Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

We took an evening flight out of Hong Kong which got us into Siem Reap by 7:30 pm. We missed the driver from the hotel and paid $7 for a taxi ride to the hotel. The price was cheap but we had to put up with a 25 minute sales pitch to use the taxi driver for our Angkor Wat guide. We declined and he finally left us alone in the hotel. This place is new, but only $35 per night.

Not bad for the price. Sunday morning we went to the concierge and arranged for a car, driver and private guide for the day. At $70 it was twice the taxi driver, but we felt much more comfortable.

After a good breakfast that included both western and Asian dishes, we met our guide and driver. After buying our park passes for $40 each (US cash) we made our way in and our first stop was the Angkor Wat temple complex. The complex is one of many, but the most famous and best restored/preserved.

We toured two temple complexes in the morning, Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, broke for lunch and then came back to Ta Prohm and back to Bayon. Each is unique and markedly different from the others. The commonality is the massive scale and intricate stone carving. The temples are reminiscent of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul where the original Christian church was redecorated to turn it into a Mosque; here the change was from Hindu to Buddhist with certain gods covered up as the region’s religion changed.