Cambodia: A Travel Diary

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25.01.2012 Siem Reap (CAMBODIA)

We set off early in the morning for the Cambodian border. We stop for a technical break in a place where lots of very kind young men hand us visa forms and help us fill them in. How kind, I think to myself, until they ask us for 35 USD each against the 20 I was expecting! I dig my heels in and give them only 40 for two. I make a bit of a fuss until a guy asks me to follow him to his office to sort the matter out… I follow him… we reach the back of a big hall, he sits down, a little pensive, shaking his head, and in a low voice confesses: “Yes, it does in fact cost 20 dollars each, but…” and he starts a string of apologies, but I wasn't listening any more… I had won my battle… I leave satisfied and we begin our bureaucratic ordeal between the two borders..

After various adventures we finally reach our destination… We really deserve a romantic dinner in a lovely spot, a fine buffet of meat and fish cooked on the barbecue… every table was set with its own little BBQ and each diner cooked for themselves! What fun!

26.01.2012 Siem Reap (CAMBODIA)

[Stefy]: “We have breakfast right on our tuk tuk as we approach the gates of the legendary Angkor Wat. Here is the most famous and majestic of all the temples. It has served as a backdrop for films like “Lord Jim” or “Apocalypse Now”. The temple is dedicated to Vishnu and it took about 37 years to build it; 800 metres of bas-reliefs carved into the soft sandstone depict fantastic scenes, and at the centre of the temple you climb steep stairs up to the sanctuary, where terraces, courtyards and altars follow one another, a real labyrinth that offers a great view over the nearby forest. It was lovely to sit in front of this five-headed giant and read its story…

We are left literally open-mouthed when we reach the “Bayon”: the temple of mystery, whose name means “the magic mountain”. It was a forest of gigantic heads whose gaze followed you everywhere, 200 faces with an enigmatic smile. It is a Pantheon dedicated to the gods worshipped in the Middle Ages by the Khmer people. After a stroll on the “terrace of the elephants”, we pick up our tuk tuk again to visit the last temple: “Ta Prohm”, where “Tomb Raider” with Angelina Jolie was filmed. This temple is a mix of fairy-tale magic and romance. As you cross the temple gate you can feel the emotion experienced by the explorers; huge roots beneath the stone, dense vegetation on the walls, statues, faces covered in moss… it is an incredible sight.

In the evening, back in Siem Reap, we decide to stop at the Old Market, where you really can find everything, and we end up eating a soup and noodles on the street”…

27.01.2012 Siem Reap (CAMBODIA)

After a full immersion among the temples of Angkor Wat we decide to spend a couple more days in Siem Reap to explore the surroundings but above all to take stock of the situation.

Tonle Sap Lake. What a disappointment! We expected to relive another intense experience like the one in Pokhara or Inle… instead the construction business had already infected the area… They were building huge resorts and everything already revolved around dollars…

We move on and at least enjoy the surrounding landscape… Suggestive when, stopping by chance to take a few photos of a lush rice field, two little girls pop out of a stilt house carrying a bucket crammed with dead snakes. Calmly they stop next to a little fountain and, spoon in hand each, start skinning them under our amused gaze!

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