Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor

We arrive in the scorching hot Seam Reap in the afternoon and are very excited for the next few days when we want to explore the temple complex of Angkor Wat. We are staying in a small hotel by the river and have rented the penthouse for a small fee, as breakfast and air conditioning are included in the price. Of course, the penthouse is not as fancy as in other cities, but we really can't complain about the lack of space here. It gets pretty hot, but we have the air conditioning...

We take some rest and then walk along the river towards the city center, which is only about 10 minutes away from us. There we go to a nice little vegetarian restaurant located in a side street, away from the hustle and bustle. It's perfect for a start, we sit in a beautiful courtyard with a pond and numerous flowers. There is a traditional Cambodian dish: Amok. Vegetables are cooked with coconut milk and lemongrass, served with boiled rice. And of course, the obligatory mango smoothie. After dinner, we head to Pub Street, which lives up to its name. Pubs, massage salons, and colorful markets line up here. Have you ever fed fish with your feet? You can do that on every corner here, just sit next to the aquariums and put your feet in. Some shops even offer free beer with it. But we prefer to browse the markets. Before going to sleep, we dutifully hang up the mosquito net, because there are unfortunately plenty of mosquitoes here.

To visit the temple complex, we have the choice between different passes. We choose, like most visitors, the 3-day pass. The temples are located outside the city, so you either have to take a tuk-tuk or a bicycle to get there and move around within the complex. Today, we are being sporty and renting bicycles. But before we can ride through the complexes, we have to go to the ticket counter to buy our passes. Nobody knows why it has to be located outside the city and outside the temple grounds. There, photos of us are taken and printed on the day passes. Looking nice and sweaty from the bike ride with red faces, we certainly make a good impression. Anyway, let's move on, finally to the temples. Of course, there is a lot of traffic on the road to the checkpoint, with tuk-tuks racing past and countless mopeds overtaking us. But we not only have to pay attention to the traffic, but also to the large potholes that make up a large part of the road. So we zigzag on the now finally shady road, surrounded by big trees and street vendors selling paintings of the temples. When we leave the checkpoint behind and are still on a big road, we slowly get a sense of the immense size of Angkor Wat. It's really only possible to see a small part of it in one day. Fortunately, we have three days.

Today, we start with some temples that are outside the most famous complexes. But that doesn't make them any less impressive, especially the temples through which we can walk and examine them in detail. However, we have to fend off the vendors who all want to lure us to their stands with 'Siiiir Ladyyyyyyy come to my shooooop, make good Price for youuuu'. But we don't want to shop, we want to admire the ancient temples in peace. Speaking of admiration - a particularly impressive sight is the force of nature trying to claim the temples. We repeatedly see places where giant trees are trying to conquer the temple walls with their roots. But in the next few days, we will see even more impressive images. After a few hours of biking, sweating, and looking around, we ride back to the city to process our first impressions and look for a dinner. Looking at temples makes you quite hungry. On the way back, we encounter a group of female monkeys with their offspring - perhaps the monkey playground? This must, of course, be captured in photos.

In the evening, we are lucky to discover our regular spot for the next few days: Madame Moch Khmer Restaurant. They serve delicious dishes, especially many vegetarian options, and super tasty coconut smoothies. The perfect place to unwind after an exhausting and exciting day. Then we fall tired into our penthouse double bed, so that we have enough energy for the next day of sightseeing.

Angkor Wat Day 2 - Today, we actually want to visit Angkor Wat, one of the biggest and most famous temples. We hop on our bikes and off we go. From afar, we can already see the outlines that we have seen on numerous pictures and postcards. The three towers of the Angkor Wat temple. In contrast to yesterday, where we could explore the complexes in peace and without much company, it's crowded here, of course. Tourist groups with umbrellas crowd the bridge that leads to the temples, and we try to avoid them as best as we can. Fortunately, the complex is big, so we still occasionally feel like we're not completely surrounded. The monkeys don't mind having so much company though. A very relaxed monkey sits on the temple steps and even urinates as soon as I take out the camera. To be a monkey in Angkor Wat. The temple is amazing, we enter it, walk along the outer walls, and climb up and down stairs.

After a short break, we continue cycling to the next major temple complex, Angkor Thom. Here, there is a particularly fascinating structure, the Bayon Temple. What makes it special is that its numerous towers are all made up of faces carved into the stone. Here, once again, we can only marvel at the architectural masterpieces that humans can create. The atmosphere up here among the towers is not only great because of that, but also because the evening sun continues to sink lower and bathes the temple in a magical warm light. With these wonderful impressions, we conclude our second day of exploration. On the grand avenue between Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat, which blows a refreshing evening breeze towards us, we briefly stop once again to observe a group of monkeys. There are young and old monkeys playing, climbing, munching, and delousing each other. Then it slowly gets dark, we have to go.

On our last day of exploration, we treat ourselves to a bit of luxury and take a tuk-tuk. It's amazing how quickly you can get to the temples with this vehicle. Today, we have chosen the two most overgrown temples, Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, also known as the Tomb Raider Temple, because Angelina Jolie, or rather Lara Croft, was here. Jungle enthusiast Lisa is particularly excited about visiting these two temples. Surrounded by chirping, buzzing, and humming sounds of the jungle, we climb around on the old walls and admire the giant trees that are also trying to reclaim the temple here. Absolutely gigantic.