Siem Reap, Cambodia

Chris and I recently spent 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia. A short 3 hours by air from Hong Kong. We got a great deal going on the cusp of rainy season. The only downfall was the HEAT. It was around 90 degrees with 90% humidity and all the temples are very exposed. The city of Siem Reap was very quiet compared to high season. Our hotel, Khemara Angkor Hotel, had 120 rooms but only 21 were booked while we were there. Instead of the breakfast buffet we got room service every morning. Not bad! Some hotels were completely shut down due to the low number of tourists. We were lucky enough to only have rain showers at night. We lost power one night for a few hours. All the restaurants stayed open, so we enjoyed a cold beer and dinner by candlelight.

We had a private guide and car for our trip. You'll see our knowledgeable guide "D" in some of the shots below. What a great deal - just $25USD for the entire day. We were surprised to learn that U.S. dollars are the preferred currency there. Tuk Tuk rides were $1 and 2 bottles of water were $1. Between the entry visa, temple passes, and airport fees we ended up spending more than expected. The area is very dependent on tourism. We felt good about spending the money there in hopes to help boost their economy. The city is very developed, but the country side is still quite primitive.

Enjoy the pictures and please excuse any of my mistakes naming the temples. I should have been taking notes during the tour! This show includes: Angkor Thom, Bayon, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, Phnom Bakheng, and of course Angkor Wat.

Outer Temples

Our second day of touring was even hotter than the first day. I wasn't as good about labeling as our first day...Our guide took us to some of the smaller "outer" temples outside of Siem Reap. We also made a stop at the landmine museum and learned a lot about the tragic history of Cambodia. A former child soldier of the Khmer Rouge, Aki Ra, dedicated his life to de-mining Cambodia. He was safely removed over 50,000 landmines. Sadly, thousands of active landmines still exist in Cambodia. We also visited a memorial site of the many victims killed during the Khmer Rouge in areas know as the "killing fields". Almost a third of the population were wiped out during this time.

On a much lighter note we really enjoyed our journey. The temples are truly unbelievable and the Cambodian people very welcoming. We feel very lucky to be able to visit such an incredible place.

Random - Mirror Falls Hike from this spring

I thought I would share some photos of 1 of our last hikes for the AWA hiking group for this season. June - August are too hot for some of the longer more difficult hikes. Chris and I will continue to hike this summer, but will stick to covered and shorter trails.