The sixth week

Day 36-42

We stayed in Chrouy Svay 2 nights. We rode around on the scooters and lay on the beach.

There we experienced the negative side: sand flies and German male emigrants who spoke in our national language in the belief that no one understood them. While the emigrants, with their sometimes sexist comments, are only a small part of our memories (and will hopefully soon be forgotten), the sand flies have given us longer-term memories!! Anyone who thinks that a mosquito bite is nasty has never been bitten by sand flies (actually sand flies). Yes, they don't pierce but saw through the skin and slurp up the blood and lymph fluid. You hardly notice the bites at first. That's why we were initially panicked that we had found an accommodation with bed bugs!

A day later the bites started to itch. But itching really really bad! This itching will accompany us for the next 5 days until it finally slowly subsides. We admonished each other when we scratched our stitches.

We drove November 14th. 160km to Phnom Penh. There we are in an accommodation that offers “capsules”. These capsules looked like small containers, stacked in 2 rows on top of each other. Each capsule was 2m long, about 1.50m high and 1.20m high. A mattress fit perfectly, nothing more. Each capsule had a roll-up door, allowing for great privacy. At the bottom of the base there were compartments for the backpack.

After a shower (there was a lot of red dust coming down) and a break, we walked around Phnom Penh. We ate at one of the food stalls and drank a beer in the Tonle Slap river.

The next day after breakfast we drove to Decathlon. Another running gag, because so far we have often enjoyed the Decathlon or actively sought it out on our trips in the motorhome. Sometimes we changed the travel destination spontaneously and had to, for example. Buy water shoes. The advantage is that we know for sure that Ivar's size is available in Decathlon!

It's no big surprise that the Decathlon was very empty and most of the customers there were light-skinned people. Ivar found a long-sleeved shirt. Until now, he rode his scooter in a sweater that was lined. This is bearable at speed. But as soon as we stopped or slowed down, Ivar melted away.

Since my glasses were scratched, I bought new sunglasses (sure, they're cheaper from a street stand, but they definitely don't have UV protection), a rain poncho for the scooter and a rain cover for my backpack.

We also bought cortisone ointment. We have read that it is supposed to help against sand fly bites. Unfortunately that wasn't the case!

On the way back we found a parking space for the scooters. We want to continue by bus from Phnom Penh. This country is very wide. There are 305 km between Phnom Penh and our next destination Siem Reap. That would be at least 2 days on the scooter.

So we left on November 16th. in a mini van to Siem Reap. Oh man, the city is touristy!! Siem Reap is the starting point for trips to Angkor Wat. Accommodation prices are okay, but tuk tuk prices are very hefty compared to other cities!

On the first evening we drank beer with the owner of the accommodation and a Polish couple. A friend of the owner cooked and invited us all. There was a really delicious curry! One of the best I've ever eaten! There was also homemade rice wine or something.

The next day Maren and Hans spoke to us at breakfast. The two of them have a tuk tuk driver who could drive us to different temples and we could split the price. Good idea! We did that.

In the evening we got the 3-day ticket for Angkor and our driver drove us to Phnom Bakheng Temple. This is on a hill and you can see the sunset. Together with many other people.

Afterwards we were dropped off in the city center. There we walked through a market for souvenirs and art objects, had something to eat and then walked through “Pub Street”. A street only with bars and restaurants. As I said, it is very touristy. Therefore there was a lot going on and the dealers were correspondingly pushy.

The next day our driver picked us up around 8am. First we saw the world heritage site Angkor Wat! To be honest, I thought it would impress me more. Maybe another typical situation of “expecting too much and then the idea doesn’t match reality”. Admittedly, it is amazing how people back then packed the heavy stone blocks on top of each other. The reliefs and decorations are also areas of respect.

Everywhere there are reliefs of the Apsaras dancers, all of whom have different postures. No two are alike. You can still study the Apsara dance in Phnom Penh. Every hand movement (there are 1,500 different hand gestures), every posture, every facial expression has a different meaning. Accordingly, the dancers are trained early on so that they maintain the flexibility in their hands and feet and in their entire body for the slow but highly complex dance.

Maren, Hans, Ivar and I strolled through Angkor Wat and eventually to the agreed place with our driver.

We then drove to Prasat Banteay Kdei Temple and then to Ta Prohm. I have to admit, I really liked the last temple mentioned! It was decided to leave the temple to nature. Therefore, the huge roots of trees (Tetramelaceae to be precise) wind around the old walls.

In a very brief moment, when there were no other tourists around and I only heard the parrots and the wind, I had the feeling of being an explorer walking through an undiscovered temple. Then another tourist came by and the feeling was gone. But for a moment it was very beautiful!

A sequence from the film "Tomb Raider: Lara Croft" was also played in the Ta Prohm temple. Therefore the temple is also called the “Tomb Raider Temple” or “Angelina Jolie Temple”. The film, released in 2001, was the first major Hollywood production in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia also became more popular in tourism thanks to the film.

Lastly we visited the Prasat Ta Keo temple.

The next day we visited more temples. The highlight was watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Getting up at 4 a.m. is definitely not a highlight, but the play of colors of the rising sun behind the silhouette of Angkor Wat is glorious! I heard from one of the many visitors that the only extremely bright star in the sky is Venus.

When the sun fully appeared, most people went inside Angkor Wat. We foxes thought: when everyone is here now, we'll go to another temple and have it to ourselves as much as possible!

We drove to Angkor Thom, the former capital of the Angkor Empire. The Prasat Bayon temple is located in Angkor Thom. This one is impressive because the towers have huge faces! We were actually almost the only ones there! Wonderful!

Afterwards we visited the Terrace of the Elephants and the temples of Baphoun, Phimeankas, Prasat Preah Khan, Prasat Preah Neak Pean, Prasat Ta Some, Easter Medon and Prasat Pre Roup.

Many temples. At the end, Ivar and I were unloaded at Angkor Wat. We wanted to enjoy the evening atmosphere there and stayed until the guards asked us out at around 5:40 p.m.

Hans and Maren watched the sunset again and then collected us again.

Back near the accommodation we ate in the restaurant.

It was a really long day and we went to bed extremely tired.

For the last day in Siem Reap we rented a scooter. Is cheaper than a tuk tuk. We drove to a workshop where various crafts are taught: sculpture with stone and wood, copper work, weaving with silk and pictures on wood.

In the evening we watched the sunset at the Phnom Krom temple. He stands on a mountain and the sun sets in Lake Tonle Slap. It was very nice!

In the evening we ate the traditional Khmer dish Sour Soup and got beer. Tonight we can invite our host for a beer!