Tuk Tuking In Siem Reap!

On boarding my flight, there were about 6-8 police officers "officiating" the boarding which was a bit strange...many hours later landed in Incheon enroute to Siem Reap. Finally landed in REP at about 11pm and as I made my way off the plane and onto the tarmac, I recognize that smell of foreign familiarity. Breathing in the scent of a different place completely unknown to me yet the feeling is not a complete stranger. I flashed my American passport and five minutes later..Cambodian visa was in hand ..well I had to give them a passport photo and $20 USD first... grabbed my bag and made eye contact with a smiling Cambodian man holding a sign with my name on it. Among many taxi's and large tour buses, I boarded the tuk tuk and away we went into the dark streets of Siem Reap.

My days have been spent on tuk tuk rides, rolling the dice with my life every time I cross the busy streets, getting $6 foot massages, $3 foot scrubs, visiting the vast history that is at my finger tips and cooling off at the pool.

I've visited a total of seven temples and in my book, that's more than enough! Banteay Srey was the gem of temples in my opinion. It's further out but an enjoyable tuk tuk ride as you can see more of the Siem Reap outskirts, which is much like the ones in Africa and Colombia. You have these communities of shacks built on this dark brownish red dirt. Back to the temple... It's a gem because crowds are scarce, there's a special pink/green tone to the stones used and it just exudes preciousness. Pre Rup, they say is an alternative for a sunset spot but Phnom Bakheng is where you want to be. Ta Prohm has these amazing tree roots growing atop the temples so, that is a must see. It's also where Tomb Raider was filmed. I suppose I should watch that move now! Angkor Thom is the largest but Bayon next to it was one of my favorites. It's defined by these large outward facing sculpted images of the temple Gods into these large stones. And then there is Angkor Wat.

It's also where I would befriend these two Germans because the three of us were one of the first to arrive at sunrise hour, 5:15am, they knew the way but I had the flashlight! It's also where I would befriend a Swiss as we were both looking aimlessly for our tuk tuk drivers among a sea of them after the sunrise. Walking in circles with company is much more fun! My experience of sunset and sunrise was quite similar in that it was peaceful in the front and chaos in the back (referring to the massive crowd often gathered behind me).

There isn't much to the town of Siem Reap but the people here are so warm and nice, you come here for the temples and the best advice I can give is, however highly convinced you are that it would be a fun idea, avoid riding a bike to the temples! I've passed many bikes on the tuk tuk, I've yet to see a smiling face. In fact, many facial expressions were like mine, at about mile 100 of an Ironman bike leg, you're just over it. The best was when this couple bikes up to Pre Rup, the guy ran to the temple gates while the gal waited, he came back and said, "big steps!" And they bikes off. In all fairness, they were big steps. I think I pulled a quad muscle coming down them. Don't do it! Say no to the biking Angkor Wat!

I've had three full-ish days here and I think I did that right. The first day, I started my morning with a failed attempt to exploration. I wasn't ready for the heat, even at 9:30am, so I went back to the hotel and sat by the pool, got through three magazines and then tried again. Tuk tuking to Banteay Srey and the sunset was a success. Second day was the Angkor Wat sunrise experience and a hired guide to share the history of the small circuit temples. There were details of Angkor Wat that I wanted to photograph in better lighting which I went back to do in the early morning of my third day here. The temple was practically empty, I loved it! I'm now perched on one of the temple stones as I type this..watching throngs of post breakfast tourists making their way into Angkor Wat. I think that's my cue to go poolside until my flight out this evening. Next up, Hoi An in Vietnam!