Finally, I am writing this last bit of my South East Asia trip. Hopefully it won't be my last.
My final destination: Siem Reap, Cambodia. I've always wanted to visit one of the Wonders of the World and the temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were wondrous. I flew here with my Dad after Denise left for Singapore. My first impression when I arrived at the airport was positive as the airport was quite pretty and felt resorty. However, things quickly changed as we were going through customs. Basically, the Cambodian immigration often give certain Asian passports hell, such as my Dad's. First as we left Hanoi, the Vietnam customs took away my Dad's Visa, which wasn't stapled into his passport. When we arrived in Siem Reap, they asked where our last destination was, and my Dad did not have his Vietnam Visa to prove it. Anyway, after I did some explaining, we were able to get ourselves the Cambodian Visa and then through the stamping process. I went through very easily as the slicked-hair immigration official stamped my passport. My Dad on the other hand, had to face something else apparently common in this area for the certain Asian passports. Basically, as correctly stated in my Dad's guide book, he had to pay a tip to the official, which I find ridiculous. He was flashing a dollar bill under his hand to hint to my Dad that's what he wanted and of course my Dad obliged and handed over the Dollar. After some consideration, it was apparently that all the officials were men, and it was also very likely that they bribed their way into these jobs.
Anyway, we board a taxi to our hotel. As expected, the driver tried to sell us his services to give us a tour of the temples. I admired his enthusiasm but we already had a guide lined up. We checked into our hotel, and watched the sunset from our balcony. It was really quite pretty. We decided to just have dinner at the hotel and boy was it a good idea. I had this delicious Cambodian fried rice and a nice thick mango juice. After dinner, we walk around the main street around our hotel and stumbled upon the Hotel de la Paix and decided to go in for a tour. A tour turned into a drink in the outdoor lounge which was so gorgeous. My dad sipped on his orange juice while I sipped on a cold Tiger. It was really relaxing and I didn't even care about the mosquito bites I got. I doubt I'd be going to Siem Reap again anytime soon but if I do, I want to stay at this place.
We decided to have an early start the next day. Our guide was waiting for us at the lobby at 7:30 and we decided to visit Angkor Thom first since it was bigger. The road entering the Heritage Site was tree-lined with beautiful large trees and there was an air of ancient times. It's a difficult feeling to describe. We get to our first temple. Note: at this point, I've forgotten a lot of the names of the temples so bare with me. We visited Ta Prahn first - where Tomb Raider was filmed. It really was quite beautiful and I was in awe. We basically visit other temples in Angkor Thom (and this is where the short term memory loss kicks in). Basically saw the main places like Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper Kings and Bayon. Boy was it ever hot. I don't think I've ever sweated as much as I did in my life, but I didn't stop. The sights were beautiful. We headed back to the hotel after lunch for a shower and a little break and then continued to Angkor Wat after.
Angkor Wat is obviously the more popular one due to its alluring and symmetrical spires (can I call them that?) All the layers of Angkor Wat had so much detail. It was quite interesting to see the same temple change religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) back and forth several times. But boy, it was hot at Angkor Wat since I changed into...jeans...just so I can climb the top tier. I didn't have any other longer shorts nor a scarf to cover my legs so I rolled up my jeans and sweated like a hog again for a few more hours. The view really was beautiful and the moat felt so elegant and calm.
After we finished at Angkor Wat, we still had some time left so we went to the museum that housed more statues. My dad had a great time looking at old Buddhist relics and it was nice to soak up the AC. We concluded our tour with our guide (who was a very nice and pretty Cambodian girl) and went back to the hotel to shower, once again. We decided to head out to the main restaurant street (Eight Street I believe?) and got some not to great food, though the smoothies were fantastic. We should have totally dined at the Hotel de la Paix! Oh well, we wandered the streets a little longer before we went back to the hotel to shower for the 3rd time and head to bed since we needed to be up early for the sunrise.
We awoke, and rode a tuk tuk (motorized carriage of sorts) to Angkor Wat. Boy it was early and unfortunately, the sunrise was not all that spectacular. I sat with a group of women doing meditation with this instructor and it was nice since I felt I sort of got a free lesson. The sun finally came and I hurried and snapped some photos.
We headed back to the hotel after the sunrise for some breakfast and checkout. My Dad's tour guide friend happened to be in the same hotel so we went for lunch together and then to Tonle Sap Lake, which is apparently the world's second largest lake in peak water levels. Unfortunately, the situation was not pretty at the Lake. The environmental resource issue of "Tragedy of the Commons" was apparent right away. Not only was the water polluted from agricultural runoff, and lack of sewage treatment, they were dredging the canal to widen it. It was difficult to believe people live off this water that is so untreated. On top of that, there are families in boats selling trinkets to the tourists in boats. There were also children with snakes around their necks as if it was a circus show. I felt terrible for these families because they needed to make money for the day to feed their children. I'm glad some people from the tour group brought some toothpaste and toothbrushes as well as some snacks for the children instead of handing them money off the bat.
So the visit to the lake concluded my tour on a sad note. I flew back to Taiwan via Ho Chi Minh and had a pleasant layover at the updated airport. I was blessed with this opportunity to travel around so many countries and learn so much from the cultures. South East Asia is a region full of warm people (and hot weather) living in many vibrant cultures. This trip allowed me to have an introductory understanding of the region for my potential thesis as well. I'm hoping I can return in the next few years before too much has changed.
