Siem Reap
Somehow exhausted from an easy travel day. I did nothing my first night in Siem Reap, which was very easy seeing how nice the hotel was. The Sarai Resort and Spa had only opened one month previous and was absolutely stunning. The next morning a recommended guide named Sunny picked my friend Dylan and I up from the Sarai at 9am. At the entrance to the park we bought a 3 day pass, $40! I was surprised at how pricy it was. ($20 for a single day pass.) I had mentioned that I wanted to try and hit the temples in a different order than most of the tour companies in hopes of coming across less crowds with our timing. Sunny suggested we hit Ta Prohm first. This was the temple where a part of Tomb Raider was filmed. I want to be Lara Croft, so I was more excited for this temple than all the others. It was beautiful. Unfortunately because of the restoration of the temple, parts were boarded off and there was piping and tarps around the monument, which made it seem unnatural. I understand the importance of putting together the broken pieces of such important history, just was a bit of the shame to have unnatural substances there, plus they have been cutting back the trees and vines because they are destroying the temple itself which took away a little of the charm I had seen before in pictures, none the less, I was beyond grateful to be there. Sunny knew some of the areas where the temple had no other people so I felt like it was just us exploring.
The next temple was the Bayon, known for its large smiling Buddha heads, 216 faces actually make up this beautiful temple.
The next couple temples, Preah Khan and Pre Rup reminded me a little more of the temples in Bagan, with the rusty color and less detail. I wish I had photographed the stalls outside of each temple, slowly scattered with drink and food vendors, along with woman insisting you buy another pair of elephant pants and a coconut. At the larger temples there are children following you around once you park trying to sell you postcards or magnets. I learned that the children in Siem Reap go to school half the day and then work the other half to support their families. This is because children make more in sales than adults. I also was informed that a local family average monthly earnings was $100. What a wake up call. Factory workers only make $80. Government workers make $200, and then tour guides make $500-$2000 a month. Ok, I'm getting a little off topic, but wanted to include a little info on Siem Reap, like how it has a population of 1 million and gets 5 million visitors a year. A few more photos of the temples we saw before pretty much getting a heat stroke and having to call it a day.
Later that night I dropped off some laundry at a local spot down the street from our hotel, $1 for 1 kilo. Then headed to the night market for some shopping and then onto pub street for food. An Italian joint called Il Forno had been recommended by two different people before arriving so it was a must. Incredible meal, so delicious, like holy cow. Everything on the menu was the owners grandmother’s recipes. I ate arrabiata, best I've ever had. After dinner Dylan and I decided to get $3- 30min massages, sooo worth it. I ended up getting a $5 pedicure as well. Living a champagne lifestyle on a lemonade wage over here in Cambodia.
