Siem Reap…Angkor Wat. Six kilometers and nine hundred years separates the Cambodian city (Siem Reap) with the historical Khmer capital (Angkor Wat). Siem Reap is a tourist town - the majority of the city’s 250,000 citizens rely directly or indirectly on visitors to the Angkor Archeological Site. There is a wide range of accommodation and restaurants available - which means if you've been traveling for three months dining on Mexican food and burritos is perfectly acceptable.
Prior to visiting the Angkor Wat site it's beneficial to visit the Angkor National Museum, a well laid out museum, takes you on an historical journey that explains the various Khmer reigns, temple construction phases, and religious symbolism of motifs carved in temple towers and walls. After this short visit you will have a greater understanding of the sites you are about to visit - Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm.
Angkor Wat is crawling with tourists. It’s a relatively long walk from the parking lot to the main temple - I crossed a perfectly square moat and through a gate before the UNESCO heritage site appeared. It’s narrow passageways, doorways, and stairwells meant a traffic jam entering and leaving certain areas. While summitting the central tower behind a seventy year old woman with a cane, I had time to pause and wonder how wild this site must have been fifteen years ago before all the wooden stairs and walkways were put into place.
After a long walk along the northern face, I finally stumbled upon the point from which the requisite Angkor Wat photo is taken. I looked around because it didn’t seem quite like the spot but an unusual natural cropping effect and reflection that creates a rare instance in which the image in the camera is better than the naked eye.
Prior to visiting the Angkor Wat site it's beneficial to visit the Angkor National Museum, a well laid out museum, takes you on an historical journey that explains the various Khmer reigns, temple construction phases, and religious symbolism of motifs carved in temple towers and walls. After this short visit you will have a greater understanding of the sites you are about to visit - Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm.
Angkor Wat is crawling with tourists. It’s a relatively long walk from the parking lot to the main temple - I crossed a perfectly square moat and through a gate before the UNESCO heritage site appeared. It’s narrow passageways, doorways, and stairwells meant a traffic jam entering and leaving certain areas. While summitting the central tower behind a seventy year old woman with a cane, I had time to pause and wonder how wild this site must have been fifteen years ago before all the wooden stairs and walkways were put into place.
After a long walk along the northern face, I finally stumbled upon the point from which the requisite Angkor Wat photo is taken. I looked around because it didn’t seem quite like the spot but an unusual natural cropping effect and reflection that creates a rare instance in which the image in the camera is better than the naked eye.
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The next stop through the Khmer ruins is Angkor Thom. I think to a person, one will contend that Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom is as impressive as Angkor Wat - it’s not as large a complex but the novelty of giant faces carved into each of four sides of all the temple towers leaves as lasting an impression. For some reason, there were much less tourists at Angkor Thom than Angkor Wat - this made the site easier to enjoy and take in the viewing at your own pace.
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Elephant Terrace is a stop between the temples:
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The last major stop is Ta Prohm, which may be most famous for serving as the setting of the film Tomb Raider. Just as Angkor Thom is distinct from Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm is distinct and a worthy visit on its own. The attraction here isn’t the temple or carvings but instead the way that nature has conquered the temple. Trees have grown over the temple complex literally “suffocating” the stones and towers to the point that they have collapsed. Tree bases may be found on the roof of a temple or passageway with their roots drooping over the sides to the ground below. The complex was more of a maze then the others; a wrong turn and I was blocked in by crumbled stone. The jungle’s takeover made it feel as though you were discovering the temple for yourself - in spite of a reoccurrence of high tourist volumes.
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If you are looking for something different to do in Siem Reap after a long day walking around temples you can head to Angkor Wat Putt. It's a 14 hole miniature golf course with several Angkor Archaeological themed holes. After two months in SE Asia, I’ve been keeping my eyes open for something different and a miniature golf course in SE Asia is about as different as you can get so I hopped on a bike and pedaled to the outskirts of town. Angkor Wat Putt made for a fun night out under the lights. It’s a challenging course but with an Angkor Beer in one hand and a putter in the other my final score didn’t matter. The highlight of Angkor Wat Putt wasn’t just the course but a conversation afterwards with the owner, Mr. Tee (I think he changed his name…I think). We talked business for about 30 minutes and Mr. Tee shared his insight on the tourism industry and some personal background on his life in Cambodia.
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For additional Siem Reap photos see FLICKR ALBUM.