Siem Reap - Cambodia
I made it to Siem Reap, Cambodia after a super long journey and some troubles by bus. First the border took really long because they charged more for the visa than they were supposed to. Cambodia, like some other Asian countries as well, is known for corruption and I experienced it the very first minute right at the border. The luck continued on. We had to wait at a shop for the busses to pick us up. It took a couple of hours because they had a problem with the engine. We thought they fixed it, but after driving a while the bus made weird sounds and was shaking every now and then. It was supposed to take us from the border to Siem Reap. At a moment they stopped and showed most of us into the other bus till no one else fit in anymore. Two girls and I were the ones left over. The bus driver was not able to speak English, so a guy on the phone in broken English told us to that the driver will go slowly and bring us to Siem Reap anyway. We went on like that a little when it started to smell burned. The girls where around nineteen just after high school and were super afraid. We convinced the driver to pullover and talk to the guy on the phone. He tried to convince us, that everything is okay and that nothing is wrong with the bus. The girls cried and refused to get into the bus again. They offered us to wait for the otherbus to arrive to Siem Reap and then go back to get us, but that would take at least four hours and it was already dark. A truck pulled over as well, they saw us and the guy on the phone asked them if they could take us to the next town where we could wait somewhere inside or find a place to sleep. They could not speak English as well. That is when finally, I met some really nice Cambodians that made place for us in their truck cabin. There where tree seats. One for thedriver and two more. The two Cambodian guys sat on the driver seat one on the lap of the other and we girls shared the two seats. They where just smiling at us but not able to understand any word neither tell us anything. It seems that they decided to drive us all the way because a few hours later we arrived to Siem Reap and thus they spend the end of their working day driving three strangers. We decided to give them some dollars, they first refused to take it, but at the end accepted it as a thank you. From there we took a tuk tuk to a hostel andwhere happy to get a long-deserved sleep.
The nextday I rented a bicycle, drove to the place where you can buy tickets and boughtone for three days. I met a friend which I met on the slow boat in Laos and traveled with for a week. He only had a day there so we spent it together exploring the most famous temples. It was really hot and we both sweat a lot but it was awesome. Most people rent a tuk tuk driver for a whole day or even more days. Still I prefer to go by food or bicycle if the area is bigger and that is what it is. That way I not only made it to the bigger and more famous temples but also to smaller ones where we went through the jungle like nature and where the only ones exploring them of the beaten path. I would always choose that way of exploring the temple area again. Of course, I made it for a sunrise at Angkor Wat and a sunset from two different temples. Sadly, at the evening it was really cloudy, so the photographs did not turn out that great, still it was beautiful!
I spentalmost all of the three days just at the temple area and just explored the city Siem Reap when the sun went down. It has a lot of party areas, but as I mentioned in a former blog I prefer to be fit by day when traveling and therefore don’t party much while being on the road. If you enjoy party, you will love the nights here.
Nature is taking back.
Ancient gate.
The area where you find all the temples goes from tropical forests to swamps.
View from the temple Baphuon.
The famose Angkor Wat for sunrise.
And this is with how many people you are sharing this moment ;)
Young monks at Angkor Wat.
Bayon, a beautiful temple full of faces that somehow look calm and happy to me.