Last Night in Siem Reap

Written on the last night...

This morning we visited the silk farm. We saw how eggs turned into cacoons, and cacoons turned into colorful silk scarves and table runners. I never knew how raw silk was extracted vs. fine silk, and how labor intensive it is to dye and weave different colors of silk together. In Cambodia, everything is made by hand, yet they only sell each scarf for $2 USD!

After the silk farm, our guide took us to visit a local monestary. It was close to lunch time, so we saw the nuns preparing food for the monks. Near the monestary, located on the outskirts of Siem Reap, where we didn't see one single tourist except for ourselves we were able to see how Cambodia villagers really live. Houses are built on stilts to ensure they don't flood during the raining season, which lasts from August to November. They get 3 meters of rain a year! We saw people interacting at local markets and kids running around without shoes. Cambodia is so poor, yet people are so friendly, nice, and well-mannered. I heard it is different in Phnom Penh, the capital, perhaps Siem Reap is considered rural and only acquired footprints due to Angkor Wat, but I hope the innocence never gets lost!

After visiting the village, we went to 2 markets prior to heading back to the hotel. The markets are filled with trinkets, souvenirs, and silk products. Our guide advised us that the rule of thumb is to always slash the price by 50% upon your first offer. He was absolutely right, and we successfully bargained for some books, silk table runners, magnet for mom since she collects them, and a bell for Amy, who collects bells. We're always on the hunt for magnets and bells everywhere we go.

After a morning of walking in the heat, it was nice to get back to our hotel, especially we had a 3.5-hour couple's spa package awaiting us. I thought I would never say this, but 3 hours of spa is TOO much! I got really restless towards the last hour during the facial. Once we finished with spa, we got ready for dinner at Meric, where we had dinner on a swing table. Most of the menus at restaurants in Cambodia serve both international cuisine, as well as Khmer food. I had langoustine for the first time infused with coconut cream. It was quite good. Josh had the onion coated grouper with beet dressing.

We were pretty tired after dinner but thought, heck, it's our last night, so we headed out and walked around the night market before calling it a night.

Tomorrow morning, our wake-up call is at 5am to catch a 7:45am flight back to Singapore! We are starting to miss our bed a bit, but so sad to leave Siem Reap. We want to come back again, and I can honestly say that this is one of the most amazing and unforgettable trips I've taken.

Minnie

7/24/10

Hand-made silk traditional Khmer wedding outfits at the silk farm

Monastery on the outskirts of Siem Reap

Last night's dinner at Meric, Hotel de la Paix

Angkor Wat

Second day in Siem Reap

Travel notes from the second day...

Today we got an early start and saw the sun come up in Angkor Wat. Since we got there early and beat the crowd, it was so nice to have the temple all to ourselves. It took the king 37 years to build Angkor Wat, including 3000 elephants, 15,000 laborers, and tons of limestones, sandstones, and lava stones. It is breath-taking, especially to know that it's been erected for over 1200 years. This temple was abandoned and the jungle flourished over it. In the late 1800s, when a french man, Henri Mahout was following and catching a butterfly, he stumbled upon the east gate of Angkor Wat and opened it up to the world.

After that, we went to Ta Phrom, which is also known as the jungle temple. This temple is especially famous because a scene from Tomb Raider was filmed here with the sprawling tree roots growing and extending down the west side of the temple.

After an extremely hot morning, J and I headed back to the hotel to cool off in the pool and have some lunch pool side.

After lunch, we visited the Bayon temple. It is known for all of the buddha faces decorated on the top of the towers. This is when it started to pour heavy heavy rain. It was hard climbing up and down the deteriorated steps, as well as hold an umbrella and making sure our cameras and phone stayed dry.

After Bayon, we toured Beantey Srei, the "pink temple." Of the hundreds of temples in Angkor, this temple is constructed with the best quality stone, pink sandstones. The carvings on this temple are also more intricate and withstood the nature better. This temple is Hindu rather than Buddhist, and the mythical characters are so vivid and tell the stories of Prana - the creator, Vishnu - the protector, and Shiva - the destroyer, according to Hinduism.

For dinner, we enjoyed some delicious French food at Abacus, recommended by ABOUTAsia, the tour company we used, which 30% of the proceeds go toward "I Am Cambodian," a non-profit org that supports Cambodian children to goto school. We then met up with a friend of Josh's from high school whom he hadn't seen in 15 years. Him and his girlfriend are on a long holiday traveling throughout southeast Asia. After 15 years, they meet in Cambodia. What a small world!

Looking forward to our 3-hour spa appointment tomorrow!

Minnie

7/23/10

Angkor Wat from the hind gate

Ta Promh, the jungle temple

Cooling off at the hotel pool

Dinner at Abacus

First Day in Siem Reap, Cambodia

We just got back from Siem Reap, Cambodia last night, and what an unforgettable trip! Josh and I were saying on the flight back that we would definitely return to soak in more of the incredible history and people. It is one of our wishes to be able to take another trip there and do some community work while travel the less travelled paths.

Everyday during our visit, I had to try really hard to remember all of the things that were told to us by our guide, a native Khmer who has gone through the terror of Khmer Rouge. His tales were incredible and we really enjoyed the personable and private tours. I'd like to share with you some of my travel notes I jotted down daily, over the 3 days we were there.

I am so impressed and I've only been here for 20 hours. Being able to visit Siem Reap is a surreal, privileged, and humbling experience.

We have a private tour guide and driver with us the whole time, and lucky for us, our guide studied history in university, so everywhere we go, not only do we get to see the mesmerizing sights, we get valuable history lessons. His name is Bunat, he's married with 2 kids, and he lost his father, a math teacher, to the Khmer Rouge when Bunat was only 7. The Khmer Rouge regime lasted from 1975-1979. Bunat's only in his 40s, but he looks like he's well into his 50s. I can tell the hardships he's been through from his dark, sunburned, and patchy skin, and the wrinkles and sunspots on his rough hands.

Though I don't know many Khmers, just from getting to know Bunat and hearing him talk about his people, the Khmers have been around since the 6th century, and through time, have persevered and exude great pride for their mythical and unique culture that has captivated me since my arrival.

Morning call was at 3:30am for our flight that departed from Singapore at 6am. Today we visited a temple called Preah Khan, and passed by a Cambodian wedding. We only heard the loud celebratory music, but didn't see anybody from the wedding party. It was 38 degrees, Celcius out and it was really hot. In the afternoon, we visited the Angkor National museum and saw loads of articrafts stolen/taken away from various temples. These articrafts are mainly the heads of big statues, such as buddhas and demons. They were stolen from temples in the middle of the night, cut off by electric saws. Then the bandits would try to smuggle them over the Thai border via trucks that carried rice. These stolen statues can be worth $5000-$10000 USD if sold in the black market. Given the fact that an average Khmer farmer makes $800-$1000 USD a year, they can feed their family for a long time from these deals. When the police at the border discovered these stolen statues, they were returned to Cambodia and placed in the national museum.

After the museum, we visited the outskirts of Angkor Wat briefly just to get some sunset photos, but we will visit the grounds in detail tomorrow. Our driver and guide were so amazing that they prepared a sunset picnic for us. We sat by an amazing spot by the moat that protected the temple, and listened to Bunat tell us about the Khmer Rouge. It's a sad page in the Cambodian history. Because of the ruling of Khmer Rouge, Cambodia's prosperity and peace took a great fall, which explains why the country is so poor now. If you are interested to learn more about this, I'm reading 2 great books by Luong Ung, "First They Killed my Father," and "The Lucky Child." I highly recommend these books, as it took me less than 2 days to finish the first, and I haven't been able to put the 2nd book down.

At night we watched performance of the traditional Apsara dances. Apsara means ladies from heaven. Their dances are elegant, with restraint, and I couldn't take my eyes off of the glitzy costumes! It was a dinner and show with traditional Khmer food. Khmer food is a hybrid between Thai and Chinese. I find it to be lighter and healthier.

Tomorrow, we will be visiting more temples. Being in these ancient temples sends thrills down my spine. It is an overwhelming feeling to know how long they have existed, and one day, I have the privilege to stand with them. I cannot wait!

Minnie

7/22/10

Preah Khan, the first temple we visited, built over 9th-12th century.

For more photos, please see facebook. :)

T-5 days

In 5 days, Josh and I will celebrate our 1-year anniversary. It's been a year full of exciting milestones. From the wedding, honeymoon, to purchasing our first home together, then accepting jobs abroad and moving to Shanghai (for a very short while), and now Singapore. Nothing seems impossible when we do it together. I'm so lucky to have him (and he's luckier to have me. It's true!).

I've been such a slacker when it comes to post-wedding related duties, including selecting/compiling our photos. Now that I have some down time prior to starting work again (I will elaborate later), I put together some favorites to reminisce one of the best days of our lives. Enjoy!

Leaving for Siem Reap in 30 hours!

Kuala Lumpur

In the past 2 weeks, I visited Kuala Lumpur and Beijing for the first time in my life.

First, J had meetings in KL, so I thought, heck why not, air fare was so cheap, the airline had a promotion for S$1/way, I kid you not, with S$35 in taxes, I would say it would be wasteful to not take advantage of. From Singapore to KL is a mere 55 minute flight away. Malaysia is an Islamic country, but also has great diversity. It was neat to visit mosques and different temples. The standard of living is much lower than Singapore so things are much cheaper, and the food is even better than Singapore, in my opinion! Public spaces and amenities aren't as streamlined, almost reminds me of China with a middle east feel. Here are the pictures to do the talking...

Saying hello to J's colleagues at the hotel bar

Patrona Towers from our room

Dinner at Tamarind Hill - Burmese & Thai fusion. Yum!

National Mosque staff fitted us for our robes to enter the mosque. I had to cover my head, J did not have to.

We also visited a Hindu temple

Since the Hindu temple was around Chinatown, we took a stroll through Petaling Street, where counterfeit goods filled every vendor's booth. Then we saw 2 trucks arrived with at least 10 cops confiscating the goods booth by booth. It was quiet and solemn, they must have taken at least 1000 purses.

They will probably end up at the cops' wives

After walking around for hours, we each got foot reflexology massage for $15/hour. Complimentary, was the fish spa, which I was NOT a fan of. Here's Josh getting ticklish -

We returned to Sing on Saturday, and less than 48 hours later, I was getting on the plane again. Next stop, Beijing!