Sunrise In Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, Village Visit
We were excited to find out that Uniworld had removed the elephant ride from the sunrise excursion (our friends visited Southeast Asia a few years ago and warned us of mistreatment), so we could feel good about taking it. We woke at 4:00 a.m., coffee was ready at 4:30, and we left the hotel at 4:45.
Pharoth, our guide, was surprisingly chipper at this early hour. Eleven guests chose to take this optional excursion. Our first stop was the ticketing center for the Angkor complex, where we had our photo taken for our temple pass. My mugshot looks okay for 5:00 a.m.
Then, we drove a short distance to Phnom Bakheng, a temple that most tourists visit for sunset. It's located on the top of a jungle hill, so we climbed up—in the dark, with flashlights.
A steep stairway got us to the top of the temple well before dawn. We watched the sun rise over Siem Reap and Angkor Wat for about 30 minutes. It was absolutely beautiful, and there were only a handful of other tourists around. Music was playing from a local village starting with the first sliver of sunlight.
After descending the hill, our bus took us to a restaurant that had prepared picnic boxes for our breakfast on the terrace overlooking Angkor Wat. Each box had enough breakfast for three people, really. It included two hardboiled eggs, bacon and sausage, yogurt, croissant, banana bread, white bread, a sandwich, orange juice, and fresh fruit. I was happy to learn that our uneaten, unopened food was delivered to a nearby village.
With full bellies, we boarded the bus to Angkor Thom. This was the replacement for the elephant ride. Instead, we went two-by-two for a gondola ride in the moat, with a stop at the corner of the complex wall to see a small temple (Prasat Chrung) and a great view.
After about 45 minutes, it was time to head back to Angkor Wat and meet up with the main group.
Cambodia is hot and humid. It was barely 10 a.m. and I was sweating like a beast. Sunscreen and a good hat were necessary for this trip.
At Angkor Wat, Pharoth took us to the side entrance, which most visitors were ignoring (it's to the right of the main walkway). Not only did it keep us in the shade, but it provided an excellent vantage point for photos and convenient access to the bathrooms.
On this side of the temple, the monkeys were very active, and often took care of "monkey business." We saw a tourist give a monkey a bottle of water to drink from, and then that monkey later tried to steal a bottle hanging from the belt of a member of our group. Don't play with the monkeys!
It was finally time to move into the temple. Angkor Wat is simply massive. The entire first floor is circled by a basel relief (stone carving), which unfortunately continues to be damaged by people touching it.
We climbed the steps to the second level and almost immediately got in line for the third level. We had to wait about 15 minutes, because only a limited number of people are allowed at the top at once. The climb was quite steep, and many of our (older) group members were huffing and puffing—but they made it! The views were spectacular.
A temple cat was just chilling out up here.
After a quick visit we descended and made our way out of the temple, thankfully to the air-conditioned bus.
We came back into town for our provided lunch at Champey Restaurant. Air conditioning was once again appreciated—it seems common in Siem Reap for many restaurants to go without it. There were two highlights of this meal: the sweet and sour soup and pork satay, which introduced us to subtle Khmer flavors.
So much had happened already, but the day wasn't over yet! After a very short nap at the hotel, we met again in the lobby and were ushered into tuk tuks in pairs and driven to the outskirts of town to visit an English school run by an NGO—the Future of Khmer Children Organization.
We heard from a staff member, then watched an Aspara dance class (it looks hard!).
Then it was on to English class. We had a chance to briefly talk with the kids (ages 8-11). Aaron and I were both a little uncomfortable at first, but the former teachers in our group were right at home. Once Aaron figured out how to use the international language of high fives, he was very popular.
The kids sang us "Old McDonald" and we sang them "Itsy Bitsy Spider."
We quickly stopped by one of the vocational training rooms. Here, students age 16 and up learn sewing and embroidery by making uniforms, Aspara costumes, and some contracted work—like monogrammed bathrobes for Uniworld, which were given to each guest once we boarded our river boat.
Last, a music class played and sang some songs. They were adorable.
As we got ready to leave, kids presented us with some drawings. Nalen drew us a princess, and Kotana drew us a picture of his house. Most Americans might think he added legs to the house, but it's actually an excellent rendering of a Cambodian house on stilts. We were already supportive of what the school was doing, but the small gifts prompted us to open up our wallets and offer a donation. We also brought school supplies with us—some of which were given to this school. If you take this trip with Uniworld, check your documents carefully for information on what the schools are in need of. Of course, you can always bring a cash donation, but if you have room in your luggage it's nice to be able to give something tangible.
We hopped back on the tuk tuks, which took us through the back streets of Siem Reap.
We had one more planned spot—Artisans Angkor. This organization trains unskilled and/or disabled adults in a trade so they can return to their village and open a handicraft shop that produces silk, carving, painting, lacquer, or other items. After a tour of the training facilities, we were of course ushered into the shop. We chose a wood-carved lion, as we've been drawn to that imagery in the temples so far.
Finally, we were back to the hotel and we could take a nap! But soon we had to shower and lather on the bug repellant for dinner at Sugar Palm. They were once again turning away people without reservations, so I'm glad we had one. We tried the fish amok, which can best be described as a delicious fish soufflé and pork prahok—a pork and fermented fish dish for dipping crudités and crackers. We really enjoyed both of them, but expected more of the "pungent" Cambodian flavors I'd read about.
Apparently we could have tried more, because the kitchen kept trying to bring us food we hadn't ordered (I think a new member of the waitstaff was mislabeling tickets). With a starter, two entrees, two desserts, two beers, and a cocktail, the bill was about $30. This is expensive by Cambodian standards, but we were happy to pay it.
And we were even happier to finally get to bed after an extremely long day.
 |
| Early wake-up call! |
Then, we drove a short distance to Phnom Bakheng, a temple that most tourists visit for sunset. It's located on the top of a jungle hill, so we climbed up—in the dark, with flashlights.
A steep stairway got us to the top of the temple well before dawn. We watched the sun rise over Siem Reap and Angkor Wat for about 30 minutes. It was absolutely beautiful, and there were only a handful of other tourists around. Music was playing from a local village starting with the first sliver of sunlight.
After descending the hill, our bus took us to a restaurant that had prepared picnic boxes for our breakfast on the terrace overlooking Angkor Wat. Each box had enough breakfast for three people, really. It included two hardboiled eggs, bacon and sausage, yogurt, croissant, banana bread, white bread, a sandwich, orange juice, and fresh fruit. I was happy to learn that our uneaten, unopened food was delivered to a nearby village.
With full bellies, we boarded the bus to Angkor Thom. This was the replacement for the elephant ride. Instead, we went two-by-two for a gondola ride in the moat, with a stop at the corner of the complex wall to see a small temple (Prasat Chrung) and a great view.
After about 45 minutes, it was time to head back to Angkor Wat and meet up with the main group.
Cambodia is hot and humid. It was barely 10 a.m. and I was sweating like a beast. Sunscreen and a good hat were necessary for this trip.
At Angkor Wat, Pharoth took us to the side entrance, which most visitors were ignoring (it's to the right of the main walkway). Not only did it keep us in the shade, but it provided an excellent vantage point for photos and convenient access to the bathrooms.
On this side of the temple, the monkeys were very active, and often took care of "monkey business." We saw a tourist give a monkey a bottle of water to drink from, and then that monkey later tried to steal a bottle hanging from the belt of a member of our group. Don't play with the monkeys!
It was finally time to move into the temple. Angkor Wat is simply massive. The entire first floor is circled by a basel relief (stone carving), which unfortunately continues to be damaged by people touching it.
We climbed the steps to the second level and almost immediately got in line for the third level. We had to wait about 15 minutes, because only a limited number of people are allowed at the top at once. The climb was quite steep, and many of our (older) group members were huffing and puffing—but they made it! The views were spectacular.
A temple cat was just chilling out up here.
After a quick visit we descended and made our way out of the temple, thankfully to the air-conditioned bus.
We came back into town for our provided lunch at Champey Restaurant. Air conditioning was once again appreciated—it seems common in Siem Reap for many restaurants to go without it. There were two highlights of this meal: the sweet and sour soup and pork satay, which introduced us to subtle Khmer flavors.
 |
| Siem Reap sour soup with fish |
 |
| palm heart salad with chicken |
 |
| Deep-fried shrimp cake |
 |
| Lemongrass chicken, pork satay, grilled bar fish with sweet and sour sauce, jasmine rice |
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| fried banana |
We heard from a staff member, then watched an Aspara dance class (it looks hard!).
Then it was on to English class. We had a chance to briefly talk with the kids (ages 8-11). Aaron and I were both a little uncomfortable at first, but the former teachers in our group were right at home. Once Aaron figured out how to use the international language of high fives, he was very popular.
The kids sang us "Old McDonald" and we sang them "Itsy Bitsy Spider."
We quickly stopped by one of the vocational training rooms. Here, students age 16 and up learn sewing and embroidery by making uniforms, Aspara costumes, and some contracted work—like monogrammed bathrobes for Uniworld, which were given to each guest once we boarded our river boat.
Last, a music class played and sang some songs. They were adorable.
As we got ready to leave, kids presented us with some drawings. Nalen drew us a princess, and Kotana drew us a picture of his house. Most Americans might think he added legs to the house, but it's actually an excellent rendering of a Cambodian house on stilts. We were already supportive of what the school was doing, but the small gifts prompted us to open up our wallets and offer a donation. We also brought school supplies with us—some of which were given to this school. If you take this trip with Uniworld, check your documents carefully for information on what the schools are in need of. Of course, you can always bring a cash donation, but if you have room in your luggage it's nice to be able to give something tangible.
We hopped back on the tuk tuks, which took us through the back streets of Siem Reap.
We had one more planned spot—Artisans Angkor. This organization trains unskilled and/or disabled adults in a trade so they can return to their village and open a handicraft shop that produces silk, carving, painting, lacquer, or other items. After a tour of the training facilities, we were of course ushered into the shop. We chose a wood-carved lion, as we've been drawn to that imagery in the temples so far.
Finally, we were back to the hotel and we could take a nap! But soon we had to shower and lather on the bug repellant for dinner at Sugar Palm. They were once again turning away people without reservations, so I'm glad we had one. We tried the fish amok, which can best be described as a delicious fish soufflé and pork prahok—a pork and fermented fish dish for dipping crudités and crackers. We really enjoyed both of them, but expected more of the "pungent" Cambodian flavors I'd read about.
Apparently we could have tried more, because the kitchen kept trying to bring us food we hadn't ordered (I think a new member of the waitstaff was mislabeling tickets). With a starter, two entrees, two desserts, two beers, and a cocktail, the bill was about $30. This is expensive by Cambodian standards, but we were happy to pay it.
And we were even happier to finally get to bed after an extremely long day.
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