Cambodia
In Cambodia, we visited Siem Reap, Cambodia and a number of other cities, town, and villages. Siem Reap, Cambodia is the city that is close to the Angkor Archaeological Park. We spent 4 full days (5 nights) in the area, which was perfect. We wouldn't have wanted it to be any shorter. This gave us enough time to see 6 of temples, monuments, and ruins in the park. The area is very hot and humid, so we would spend the morning visiting the park, then in the afternoon we would relax around the hotel pool and walk around Siem Reap. The park, along with some of the temples can get very crowded. There are certain circuits that people usually do when visiting the park, but we planned our visits to the park to avoid the crowds. One day we started with the Ta Prohm temple first, which is not how most people do the circuit, and that was great because when we got there it was empty. By the time we left it was starting to get crowded. FYI: Ta Prohm is the ruins that were made famous by the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie from 2001. After our time in Siem Reap, we then got on a boat (ship?, there were 38 guests on the boat) and spent 7 days traveling down the Mekong River from Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. When on the boat, we made many stops in different Cambodian cities, towns, and villages. See below all of our pictures from Cambodia.
Ta Prohm, Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia
Ta Prohm is one the most popular temples due to the filming of the 2001 Tomb Raider movie at the temple, and the amazing ruins that have trees growing out of, and around the ruins. We visited these ruins first, in the early morning, in order to avoid the crowds, which worked out great. It was very quiet when we first got there, but after about a couple hours it started to get crowded and that is when we moved on to the next temple, which was Ta Som (see below for details from Ta Som). Ta Prohm is a fairly large temple complex and took a couple of hours to walk through the entire Ta Prohm ruins. If you visit the Angkor Archaeological Park this is one of the temples that you should NOT miss. See below for pictures from Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm.
Ta Prohm.
Ta Som, Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia
After Ta Prohm, we then visited Ta Som, which is much smaller than Ta Prohm, but it is worth visiting. It has a couple of cool ruins to see and it wasn't crowded due to it not being one of the most popular temples to visit. We only spent about an hour at this temple, then we moved on to Angkor Wat, which is probably the most famous of all the Angkor temples. See below for pictures from Ta Som, then below those pictures will be the pictures from Angkor Wat.
Ta Som.
Ta Som.
Angkor Wat, Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia
After Ta Som, we then went over to Angkor Wat, which is probably the most well know of the Angkor temples, and it is the largest religious site in the world. The outside of Angkor Wat almost has a festival type of environment. There are a lot of people and vendors, but once you get inside the complex it is quieter and doesn't feel as crowded since it so large. One other thing, there aren't very many trees in the Angkor Wat temple, so there isn't much shade so be prepared. Angkor Wat was the last temple that we visited on the first day and we were pretty exhausted when we were done, which was probably around 2 pm. We then went back to the hotel for some relaxing at the pool. See below for some pictures from Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat
Angkor Thom, Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia
The first day of touring we visited the 3 sites listed above, which was a fairly exhausting day due to the heat and humidity. For the 2nd day, we decided to take it a little easier and visit only 1 of the sites, which was Angkor Thom, but this is a very large site that was that last capital city of the Khmer empire. There is a lot to see in Angkor Thom, so we did spend the whole morning touring around Angkor Thom. We visited the Bayon temple, Baphuon temple, the Victory Gate, the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Leper King, etc. There is a lot to see in Angkor Thom, so you should plan on spending a fair amount of time visiting this site. Some of the sites you can visit in an hour or two, while others you might need at least half a day to see everything at the site, such as Angkor Thom.
The Bayon temple in Angkor Thom.
Another picture from the Bayon temple in Angkor Thom.
The Baphuon temple in Angkor Thom.
The Victory gate at Angkor Thom.
At the top of the Victory gate at Angkor Thom.
Preah Kahn and Neak Pean, Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia
On the 3rd day, we visited 2 more of the Angkor sites. First, we went to Preah Kahn, which was great. There were great ruins to see and it wasn't crowded at all. High recommend going to Preah Kahn. After Preah Kahn, we went to Neak Pean, which wasn't that great. You could probably skip this one if you are short on time.
Preah Kahn.
Preah Kahn.
Preah Kahn.
Preah Kahn.
Preah Kahn.
Neak Pean.
Siem Reap, Cambodia and around Siem Reap
Siem Reap is the city that is close to the Angkor Archeological Park. This is the city that most people stay in when visiting the Angkor ruins. The pictures below are: from our hotel (Viroths - voted number 1 hotel in the world by Travelocity in 2018), tarantula tasting, crazy telephone poles with way, way too many wires and our tuk-tuk driver who took us around town and out to see the Angkor ruins. (FYI: tuk-tuk real name is Remorques in Cambodia, but everyone calls them tuk-tuks)
Viroths Hotel in Siem Reap
Viroths Hotel in Siem Reap
Viroths Hotel in Siem Reap
These kids were chomping on tarantulas, scorpions and worms like it was candy.
So I had to give it a try.
Just like chicken...... NOT.
Hmmmmm, what's the heck is the deal with this?
It wasn't just one of the telephone poles, it was all of them.
Our awesome tuk tuk driver who took us out to the temples and around town.
Leaving Siem Reap on a Boat
After visiting Siem Reap we got on a boat (38 total guests on the boat, so I think it is way too small to be called a ship) and traveled across the Tonle Sap lake, then down the Tonle Sap river to the capital of Cambodia, which is Phnom Penh, then we continued on the boat down the Mekong River to Ho Chi Minh City (previously Saigon) in Vietnam. Along the way, we visited many cities, towns, and villages. In Cambodia, we visited the Wat Hanchey Buddist Temple and Monastery, the Cambodia capital Phnom Phen, the Choeung Ek killing field memorial, the Toul Sleng prison (formerly a high school), attempted to help with teaching English in a school and visited a couple of other small villages in Cambodia. While still on the boat, in Vietnam we visited the town of Chau Doc, and number of other small villages and towns in Vietnam.
The boat that we got on for a week of traveling through Cambodia and Vietnam.
Wat Hanchey Buddhist temple and monastery, Cambodia
Wat Hanchey Buddhist temple and monastery, Cambodia
Wat Hanchey Buddhist temple and monastery, Cambodia
Wat Hanchey Buddhist temple and monastery, Cambodia
Wat Hanchey Buddhist temple and monastery, Cambodia
Our driver for our ox cart ride in Cambodia
Our ox cart ride.
Rice wine making.
In this picture we are trying help these students in their English class.
Another picture from an English class in Cambodia.
The National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
The Royal Palace of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
More from the Royal Palace of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
The Choeung Ek killing field memorial in Cambodia. Between 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge regime executed over 1. These sites are difficult and sad, but at the same time very informative
Another picture from the Choeung Ek killing field memorial in Cambodia.
The Toul Sleng prison (formerly a high school) in Cambodia.
Another picture from the Toul Sleng prison (formerly a high school) in Cambodia.