School Holiday – Act Three: Siem Reap, Its Temples and Butter Chicken

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In Phnom Penh, Katie and I had our hotel arrange for a van/taxi service to drive us to Siem Reap. They assured us that it was the quickest way on the ground between cities, which it was. But it would still take about five hours in the back of a cramped van. And it did.

Still, in the van we were lucky enough to be seated next to Pisith, a registered tour guide who later emailed us a fantastic itinerary for the temples. He even included the best places from which to photograph the temples depending on the time of day. He briefly chatted with us a bit about the Khmer Rouge and what it did to the education system. I wanted to ask more, but wasn’t sure about how appropriate it would be.

When the van dropped us off, Katie and I found a tuk-tuk driver to take us to our hotel (we later hired the driver for the week). We arrived too late to visit the temples and instead opted to walk into town for massages and dinner. The massages were great, cheap, and we came out smelling way nicer than we did going in. Dinner was made up of probably the best Indian food I’ve had. Authentic Indian dishes in Cambodia? Yes. YES.

The restaurant in question, Dakshin’s, sounded like a pretty solid place to eat from various reviews. Katie ordered butter chicken (very authentic, I know) and I had aloo gobi and masala dosa. We split too many orders of garlic naan. The food was so good that we went back two days later. I would have gone again, but Katie thought we should try a different place. I regret that decision.

Fat and happy, Katie and I walked back to the hotel for an early night. Our temple tours began at 5am. For the next three days, we visited the temples until lunch (which was also about the time that I’d sweat through my shorts), then swam, ate, napped, ate and slept again. It was great.

I didn’t read much about the temples before visiting and - full disclosure - I still haven’t. All I can really tell you is that they are as spectacular as they seem in the photos. They’re old, beautiful, and crumbling, but still well-preserved enough to allow you to imagine what it must have been like to visit and live in these places during their hey day.

Angkor Wat is actually the name of just one – the most famous – temple complex. Along with hundreds if not thousands of other tourists, Katie and visited this temple on our first day. Although it was stunning to see the sun rise over the temple, I really liked wandering around the complex after the sun was up. It was easier to find niches where there weren’t so many visitors and you could really see the friezes up close. Gawd, I love me some friezes. The rest of the day included all of the temples in the smaller park circuit, including the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. All were good. All were full of people.

I was denied entrance into one temple due to shorts that did not fall to my knees (note: the Buddhists aren’t kidding around when they say dress modestly). While Katie toured around, I was left to take awkward selfies and “artistic” shots on Instagram (gah, who AM I?). I’m including some of these photos below in an attempt to shame myself into not doing it again.

For the following two days, Katie and I toured the less popular temples. And these, in fact, were my favorites. They might not have been as large or as architecturally interesting, but they were far less busy, probably due to the fact that most tourists do not opt for the three-day park passes. Our second sunrise was shared with no one but our napping tuk-tuk driver.

The last temple we visited was not inside the park, but rather about an hour and a half away. It looks like it could have been in the Tomb Raider movie and is kind of like a playground for grown-ups in that you can climb all over it - probably not great for its structural integrity, but ridiculously fun for nerds like myself.

Leaving Siem Reap, Cambodia, and that butter chicken was hard. Katie and I flew into KL where we quickly visited KLCC and the Petronas Towers, tucked into some burgers, and parted ways. After an overnight bus to Kemaman and two hours of sleep, I was back in school spreading the knowledge. Or whatever it is I do here. 

Angkor Wat through some trees.

Angkor Wat and a reflective pool.

Part of the lake that surrounds AW.

Tagging since 1890.

Cool engraving/carving.

Katie at AW. I'm pretty sure she's yelling at me to not take this photo.

Frieze!

Another carving.

And another.

Big face.

Photos of yourself: worse when you take them yourself.

Elephant!

Sunrise at a temple the name of which I cannot remember.

Siem Reap's own bat-mobile. Booyah.

"It's 'artistic' because it's in profile."

Nature, doin' its thing.

Pretty temple surrounded by water.

Some of the bridges have statues of men/gods supporting the banisters.

Very cool sandstone temple.

Well preserved carving.

Awesome monkey-man guards.

Still guarding.

Our tour guides for Beng Mealea.