Well, we've just returned from our latest Caudle adventure in Southeast Asia, and I have to say... Wow. I am still trying to absorb and process all of the amazing sites and rich culture we have just all experienced. When I unloaded my pictures, I found that we had collectively taken about 900 pictures!! I narrowed them down to the best 150 or so and those I will post in a Facebook album. Here, I have shared what I consider to be the best 36 pictures. It was very hard to choose.
We left Singapore on Monday, 30th of April. The kids had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off from school and Scott took the week off from work (the kids missed Thursday and Friday). We planned 4 nights in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I found a hotel from Trip Adviser called Siddharta. It was awesome. It was very clean and comfortable. They were flexible with us. When I first called, I asked to book the family room, but it was already booked for the dates that I wanted. So, they offered to put an extra bed in a room for us which gave us a room with a King and two twins. Perfect. The hotel was situated about 6 km from the ruins of Angkor Wat and about 6 km from Pub Street (downtown).
We were able to book a direct flight on Silk Airlines (the regional airline for Singapore Air). It was about a 2 hour flight. Our arrival into Siem Reap was a little too exciting for my taste... A storm was blowing in. The winds were kicking up. We started to make our landing... the landing gear was out but just before I expected to touch down, the plane lurched and we pulled up back up to 4000 feet. Our pilot announced that the winds were too strong to land. We would have to circle up in the clouds until the wind passed. It was only about 20 minutes or so, but it made me pretty anxious. When we finally did land, all the passengers cheered. The Siem Reap airport is very nice and efficient. We were able to get visas on arrival, without incident.
Along with our room, the hotel assigned to us a Tuk-Tuk driver for the week. The Tuk-Tuk was our transportation all week. Our driver was named Mr. T and he was very kind.
Our Tuk-Tuk was big enough for all 5 of us. Scott and I took turns sitting on the blue seat with 2 kids. The other one sat on the black bench with the 3rd child (they took turns too). Mr. T always had cold water bottles for us (you can't drink the tap water in Cambodia). We found the Tuk-Tuk to be a very relaxing way to travel. None of the cars on the road went very fast. The wind was a nice way to cool off in the heat.
We arrived in late afternoon. After we got settled into our room, we were pretty hungry. We headed off to the down town area in out Tuk-Tuk. We found a good restaurant on Pub Street called The Red Piano. They had a good mix of food. The kids could have pizza, french fries and other not so healthy food that the kids love to eat when we are on holiday. The beer was 50 cents! Cocktails were $1 or $1.50. All the prices are in USD and they prefer payment in USD as well. It was kinda funny for us to be carrying around USD after all these months (it's been 9 months now). We couldn't believe the prices.
After dinner, we wandered around the streets a little to check out the area. Lots and lots of souvenir shops and massage parlors. Lots of restaurants and bars. Then it was time to head back to our hotel and get to bed.
It's pretty hot in Cambodia this time of year. We were advised to get to the temples early, because the sun is hot and it can be crowded. We arranged for our Tuk-Tuk to pick us up at 7:30 am. It worked out great. We had a nice breakfast at our hotel and we were ready to go see something cool! We were not disappointed.
Our first stop, Angkor Wat. The grandest of all the Khmer temples. Angkor Wat was a city and the State Temple built by King Suryavarman II in the first half of the 12th century. I could write pages on the history and significance of Angkor Wat. If you are interested, there is a great video on You Tube that we watched before our trip. Or check out the Wikipedia page.
Scott and I both visited to top part of the temple. Children were not allowed. Scott is about half way up the steps to the top in this picture (brown shirt, hard to see!).
In the bottom right of this picture, you can see some monks in their orange robes. We saw monks all over the place in Cambodia. About 95% of the people in Cambodia are Buddhists.
Some of the dancers from one of the evening shows were at the temple to pose for pictures. The girls were very happy to take a picture, but Wyatt wanted no part of it.
After visiting Angkor Wat, we were very hot and tired, so we headed back to our hotel for a mid-day break. We ate lunch and had a long swim in the pool. Then we snuggled into our beds and turned the AirCon on very cold and rested. Our Tuk-Tuk picked us up about 3:00 and we headed out to the next temple.
This is the bridge at South Gate of Angkor Thom.
Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom. This one is famous for all the faces carved into the stone.
The kids loved climbing all over the stones. This was their playground for the afternoon.
Most of the stones have a few holes in them that you can see. In the YouTube video, it explains that they think those holes were used to transport the stones. They are just the right size to fit a stick of bamboo.
Inside Bayon Temple.
After we left Bayon, there was a a small temple with these women praying. They called the children over and gave them each a red bracelet and said a prayer.
From Bayon, we walked over to Bapuon, but we couldn't go in. It is only for ages 12 and up (steep steps and still used for prayer, so quiet voices). Then we walked along the Elephant Terrace (pictured above). From there, we saw the Leper King Terrace (pictured below).
We then stopped and had some coconut water (very good for hydration) and headed into town to find dinner. We were VERY tired.
On Wednesday morning, we went to Artisans d'Angkor silk farm and workshop. We got to see how silk is harvested from the silk worms and how it is spun into thread and then weaved into fabric. It was really amazing! After the silk farm, we went to the hand craft workshop.
Once the worms are ready to make a cocoon, they are placed into a basket like this, so that it is easier to harvest them. Silk is made from the cocoon.
Lily and Madeline are holding silk worms.
The cocoons are soaked and then unravelled. Each cocoon makes approximately 40m of fine thread. Raw silk is made from the exterior part of the cocoon (thicker thread), fine silk is made from the interior of the cocoon (fine thread).
At the handicraft workshop, we saw painters painting on the silk made from the farm.
Beautiful hand carved wood. We really enjoyed seeing all of the crafts.
After lunch, a swim and a rest, we headed over to Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is unique because of all the trees that have grown in the temple complex. It's not as high as the other two we had visited but it is sprawling. It is also famous because it is the temple where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed. Ta Prohm is partly collapsed which makes it a little more difficult to navigate but it also gives it a very interesting atmosphere.
We were hot and tired and hungry after exploring Ta Phrohm. We headed into town and decided to check out the Mexican restaurant. Really, how good could the Mexican food be in Cambodia?! I was skeptical. We've been on a mission these last few months to try out all of the Mexican food in Singapore to find the best. We've been mostly disappointed. The flavor just hasn't been right. Well... It turns out that Siem Reap has the best Mexican food in Southeast Asia. Their sign said so, and it was absolutely true. We gorged ourselves. It was fabulous!
Thursday morning started with a Hot Air Balloon ride!
It's a very large balloon that can hold up to 30 people. We were fortunate because besides us, there were only 2 other tourists there. We went up about 200m, but maintained a tether to the ground. It was surprisingly windy up there and I felt pretty scared. I sat down and let the others enjoy it.
We next headed over to the National Museum. It's very well done. Lots of exhibits that help to put into mind the timeline and significance of the temples of the Khmer civilization. I think my favorite was the room of 1000 Buddhas.
We ate lunch out and then had a rest and swim back at the hotel. For dinner, we went back to Viva Mexican. We had to get some more! We headed to bed early.
We're now up to Friday and it's time to go home! Our flight is at noon, but we wanted to catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Our driver picked us up at 5:15 am and we made a mad dash to the temple grounds. The roads were full of tourist headed to catch the sunrise. We made it in time and we got loads of pictures of it. Absolutely stunning!
Bye Cambodia! We sure had a great time!
No comments:
Post a Comment