Part 1 (this blog) - Siem Reap
Part 2 - Ha Long Bay
Part 3 - Battambang
Part 4 - Ho Chi Minh City
Part 5 - Sapa and Hanoi
Part 6 - Mekong Delta and Cu Chi Tunnels
I'm starting this blog series off with Siem Reap because it was one of the highlights of my trip (and also because of the fact that it seemed like every single person on Facebook was also heading here these holidays).
Lowlights:
Weather/Environment:
Accommodation:
We stayed at the Siem Reap Riverside Hotel, which sounds amazing but it was only alright. It is next to the river however the river is quite dirty and so it's not as amazing as it sounds. They forgot our breakfast though for the sunrise at Angkor Wat and because we didn't want to miss anything, we left with just a roll of bread in each of our hands. Also, the concierge was evidently gay and evidently trying to hit on my brother.
Overall:
Would definitely recommend a visit to Siem Reap; you might think that it will be really boring looking at temples all day long but each temple looks really different and it wasn't something I got bored of easily
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
We originally planned to arrive on the afternoon of Boxing Day, but since we had a terrible bout of food poisoning, we had to postpone our trip for a few days and ended up arriving on the evening of the 28th. Since the Angkor Wat passes activate at 5pm the following day for visitors to view the sunset, we originally wanted to do this on the 26th, but since we could only get an evening flight, we had to skip out on the sunset.
Thankfully, we were still able to go to the sunrise the following day on the 29th. We woke up at about 4am to leave our hotel at 4:30am to arrive at Angkor Wat around 5am. We bought the passes, which has a photo of you printed on the ticket and makes for a good souvenir.
The sunrise was one of the craziest things we experienced. Not because of the actual sunrise (it was a bit anticlimactic after waiting over 1.5 hours for an okay view), but because of the environment. There were crowds of people with selfie sticks blocking views, there were vendors laying out artworks and painting the sunrise as it occurred, and there was just a lot of energy for so early in the morning.
The craziest thing, however, were the market vendors. In the pitch black of the pre-dawn, we had a tiny Cambodian man with a large and rounded head come up to us and ask, "Would you like a coffee?", shining a torchlight on a laminated menu of hot drinks.
We told him, "No thank you."
He then told us not to stand where we were standing, as we would only see four of the Angkor Wat pillars. He ushered us to another section (which he claimed was the best position for taking photos) and showed us a photo on his phone showing us the view from that spot and how we would be able to see all five pillars (although that photo he showed us was definitely nothing like whatever we saw).
We thanked him, to which he would reply, "Will you come to my shop after the sunrise?"
We said, "Yes, if we want a drink we'll come to your shop."
He then said, "Okay. My shop is Number 5. You come to my shop after the sunrise."
"Shop Number 5, okay!"
To our shock, he then responds, "Yes, my shop is Number 5. My name is Harry Potter!"
"Harry Potter?!?!"
And he walked away.
The shock factor of it all definitely made us remember his name and shop number.
Later, another shopkeeper came up to us asking if we wanted any seats (the sun would only rise at about 6:40am), since everyone was standing. We happily accepted this offer, only for him to ask whether we could go to his shop (Number 10, my name is Jame [pronounced Chiam]) after the sunrise in exchange for the seats. We said we would, and were shocked yet again when Harry Potter appears seemingly out of thin air (my brother says he must know how to apparate) and goes, "But what about me?! You said you would come to my shop!"
We hastily had to assure him we would go to his shop as well as Jame's, since we had a family of four and could split up.
That morning was filled with bizarre experiences, including witnessing the cunning tactics of shopkeepers. Jame brought out 4 chairs for us, but my mother and brother never sat down, and I only sat down sometimes, so most of the time our seats were unoccupied, and if someone else came and sat on them, Jame would ask my dad if he knew them, and if he didn't, Jame would ask the person sitting down whether or not they were going to buy coffee off him. If they said no, he would ask them, "But... you're sitting on my chair!" (He had written on the back of the chair that it was his at Shop Number 10) "If you are not going to buy coffee from my shop, you have to pay me $2 for using the chair!"
Another thing I overheard:
"Don't forget to come to my shop! My name is Rambo 2!"
"Rambo 2?! I'm definitely not forgetting that!"
(I later saw that there was, indeed, a shop named Rambo 1 right next to Rambo 2)
After the sunrise occurred, my dad was already at Jame's shop at Number 10 while my brother and I made our way towards the shops. We saw our dad at Number 10, and we see Jame waving his hands frantically at us saying, "Yes, over here! I am Jame, my shop is Number 10!".
Once again, out of nowhere, Harry Potter has apparated in front of us saying, "But you said you would come to my shop! My shop is Number 5, I am Harry Potter!" We agreed we would go to his shop and followed him. He disappeared and I was about to sit at a seat at Number 5 when my brother wanted to sit in the shade at a seat at Number 4, Lady Gaga's shop.
I said, "But isn't he Number 5? This is Lady Gaga..."
To which, once again, Harry Potter apparates out of nowhere and says, "Doesn't matter. Same same. Harry Potter, Lady Gaga, same same."
Meanwhile, Jame is really upset that we sat at Number 5, and he asks my dad why we are at Number 5. My dad says we agreed to split up because both Jame and Harry Potter helped us, and once my mum is done taking photos, she will come to Number 10.
So then Jame goes all the way to where my mum is taking photos (he probably walked 100m just to get to her) and asks her if she will be going to his shop. She told him she would, and he says, "But... your children are with Harry Potter!"
And my mum had to say, "Look, don't worry. I will sit with you."
So that experience was definitely something. It surprised me how they knew how to give us that shock factor to catch our attention. There were all sorts of names on those signs, such as James Bond and even Manny Pacquiao, so it was evident they even kept up to date with what were the latest popular things in the Western world.
Another thing was that when Jame and Harry Potter first saw us, we were in the complete dark. Sure he might have shined a torch at us, but I don't remember him doing that (and I surely would have remembered being blinded by a torchlight in the pitch black). Even then, in the broad daylight the both of them could spot us from so far away and even run up to us and shout at us to go to their shop.
We also weren't the only ones; while we were sitting down we could see all these shopkeepers running up to people saying, "You are coming to my shop, yes? You said you would buy coffee from my shop! My shop is Number (whatever) and my name is (whatever)!"
To think that they do this every day, remembering people, trying to get people to promise they will go to their shops, and just relying on the moral obligations of people is amazing, and something that I will never forget.
Apart from that, Angkor Wat was actually not that amazing. The walkway was interesting; you could see monkeys on the trees next to the walkway, you could see how the rails had collapsed in certain areas, and you could see how the huge Angkor Wat slowly became larger and larger until it was looming up above your head.
It was only 9am or so, but it was starting to get real hot. The temple itself was not that amazing to look at. I mean, it was huge, but everything was just sort of all the same.
There was also this long line of people wanting to get to the top of one pillar, which didn't even look that high, and we just couldn't be bothered waiting around for so long (the line was huuuuuuge, snaking it's way around the side of that block).
Ta Prohm
Up next was Ta Prohm, my favourite temple of all.
At first you have to walk through this short trail in the forest, and you pass by a band playing music, and the entire band is consisted of victims of land mines, so they have missing legs, missing arms, some are blind, etc.
Shortly after, you get to Ta Prohm.
More commonly known as the Lara Croft temple, this temple is famous for the trees which have planted their roots into the walls of the temple.
I'm the type of person that loves nature, and loves looking at how things grow. I find it so fascinating to see how roots and trees behave differently in different environments, and so I loved this entire temple.
The temple was great because you could catch a break from the sun and just loiter around the shade, but the one downside was that there were immense crowds. There was a line for posing in front of the Lara Croft tree, and at the end there was literally no space to breathe. Everyone was so cramped in the temple trying to get out, you would have thought we were at some rock concert or something.
Angkor Thom
Our last stop was Angkor Thom, a huge kingdom that comprises of three main temples/features.
First up was the Terrace of Elephants.
It was nothing special but had some really intricate artworks sculpted into the walls and an interesting elephant feature.
Next up was the Baphuon Temple.
It had this long walkway and at this stage we were all sweating profusely, the heat draining all the energy from our limbs, and when my brother and my mum saw the walkway, they just sat down.
I'm not even kidding they gave up entirely and my dad and I were left to look at the Temple (and thus, all the photos of Baphuon will be phone photos so there is a dip in quality of photos in this section).
I really liked this temple because my perfectionism loved the neat and organisational layout of it. It was pretty much a square temple, so you just walk around until you get to the stairs, then you climb to the next level.
Speaking of stairs though, there were so many very tiny and very steep stairs, it was so exhausting, but it gave us a really good view of the area, and I was pretty upset that my brother and mum missed out on this great experience.
The last section of Angkor Thom was the Bayon Temple, a big temple famous for the heads of Bayon.
This temple wasn't super impressive after the Baphuon temple though.
Pub Street
At night, there is the famous Pub Street to visit. It's got a lot of shops, a lot of souvenirs, quite a few massage parlours, and a fair share of interestingly weird foods (think spiders and crickets).
It's also not just one street, as the name might suggest, but a collection of small laneways to go through, so you can spend quite a bit of time here.
After a full day of walking, my mum and I got foot massages done as well.
Other than that, there's not that much going down that is worth the words, except the fact that mthey have fried spiders and stuff like that.
Tonle Sap Lake
Yeh don't even bother with this one. There are some cool stilt houses on the lake but the lake is nothing special. It literally looks like shit. The water is all brown and muddy and the surrounding areas aren't even that great. I thought our taxi driver took us to the wrong area but I spoke to others about it and nope, everyone just saw boring and underwhelming brown water.
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