Angkor Wat - myself, younger sister, sister-in-law, younger brother & elder sister
Another photograph of Angkok Wat
Photograph take at main entrance of Bayon , Angkor Thom
From Left: myself, sister-in-law, younger & elder sister & younger brother.
The three days Visitors Pass at USD 40.00 for visiting Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and other Khmer temples within Siem Reap
Photograph taken within Bayon, Angkor Thom
As regular budget travellers cum backpackers, we jumped at the opportunity when Air Asia offered a special discount of RM 49.98/sector for flight to their new destination, Phnom Penh. At that time, Air Asia has not yet commenced flight to Siem Reap - the city of Angkor Wat. As usual, I contacted my siblings (elder sister, younger sister, younger brother ) and my sister-in law and we managed to obtain the special all inclusive returned tickets @ RM 242.98 per person. What a bargain.
The next step was to surf the internet for information on hotels, travelling, etc. at Phnom Penh & Siem Reap and worked out an itinerary for the 6 Days/ 5 Nights trip. Our main intention was to visit The Angkor Wat Temple Complex at Siem Reap - the world largest religious monument built between 891 to 1191 AD and used for 400 years of the Khmer empire. UNESCO made it a world heritage site in 1992.
As the travel was during the December 2005 school holidays, my younger sister, Lai Ling being a teacher was extremely happy that she could joined us on the trip. Our Air Asia Flight AK 852 left KLIA at appproximately 3.15pm on 8 December 2005 and arrived at approximately 4.05pm Cambodian time. After immigration clearance, we converted our Malaysian Ringgit into Cambodian Rials at the airport and then took the cheaper taxi waiting at a slight distance away from the main taxi stand. This was reported in the net and was rather truthful. We paid US$ 5.00 for our farep to our pre-booked hotel, Hong Phann Guest House - managed by Capitol Guesthouse. It cost us US$ 10/double room (US$13/triple sharing), air-conditioned + fan, cable tv, hot-water bath, a large room with a large balcony. The Capitol Group of companies are also tour operators, stage bus operators, boat operators, etc. We stayed the 1st night (8 December 2005) and the last night (12 December 2005) at this guest house. The next morning, we booked via Capitol the 7.00am express boat to Siem Reap via Tonle Sap River and Lake Tonle Sap - the largest freshwater lake in south east Asia, cyclically swelling from 2500 sq. km. (dry season) to 12,000 sq. km. in the wet season. It cost us US$ 22/person. According to the net, it takes about 4 hours to reach Siem Reap but our journey took almost 6 hours. We were informed by the operator that during the wet season, the express boat is faster but we were travelling during the dry season (the operator used a smaller and less confortable boat), thus, it took a very much longer travelling time. If we would known earlier we would had chosen the cheaper alternative of travelling via direct bus @ approx. US$ 4/person since the travelling time was almost the same. Nevertheless, it nice to travel via express boat and returning by bus. The express boat firstly travelled along the Tonle Sap River for almost 2 hours. The first leg was quite photogenic as it winded past villages, temples, fishing boats, etc. until it reached the great Tonle Sap lake whereby floating villages, flat-boats, fishermen, large herds of various flying birds can be seen. Travelling on the great Tonle Sap was like travelling on the open sea. It was a real great lake. We viewed semi-submerged forests, rural Cambodia and its unique ecosystem rich with birds and other wildlife. Most of the travellers were caucasians with the exception of some Hong Kongers and our group of Malaysians. Each passenger were given a number seat but the caucasions prefers to travel on the roof of the express boat to view the outside landscapes. After almost six hours, the express boat finally docked at Chong Khneas, 12 kilometres south of Siem Reap. On arrival, we were surprised to see a man holding a pamphet bearing my name. We just followed him but as he directed us to tuk-tuk, we sensed that something was not right. Our guesthouse, Jasmine Lodge was supposed to arranged for a van pick-up. We eventually met Mr. Kunn, the manager of Jasmine Lodge who then took us in a van to Jasmine lodge cum guesthouse. On arrival, we checked-in, had a quick lunch and without wasting time, begun our half day afternoon tour to Angkor Wat.
Firstly, we applied for a 3 days pass @ US$ 40/person. We were prepared for it as we brought our own photograph for the application. Angkor literally the capital city of the khmer, the dominant ethnic group in modern and ancient Cambodia. At its prime of the Angkor Kingdom, it contained more than a million people and Khmer kings constructed vast waterworks and grand temples using only manpower, elephants and handtools. The Angkorian kingdom was started by Jayavarman II in 802AD on Kulen Mountain, north of Siem Reap. Later, in the early 12th century under the great Suryavarman II, he built Angkor's most spectacular architectural creation, Angkor Wat, as well as other monuments. Angkor Wat was constructed as Suryavarnam II's state temple (dedicated to Hindu Gods such as Vishnu, Brahma & Shiva) as well as his own mausoleum Extensive battle scenes from his campaigns against Champa were carved on the south walls of Angkor Wat. For many years, the lost city of Angkor Wat was totally isolated from the western world hidden within thick jungles covering the area. The temple complexes were first discovered by French missionaries in 1860. Henri Mahout, a French botanist then started intensive research and restoration program
The next great Khmer king was Jayavarman VII who drove the Cham from Cambodia in 1181. He then broke with almost 400 years of Hindu tradition and made Mahayana Buddhism as state religion and immediately began Angkor's most prolific period of monumental buildings such as Bayon with its famous giant faces, his capital city of Angkor Thom and the temples of Ta Prohm, Bantaey Kdei and Preah Khan.
During our three days at Siem Reap, we also visited various other Khmer temples such as Angkor Thom, Bayon, Phimeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the leper King, Ta Prohm, Roluos Group, Pre Rup and many more which I could not remember the Khmer names.
Our stay at Siem Reap was at Jasmine Lodge which offered nice comfortable non-airconditioned room (during the dry & cool season) with attached hot water bathrooms @ reasonable price of US$ 5/night (double) and US$ 8/night (triple-sharing). The Manager, Mr. Kunn, his wife and staff were very friendly people. We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh on 12 December 2005 AM and boarded the Capitol tour bus directly to our guesthouse to Hong Phann guesthouse. The trip took about 5 hours. In the afternoon we went shopping, walked to the Russian market and while walking, we passed by The SGS Cambodia Liaison Office but it was closed (due to a public holiday).
The next day, the five of us squeezed into a 4-seater motorised tuk-tuk for a local tour. Firstly, we visited the killing fields of Choeun Ek - the site of the death of thousands of victims of Khmer rouge with it numerous mass graves and memorial stupa (containing countless human skeletal skulls). Later we visited the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Silver Pagoda, the National Museum, the Independence Monument and Wat Phnom. Thereafter, we rushed back to our guesthouse at about 2.00pm, had lunch, checked-out and then proceeded to the airport for our 4.35pm flight to KLIA.
With the exception of the high charges for express boat to Siem Reap @US$ 22/person, 3 days temple tour @ US$ 40/person and airport tax @ US$ 25/person, we have no complaints on other costs. Food,accomodation and travelling costs at Siem Reap and Phnom Penh are quite reasonable. One good tip is to eat at food outlets which charged in the local Cambodian Rials, as prices are more reasonable than those outlets which charged in US$. Despite the higher US$ charges on tourism related industries, we enjoyed our holidays at Cambodia.
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