​We have been waiting for this moment since we first starting planning this trip a year ago. As we enter Angkor Wat through the east gate, Gho Vanda explains that this entrance is less busy in the morning and it gives us much better light for taking photos. He’s right!

Angkor Wat is the largest religious site in the world, four times the size of Vatican City. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu, but later transformed to a Hindu temple. It dates to the beginning of the 12th Century, and it may have been the funerary temple of Khmer King Suryavarman II.

We start at the walls. Go Vanda explains the history of Angkor Wat and the bas-relief carvings we see here and will continue to see throughout the site.

To reach the upper levels of the temple there is a steep staircase of ~50 wooden steps. But, it is worth the challenge (both up and down). We see the inner chambers of the temple as well as have a view of the entire site.

​One of the fun aspects of the Angkor Wat is the number of aspara’s with different hairstyles which have been sculpted on the walls. A strange point is that the center of the temple is perfectly aligned with true north, as confirmed by the compass on Dan’s iPhone. William jokes that this supports the theory that aliens assisted in the construction. Gho Vanda adds to the fun by having us take crazy tourist photos at the center.

We slowly stroll toward the west gate, taking time to look back at the temple. As we walk across the causeway over the moat there is a fantastic restored head of a naga, or serpent. Wonderful!

​Angkor Wat is not an official “Wonder of the World”, but I think it’s a close runner-up.

Our next stop is a short gondola ride on the moat surrounding Angkor Thom. It gives us a different perspective of one of the gates, all under the watchful eyes of Avalokiteshvara.

It’s around noon when we stop for a picnic Cambodia-style, at a family run restaurant. We sit on the floor of a raised pavilion as the staff, Gho Vanda and our driver bring out the food and explain what it is and how to eat it. In addition to all the salads and sides a chicken has been bbq’d and cut up for us. We “tourists” avoid the feet, but our driver seems to relish chomping on them. The picnic is an unusual experience and we have fun with ​it.

We’re back at the hotel in time for some pool time and a shower before we go for High Tea at the Sofitel Hotel. A number of days ago we were invited by Bruce, the Operations Manager for our tour operator LuxeVoyageAsia, to the tea. As only Jim has previously been to a High Tea, we quickly accepted. Bruce and his boss Jeremiah are waiting for us when we arrive at the lovely hotel. While we drink tea and coffee and munch on small sweets and savories we chat with them and learn more about their company and their families. It’s fun to say that we’ve done High Tea but it is not something William and I would do frequently.

​We start our tour a little later this Tuesday morning with a visit to the city park where hundreds of fruit bats (literally) hang out. It’s amazing even considering most of them are asleep. Gho Vanda leads us a few blocks through the city of Siem Reap to a small temple. There are vendors outside selling flowers made into bracelets and also stems of lotus flowers. Some bracelets are purchased by the group and each of us are given a lotus flower to use as our offering at the alter.

​Our next stop is for a lunch of traditional foods. Gho Vanda tells us we will stop later for a dessert treat. Sure enough, a little later our driver pulls over to one of several roadside stands selling sticky rice which has been cooked in bamboo sticks. We watch the process for a bit and Gho Vanda buys some sticks. The drive gives Gho Vanda a chance to tell us a little about his background, including that he left his village and went to a Bhuddist monastery for a few years in order to further his education. A couple of years later he returned when a school was built.

The driver continues on to Kompong Kleang. A dirt road runs through a village with stilt houses lining each side. The bottom floors are easily eight feet above road level which gives us an idea of how high the river which runs parallel can rise in the wet season. Some of the houses look okay while others look like shacks. There’s no evidence of indoor plumbing. The people primarily make their livelihood from fishing and we stop to see the small fish being smoked in front of some of the homes. Just bite size, but there are hundreds on the smoker.

​We continue down the dirt road in the van to a very small dock on the river. Above us is the village pagoda/temple with a huge Buddha statue. We climb into a small boat and begin our trip up river to Kunlisip Lake. Boats ladened with snails or other products pass by us. Periodically the boatman must stop the motor and remove plastic bags and other garbage from the propeller. Later we ask Gho Vanda where the garbage comes from and he answers that unfortunately it primarily comes from the 7,500 people that live in the village. Although some NGO’s have tried to clean up the river and lake, through lack of education the people of Kampong Kleang just continue to trash the environment.

​Farm fields begin to appear on the river banks and the river gives way to Tonle Sap Lake. Our boatman navigates to a portion of the village floating on the lake. There are houseboats and even a floating school. After we have a look and the boatman has time to make a few adjustments to the motor (not reassuring to us) the boat turns down river and returns to the dock.

​The boat ride has taken longer than expected and as soon as we are on the paved road our driver is dashing down the bumpy road. Gho Vanda says we are being introduced to the “dancing roads”. He pulls out the bamboo sticky rice for us to try (and I think to keep us entertained during the 45 minutes of dancing road).

We arrive at Banteay Srei Temple 20 minutes before it closes for the evening. The beautiful red sandstone temple has only a handful of visitors and the sun is low in the sky. This makes our visit very special. The 10th Century buildings are quite small, especially compared to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. The limestone allowed for deep carvings which remain very visible today. The statues of monkey guards at the entrances are something we have not seen in the other temples. Overall, Banteay Srei Temple is quite a gem and we are very happy we have seen it.

A 15 minute drive takes us to Wooden Villa Homestay and Restaurant, which is run by a French chef. We sit poolside and enjoy our Cambodian meal along with traditional Cambodian music.

​We have a great deal to reflect on from today’s experiences.

We have an early 8 am start for our visit to Angkor Thom. Our first stop is to buy our three day passes to the historical areas. As part of the process, photos are taken and printed on the $62 ticket, I’m sure to avoid resale or “borrowing”.

We drive 15 minutes past Angkor Wat to Angkor Thom, a great ancient Khmer city near Siem Reap, built in the mid-12th century to early 13th century and probably abandoned in the 16th Century. The bridge to approach the gate has 52 statues of demons on one side and 52 statues of gods on the other. Many of the heads were stolen in years gone by but there are some remaining and several restorations. Atop the gate is a four-sided face of Avalokiteshvara, the goddess of compassion, though there are some reports the face is similar to King Jayavarman VII who built the city.

This is the face we see repeatedly on the buildings of the city including many, many times on Bayon, the centerpiece temple of Angkor Thom. The temple is quite amazing and it seems I am always under the watchful eye of one of the 216 faces of Avalokiteshvara.
 
Gho Vanda leads us on to Baphuon as well as the Terrace of Elephants and other structures within the city.
 
We continue around the large city to Phimeanakas, a royal palace. By now we’re all pooped. Gho Vonda is extremely informative, but we are hot and tired. We walk to the air conditioned van and drive to a local restaurant for lunch.

​We finish lunch around 2 pm and return to the historic area for a visit to Ta Prohm, the temple used in the film Laura Croft: Tomb Raider. This temple helps us to visualize how the jungle overtook the city of Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat before the restorations. The temple has trees and vines which have grown into the temple buildings such that they cannot be removed without harming the temple. Very interesting! It’s the heat of the day and Ta Prom is overrun with tourists. I can’t imagine what it would be like if China did not have the Corona Virus travel restrictions in place. Gho Vanda says that Kung Fu walking is required. Wild!

It’s 3 pm when we exit Ta Prohm. Our itinerary says that we will go to a Homestay run by French chef tonight, which means we will have 45 minutes to 1 hour to rest at our hotel before getting back in the van. The group revolts! We are willing to skip the 40 minute ride and the dinner at the Homestay and just relax, doing dinner on our own. Gho Vanda makes some calls and swaps the dinners for tonight and tomorrow. Yeah! We have time to relax at the pool, nap and shower.
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At 6:30 pm we go to a dinner show which features Dance of the Apsara. According to Hindu mythology, Apsaras were beautiful female creatures that descended from heaven to entertain Gods and Kings with their dance. There are different meanings in the hand gestures of the Khmer Dance, and the dance very gracefully tells different stories. The food is good and we enjoy the show.