Travel Log #3A: Trip to Cambodia

Part "A" is a Glimpse of Modern Siem Reap and the Ancient Angkor Wat Area

I just returned from a 5 day trip to Cambodia. I flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap in the northern part of Cambodia to start. Then I took a bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh and then flew back to Bangkok yesterday.

Flying into Siem Reap, it was cloudy and rainy and, as the plane descended for landing, I noticed widespread flooding of fields with rainwater. It looked like the land was inundated. You could see the outlines of plots of land. I found out later that there had been heavy, flooding rains for days ahead of my arrival.

I stayed at a “hostel” in Siem Reap and had a nice private room. It was great! There were quite a few guests from many different places, different ages and everyone was happy and chatting. Here’s a few pictures of my airport pickup and my private room with an ensuite bathroom. It was $18 per day, quiet and well worth it.

My pick-up ride from the airport (Tuk Tuk), my private room, my private room, the hostel swimming pool and entrance to the hostel

Siem Reap is a nice little city and had a small town vibe. I liked it. There were plenty of bars and restaurants (who must have suffered severely during the Covid scamdemic).

One of the Main Streets in Siem Reap, Cambodia

I don’t have too many ordinary town pictures, so I’ll get to Angkor Wat and surrounding temples… I hired the guy who picked me up at the airport to take me to Angkor Wat and other temples for the day in his Tuk Tuk. I bought an online ticket for one day at $37 on my phone and downloaded a PDF of the document to my phone and used it to show to get into the Angkor Wat region. I was asked to show my ticket several times on the road to the temples and at the Angkor Wat itself. Admission to any of the temples for Cambodian citizens is free!

Angkor Wat was clearly Hindu in the 10th and 11th Centuries but was later adopted by Buddhists. Angkor Wat is just the largest and well-known ancient temple in an ancient civilization dating back to the 10th century. There are other temples, buildings, palaces in the region. I was taken by my driver to three “clusters.” First, Angkor Wat, then Angkor Thom (or a town or city), then Ta Prohm temple.

Angkor Thom was a walled city with a palace for the king that included swimming pools, many temples for the Buddhist monks. I’m going to include a lot of pictures and test the capability of the Substack site. If the email is truncated due to length, just click and go to Gulfcoastcommentary at Substack.

Angkor Wat:

Pictures of Angkor Wat; the largest of the Temples in the Region

Angkor Thom; Bayone, Baphuon, Phimeanakas

Next stop was Bayone Temple and surrounding temples in that area called Angkor Thom (or town?):

Clockwise from Upper Left: The South Gate at Angkor Thom, Two Pictures of Bayone Temple, Four pictures of Buddhist Story Telling in Wall Art, A Buddha statute

Baphuon—the 2nd oldest building in Angkor Thom and Phimeanakas – A few hundred meters further north of Baphuon:

Clockwise from Upper Left: Baphuon-- the second oldest building in Angkor Thom. There's a long "causeway" to get to it. Finally, Phimeanakas; a scalable temple pyramid

Finally, Ta Prohm – Built in the 12th century by King Jayavarman VII, in honour of his mother, this would have to be the most photographed temple complex after Angkor Wat.

Ta Prohm is shown with considerable restoration work having been done

Part 2B is Phnom Penh.