Day 59 - Tuesday, April 12 - Travel to Siem Reap

I woke up to allow enough time to pack and be in the bar area of Mickey's at 6:30AM to catch my ride to the boat.

I also learned that I am a moron!

I was so excited and told so many people that I was taking a boat up the Mekong river to Siem Reap and that was a big lie. The Mekong doesn't GO to Siem Reap!

The river you travel is the Tonle Sap River which turns into the Tonle Sap Lake

Well, anyway, the boat left prompty at 7AM and we passed some great early morning Cambodian sights. Lots o' homes on the river, lots o' early morn' fisherman, lots o' early morn' bathers, and lots o' early morn' smells on the brownest and dirtiest river I've ever traveled on. The looked like a floating submarine and whilst some people opted for the inside seating, a few of us opted to sit on the "roof of the submarine" against the section where the luggage was stored. The morning sun was great and it felt nice to be back on a boat even if it wasn't Ko Lipe or Ko Lanta.

Midway through the journey, we had to switch boats. This is the norm but noone bothers to tell you that before you get on the boat. The river from this point gets real shallow and the new boat is smaller, lighter, and faster. We passed a few "floating villages" which were some of the coolest things I've seen to date. Once again, everyone going about their normal daily routines while the boat of farangs came speeding through leaving them nothing but scared fish and big wakes that shook their villages.

Near Siem Reap, we came to the largest of the floating villages which is actually in Lonely Planet as something to go to when you are templed out. We changed boats one last time. When we approached, there were kids sitting in what looked like large metal wash basins paddling over to us to beg for money. It was the cutest but sadest sight. Of course, they want you to take a photo so you feel obligated to give them some money. Of course, I did.

Once on the mainland, we arrived at another little fishing village and I was met by a driver that was arranged by Mickey's. I checked into Be Quest Angkor Hotel and walked around town a bit. Like Phnom Penh, Siem Reap has a lot of charm and a lot of bars and restaurants to cater to the people who flock here to see the Temples of Angkor. It really is the only reason people come to Siem Reap.

I was back at the hotel by 4:15PM. My driver came to pick me up and drove me to Angkor Wat for sunset. It's a great drive from the center of town. Just a kilometer or 2 from town, it turns into a beautiful tree lined road with thousands of tuk tuks, cars, and motorbikes transporting all the sightseers to and from the temples. Every second of the drive was a Kodak moment. It was like driving through a great country road with lush green vegetation all around. I bought a 3-day pass and entered the grounds of the temples.

From this point on, I am speechless. There really are no words to describe how incredible Angkor Wat is. I walked around for a few hours and, this coming from the guy who saw the Sistine Chapel in 46 seconds, I easily could have spent another few hours there.

For those who just know the name but aren't really sure exactly what, where, when, or why, feel free to click the link below. Another option is to do a google search for ANGKOR WAT as 411,000 sites will come up and you can click on any and get carried away by it's unbelievable beauty, grandeur, and immensity of it all. Angkor Wat is just one temple, the largest one of over 100, which make up "The Temples of Angkor". Today was sunset at Angkor Wat. Tomorrow, I'm being picked up at 5:15AM to see SUNRISE at Angkor Wat. From there, we will venture on to see some of the other temples of Angkor and will finish the day with SUNSET at Phnom Bakheng.

So, back in town, I walked around a bit, ran into some Australians I met on the boat, had a drink at "The Red Piano", a pretty great bar with great atmosphere until it was past 9PM and I excused myself so I could shower and get into bed to prepare for my early day.

By no means is this meant to insult anyone's intelligence:

www.sacredsites.com/asia/cambodia/angkor_wat.html