Siem Reap

This blog entry is brought to you by Carl

Sunday, April 24

We continued our streak of getting issued boarding passes with no problem despite having “no carry-on” tickets and comically overstuffed backpacks. We were flying out of a different Bangkok airport this time, and unfortunately all the cafes in the international terminal were closed “due to COVID.” Luckily we still had quite a few snacks leftover from our recent night bus, so we had a champions breakfast of potato chips and cookies. Plus the airport provided free water after throwing away our smuggled Marriott bottles. We were still slightly bitter that we would be spending more time, money, and gas to fly to Siem Reap than the bus would have taken, but the whole process went very smoothly. Cambodia only required a vaccine card and a visa which we had completed online. It was one of the easier countries to enter in Southeast Asia, likely attributed to their impressive 97% vaccination rate.

The obligatory crying baby seated right next to Anni calmed down as soon as we arrived to our transfer in Phnom Penh. The difference in culture was palpable; everyone seemed to have a smile on their face and politely took no for an answer when we said we did not need a Tuk-Tuk. We spent our few hour layover at the only non-western chain in the airport, having some surprisingly good coffees and some very average fried rice. We would also give in to some Krispy Kreme donuts and a Dairy Queen Blizzard before leaving though.

Our flight to Siem Reap had a total of 7 people on it, which was good because our bloated backpacks were nowhere close to fitting in the tiny overhead compartments. We opted for a Remork (Cambodian Tuk Tuk which is a motorcycle attached to a cart) to our hostel, and were happy we did because our driver was adorable and we agreed to have him drive us to the temples the next 2 days.

We were staying at the Mad Monkey Hostel, a known party place, but we were still in sleep debt from the night bus and had sunrise plans the next day, so we slipped out for dinner and back incognito to not show our age. We ate dinner at the first place we saw serving food. We had 2 beers, spring rolls lacking the all-important peanut sauce, curry that just tasted like lemongrass, and a hamburger all for $10.

Monday, April 25

We met our Remork driver Yut (who we though was named Jus until we saw his name in writing) at the agreed upon time of 5am. We bought a ticket for the temple complexes which, because of some current deal, we were able to buy one day pass and use it for 2 days. Bleary eyed and already sweating from the heat (already mid 80s, felt like 100 with humidity), we arrived to Angkor Wat as the sun started to rise.

Distant chanting and music could be heard as we exited our cart and started the march towards the towers on the horizon. The cicadas were so loud, they were deafening. It felt like we had the place to ourselves, so different from the blogs we had read describing hoards of people. It was magical, though the occasional wafts of mustiness and the oppressive heat would bring us back to reality. We would end up spending 3 hours at Angkor Wat marveling at the architecture and taking too many pictures. Another American we met there described it as “the most photogenic place.”

Yut then took us to breakfast at a slightly overpriced place but it was still cheap by any other countries’ standards. We were fine with knowing our driver likely got some deal out of it. I downed an orange Fanta in 2 seconds and then we ate some beef Lok Lak (Cambodian dish) and a pretty good pork sandwich. Anni had a thick mango shake and a surprisingly good coffee.

The next temple of the day was Bayon, which had been built a century after Siem Reap when the new king favored Buddhism rather than the Vishnuism of Angkor Wat. The Khmer empire appeared to pick a new religion whenever the prior one didn’t seem to be working out for the people, and most of the temples had some mix of Hinduism and Buddhism as statues would get replaced with the current trend. Bayan was smaller than Angkor Wat but the details were more impressive, and a roaming family of monkeys added to the experience.

From Bayon, we walked to some neighboring temples and terraces, which were less impressive than the first 2, and the oppressive heat was starting to cloud our vision. We hiked all the way to the top of a temple called Baphoun because we have self control issues, and I think it was pretty but delirium had set in by then. My phone said it was 97 degrees but feels like 107 with the humidity. We found and chugged some cold water from the all too happy merchants who were somehow wearing sweaters, and staggered back to our Remork. The shade from the cart and the wind from movements revived us so we agreed to do one more temple for the day.

That was Ta Prohm, most famous for being used in the filming of Tomb Raider. Anni and I had been discussing the pros and cons of the extensive renovations and rebuilding that had been done at Angkor Wat and Bayan, so it was very cool to see this temple where minimal renovations had been done and much of the rubble and vegetation was left intact. Giant banyan trees were ripping up large parts of the temple, and we did our best Indiana Jones and Lara Croft impressions exploring the ruins.

We got back to the hostel around 2pm hoping to jump in the pool, but unfortunately the young British lads who made up most of the Mad Monkey hostel clientele were involved in extensive splashing and pool wrestling, so we opted for a cool shower and some AC time. We decided to join the hostels planned activity for the evening, a “sunset BBQ with beer,” at 4pm.

Out of the 17 participants, Anni was the only female. However this did make us the favorite of the female guide Ellie, who made sure we got first beers. We gravitated toward the only other possibly 30 year olds, an Australian named Stephen and a Frenchman named Illy. The tour started by plying us with beers and then driving us out of the city in Tuk Tuks. We then got a tour of a rice farm. Already tipsy, standing out in a rice patty with the young British lads who were not expecting this was such a treat. At one point I was hopping on 1 foot and swatting off some biting ants when my flip-flop (which was already hanging on by a thread after a Full Moon Party getting-foot-stepped-on incident) finally broke. I held it up in defeat and the Ken doll-looking Dutch lad next to me said “me too” and held up his broken flip-flop as well.

After learning about rice and lotus farming we sat down at a table to marvel at the sunset and eat dinner. We were first served frogs and snails, which were delicious and even approved by our resident Frenchman. We then got Chicken kabobs which were also good, and served with a tasty spicy tofu sauce. Full and properly drunk we returned to the hostel…and it was only 8pm. We snuck back to our room to, again, not appear old and went right to bed.

Tuesday, April 26

We got to sleep in a bit more as we had agreed to not meet Yut until 8am, but that meant it was already roasting when we loaded into the Remork. We started at Banteay Srei, an older temple far from the rest known for its intricate pink sandstone carvings. Although Anni was mildly hungover from all the cheap beers the night before, we were less tired overall and spent a lot of time in the museum section on the premises, learning about the history, building practices, and religions of the temples.

Next stop was Preah Khan, which like Ta Prohm had been left mostly in situ, and we would later agree this was the best of the lesser known temples. Crawling through some doorways I was certain a booby trap was going to go off. By the end of our time there heat fatigue was setting in though. Yut brought us to another tourist restaurant and we shared pineapple fried rice and grilled eggplant with beef which was the winner of the tourist spot meals.

Feeling ready for a nap, Yut instead pointed across the street to a floating bridge, saying the next temple was over there. We obliged, making it to an island with a small temple on another island within the island, with heat delirium again in full effect. The temple itself was underwhelming but we found a bench and sat for a few minutes in the shade.

We masochistically allowed Yut to take us to one more temple, Ta Som, which had some neat face carvings at the front gate and another cool banyan eating the back gate. Completely drained of all life, Yut mercifully took us back to our hostel and we said our fond farewells. We then stood in front of the AC until we collapsed into a nap.

For dinner we decided to go to a nicer restaurant, landing at Chanrey Tree. I got a Passion fruit margarita and Anni had a Mojito, both boozy but good and sipped via a lemongrass shoot. For food we had a fish curry, the best taste so far in Cambodia, and something called “pork delicacy,” which was basically a larb served with a variety of lightly cooked vegetables we were unable to identify. They were not cake. Overall it was a great setting and a great meal, all for $30.

We walked back along pub street and imagined what it must have looked like pre-pandemic. I grabbed some new flip-flops and a new T-shirt to replace the ones that were now more sweat than cotton, and because it’s hard not to buy a T-shirt when they are only $1. We had another beer at the hostel, and marveled that anyone could party after such exhausting temple days. Unable to find Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, or an episode of Legends of the Hidden Temple on Netflix we settled with the recent remake of Jumanji and actually really liked it.