Cyhoeddwyd: 11.01.2019
Admittedly, we are moving quite quickly! Nevertheless, we ensure that we have enough rest periods in between to process all our impressions. It hasn't even been two weeks since we started our journey and yet we have already experienced so much that we sometimes have to think about what happened when and where! Now we are in Cambodia. Since we decided to take a flight from Luang Prabang (Laos) to Siem Reap, we notice the differences more immediately. In Cambodia, we arrive quite unprepared, so we still scrape together the last few euros to pay for our visas, albeit at a rather questionable exchange rate. (By the way, what confuses us is that there is not only the Cambodian currency, Riel, but everything and always for tourists is quoted in US dollars - we find that strange). We are also picked up - and by a vehicle that is completely new to us! It resembles a tuk-tuk, but is a motorcycle with a trailer that somehow looks like a carriage (it is called "Remork").
So we are chauffeured to our hotel in our carriage and we are greeted by a six-member welcoming committee that waves to us cheerfully and almost in unison says, "Welcome home!". So here we are, in our new two-day home. After the very quiet, almost sleepy Luang Prabang, Siem Reap is much busier - countless motorcycles zoom through the streets, exhaust fumes blow in our faces, there are more people, more hustle and bustle - and a lot of (plastic) litter that collects on the roadside and in the river. Furthermore, it is now really hot for the first time, so we are sweating without even moving. But well, we are not in Siem Reap because of the city itself, but because of the ancient ruins and temple complexes of Angkor Wat, the largest religious site in the world. And yes, it is huge. And of course, our schedule is - let's say "tight".
In the hotel, we book the "small tour", which is supposed to take us to the most important temples in Angkor from sunrise to late afternoon, including a tuk-tuk driver and guide. Our alarm clock rings at 4.00 am, and at 4.30 am we are picked up - but we don't feel like we have even closed our eyes at night. The journey to Angkor is quickly driven, and thanks to the guide, we find the right path through the complete darkness. The stars shine very brightly in the sky, but the Venus shining five times as bright as the other stars outshines everything today. After sunrise, our guide takes us to various temples and knows the best photo spots where we pose and he takes pictures of us - at least 15 times in different places in Angkor throughout the day. What we particularly like in Angkor are the weathered temples of Ta Prohm, where the roots of enormous trees are intertwined with the temples, and the "Bayon", a temple with dozens of Buddha faces gazing into the jungle. And in all the temples: beautiful bas-reliefs that tell stories from Hinduism and Buddhism or depict "Apsara", beautiful semi-goddesses in a dancing position.