We loved Cambodia! It had everything - great sights, great weather, great food and great people. It was a very nice surprise and we wish we could have stayed longer than three days.
We landed in Siem Reap which is a small town in northwest Cambodia. We didn't spend any time in Siem Reap as it's the surrounding area that's remarkable. The area is called Angkor and it was the centre of the Khmer Empire that ruled much of southeast Asia from the 9th to the 15th centuries.
Kings of the Khmer Empire loved to build and they built many cities and temples within Angkor. Angkor was a huge interconnected community with a size equal to today's Los Angeles and a population estimated at 1 million.
The kings built spectacular temples and the most impressive is Angkor Wat. It is 900 years old and has a unique design with a mix of Hindu and Buddhist elements. You say "wow" as soon as you see it.
Next up was Angkor Thom. It was a city within Angkor that was built 800 years ago.
Angkor Thom had a population of over 100,000 but all that remains today are the city's temples. The reason is the Khmers used stone as a construction material only for religious buildings - only the gods were worthy of high quality building materials. Everything else (including the king's palace) was made of wood which disappeared long ago.
This was the end of our touring for the day but Vanessa kept her camera in hand and took a few great photos.
This last photo is a page from the menu of our hotel's restaurant. It mentions "cooler and drier" months for Cambodia - in these months, they have daytime highs over 30 degrees Celsius, nighttime lows over 20 degrees and almost 100% humidity. Knowing this, the comment about needing to keep cattle warm at night made us laugh.
More great stuff to come from Cambodia!
Vanessa and Blake
We landed in Siem Reap which is a small town in northwest Cambodia. We didn't spend any time in Siem Reap as it's the surrounding area that's remarkable. The area is called Angkor and it was the centre of the Khmer Empire that ruled much of southeast Asia from the 9th to the 15th centuries.
Kings of the Khmer Empire loved to build and they built many cities and temples within Angkor. Angkor was a huge interconnected community with a size equal to today's Los Angeles and a population estimated at 1 million.
The kings built spectacular temples and the most impressive is Angkor Wat. It is 900 years old and has a unique design with a mix of Hindu and Buddhist elements. You say "wow" as soon as you see it.
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| The central buildings of Angkor Wat |
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| View of the temple's outer walls - 1 kilometre across and almost as long |
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| Us between the outer walls and the central buildings |
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| There are lots of carvings of devatas (Hindu guardian spirits) on the temple's outer walls |
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| The long walls of the central buildings are covered with carvings depicting Hindu stories |
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| Close-up of part of the walls |
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| There are several Buddha shrines in the temple |
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| One of many long corridors in the temple |
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| Steep steps to the main temple |
Next up was Angkor Thom. It was a city within Angkor that was built 800 years ago.
Angkor Thom had a population of over 100,000 but all that remains today are the city's temples. The reason is the Khmers used stone as a construction material only for religious buildings - only the gods were worthy of high quality building materials. Everything else (including the king's palace) was made of wood which disappeared long ago.
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| Entrance to Angkor Thom |
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| Bayon Temple at the centre of Angkor Thom |
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| Each of the temple's towers has four faces (one facing each direction to watch over the city) |
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| Close-up of one of the faces - all are smiling |
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| Detailed carvings on the walls including this one of the Khmer army |
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| Baphuon - another temple within Angkor Thom |
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| Much of Baphuon had collapsed and it has taken 50 years to restore it |
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| They're still working on the central tower |
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| This area with elephant carvings was used by the king for public ceremonies |
This was the end of our touring for the day but Vanessa kept her camera in hand and took a few great photos.
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| No one drives fast but they do lots of other unsafe things (texting, no helmets for kids, etc.) |
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| Frogs were a regular visitor while we ate dinner |
This last photo is a page from the menu of our hotel's restaurant. It mentions "cooler and drier" months for Cambodia - in these months, they have daytime highs over 30 degrees Celsius, nighttime lows over 20 degrees and almost 100% humidity. Knowing this, the comment about needing to keep cattle warm at night made us laugh.
More great stuff to come from Cambodia!
Vanessa and Blake
