Cambodia - The Temples :)
Cambodia was a last minute decision for me on this trip. I was due to be spending time lazing on a sun lounger on the beautiful picturesque beaches of southern Vietnam right about now. Instead as the universe works in its magical way, the weather turned quite spectacularly nasty in the South and I instead took a trip which led me to meet a lovely couple from Brazil who suggested I travel into Cambodia. Initially I was hesitant at this idea, because how could 4 days possibly be enough to see all of the temples and relax a little along the way. However they convinced me that they had seen Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples in a little under 3 days. With these facts to hand I bought a ticket that very evening with help of Clare and Anne in Saigon to travel to Siem Reap the following morning.
Of course buying a bus ticket less than 12 hours before you intend to travel doesn't always end nicely...I really must work on injecting some organization skills into my world lol! I had booked a direct bus which took me straight from Saigon through the border of Cambodia and Vietnam, organizing my visa application, straight through Phnom Penh to Siem Reap arriving early evening into Siem Reap. Avoiding arriving in the middle of the night had been really important to me when booking, especially after what had happened in Saigon with the near mugging. The journey to the border was perfect, very smooth sailing, to the point an english guy, on his way to Australia, and I stood around asking really? That easy? Really? Wow ok let's get back on the bus then. However several hours later we arrived in Phnom Penh, and while I looked around for my transfer bus to immediately continue my journey as I had been promised - I realized they had just in true asian fashion, told me what they knew I wanted to hear and I didn't in fact had a direct connection at all. I am a little ashamed to say that right about then I wanted to burst into tears out of sheer frustration and exhaustion. I held it together long enough to go to the travel counter, where they confirmed that actually I would arrive in Siem Reap at 1am in the morning in the middle of a parking lot in the middle of the city.
So as a few friends, who were amazingly awesome in comforting this tired and upset girl - you all know who you are guys, know I found myself sitting in a cafe (I couldn't find a bar for love nor money for a stiff drink) and putting on my big girl panties and pulling them up nice and high and telling myself this wouldn't kill me. And it didn't. Surprise surprise ;) Now as I am writing this, I can laugh at the ridiculousness of it and how silly of me to even expect it to be as I had expected. I mean really Caroline, you are in Asia. Vietnam of all countries. Come on now... So instead of my direct trip I actually had been sold a 4 hour wait in Phnom Penh so I sat in a cafe and drank coffee so strong I may as well have been drinking pure vodka for how quickly it hit the right spot, and lots of chocolate cake. You know how they tell you we girls comfort eat - it is a fact ;) I am not even going to tell you about the bus that I ended up on...let's just say that it most definitely was not the VIP ticket worthy bus that I had booked lol! By then I had given up caring and plugged my headphones into my laptop at the back of the bus and watched episode after episode of Prison Break - wow what an awesome series that is, and what a very handsome man starring in it. That made me smile ;)
Oh and the kind man who helped me to buy a sim card and took me to a cafe to chill out with an iced coffee on the journey between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Good people in the world.
Ah Cambodia, I will never forget the sunset that I saw that evening on the bus. It gave me such hope for a wonderful adventure, and it was absolutely right to give me such high hopes. I love sunsets. And I love adventures, so I knew I was in for the most amazing journey. And all of is unexpected, so even better :)
The 16 hour journey was more than compensated by the most amazingly luxurious hotel room I have ever seen once I arrived in Siem Reap. A very kind man collected me in a tuk tuk at 1.30am (thank goodness they sent him as it was a parking lot in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night...) and drove me off down some stupidly windy roads with pot holes the size of small thai islands, and kept turning round to smile at me as we went to make me know it was all ok. Nice ;) The room, OMG the room. I had gone onto Agoda during my sit in that cafe above and decided to blow the daily budget in its totality on a nice room and just go easy on entertainment in exchange for some luxury. I stayed in a room which was the size of my entire apartment in Bermuda, even the bathroom alone was as big as my old living room and kitchen combined. There was a bath tub (yay total luxury as a backpacker!!) and flower petals scattered absolutely everywhere on the bed, in the sink, across the tables. A huge rain shower and an enormous bed, cushions everywhere and beautiful fresh flowers. I had a gorgeous balcony overlooking the swimming pool which was set in amongst the jungle and even more flowers everywhere. It reminded me of a Balinese villa. I love that country. I was literally grinning from ear to ear at my decision to splash out on some pure self indulgent luxury in Cambodia. I was so excited I spent an hour doing handstands and crazy yoga moves to celebrate. Yes I am a little weird, but better that than normal ;)
I told the man in reception upon arrival that I would like to do the sunrise session at Angkor Wat and he smiled sweetly at me and said "no dear, you need to sleep now..." and turned away. I guess that told me to stop being so excitable. So I took his advice, slept in very late and woke up still smiling and made my way to quite possibly the nicest breakfast I have had since leaving Bermuda/England. I couldn't take his full advice and rest all day, me being me, but I did rest until lunchtime and then I booked a tuk tuk to take me to see Angkor Wat in the afternoon. It was such a special day for me, I really enjoyed it. I had been once before but with company which did not make it such a memorable occasion for me. This time around was just perfect, the crowds were thin, I had just myself for company and a lot of time and freedom to explore and get from it what I wanted which was calmness. It felt a little like visiting the Taj Mahal for me, but on a lesser scale of course. But the tranquility of it I mean. Perhaps that says more about where I am as a person now than about anything else. Regardless, it was a special day for me. I enjoyed and appreciated every second.
My tuk tuk driver was amazingly cute, I just adored him. From Angkor Wat we went to Angkor Thom to see Bayon, Baphuon and the Terrace of Elephants, then to Ta Prohm (the Tomb Raider temple). We finished the day at Phnom Bakheng - a temple that makes you feel as though you are the top of the world. A beautiful view. Well it would have been spectacular had the sunset turned out to be a special one. The idea had been to get here in time for sunset and watch the colours explode across the sky. Unfortunately the world did not co-operate so instead of colours, we got a stunning scenery view which was plenty exciting enough. While at the top I sat very quietly meditating (or trying....I am not so good at sitting still for very long) and calming my mind from a busy day and loving my life. I really appreciated every single second of the day. Such a calm, mindful day visiting beautiful temples, and witnessing amazing sights from the moment that I woke up. Very lucky.
The next morning I woke up early for sunrise at Angkor Wat, it was a little disappointing with regards to the actual sunrise. It was grey and overcast, and eventually rained! I did meet a girl who showed me how to play with the settings on my camera to create moodier effects which was interesting. I spent a little time exploring slowly again Angkor Wat and then headed back to the hotel to relax by the pool. The tuk tuk driver was keen to show me more temples but I had decided to have a relaxed day.....however I failed as by lunchtime the pool time made me restless, so I contacted the driver and off we went exploring once again. I am so glad that we did because we went to see one of my favourite temples - Banteay Srei.
Banteay Srei is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It is largely built with red sandstone, which lends itself well to the incredibly elaborate decorative wall carvings which are everywere you look. The temple is well known for its amazing beauty and is why I fell in love with it as soon as I arrived. The colours of the stone were just spectacular, and I had to keep looking away and back again as it was so beautiful. I walked around it twice in complete awe. Just perfect, so glad I decided to leave the pool and go exploring :) The only time I ever seem to sit still is when a long distance bus forces me too ;)
It was such a funny afternoon, we had planned to see some temples but the heavens just totally opened on us on the way back. The rain would not stop. I think the driver was hopeful it would stop as he simply stopped to tuk me in with waterproofs and carried on driving himself without any sort of cover. He was wetter than you can ever imagine a person being!! In the end I stopped him and said please keep dry and he just smiled and said it is ok...we stopped at the side of the road for a while and it really didn't stop. While we were there 3 gorgeous little girls came to chat to me, and sell me their bamboo toys! They were just the most open, honest and adorable little girls you could ever imagine! They asked my name, my school, my age, my husband status - all sorts of things. Being girls, they stopped at the lack of husband status a while and told me confidently don't worry you are pretty, you won't end up alone! Hahahaha these girls were no older than 13 years old! I bought some of their toys and hung one from my drivers tuk tuk as a gift for him. The girls then gave me 2 extras for good luck and safety, which now proudly hang from my backpack like christmas tree decorations. You see every
time someone gives me something for good luck, I am too scared to remove it or jinx the luck ;)
I am so pleased that I bumped into Camilia and Gustavo that day at the Chu Chi Tunnels and they told me it was possible to get to Cambodia and see so much in 4 days. I wouldn't have made the journey otherwise, and look at all the amazing sights and experiences I would have missed out on! It's been a brilliant few days in Siem Reap. I deliberately kept away from the town centre in my choice of hotel, and by only seeing the temples and then retiring to the hotel restaurant at night. I really needed some time out to be just with myself, and it was the perfect trip for me to calm down and unwind and appreciate stuff and things :)
Next stop Phnom Pehn before slowly making my way back to Bangkok for visa runs again....
Cambodia was a last minute decision for me on this trip. I was due to be spending time lazing on a sun lounger on the beautiful picturesque beaches of southern Vietnam right about now. Instead as the universe works in its magical way, the weather turned quite spectacularly nasty in the South and I instead took a trip which led me to meet a lovely couple from Brazil who suggested I travel into Cambodia. Initially I was hesitant at this idea, because how could 4 days possibly be enough to see all of the temples and relax a little along the way. However they convinced me that they had seen Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples in a little under 3 days. With these facts to hand I bought a ticket that very evening with help of Clare and Anne in Saigon to travel to Siem Reap the following morning.
Oh and the kind man who helped me to buy a sim card and took me to a cafe to chill out with an iced coffee on the journey between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Good people in the world.
Ah Cambodia, I will never forget the sunset that I saw that evening on the bus. It gave me such hope for a wonderful adventure, and it was absolutely right to give me such high hopes. I love sunsets. And I love adventures, so I knew I was in for the most amazing journey. And all of is unexpected, so even better :)
The 16 hour journey was more than compensated by the most amazingly luxurious hotel room I have ever seen once I arrived in Siem Reap. A very kind man collected me in a tuk tuk at 1.30am (thank goodness they sent him as it was a parking lot in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night...) and drove me off down some stupidly windy roads with pot holes the size of small thai islands, and kept turning round to smile at me as we went to make me know it was all ok. Nice ;) The room, OMG the room. I had gone onto Agoda during my sit in that cafe above and decided to blow the daily budget in its totality on a nice room and just go easy on entertainment in exchange for some luxury. I stayed in a room which was the size of my entire apartment in Bermuda, even the bathroom alone was as big as my old living room and kitchen combined. There was a bath tub (yay total luxury as a backpacker!!) and flower petals scattered absolutely everywhere on the bed, in the sink, across the tables. A huge rain shower and an enormous bed, cushions everywhere and beautiful fresh flowers. I had a gorgeous balcony overlooking the swimming pool which was set in amongst the jungle and even more flowers everywhere. It reminded me of a Balinese villa. I love that country. I was literally grinning from ear to ear at my decision to splash out on some pure self indulgent luxury in Cambodia. I was so excited I spent an hour doing handstands and crazy yoga moves to celebrate. Yes I am a little weird, but better that than normal ;)
I told the man in reception upon arrival that I would like to do the sunrise session at Angkor Wat and he smiled sweetly at me and said "no dear, you need to sleep now..." and turned away. I guess that told me to stop being so excitable. So I took his advice, slept in very late and woke up still smiling and made my way to quite possibly the nicest breakfast I have had since leaving Bermuda/England. I couldn't take his full advice and rest all day, me being me, but I did rest until lunchtime and then I booked a tuk tuk to take me to see Angkor Wat in the afternoon. It was such a special day for me, I really enjoyed it. I had been once before but with company which did not make it such a memorable occasion for me. This time around was just perfect, the crowds were thin, I had just myself for company and a lot of time and freedom to explore and get from it what I wanted which was calmness. It felt a little like visiting the Taj Mahal for me, but on a lesser scale of course. But the tranquility of it I mean. Perhaps that says more about where I am as a person now than about anything else. Regardless, it was a special day for me. I enjoyed and appreciated every second.
The next morning I woke up early for sunrise at Angkor Wat, it was a little disappointing with regards to the actual sunrise. It was grey and overcast, and eventually rained! I did meet a girl who showed me how to play with the settings on my camera to create moodier effects which was interesting. I spent a little time exploring slowly again Angkor Wat and then headed back to the hotel to relax by the pool. The tuk tuk driver was keen to show me more temples but I had decided to have a relaxed day.....however I failed as by lunchtime the pool time made me restless, so I contacted the driver and off we went exploring once again. I am so glad that we did because we went to see one of my favourite temples - Banteay Srei.
Banteay Srei is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It is largely built with red sandstone, which lends itself well to the incredibly elaborate decorative wall carvings which are everywere you look. The temple is well known for its amazing beauty and is why I fell in love with it as soon as I arrived. The colours of the stone were just spectacular, and I had to keep looking away and back again as it was so beautiful. I walked around it twice in complete awe. Just perfect, so glad I decided to leave the pool and go exploring :) The only time I ever seem to sit still is when a long distance bus forces me too ;)
It was such a funny afternoon, we had planned to see some temples but the heavens just totally opened on us on the way back. The rain would not stop. I think the driver was hopeful it would stop as he simply stopped to tuk me in with waterproofs and carried on driving himself without any sort of cover. He was wetter than you can ever imagine a person being!! In the end I stopped him and said please keep dry and he just smiled and said it is ok...we stopped at the side of the road for a while and it really didn't stop. While we were there 3 gorgeous little girls came to chat to me, and sell me their bamboo toys! They were just the most open, honest and adorable little girls you could ever imagine! They asked my name, my school, my age, my husband status - all sorts of things. Being girls, they stopped at the lack of husband status a while and told me confidently don't worry you are pretty, you won't end up alone! Hahahaha these girls were no older than 13 years old! I bought some of their toys and hung one from my drivers tuk tuk as a gift for him. The girls then gave me 2 extras for good luck and safety, which now proudly hang from my backpack like christmas tree decorations. You see every
time someone gives me something for good luck, I am too scared to remove it or jinx the luck ;)
I am so pleased that I bumped into Camilia and Gustavo that day at the Chu Chi Tunnels and they told me it was possible to get to Cambodia and see so much in 4 days. I wouldn't have made the journey otherwise, and look at all the amazing sights and experiences I would have missed out on! It's been a brilliant few days in Siem Reap. I deliberately kept away from the town centre in my choice of hotel, and by only seeing the temples and then retiring to the hotel restaurant at night. I really needed some time out to be just with myself, and it was the perfect trip for me to calm down and unwind and appreciate stuff and things :)
Next stop Phnom Pehn before slowly making my way back to Bangkok for visa runs again....
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