Day 3 As advised by most tourist, Sunrise in Angkor Wat are suppose to be spectacular. But me being a lazy bum and not a morning person, we did not wake up at 5am for the sunrise.
We woke up at 7.30am on Day 3, and our Tuk Tuk & Guide will be picking us up at 8.30am for the 1 day Temple visit. Ivy suggested to get a guide which will make the Temple visit more interesting. So at last, we decided to go ahead and chose Mr. Ho Ouk as our Tuk Tuk Driver for 1 day and a guide arranged by the Hotel.
The first Temple we went, were of course the Angkor Wat. This picture was taken, when the guide is still explaining about the history of the Angkor Wat and the 5 elements of Hindu’s believe which one of the element is the water. In this photo, the Angkor Wat is actually surrounded by the man made Lake.
Below photo, the guide told me the position I am standing can get a good photo shot, which it really does. Saw the reflection of the Angkor Wat from the water lily pond? The Photo could be better if the Lily pond is well taken care of, it looks so dirty.
As far as we know, Cambodia is a seriously corrupted country. As explained by the guide, our Temple visit ticket fees are collected by the Sokla co. whereby the owner is a Cambodian Tycoon and the money he collected are not given back to the Angkor Wat sites for restoration. The money are pure profit to them. The people are angry at this, but they cannot do anything to fight the riches and the authority.
Back to Angkor Wat, having a guide is really better than not having one. You’ll notice it when they show you around the temple and started telling you the stories of the Hindu’s believe, the Siva. Letchumi, the Devil and more over, they will also tell you which and where you can find a very special Apsara Dancer. They will point it out to you like in this photo below, this Apsara Dancer were actually different from the rest. It shows that the Apsara Dancer smiling with her teeth shown/visible. Or I may put it ‘Big Grin’? The guide will also show you another Apsara Dancer with a Bikini in a hidden corner of the temple, which if you are not familiar with the temple and if you have not spend days or weeks in the temple, you wouldn’t know or notice the differences and some are at hidden place in the temple.
Really thanks to our Guide, Mr. Mean Tealy he is also our Photographer of the day. Since only 2 of us travelling, taking any photos together will always be a problem, we can only get single shots most of the time or ask for help from other tourist to help us take a couple of photos together.
After Angkor Wat, we had our lunch at a local Khmer Restaurant operated by Khmer Chinese. Most of the business owners in Cambodia are also chinese, and in a way not surprising to me.
Orang Cina Boleh!! Dimana Pun Boleh!
We went to Ta Phrom after lunch. The made famous Temple by Angelina Jolie in the making of Tomb Raider. Ta Phrom is the Temple where u can see the root
of the trees covering the temple.
By the way, look at the pants I am wearing. I’ve worn the same pants for 3 days already and I will continue wearing it throughout until I get back to Malaysia.
After Ta Phrom, we went to Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom is larger and has several Temple sites in it. One of the Temple in fact is there is no indoor. You cannot go into the temple but climb up to it. Too bad, the temple is not open for visitors at this moment, and the guide also can’t tell when the Temple Restoration will be completed courtesy from the French Government.
When we were in Angkor Thom our temple visit finish at around 3pm. At that time we already feeling tired and templed-out. No more temples, playing in my mind at that time. If the guide wanted to bring us to see more, I guess I would really say no. After this trip, I would say both me and hubby are not really those historical person, and of course its amazing to visit one of the Wonders of the World, but historical sites like this.. To us, apart from the architectural, we aren’t that excited as much as the europeans as we prefer beach or scenery more than historical sites. Look at our happy face, we’re leaving the temple, on our way back to the hotel to freshen up, the Angkor Wat Road is where all the 5 star hotels are located like the FCC, Meridian etc.
The Madam Sachiko Cookies is available here. Maybe the local does not know where is it, because it is a cafe/bakery open by Japanese there.
http://sparklette.net/travel/siem-reap-madam-sachiko-cookies-angkor-national-museum/ Check out the sites. The cookies are very expensive, its sold at USD15 for 30pcs. We asked the guide to bring us to D’Artisan Angkor which is near to our hotel to look at Artisan work? The silk sold there is nice but pricey. Then we went back to the hotel and rest before going out food hunting.
After shower, we went out for our dinner at Happy Herb Pizza. Ever wonder what does this Happy Herb means? The pizza top actually has some sprinkles
of marijuana, which will make you happy!
Mrshomely 