason. View fullsize Wondering why he's awake and out here at this hour. View fullsize Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right. View fullsize Tourists interspersed with locals trying to sell stuff. View fullsize Sun, sun, sun here it comes. View fullsize No one can avoid the sellers. From these, they bought a book on the temples. View fullsize Back at the hotel, breakfast in the hotel's roof-top restaurant. (And barely awake.) View fullsize Baguette and croissants. L’influence française, non? View fullsize Waiting to depart (again) on our Day of the Temples. View fullsize First stop, the famous Angkor Wat. View fullsize It's surrounded by a moat, which must first be crossed to access the main temple grounds. View fullsize Wedding processions often stop here to take photos. View fullsize Inside the temple's first wall. View fullsize A view of the first enclosing wall, from within its confines. View fullsize Walking along the enclosing wall, to look at its carvings. View fullsize Another look back at the first enclosing wall. View fullsize And a look forward, toward the center of the complex. View fullsize Still not sure what this horse was doing. View fullsize Some old sugar palms. View fullsize Everybody takes... View fullsize ... this photo. View fullsize A view of the second enclosing wall, from its outside. View fullsize And the famous, extremely detailed bas-relief carvings that line the second wall. View fullsize A view back out toward the entrance. You can see the sun rising in the background. View fullsize Examining some of the more elevated carvings... and dressed to blend in with the walls. View fullsize A neat structure used to restore the roof of this wall. One rail on either side of the temple wall allows the scaffolding to slide along its length. View fullsize Once inside the second enclosing wall, climbing up inside the central structure. View fullsize A group of Korean tourists takes a breather. View fullsize Two women disguised as peacocks... were there for no apparent reason. View fullsize The stairs to the highest-most point, which tourists are no longer allowed to climb. View fullsize Testing out the reverberations of the so-called "echo chamber". View fullsize A monkey appeared out of no where and sat down in front of the Buddha. View fullsize Some uninterpretable cautionary images inside the temple's bathrooms. View fullsize Cicada spotting. Utterly hopeless. View fullsize Back next to the moat, about to leave Angkor Wat. View fullsize The sculpted rear of the temple's guardian lions is too curvaceous to ignore. View fullsize Brief next stop: the oldest of the Angkor temples. View fullsize It's made of bricks, which were probably carved before firing. View fullsize A boy tries to control his cow... unsuccessfully. View fullsize Next stop: Ta Phrom, a temple that has been overgrown by the jungle. View fullsize In the background, you see the volcanic rock that was widely used for all the temples' construction. View fullsize A really tall, dead tree that will be taken down bit by bit. View fullsize One of many huge trees that's grown on top of parts of the temple. View fullsize This tree is clutching a piece of the wall. View fullsize Mum dares to step inside its grasp. View fullsize He can't hide -- too red in the face. View fullsize Kind of creepy, no? View fullsize A boy familiar with the site walks around. View fullsize An unusually stringy tree takes over this corner. View fullsize Help! View fullsize Some less-disturbed areas of the temple. View fullsize Lunch break! View fullsize The region's own beer. View fullsize Vegetarian lunch -- Khmer-style curry stir-fry and short-grained sticky rice. View fullsize Last stop of the day: Bayon, the central temple in an old city complex. View fullsize These posts used to form enclosing walls like at Angkor Wat. View fullsize These wildlife carvings seemed much more 2-D than those of Angkor Wat. View fullsize Ascending to the temple's upper level. View fullsize There were huge stone faces all over. View fullsize Our tour guide claims this is the shot everyone takes. View fullsize Heading back down the steep steps. View fullsize Dinner that night at a 100% vegetarian Khmer restaurant! View fullsize Mmm, veggies. View fullsize And onto the night market, yet another of Siem Reap's many tourist stops. View fullsize Dr. Fish, a foot "massage" joint where the fish eat the dead skin on your feet. View fullsize More colorful cloths -- mostly silk. View fullsize Why pedal your bike when you can drive it? View fullsize Water buffalo take their time crossing the street. View fullsize I think we saw these tourists yesterday. View fullsize Last stop : Banteay Srey, a temple made of red sand stone and volcanic rock. View fullsize Look redder than the others? View fullsize This temple was also surrounded by a moat and tall trees. View fullsize No tall structures in the background of this one -- it's all on a single level. View fullsize Mum positions herself as the center of this tour group's attention. View fullsize The monkeys having a pow-wow in the middle of the complex are not originals. View fullsize One last group shot. View fullsize Not everything has stood the test of time. View fullsize A refreshing drink ... View fullsize ... and a relaxing garden lunch. View fullsize A Khmer-style egg salad featuring fried, hard-boiled eggs. View fullsize This garbage pot is made of old tires! View fullsize One street featured a string of cheerful pizza joints. View fullsize Back at Siem Reap's hopping international aiport, the only departure was... ours. View fullsize A man checks out the beautiful Thai woman. View fullsize A view of Cambodia from the air -- very flat, and very sparse. View fullsize And back in Bangkok's suburbs... wanna live in a new development?
