I got up super early a few days ago and shared a tuk tuk with some friends I met on the bus, and for $5 USD each we had him for the day! He drove us around to all of the main temples. We began with Angkor Wat, perhaps the most famous part of one of the most recognizable temple complexes in the world! The temples are ENORMOUS, made of large stones and with crazy intricacies built into each one; each temple (there are so many!) stands apart in its own way! Next, we went to Angkor Thom (a small city almost..) which contained many more temples, and continued on the smaller of the two loops finding a few more temples along the way and then up this famous mountain for sunrise!
A couple of days later, I was lucky enough to go with my Cambodian friends by motorcycle around to a famous temple up North called Banteay Srei and then went to the landmine museum! This was particularly interesting to learn about how many amputees there are in this country and how many are innocent civilians! The museum houses amputee children and takes care of them with the funds they receive; this I think is great! The creator of the museum is a Cambodian man who defected from the Khmer Rouge and joined the Vietnamese Army. he has a wildly interesting account of how one day he saw his uncle on the battlefield and had to lie to his friends about why he was not shooting him. Years later after the war, they both survived and had a laugh over the story, as his uncle never knew that they were shooting at one another! It is smart not to wander too far off the beaten path because there are still many active landmines in Cambodia!
We stopped for a delicious local treat of rice noodles in a coconut curry, dazzled with basil leaves and banana shreddings...DELICIOUS!!!
From there, we went down south to the Roluos group of temples (still a part of the Angor Wat pass) and saw three more lovely temples!
Yesterday I went back for my third day at the temples and saw a few more before being done for a while! Next stop, LAOS!
Side Note: The currency is Riel here, about 4,000 to a dollar. Don't worry it's not like there are billions of bills and coins flying around, as 100 riel notes seem to be the smallest notes available, or at least the smallest ones that I have come into contact with. More commonly used are US Dollars...quite strange. Most prices (at least in tourist zones) are listed in US Dollars...so strange to be using my home country's currency in another country... So since there are not coins here, if something costs 75 cents, you give one dollar and get 1000 riel back (usually in the form of one 1,000 riel note or two 500 riel notes).
A couple of days later, I was lucky enough to go with my Cambodian friends by motorcycle around to a famous temple up North called Banteay Srei and then went to the landmine museum! This was particularly interesting to learn about how many amputees there are in this country and how many are innocent civilians! The museum houses amputee children and takes care of them with the funds they receive; this I think is great! The creator of the museum is a Cambodian man who defected from the Khmer Rouge and joined the Vietnamese Army. he has a wildly interesting account of how one day he saw his uncle on the battlefield and had to lie to his friends about why he was not shooting him. Years later after the war, they both survived and had a laugh over the story, as his uncle never knew that they were shooting at one another! It is smart not to wander too far off the beaten path because there are still many active landmines in Cambodia!
We stopped for a delicious local treat of rice noodles in a coconut curry, dazzled with basil leaves and banana shreddings...DELICIOUS!!!
From there, we went down south to the Roluos group of temples (still a part of the Angor Wat pass) and saw three more lovely temples!
Yesterday I went back for my third day at the temples and saw a few more before being done for a while! Next stop, LAOS!
Side Note: The currency is Riel here, about 4,000 to a dollar. Don't worry it's not like there are billions of bills and coins flying around, as 100 riel notes seem to be the smallest notes available, or at least the smallest ones that I have come into contact with. More commonly used are US Dollars...quite strange. Most prices (at least in tourist zones) are listed in US Dollars...so strange to be using my home country's currency in another country... So since there are not coins here, if something costs 75 cents, you give one dollar and get 1000 riel back (usually in the form of one 1,000 riel note or two 500 riel notes).
RSS Feed
