Asian Vacation - Part 3

We arrived in the Siem Reap airport early in the morning. All visa processing for Cambodia travelers happens at the airport on arrival so we lined up, cash in hand, to get our visa. On this leg of the trip, we again joined a dozen wonderful friends. This is a large group to travel with, but our friends are all great travellers, fun and easy-going so the trip was easy and entertaining.

A fleet of TukTuks were waiting for our group when we emerged from the airport (airport transport was included in our accommodation). We rode in Cambodian style to the Two Dragons Guesthouse where we stayed. On the ride, Siem Reap struck me as a very clean and organised place.
Our friends in a Tuk Tuk.


Our early arrival allowed us time to settle into our rooms, have a bite to eat and then take in some sights in the afternoon. Our first stop was a silk factory that is run by international NGO’s and is used as an artisan training center. Our guide led us through the farm/factory and showed us every step involved in silk production. We started in the Mulberry farm where he told us all about the tree species and which ones produce the best silk. We saw the “farm”, a large room with reed baskets where the silk worms hung out and ate and spun cocoons. He encouraged us to look at and touch the worms. From there we saw how the artisans unravel the cocoons and spin the fibres into silk thread. The next step in the process was dying – all of the silk here was hand dyed using either natural or chemical dyes (the chemical dyes yield more vibrant colours but the natural dyes were impressively varied and they used everything from coconut fibres to flower petals to rusty nails). Next up was the weaving rooms. One shawl could take up to 7 days of simply weaving, not including the time spinning, dying and setting the loom. An incredible investment of time! Thoroughly impressed with the process, we hit the gift shop where they sold their handmade, fair trade silk products.
Silk worm cocoons.

After the silk farm we went for lunch, then on to the main market where they sell absolutely everything. The food in Cambodia was amazingly cheap ($1.50 for a big lunch) and absolutely delicious!! At one meal a vendor passed by selling fried spider. We couldn't miss the opportunity so the boys grossed us out by eating them.



After lunch we went back to our guesthouse and washed up before a relaxing massage before dinner. Massage in Cambodia is also incredibly cheap ($5 per hour for a good massage in a nice clean place!). Day 1 in Cambodia was great and we were looking forward to touring the temples at Angkor the next day.

Some of our group got up early enough to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat (the biggest and main temple). Shawn and I chose to catch up on some sleep and met them for breakfast. The children that hassle tourists to buy their goods is the first notable thing about Angkor. The children are clever (most can speak multiple languages and have an answer to every refusal you can think of) and relentless. They hawkers are restricted to the non-temple areas though so you only get hassled when you walk over to your TukTuk or to a shop to get a bite of food.

The temples were incredible; most were built as a show of power by kings of the Khmer Empire beginning around 1000 years ago. Our first one was Bayon in Angkor Thom. This temple is a mass of towers with 216 massive smiling faces looking out to the north, south, east and west.
Look closely for the big faces.

Next we walked up and over Ta Keo. The steep, tall steps made for a bit of hard work in the heat.



Our TukTuks picked us up on the other side of the temple and we continued on to Ta Prohm. This was my favourite temple because the jungle that had consumed it was still in place (other temples that we visited had the trees removed and were relatively restored). Colossal trees grow up through, around and on top of many of the parts of this temple creating a mystical atmosphere. Walking up to the temple, we strolled along a wide roadway in the thick jungle with butterflies dancing around us, the smell of jungle heavy in the air and the sound of traditional Cambodian music inviting us on. A Ta Prohm tree.

Friends and I at Ta Prohm.

After an afternoon nap to escape the heat, we ended the day with a visit to the main temple of Angkor Wat for a sunset visit. The temple was spectacular and is well restored. The sunset lit up the front of the temple beautifully.
Sunset at Angkor Wat.

The next day we returned to Bayon to see the sunrise. It was eerie to come back to this temple in the dark and the steep narrow passages made me a bit nervous, especially with swooshing bats zipping in and out of the doorways. Listening to the sounds of the waking jungle and watching the smiling faces of Bayon light up was a treat. We met up with the rest of our group for breakfast again and visited Preah Khan next. This is the temple that was famously featured in Tomb Raider. This one also had jungle trees emerging from a few of the ruins, but had been cleaned up much more than Ta Prohm. Shawn wasn’t feeling well so we returned to our guesthouse for another afternoon nap.

Preah Kahn temples.

That afternoon we visited the floating village of Chong Kneas on the Tunle Sap. We hired a boat to take us on a tour. We passed close by the front of the homes in the village (most people live in small boats or rafts). The villagers sat on the edge of their boats and bathed, washed dishes and laundry or swung in hammocks. The “shops” were other boats that motored over to the homes to sell them goods. We stopped at a tourist trap restaurant/fish farm. They had food, postcards, crocodiles (yes, live) and anything else that we might want to buy. A young girl paddled up in a large bucket displaying her snake, available for rent to anyone with money. It was strange to think of her parents, “here sweetie, hop in this tipy bucket with the monster snake and have fun, and make sure you are back for dinner.”.



Chong Kneas child.

The next day both Shawn and I stayed at the guesthouse instead of taking in the last day of temples. Shawn was still sick (turns out he picked up Dengue Fever – although we didn’t know it at the time) and I wanted to stay close in case he needed help. We flew out that night and were sad to leave the place (Cambodia was really interesting and we could have spent loads more time there), but even more sad to leave our friends who would be continuing their Asian vacations.