DAYS 42-44 SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA “ANGKOR WAT - THE JEWEL OF ASIA”Havinggotten used to the luxuries of

DAYS 42-44 SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA “ANGKOR WAT - THE JEWEL OF ASIA”Havinggotten used to the luxuries of Vietnam’s sleeper buses, filled as they were with faux-leather beds and well-manicured farang backpackers (and I suppose to some extent I was one of them) one could have been forgiven for thinking that all of travel in Southeast Asia had succumbed to the new age of traveller comfort. Thankfully this was not the case in Cambodia. The journey on the tired-looking sleeper bus (pun unintended) from Phnohm Penh to Siem Reap was full of humble locals. This sort of mingling of peoples had not really happened in Vietnam. We weremaking our way westward to the temples of Angkor, the jewel of Asia. Angkor is considered theunofficial eighth wonder of the world on account of the scale and beauty ofits temples. In the centre of it all is Angkor Wat, the famedtemple which accompanies every photograph of Siem Reap (pictured above).Theanticipation of seeing these magnificent ruins whetting my appetite, I endured alargely sleepless night to Siem Reap. Luckily I found myself sleeping next to a lady who was as quiet as I was.I would bestaying at ‘Happy Guest House’ It was indeed a happy guesthouse, with smiley staff. I opted for a single room rather than a dorm, which at $7/night was hardly a premium. Well itwas early morning so I decided to catch some sleep after the long journey. Itwas only meant to be a quick nap but I really was tired and found that by thetime I had woken up it was already afternoon. This is definitely one of thedownsides of taking sleeper buses - you often do not actually get any sleep!I hadintended to make a foray into the town, but the comforts ofin-house catering and wi-fi soon took over and I decided tomake myself at home. I thoughta pumpkin soup would go down nicely. Big Mistake. It was barely edible - far too sweet - which was annoying as I had waited perhaps an hour for it!Chips itwould be…I didhowever take the opportunity to book my sightseeing. And the next day I set offtogether with two strangers, Tim the German and Oli the Canadian, to start thetour of Angkor.I won’tbore you with the details of our movements over the following days, but we sawsome really wondrous sights: Sunrise at Angkor Wat; Bayon temple with its 216giant faces; Ta Prohm the “Tomb raider” temple covered in improbably large treeroots; Banteay Srei with its features so intricate that it was said only awoman could have built it; and my personal favourite Ta Keo temple – a templewith precariously steep steps and without the comfort of a handrail, where youthought you would fall off any moment!When wewere not touring the temples we did of course have to pay homage to another ofSiem Reap’s treasures: Pub Street. A welcome relief from the day’s hiking, if alittle (with British understatement) touristy. I also took what was nowbecoming a seemingly regular massage – and at $5.00 who was complaining?Now thatwe had covered the most important areas in Cambodia I would have to startmaking some difficult decisions. One of the issues was that I could only reallyallow myself a week in Cambodia and would need to travel north to Laos to beginthe next phase of my travels. I could go south to see places like Kampot (ofKampot pepper fame) and many of the islands which were now becoming popular. Oreven Battambang and Sihanoukville again in the South. However thesedestinations would involve a long detour away from Laos and would have meant mespending more time in a coach than actually enjoying those placesThealternative, and this was much more attractive to me, would be to go to some lesstouristy regions in the east such as Ratanakiri and Mondol Kiri. These places hadareas of natural beauty, and would allow me to see rural Cambodians in theirelement.I gotspeaking to an Israeli guy around my age and he agreed this was an interestingidea and was interested in joining me. Unfortunately his planned movements madethis impractical – and as this would mean I would be alone in a rather remote areathis was not desirable. But crucially the monsoon season would be approachingsoon and I was worried that the already bad roads would be made even worse,leaving me stranded and my plans being disrupted.So wherewould I go?There wasa small town in the middle of Cambodia called Kratie, home to the Irrawaddydolphin. It was not exactly where I had planned to go but it seemed like anagreeable compromise, and would allow me to visit somewhere less touristy. -- source link

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