When I first touched down in Siem Reap Cambodia I knew I was in a special place. This calm feeling oozed over me and an uncontrollable smile would not leave my face. Immigration was quick and easy, and the tour guide that met us was friendly. Ahhhh those positive situations were so refreshing. We were quickly set in our tuk-tuk and off on our way. How lucky were we to land at sunset. Glaring back at our path was so beautiful, again reinforcing that positivity I was feeling. :)
We only booked two nights in Siem Reap, mainly to visit Angkor Wat, the oldest religious monument in the world. Our plan was to do the sunrise tour the following morning, tour as much as we can, and relax our second and last day in Siem Reap before we flew out to Bali.
Well, our first night we had to try to pizza place that came HIGHLY recommended. I must say, it was just as amazing as we thought it would be!
After dinner we wandered around town. We were surprised, Siem Reap is pretty "happening" and had more western conveniences that we had seen in weeks in Vietnam! We were SO happy to find name brand deodorant and bath soap! Oh the luxuries you take for granted!
Well, you guessed it, we did not make our 4:30am alarm to make the sunrise tour of Angkor Wat. Darn it. When we finally awoke we got our morning coffee and breakfast and were on our way to view the oldest religious monument in the world!!!!!
The tuk-tuk drive to the site was impressive....
Angkor Wat itself is over 500 acres! Utterly impressive. Here is a larger map to give you an idea of the vastness of this great beauty and her friends....
SO MUCH history has gone down on this land. I cannot begin to give you a history lesson on this site. It has changed hands multiple times, been through natural disasters, has been left untouched for ages, overgrown and then rediscovered, and of course retouched for preservation.
They say pictures are worth a thousand words. :)
We only booked two nights in Siem Reap, mainly to visit Angkor Wat, the oldest religious monument in the world. Our plan was to do the sunrise tour the following morning, tour as much as we can, and relax our second and last day in Siem Reap before we flew out to Bali.
Well, our first night we had to try to pizza place that came HIGHLY recommended. I must say, it was just as amazing as we thought it would be!
After dinner we wandered around town. We were surprised, Siem Reap is pretty "happening" and had more western conveniences that we had seen in weeks in Vietnam! We were SO happy to find name brand deodorant and bath soap! Oh the luxuries you take for granted!
Well, you guessed it, we did not make our 4:30am alarm to make the sunrise tour of Angkor Wat. Darn it. When we finally awoke we got our morning coffee and breakfast and were on our way to view the oldest religious monument in the world!!!!!
The tuk-tuk drive to the site was impressive....
Angkor Wat itself is over 500 acres! Utterly impressive. Here is a larger map to give you an idea of the vastness of this great beauty and her friends....
SO MUCH history has gone down on this land. I cannot begin to give you a history lesson on this site. It has changed hands multiple times, been through natural disasters, has been left untouched for ages, overgrown and then rediscovered, and of course retouched for preservation.
They say pictures are worth a thousand words. :)
Again, I cannot even describe the majestic vibe of this place. I am enthralled with the mystery and will always ponder what important and trivial events happened on this land.
Normally when I visit museums or historic sites I have zero desire to go back and visit again. Angkor Wat however, is still such a mystery to me. So much of yet I still haven't seen. I cannot wait to go back, and it may be sooner rather than later.
We were pretty tired from exploring most of the day, so back to town we go. Of course it was time to eat....
I think I am over pizza now after eating it for three days straight, but those three days were awesome!!
We walked around more checking out the town. Unfortunately we didn't get the chance to party hard, knowing we had to check out and travel the next day. But that was totally OK. :)
I can honestly say that Siem Reap Cambodia is one of my favorite places I have EVER visited. As this site is visited by millions of tourists each year, with minimal controls available to preserve this site, I highly recommend bumping this up a notch or 7 on your bucket list.
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