Road to Angkor Wat and Siem Reap

 There isn't much to say about the bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, although the one bit of excitement was that the bus station had moved so our taxi driver dropped us off at an old location (where another bus company now was), and we had to run (or stumble/walk) with our 4-month supply of luggage nearly a kilometer to the new location where we barely made it on time. We packed ourselves, and our formidable luggage, into a van of 12 passengers and made the 6-hour journey. 

We arrived at our hotel and checked into a 4th floor walk-up room. Remember all the luggage we mentioned?  

After showering and unpacking we met up with Makara and looked for a place to eat. We were pretty exhausted after travelling and hoping for something relatively simple.  Google maps informed us we were near a "pet friendly" restaurant, which is exactly the kind of establishment Jacob was interested in. 

Jacob sees who he would rather be sitting with

and makes it happen

The next morning our friend hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day so after a quick breakfast we piled into the back of his tuk-tuk and were off to Angkor Wat! 

Angkor Wat has been named the 8th Wonder of the World, and it was quickly evident why. We had seen pictures of Angkor Wat, but what we hadn't fully realized is that the ancient capital of the Khmer empire, Angkor, consists of 72 major temples and hundreds of smaller structures sprawled over 1,000 square kilometers. The Angkorian period began in 802 AD, and the temples were built between 1113 AD and 1150 AD. Initially Angkor Wat was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu by King Suryavarman II, but after the king's successor,  Jayavarman VII, converted to Buddhism, so did the temples. If you're interested in learning more, we'll let Wikipedia take it from here: The History of Angkor Wat

Approaching Angkor Wat was an experience all its own. Visible from a great distance we were not prepared for how much it would grow before we arrived at its doorstep. It is absolutely huge. And as an unexpected bonus: COVERED IN MONKEYS. Being in the presence of an ancient holy building, while ALSO in the presence of friendly monkeys made us feel like were in a movie: Indiana Jones and the Jungle Tourists. 

We've never taken so many pictures we'll probably never look at again, but the sheer grandeur of what we were experiencing compelled us to do so.  While trying to be selective about what to share here, know that it is only a fraction of the number of times our shutters winked. 

This was part of a sprawling depiction of the origin story of the King and Queen.  We learned at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh that India shares the same story, with slight differences in the way it ends. 

For reference, we saw the same story as a mural in the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh

Then, dear reader, after passing through the largest, primary temple or "wat" we set off, deeper into the jungle only to discover that was just the tip of the iceberg!  In the not so distant clearing, ANOTHER temple.

And another!

And another...

A band of local artists playing atmosphere music

Finally we stopped for lunch, exhausted, sweaty, spent, but having experienced all the amazing things Angkor had to offer...

Or so we thought. Did you expect the blog to end here, just as we expected our day to end here?  Well buckle up, because after lunch there were MORE TEMPLES. I can already tell the photos don't do this justice, but believe me when we tell you, we never thought anything could top what we had seen in the morning, but the afternoon temples were our favorites!

The Ta Prohm Temple may be best known for the
unique presence of trees that have grown up through it!

They called this tree the "Temple Destroyer"

Okay, okay, we know we said the highlight of the day was the temples, then we said it was the monkeys, but the REAL top moment was when another tourist ran up to Jacob and excitedly posed with him. You see, he and his family had seen us during lunch and noticed that this U.S American boy was dressed just like him!  He even showed us a picture he had taken of Jacob surreptitiously at the restaurant where we had lunch.  After meeting him again on the path between temples, he HAD to get a photo together. 

The man could not stop laughing. 

The photos of this temple really cannot properly show the size, coloring, and detail contained herein.  It may look just like the others, but it was unique and beautiful, even after trudging through other ruins all day long. 

We were definitely done for the day, but then we spotted MORE MONKEYS! After showing us ancient priceless marvels of architecture and cultural significance, Makara may have been a little bemused that we seemed most excited about the monkeys.  He explained that most Khmer people don't really like monkeys and consider them pests. Yet here we were, filming and photographing them for a good 10-15 minutes before we were willing to pack it in and go back to our hotel. 

Makara occupying himself while we photograph monkeys

At last, after the hottest day we had experienced since arriving in Southeast Asia (in the Winter, no less!) we finally arrived back at our hotel in Siem Reap.  We could have gone straight to bed, but instead decided to nap and shower so we could hit the town a few hours later!

We ordered way too much food, which would soon become a theme for our travels.

Kim had been looking for an opportunity to try this local delicacy.
Ender and Jacob were not up to the challenge. 

She said the scorpion was salty.

Instead, Jacob opted for "rolled" ice cream.

And thus was the end of our time in Cambodia, and the end of our time with our dear friend Makara, as we would part ways the following day.  Makara would return to Phnom Penh in the morning while we continue on to Thailand where we have a boat to catch!