December 4, 2006 Bangkok, Thailand – Siem Reap, Cambodia

December 4, 2006
Bangkok, Thailand – Siem Reap, Cambodia

We woke up this morning at 4:00! It was one of the earliest mornings that I can remember. Jackie and I did not get to bed until 1:00am last night so we only had a few hours sleep. As soon as we woke up we grabbed our things and walked out into the warm evening air.

We were surprised by how easy it was to find a cab so early in the morning. We walked out of the hotel and were greeted by a parade of taxi drivers. We spent a few minutes negotiating and then jumped in the car and headed for Ben’s.

When we arrived at Ben’s the others were still getting ready. Jackie and I took a quick (15 minute) nap on the couch. Just after 5:00 the five of us jumped in a cab and headed for the airport.

I was shocked by how crowded the airport was so early in the morning. There were people everywhere and massive lines at most of the counters. After making our way through the crowd and waiting in a short line, we were able to check in. The process was easier than normal because no one (Jackie, Dad, Ben, Ju, and I) had any luggage to check.

Once we had our tickets we had about half an hour to kill before boarding our flight. We spent the time filling out mountains of paperwork at the airport Starbucks. At 7:00 we decided to head to the gate. The Bangkok airport is massive and we had a 20-minute walk to our gate! We boarded the plane just a few minutes before takeoff.

The flight to Siem Reap was the shortest one I have ever been on. Our time in the air was only 35 minutes! Most of that time was spent eating a fairly nice breakfast. I had planed on taking a nap while flying but decided against it. Instead, Jackie and I played a few stupid word games while flying…

We arrived in Cambodia at 8:30. After clearing a particularly strict customs we met up with our airport transfer. Our hotel was incredibly nice. Ben had reserved us rooms in one of the nicest hotels in Siem Reap ($121 per night for a 3 person room).

After we checked in and showered we met back up in the lobby (around 11:00). Not having a guidebook or any experience we did not know what to do. First, we looked into renting a car. We were turned off from this idea when the price for the vehicle went up every few minutes (the rental agency was out of cheap cars…). NOTE: we experienced some drama while in our hotel room as Jackie thought she had lost her passport. We looked for a very long time before finding it in a very obvious place…

Instead, we headed out on the street and looked for a place to get some lunch. After a very short walk (while being harassed by tuk-tuk drivers the whole time) we stopped at a respectable looking Cambodian restaurant. The service at the restaurant was the best I have ever experienced. We felt like royalty. A waiter stood next to our table for the entire meal and took care of anything we needed. Even more impressive, a waiter held each dish. Anytime that someone desired one of the items we beckoned to the waiter. We nicknamed it “The Slave Restaurant.”

Once we finished eating we decided that we should head to the main attraction in town, Angkor. After much deliberation we decided to hire a tuk-tuk for the remainder of the day ($10).Since there were five of us we had to hire two...

We drove toward the ancient city for almost 15 minutes before stopping. Before entering the park we had to stop and purchase tickets. We were all shocked by the entry fee into the temples ($20 per day)! Knowing that we would want to explore the area for at a least a few days we purchased a three-day pass for $40! The passes even look expensive and have our photos on them…

After shelling out the big bucks we got back in our tuk-tuks and continued on our way. As we drove along a small river we were almost in several car accidents and even saw a monkey on the side of the road.

When we finally reached Angkor Wat I was floored. The view was spectacular. It was a scene out of a movie (I later learned Tomb Raider was filmed here). After taking lots of photos out front we walked toward the massive Khmer temple. Though it was a long walk, it was very beautiful and incredibly interesting. As expected, there were a lot of other tourists coming and going.

We entered the main temple I was super excited. The columns and walls were immaculately decorated. Every inch of the ruin was fascinating. Eventually we made our way to an old set of stairs leading up to the picturesque spires. The steps were very steep and most of our group moved quite slowly. My dad and Ju later admitted they were quite scared as they ascended the staircase.

The area at the top of the temple was very similar to the rest of the temple. We spent several hours exploring the entire area. When we were done we made the slow climb back down the stairs and examined the outer walls of the temple. The entire thing was an elaborate bass relief telling religious stories.

By the time we finished examining the bass relief’s we were ready for a break. We headed back toward the main road and talked to some of the vendors. They were incredibly aggressive and tried to get us to fall for the old bait and switch tactic. Even the kids (some not older than 5) were following us around and trying to sell us stuff.

The experience turned out to be more work than exploring the temple. Desperate to get away from the vendors we decided to check out another temple in walking distance. We headed down a small trail and made our way to some ruins.

The walk was filled with strange wildlife. We got to see a super cool species of spider. They would sit still on the path and then walk very high above the ground when scared. We also saw a large millipede and many species of ants.

When we finally got to the ruins we were shocked that no one else was there. Though the ruins were nowhere near as spectacular, it was nice to have a small area of the Khmer ruins to ourselves. Once everyone was rested we headed back down the empty trail and returned to the foot of Angkor Wat.

At about 17:00 everyone was ready to call it a day. We left Angkor Wat and returned to our hotel. Quite tired from a lack of sleep, Jackie, my dad, and I decided to visit the hotels Jacuzzi. We were disappointed to find that it was filled with cold water. Still, we got in and lounged around in the water. The jets in the tub were the strongest I have ever experienced. They actually hurt quite a bit when sitting too close to them.

After the Jacuzzi we returned to our room and relaxed. Ben, Dad, and Ju went out to eat. Jackie and I decided to take it easy. We ordered room service and chilled out in bed. I caught up on my blog and Jackie watched Beethoven II. We both fell asleep quite early…

NOTE: Pictures are not uploading properly. I will get them on here as soon as possible :)