Angkor Wat Tour Day 1

Today is the day we get to explore my first Wonder of the World; the Angkor Wat temple. This was the only reason we came to Siem Reap, Cambodia, as it is for most tourists. Our tour guide, David Angkor Guide, picked us up from our hotel at 8:30am and we were on our way.

Walking the long walkway to the entrance to Angkor Wat, I could not believe that I was here as I have been looking at pictures of Angkor Wat before and thought the place looked beautiful and amazing. David pointed out that half the walkway entrance has been restored already with plans to finish the other side. You could tell by one side the stones were all uneven and sinking in.

He also said that there is supposed to be Naga (snake) along the entire length, which is supposed to be rebuilt in the future with concrete.

Angkor Wat was built between 1113-1150 and took 37 years to build, including digging out the 200m wide man made mote around the city. The temples were built for religious gatherings and not for the King to live in.

Entering the first "temple" entrance and then walking out to Angkor Wat, there was lots of details to look at as there were carvings covering every single wall! It is amazing when you realize the amount of work that was put into all the carvings as they are done manually by hand. Let alone how they built this giant temple with stones they had to transport by river from far away. 

 

Angkor Wat is the biggest temple in the area and was made to be the best of the best with all of the decorations and carvings on the wall.

To enter the 3rd level of Angkor Wat, you cannot wear sleeveless shirts, so for some reason I decided to bring my rain jacket in case it rained later on. Oh, did I mention how f'in HOT it is in Siem Reap? It was going to be high of 40C and I had to wear my jacket inside the temple and was just baking. Even walking around outside the temples, I have never sweated so much in my life and pretty sure I was suffering from heat exhaustion. Good thing our Tour Guide also provided us with cold water bottles from his cooler he kept in his Lexus RX300, but it was still tough.

 

 
On the way to see the famous Bayon temples, the one with the big face carvings, we passed through South Gate where there were statues of Demons (on the right) and Gods (on the left) along the bridge gate, holding a Naga (snake). Some of the statue is broken and still needs to be restored.

Upon entering the South Gate, a large entrance overpass appears with four faces at the top.

 Once passed through the gate, we stopped to see the monkeys nearby, which were on the side of the road.

 

There was a Mom and baby monkey hanging out and the baby monkey was playing with this man's tripod. Excitedly, I got my GoPro out but for some reason it was not turning on even though I just had it on a few minutes ago. It could have been due to it overheating as it was quite hot. Next thing I know I see the Mom monkey charge at Rebecca and take a swipe at her as Rebecca got too close to the baby hahah. She missed though. It was probably because we just showed up and did not take the time for them to get as comfortable with us. Finally my GoPro started to work again and attached it to my GoPole but the monkeys were scared of it. Video to come soon!

We reached Bayon temple and the outside court areas were in rough shape with walls that have fallen down. However, in the middle of the temple, they have restored most of it. Bayon temple was different as it seemed sort of like a maze as everything was closer together but not as much open space as Angkor. There were multiple pillars with the 4 faces and it was definitely one of our favourite temples.

The last big temple we visited was Baphuon and we were able to climb to the top of it. We definitely got a good leg workout with all the walking and climbing we did. We were both exhausted at this point but it was the last site to visit for the day.

For dinner, David recommended we go to the Kulean 2 restaurant which is a buffet dinner and also has an Apsara "dancing girl" show, as how they would have danced for the King. The "dancing" was quite slow with slow hand movements and beats but that is how they jammed back in the day.

Posted by Steven

Welcome to Cambodia! Lotus Blanc Resort + Phom Bakheng Sunset

This morning, Steven and I left Bangkok to catch a flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia! Our plane ride was quite pleasant as it only lasted about an hour. Our airline, Cambodia Angkor Air provided us with a snack box filled with a ham and cheese sandwich, a muffin, a capaccino chocolate bar, along with water. I was surprised that they offered complimentary food for such a short ride.

Upon arrival at the Cambodia airport (arrival time: 1pm approx) a driver from our resort, Lotus Blanc Resort, was waiting for us outside with a name sign! I was so relived to be in a car with A/C, because it's mighty hot in Cambodia! The drive to the resort lasted about 10 minutes, driving along the main road, Road 6. Once we arrived at our resort, the staff greeted us both and provided us with a welcoming coconut drink, fresh from the coconut palm tree! On top of that, we were offered a free room upgrade to the premium room!

Our room appeared exactly as I expected it to be (according to the photos online). It was quite spacious as it included a walk-out balcony facing the pool, a large shower room, and free WiFi.

Also included in our package was a complimentary set course dinner for two, a welcoming fruit basket, free daily buffet breakfast, and access to the pool. In total, we booked this resort for approx $37+ per night.

After we settled into our room, we decided to take a dip in the pool before deciding what to do for the rest of the evening. The pool was beautiful, as it was surrounded by the outdoor garden which had coconut trees, orange trees, and banana trees! If only the temperature of the pool was cooler (it was only lukewarm), it would've been very refreshing! It didn't really bother us that much though.

Following our quick dip in the pool, Steven suggested we visit Phnom Bakheng hill (at Angkor War Complex) to watch the sunset. We were concerned with the weather over the next few days, as it calls for rain and thunder. We decided not to risk cloudy skies tomorrow, and arranged a tuk-tuk driver to take us to Angkor Wat at 5pm (sunset begins at 6:30pm). Our first tuk-tuk journey in Cambodia was great, but a little bit frightening! It seems as though drivers there are very careless; weaving in and out of other cars, motorbikes, and tuk-tuks, driving on the wrong side of the road, and not looking out for pedestrians. At one point of our journey, a car basically drove our tuk-tuk off the side of the road!

 Anyway, before arriving at Phnom Bakheng, our driver took us to the main Angkor Wat entrance where we took a picture and purchased a 3-day Angkor Wat pass to gain access to Phnom Bakheng.

Once we arrived at the base, we were swamped with children, begging us to purchase souvenirs from them. It was hard to resist them, so we bought some postcards and bracelets. Still, after purchasing some small goodies, more children approached us to buy their souvenirs. At one point, we couldn't move because the kids were surrounding us and going up in our faces!

We finally managed to escape the children and walked towards the entrance to Phnom Bakheng where we flashed our passes to security. The walk up Phnom Bakheng hill was long and humid. We quickly realised how important it is to stay hydrated and to wear comfortable shoes. There were many tourists already there, who arrived much earlier to save a good spot. We managed to find some front row seating on the temple steps, directly facing the forest and in good view of the sun. Steven took some good photos and a time lapse clip from his GoPro!

It was around 7:15pm when we arrived back at the resort, where we showered and prepared for dinner. We decided to use our complimentary dinner for two tonight. The restaurant appeared fancy, overlooking the pool and garden, which also included a patio. Steven enjoyed a Western meal, while I chose the Cambodian dinner meal.

Overall, the Cambodian food was good, but the American steak was tough to chew. At this point, I was ready to pass out and prepare for tomorrow!

Posted by Rebecca

Wat Arun and Grand Palace in Bangkok!

Today was our first day in Bangkok. We went to the mall food court for breakfast/lunch as we were heading to the Grand Palace. I got a fried pork cutlet with Japanese curry and rice with miso soup for around 180 Baht which is about $5 CDN; we thought meals would be a lot cheaper but that is maybe only $2 cheaper than what we can get back home.

After lunch we took the subway (MRT) to Hua Lomphon train station and then we had to figure out a way to the Grand Palace as no train or subway takes you directly into the Old City area where the temples are. Now, I'm sure we got scammed as we were warned of taxi drivers trying to trick you that the palace is closed and they will take you around instead, but a random man in a dress shirt said that today there is a big ceremony with lots of military and that we should go to the palace later in the day around 3:30. He suggested we take a boat river tour that went around a small river where the floating houses and market is and would then drop us off at Wat Arun. The tour would be an hour long and 900 Baht each ($30). We thought it was expensive but would be a good way to see part of Bangkok, so we took our first tuk-tuk ride to the tour boat dock.
 

We got a long wooden boat, that is powered by some old turbo car engine, to ourselves. We got to see the houses of people who lived along this small canal and gave a good perspective of the poverty in the city, as these people did not have very much.

 

  

We got dropped off at Wat Arun, one of the famous temples in Bangkok that looks amazing when it is lit up at night. We were able to climb up the temple and the stair cases were pretty steep.

 

After that we took a ferry across the river to go to the Grand Palace. We were walking along the street and there were many people with tables trying to sell things such as clothes, old electronics, ancient coins, and other random stuff. We took a break in the Navy Wives Association coffee shop for water and much needed A/C. We knew the Grand Palace closed around 5? And we got there at 430 but the ticket booth had just closed. This was fine with us as we both did not have a strong interest in seeing the Grand Palace, nor did paying 500? B for an hour seem appealing anyway.

So we decided to walk down the street to Wat Pho and explored the Complex. Wat Pho has a giant reclining Buddah inside of the buildings, and also a bunch of temples and court yards with Buddah statues.

We also got to see monks do some chanting in one of to temples.

After that we ate at a hostel across the street and then went back to watch the sunset on the other side of the river across Wat Arun to capture some pictures of it when it is lit up. The pictures turned out great except it is a bit crooked, as noted by Joey on Instagram. It is hard to tell when setting up the camera on my small 6 inch tripod which I had to place on the ground.

After this we took a taxi back to our hotel and called it a night as we are flying out to Cambodia tomorrow morning.

Posted by Steven

Safely Arrived in Bangkok!

After a long, tiring, and uncomfortable 23 hour journey from Toronto to Bangkok via Toyko, we finally made it!

Our journey began at Toronto Pearson International Airport's Maple Leaf Lounge, where we anxiously waited for our departure. During our time at the lounge, we enjoyed complimentary pastries, fresh fruit, lunch, snacks, and alcoholic beverages, yum! The perfect combination of goodies before our long flight!

Fortunately for us, the plane ride to Toyko wasn't full, so Steven and I shared a row of three seats for the two of us! Despite the extra space, the flight was very long and uncomfortable for me. After six hours into the flight, I started to feel antsy and bored. Additionally, the dry air caused me to have a stuffy nose and headache throughout the plane ride! Silly me, I forgot to pack tylenol and airborne on my carry-on.

Once we arrived at Narita Airport in Japan, we decided to grab some sushi! We purchased a small sushi platter for 1,500¥ (approx. $15 USD), which was "okay." Steven and I both agree that we've tried much better sushi in Toronto! Looks like we'll have to revisit Toyko another time to try authentic sushi elsewhere (outside the airport)!

From Toyko, our flight to Bangkok went by much quicker. Steven and I managed to get some rest for a couple hours and our local arrival time was around 11:20pm.

Now, we are settled into our hotel, Marvin Suites, and thinking about getting some rest! We're not sure what our plan is for tomorrow, but we'll be sure to keep you posted!

P.S The Leafs won Game 6 of the playoffs! Steven was complaining about missing the game on the plane ride,haha! Already thinking about home!

Posted by Rebecca