Angkor management! 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
OK, so the title of this piece is a real groaner but you can’t expect dignity and decorum when I’m on a roll.
The alarm went off at 6:45 this morning but I’d already been up for half an hour anyway.
Breakfast, at $5 was the most overpriced meal of the trip so far. Scrambled eggs, toast and a couple of slices of watermelon, along with some mediocre coffee. I think we’ll go looking for a congee and noodle shop tomorrow.
Mr. Lim was waiting in the lobby when we returned downstairs at 8am.
The first stop of the day was Angkor Wat, the most famous and most visited of the Angkor temples.
With the sun in the background, our first view was rather hazy and made photography a challenge. The temple itself is situated at the centre of a large rectangular man made moat. The normal causeway was under repair so we entered via a rather bouncy floating bridge of Japanese construction . We spent approximately 2 & 1/2 hours exploring the actual temple. The main temple is built in 3 levels, the lower one surrounded by walls featuring carved images of characters that represented various myths and legends from the Khmer period of Cambodian history. We did make it to the second level where we could see the main towers ( pagodas) featuring intricate carvings with a large lotus leaf on the very top. A long line of tourists was waiting to ascend to the top level of the temple. Facing what appeared to be a 1-2 hour wait we decided to pass and spent the rest of the time enjoying the peace and quiet of the eastern courtyard before returning to our vehicle.
Our next stop was Angkor Thom.
Roughly 5 times as large as Angkor Wat we entered via the South Gate, passing the heads, mostly restored, of several statues featuring smiling Buddhas. Walking through the main gate we were passed by a few elephants and their handlers as they transported a variety of materials. Our main stop here was the Bayon, a temple structure consisting of over 50 towers featuring the faces of many Buddhas. Many of the towers were in ruins, but the structure was still an impressive sight.
After a quick stop for lunch our next visit was to the temple of Ta Prohm. Largely left in its ruined state it’s buildings had been split apart by the roots of several large species of trees. Apparently the site has been featured in the “Lara Croft, Tomb Raider” a film that I have yet to see.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring several lesser sites before returning to our hotel. My iPhone tells me we covered a little over 9 km walking around the various sites- more than enough distance covered considering the temperature and the general lack of shade.
Dinner tonight was at a small “hole in the wall” called Tevy’s Place. Operated by a Cambodian woman who lost most of her family during the time of the Khmer Rouge, it offered a great selection of local dishes at very cheap prices. $9.50 in total for a noodle dish, fried river fish and home made fries, fruit salad, 2 beers and a fruit smoothie. The place is run as a sort of co-op, supervised by an ex-Dubliner named Chris and staffed by women from the nearby villages.
The alarm went off at 6:45 this morning but I’d already been up for half an hour anyway.
Breakfast, at $5 was the most overpriced meal of the trip so far. Scrambled eggs, toast and a couple of slices of watermelon, along with some mediocre coffee. I think we’ll go looking for a congee and noodle shop tomorrow.
Mr. Lim was waiting in the lobby when we returned downstairs at 8am.
The first stop of the day was Angkor Wat, the most famous and most visited of the Angkor temples.
With the sun in the background, our first view was rather hazy and made photography a challenge. The temple itself is situated at the centre of a large rectangular man made moat. The normal causeway was under repair so we entered via a rather bouncy floating bridge of Japanese construction . We spent approximately 2 & 1/2 hours exploring the actual temple. The main temple is built in 3 levels, the lower one surrounded by walls featuring carved images of characters that represented various myths and legends from the Khmer period of Cambodian history. We did make it to the second level where we could see the main towers ( pagodas) featuring intricate carvings with a large lotus leaf on the very top. A long line of tourists was waiting to ascend to the top level of the temple. Facing what appeared to be a 1-2 hour wait we decided to pass and spent the rest of the time enjoying the peace and quiet of the eastern courtyard before returning to our vehicle.
Our next stop was Angkor Thom.
Roughly 5 times as large as Angkor Wat we entered via the South Gate, passing the heads, mostly restored, of several statues featuring smiling Buddhas. Walking through the main gate we were passed by a few elephants and their handlers as they transported a variety of materials. Our main stop here was the Bayon, a temple structure consisting of over 50 towers featuring the faces of many Buddhas. Many of the towers were in ruins, but the structure was still an impressive sight.
After a quick stop for lunch our next visit was to the temple of Ta Prohm. Largely left in its ruined state it’s buildings had been split apart by the roots of several large species of trees. Apparently the site has been featured in the “Lara Croft, Tomb Raider” a film that I have yet to see.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring several lesser sites before returning to our hotel. My iPhone tells me we covered a little over 9 km walking around the various sites- more than enough distance covered considering the temperature and the general lack of shade.
Dinner tonight was at a small “hole in the wall” called Tevy’s Place. Operated by a Cambodian woman who lost most of her family during the time of the Khmer Rouge, it offered a great selection of local dishes at very cheap prices. $9.50 in total for a noodle dish, fried river fish and home made fries, fruit salad, 2 beers and a fruit smoothie. The place is run as a sort of co-op, supervised by an ex-Dubliner named Chris and staffed by women from the nearby villages.
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