Overwhelming Angkor in SIEM REAP

Siem Reap is a noticeably smaller city than Battambang, but no less interesting. The city thrives mainly on temple complexes like Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, and many others. These are spread across a huge area, which we explore on our own with a scooter. Many people rent a more expensive tuk-tuk with a driver for this purpose. To do justice to the site, we purchase a 3-day pass.

We start with a temple slightly north and outside the central area. Banteay Srei is surrounded by nature and also has some water buffaloes in the park. Practically every temple is supported by a different country during reconstruction/renovation. This one is even supported by Switzerland. The temple is small and seems more like a model to us. What already catches our eye here and will also be seen at other temples are the many beautiful details on the walls, some of them heads, dancing figures, or statues.

We like another temple because of the beautiful large elephant statues at the corners.

On a path through the jungle in the area, we unexpectedly come across a great entrance with a great head statue on one side and on the other side it is beautifully entwined by a tree, a little highlight.

At practically every temple, there are numerous stalls with the same offers and almost all of them call from a distance, "Sir"/"Mam" some cold water? It can be a bit exhausting sometimes, as we can't look at anything without being approached. But you learn to deal with it and ignore it. To the extent that Justin even ignores the ticket inspector and politely declines. Only after he says a bit more firmly, "Your ticket, please," for the second time, Justin raises his gaze and notices that he doesn't want to sell him a mango.

We find it comfortable on our scooter and repeatedly overtake tuk-tuks on our way. Food is also taken care of. Unfortunately, we once get chicken skewers with more bones than meat, and once again, it's the rice that remains.

We reach another temple via a long wooden bridge over an almost dried-up lake. Behind it is a huge well with four smaller water basins next to it and horse statues. Unfortunately, this one is almost dried up as well. It is certainly more beautiful to look at during the rainy season.

The next temple is huge. Already at the entrance, the statue enchants us, a long serpent with 7 heads on both sides, held by a lot of men. In addition, there are lion statues next to it. We will see these two motifs at other temple entrances as well.

Inside, we admire many details, such as sculptures on the walls, special window frames, statues that are adorned with incense sticks and bling-bling.

Each temple and its park is unique, and we find something new everywhere. And yet, as mentioned above, there are motifs and statues that recur. But they don't appeal to us any less because of that, they always fascinate us anew.

On the second day, we get up very early. From Phnom Bakheng, which is slightly elevated, we hope to see a great sunrise over Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, it is too cloudy for a sunrise :( so we have to go back down the hill disappointed.

Ta Prohm, known from Hollywood movies like Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider, is a temple speckled with shadows. Here, you can clearly see how nature is reclaiming its space. Trees grow over the walls and gates. Sometimes trees surround other trees, causing the inner ones to die.

Another highlight among the Angkor temples is the Bayon. Adorned with over 200 heads on 54 towers, it fascinates us in its appearance. It becomes Kimena's favorite temple.

On the last day, we visit the famous Angkor Wat. The towers have a magnificent appearance, but there is not much to see inside. So we content ourselves with the great view. Since we are there shortly before closing time, we witness a funny spectacle. The employees try to quickly evacuate the visitors from the huge complex. They have whistles for that. Again and again, they get nervous and run after the visitors taking pictures. Of course, we also join in a bit and don't really hurry to leave. So we experience the park practically empty of people. What we encounter here for the first time are many monkeys. They are not entirely harmless as they quickly snatch everything out of your hand, whether it's edible or not.

Food is always taken care of. Slowly, we also get the hang of bargaining and always have the money we are willing to pay for food, such as sticky rice or drinks, already in hand. So we don't fall for the overpriced tourist prices. Of course, we could pay that too. But that would only support them in asking for even more next time.

Funnily enough, on two days we meet a young Asian couple in several temples. We talk a little bit and both agree that the lesser-known temple complexes are just as beautiful and have just as much to see as the famous ones. We find it funny that we ran into each other like this, considering how huge the whole area is.