Weekend in Siem Reap

While my grandparents visited us, we took our first trip to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is a tourist town known for its close location to ancient temples, including the famous Angkor Wat. We went there expecting a quiet weekend away from the city and got a bustling tourist town. From great and unique restaurants, to tons of hotels and plenty of massage parlors, you could tell how much of a tourist town it was.

On our first day, we went to see the temples. We started in the Angkor Thom complex. This used to be a big and busy city in ancient times. In this complex, we went to Bayon Temple, known for its large Buddha faces. A lot of the rock had crumbled, but it was mostly intact. Because of my knee, I didn't climb up to the upper levels, but instead (with the help of our guide) found a cool and empty place to sit and wait, with Grandma and Austin (who doesn't like heights). I knew that without the guides help I could have never found my way through the hallways and chambers.

The next temple we visited was the very popular Ta Prom. Featured in the movie, Tomb RAider (which was mentioned many times) it has gained a lot of publicity. It is known for the trees growing up, in and around the temple, slowly splitting the walls.

After lunch, we moved on to the most famous temple, Angkor Wat. It is in the best condition. It is a beautiful temple and is very photogenic, with a large reflecting pool. Interestingly, there are 4 swimming pools inside this very old temple, built at a time when Europeans would never have thought of swimming.

It was a long and hot day, and afterwards, Acacia, Grandma and I went to get a massage for our tired feet. Then we headed out to dinner at a cool restaurant, the Dead Fish Tower.

Janaya