Angkor, truly one of the wonders of the world!

After 8 days in Vietnam, again relying on the organisation of the excellent Viet Prestige Travel, we spent 3 nights in Cambodia, where, sleeping in Siem Reap, we devoted ourselves only to the fantastic Angkor. Siem Reap is an ugly and overly touristy city, where the wild and constantly changing buildings seem to exist only to serve as a base for visiting the ancient capital of Angkor, which between temples and palaces spreads out in a disorganised way over an area of more than 200 square kilometres. Almost immediately outside the city walls, nature becomes quite wild, with very lush tropical vegetation. So much so that one of the most spectacular features of the Angkor site is that for centuries the jungle concealed many parts of it, literally rediscovered in the second half of the 1800s.

The "presence" of the gigantic trees that have grown among the walls of the Ta Prohm temple, sometimes literally enveloping it, is very powerful and truly incredible: veritable mastodons of the plant world, by now inseparable from the context and which give the temple a truly unique magic. In Siem Reap we stayed at the Central Boutique Angkor Hotel, a small three-star oasis that I highly recommend, although the rooms, all on the ground floor, immersed in greenery and overlooking a lovely pool, had a slightly old bathroom. Near this little resort there are many places to eat to choose from, all cheap. The ugly and busy centre is reached in 10 minutes on foot, and here the prices are much higher, in a way directly proportional to the tourist chaos.

Entry to the country costs a good 30 dollars plus an ID photo, and obtaining the visa, which is done on arrival, involves several stages, not well signposted. So one risks wasting a bit too much time if you don't clarify straight away the overall route to follow. Moreover, Buddhism notwithstanding, we didn't find a single policeman offering even half a smile.. even half! Bring dollars, because they practically want only those, to the point of writing the prices directly and often only in the American currency. Only, then, almost always giving change in the poor local currency. We arrived with Vietnam Airlines and left with Air Asia, as far as Bangkok, from where we returned to Italy with Qatar Airways. As for the climate, although we knew that in March it was still acceptable, in reality the temperatures often touched 40 degrees, with a very high level of humidity.

Very heavy! They say the two truly safe months are November and December, which are obviously peak season. I won't go into the list of the many temples, royal palaces and tombs you can find at Angkor, enjoyable moreover also with convenient tickets valid for several days, but I recommend staying in the area at least three nights as we did, organising yourselves with a good local guide and taking plenty of water to drink and plenty of free memory space in your camera. Because Angkor, ancient capital of the great Khmer empire, UNESCO World Heritage, which holds the record of being the largest religious site and among the most visited in the world, is truly one of those things you dream of seeing in your lifetime, and despite the deadly heat, despite the tiredness and despite the multitude of visitors, once the dream comes true, it remains wonderfully so: a dream!