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.
2 comments:
Great pictures of the temples Maggie! I loved Siem Reap and Angkor Wat...brings back nice memories!
Brave of you to go during heat of the summer; it was hot enough in February!
--Lynn
I am personally of the opinion that blogs, websites, and (if I am to refer to the current zeitgeist) twittering is a reflection of a greater propensity for hubris than for any altruistic desire to share whimsical info with others. This is partly predicated in my sheer inability to understand how to actually create such mass electronic outlets for my own self-involved thoughts - because, as Sugg is painfully aware - I would do in a heartbeat if I had the capacity. This, unfortunately leads me only to the denigration of other peoples' totally sweet multi-media websites to make me feel better about my own general e-media ineptitude. Suggz - you rock - Maggie - I only presume you rock by association with Sugz. Much love to you both.
- CPB
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