[Pixels of] Part I : Siem Reap

Last night in Siem Reap and I am contented.

The Siem Reap adventure is coming to an end, and it went beyond my expectations. 3 nights in Siem Reap is sufficient to slowly savour every attraction that this place has to offer.

We arrived at the Siem Reap International Airport and our tuk tuk driver was waiting for us with a sign with my name on it.

Trip Advisor didn’t disappoint me at all, in fact if it was possible to rate this villa more than 5 stars, I would have done so. The Golden Temple Villa is highly recommended on the site. The customer service is the best that I have ever experienced. The front desk helps guests to arrange transportation and tours without taking any commission. Other than that these things are free :

1 time 30 minute legs and back massage
Welcoming drink
Banana, tea, coffee in the restaurant
Wifi and computer room to use the internet
Booking services
Toiletries
2 bottles of drinking water per night
Tuk tuk pick up from airport/bus station
Service with a smile 🙂

All for USD20 per night!

After checking in to the villa, we boarded a tuk tuk to explore the town and familiarize ourself with the villa’s surroundings. We visited :

Angkor National Museum

Killing Fields

These skulls and bones belong to the victims of Khmer Rouge. Innocent people who died at the hands of a cruel leader – Polpot.

Artisans D’Angkor

The artists at this Arts Centre come from rural areas. They are trained to paint silk, carve stone and wood, paint and also help to restore the Angkor Wat. They also sell the art pieces to the public and this helps to generate an income for the artists.

Later that night we walked down to Pub Street to catch the Apsara dance performance while we have our dinner at Temple Club. The night life in Siem Reap is hectic! A stark contrast to the day time, which was a lot calmer.

Day 2 is of course my favorite day in Siem Reap as we visited the legendary Angkor Wat. We opted for the 1day sunrise tour. I am obsessed with sunrises and sunsets, my friends can verify this fact, simply because the sight is undeniably romantic. We then climbed the stairs of Angkor Wat to the very top.

The following photos do not do justice to the magnificent Angkor Wat at all.. Forgive my lack of photography skills as I was only using my phone’s camera. :p

The final climb to the top :

This is the peak of Angkor Wat which we finally conquered! 😀

There are other temples which are equally beautiful to Angkor Wat. We boarded our tuk tuk again and visited Bayon, Ta Prohm and also Terrace Des Elephants.

The next day, we joined the Khmer cooking class at the Temple Club for USD 10 per person. We learnt to cook the local appetizer, main dish and dessert. My menu was fresh spring rolls, Shrimp Amok and banana dessert.

After the class, we visited the War Museum. Cambodia was at war until 1999. Basically they were at war with their own people. Khmer Rouge, headed by Polpot, was killing innocent people who were educated to make sure they do not defy him. Because of that, children were losing parents and joining the army just to get food. One of them was our tour guide at the museum, who lost 4 fingers and still have bearings from a land mine embedded in his shoulder.

The next day we boarded a train from the Cambodia-Thai border to Bangkok which was definitely an adventure! Look out for Part II – Bangkok! 😉