3 Days at Angkor Wat

Haisun and I are leaving early tomorrow morning for the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, after 3 days and 4 nights in Siem Reap. I have to confess I really like Cambodia so far, so we'll see how things hold up during our next two days in the country. On the 5th we go to Vietnam, to hit up Mui Ne, Hoi An, Hanoi, and Halong Bay.

For the last three days we have been traveling by bike or tuk tuk to various temples and ruins of Angkor. Our first day was Angkor Wat itself, most of Angkor Thom, Ta Keo, and Ta Phrom. Ta Phrom, which looks like it's straight out of Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones, was probably my favorite of all. The rainforest has started to dramatically reclaim the temple, with trees growing through the structures and moss covered ruins everywhere. For day two we took a tuk tuk to the further out Kbal Spean with the River of a Thousand Lingas (a beautiful carved riverbed, 2km into the jungle) and the pinkish sandstone temple Banteay Srei. Banteay Srei and The Bayon in Angkor Thom tie for second, as both are really beautiful, with Banteay Srei's intricate carvings and The Bayon's impressive 216 faces of the king. Today (day 3) we headed out on bikes again to Preah Khan, one of the largest complexes and somewhat similar to Ta Phrom in jungley-ness, and saw the Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King at Angkor Thom. Whew.

That's enough ruins and temples for us for now. We're planning on going the educational route in Phnom Penh and visiting some museums on the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian history and art. I've really enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap, though, and very glad we rented bikes two of the days to get around. The countryside here is really beautiful, and it's great to see it a little bit slower than speeding by on a tuk tuk. We've witnessed some gorgeous sunsets and a thousand other amazing sights. (You'll see when I post the pictures...)