Angkor Archaeological Park

The millennium-old ruins of Angkor, situated just outside Siem Reap, are an incredible insight into ancient Khmer civilization. Angkor Archaeological Park is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a preservation challenge with the crumbling ruins and thousands of visitors that flock to view them every day. Wanting to minimise our impact on these historical wonders, we chose to explore slowly on bicycles rather than use the smokey tuk tuks and buses that rushed past us. Fueled by a big breakfast, and with our three day photo passes in hand, we headed eagerly towards the most famous of the ruins, Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat is the world's largest single religious monument, an incredible visual sight with huge towers, a large moat and internal lakes.  Built by Suryavarman II,  no expense was spared and the huge structure is distinctly and intricately carved with apsara art, including the famous "Churning of the Ocean Milk". Originally a Hindu temple, it was converted when Buddhism became the dominant religion in Cambodia. As long as you aren't afraid of heights, you can climb to the top for spectacular views from above.

Angkor Wat

View over Angkor Wat from the Inner Temple

Baksei Chamkrong
It was thanks to our slow cycle that we found this temple nestled between tall trees.  Most pass it without realising.  Baksei Chamkrong was built in the first decades of the 10th century, and is the only temple of it's time to be found at the foot of the Phnom Bakheng (Central Mountain). Marc climbed the precarious steps to the top to discover a nun watching over a reclining Buddha.

Baksei Chamkrong

Bayon
Probably the second most famous of the Angkor temples, Bayon is well known for it's giant stone faces now one of the most recognisable Khmer images. It is not known who the faces belong to. It was built over the period of a century as Jayavarman VII's state-temple. Detailed carvings preserve historical stories and awe visitors to this day. Painstakingly slow preservation construction was in progress during our visit. We sat next to a pond and ate lunch overlooking this stunning temple.  

The Many Faces of Bayon

Outside Bayon 

Baphuon
This temple was only reopened in 2011 after decades of difficult restoration.  If you look closely, you can see an impressive stone reclining Buddha.

The Reclining Stone Buddha, Baphuon

This was our last temple for the day before our cycle home.  Although we were exhausted and hot, we were already making plans to explore further the following day!

Angkor Wat
Of course we had to return to Angkor Wat again to see it at sunrise. It was definitely worth the early start.

Angkor Wat at Sunrise

The early morning brought other pleasant surprises. We captured this photo of a skinny white Zebu as the sun was gaining height. Seconds after the photo, it approached us and searched us for food until it was marched away by it's chuckling owner, an old barefoot man.

Ta Prohm
We made our way as quickly as we could to Ta Prohm to try and avoid the crowds. This overgrown temple was one of the sites in the Tomb Raider film. Large areas have been reclaimed by the forrest adding to the beauty of the crumbling ruins. Ta Prohm was once a very wealthy monastery that held control over 3000 villages.

Ta Prohm 

Banteay Kdei
Just opposite Sras Srang Lake, this particular temple seemed to attract locals attempting to sell souvenirs including temple rubbings and guide books. Many of the Buddhist images had been damaged through vandalism in the 13th century, and the degradation of this temple was particularly bad due to the type of sandstone that was originally used to build it.

Inside Banteay Kdei

Pre Rup
We cycled on to Pre Rup which we excitedly spotted in the skyline from a distance. Known as a temple-mountain design, it showcases breathtaking views around the countryside from the top. This impressive Hindu ruin was originally the state-temple of Rajendravarman II. After climbing to the top, we rested in the shade outside the temple grounds with a picnic lunch.

Pre Rup

Ta Som
This was the furtherest temple on our cycle tour. Similar in style to Bayon, but much smaller, there were well preserved stone faces to admire amongst the overgrown trees.

Stone Face at Ta Som 

Preah Khan
This was the final temple we explored. The name Preah Khan means 'sacred sword'. It was once a Buddhist monastery and school to over 1000 monks. Overlooking a beautiful lake, it was expansive and the only temple with cylindrical columns forming part of the building structure which may indicate that it was built at a later date compared to some of the surrounding temples.

Giant Trees Grow on the Walls of Preah Khan

Lake Outside Preah Khan

We cycled a total of 44km over 10.5hours completing the Grand Circuit Tour. We had no energy left for a third day of exploring but felt fully satisfied with what we had seen. Once back in Siem Reap we watched a fascinating documentary about the construction of the temples. A labor force upwards of 20,000 was needed daily to complete Angkor Wat, and many lives were lost during construction. It is thought that in it's glory days, Angkor Wat would have been painted entirely in white and gold for maximal impact. Each temple was unique and equally fascinating. It was truly an unforgettable experience!  

  

Siem Reap

This European influenced town was absolutely bustling with tourists. With the humming Old Market, numerous silk and local craft shops and endless restaurants and spas, business was thriving in what was once just a cluster of old villages. We had heard many people refer to Siem Reap as a "tourist bubble". It certainly was a stark contrast to the surrounding basic farm villages. Siem Reap was of course, along with thousands of others, our base for exploring the incredible Angkor Archaeological Park. 

Most people chose pedal power and cycled around the city. There was also plenty of money to be made by tuk tuk drivers. At nightfall, Pub Street came alive with activity, a focal point and major town landmark.  

Pub Street at Sunset

After busy days, we sat and relaxed on the shady banks of the Siem Reap River.  This  river flows into the mighty Tonle Sap Lake, South East Asia's largest freshwater lake and one of the richest sources of freshwater fish in the world. 

We couldn't help but love the friendly locals, who fed and cared for us for a few dollars.

Phnom Penh

Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh was a pulsing city that captivated our interest right from the first day. Whilst flash riverside hotels and bars lured those with money to spend, just a few streets back, the less fortunate begged for a living. Tuk tuks lined the streets making any attempt at a peaceful stroll impossible. Monks in flowing amber robes moved quietly around the city, stopping to collect alms on their daily rounds.

Monks on the Streets of Phnom Penh

We skirted our way around the Royal Palace grounds, sufficiently impressed by the exterior that we did not feel obliged to pay the entrance fee to see more. A large grass park stretched in front of the palace, peppered with pigeons and happy children feeding them.

Royal Palace Exterior

The wide Tonle Sap River made for a great view, and visitors could search out their country's flag along the waters edge, alongside locals who bought offerings of lotus flowers, incense and caged birds to the temple.

Beside the Tonle Sap

Temple Offerings

Wandering around without a map was always exciting, we stumbled upon interesting surprises like this beautiful stone temple.

Phnom Penh proved to be a shopping mecca with the impressive art deco Psar Thmei (Central Market), claimed to be one of the largest domed buildings in the world. The Psar Tuol Tom Pong (Russian Market) was packed to overflowing with clothes, shoes, souvenirs and art as well just about anything else you could imagine. Our team bartering skills still needed more work. Much to Marc's exasperation, Jo usually said something inappropriate like "we've been looking for this exact thing all day!", instantly lowering negotiation leverage. Phnom Penh night market seemed more of a hit for the locals and gave us some insight into the actual prices of items (as opposed to the tourist price). We walked away with a sugar buzz after being tempted to try sugarcane juice and deep fried icecream and milk (yes the icecream was still frozen).

Psar Thmei (Central Market)

Khmer food utilised a lot of fresh ingredients. We ate amazing salads. Loc lac is a filling local dish of braised beef, fried egg, and salad greens. We watched noodles being made by hand with stretchy dough that was expertly handled. Cockles salted and flavoured with chilli and tamarind were for sale on mobile carts all around the city. Our luck lead us to a street vendor who made plate sized crispy wafer pancakes with liquid marshmallow and coconut filling. Cue sugar coma. Cyclos carried housewives laden with bags of fresh produce.

Cockles for Sale

Life in this bustling city is all too easy for foreigners to enjoy. The Cambodia Daily is filled with international news, and can be enjoyed at the street edge cafes with an iced coffee. Cambodian people are friendly, entrepreneurial and quick to learn. Most strikingly, they are strong and resilient people who have recovered from a horrific past to build a desirable future.

Koh Rong Island

Stepping off the dive pier straight into the sandy village of Koh Rong, we knew we were going to stick around this paradise for as long as possible. Everything was right at the waters edge, perhaps even a little too close when the tide was high and the restaurant tables were surrounded by waves. Guesthouses and bungalows were packed into a short stretch of sand, the rest of the island was mostly forrest and near deserted beaches.

Koh Rong Village

Brown, barefoot and often bare-bottomed kids with toothy grins and sun bleached hair ran around freely clinging to their little plastic bags of treasures.  Some of them seemed to live in the water!

Stand Up Paddle Boarding Cambodia Style

After exploring the jungle paths for a few days, we decided on our favorite beach, a wide shallow sparkling bay lined with palm trees and few other people around. We headed there early most mornings with big packed fruit salads, our books and towels. By lunch time the shallow turquoise water was almost too warm to cool off in, and were sunburnt and ready for the shady hammocks of our guesthouse balcony.

Boats offered transport around the island and for fishing and sunset trips.  We decided to try the hike over to Long Beach on the west side of the island.  It was a grueling climb in the heat but definitely worth it to reach yet another idyllic bay with perfect clear water. The sun was so fierce we hid in the shade of a make-shift shelter.

Sun Shelter, Long Beach, Koh Rong

Koh Rong Boat

Food on the island was so cheap, fruitshakes and iced sweet coffee became a daily habit.  Barbeques lined the beach in the evenings.  

During our forrest walks we kept an eye out for snakes and eventually came across a meter long green tree snake (not one of the poisonous ones, but we were warned that there were plenty of those around).

After ten days on the island we were thoroughly sunburnt, well read and relaxed.  Our ferry ride back to the mainland was in rough water on a windy day but this didn't phase us.  We were already dreaming of returning to the island again one day.  

Sihanoukville

We crossed over into Cambodia with ease, although we were certain we were overcharged for our visas despite our caution in purchasing them. We were also told to pay a dollar each to sit in the minivan and wait to be issued a medical certificate, without the medics even sighting us. We passed through 'No Mans Land' where huge casinos lined the dusty streets, waiting to lure Vietnamese customers (gambling is banned in their own country).

Ha Tien International Border (Vietnam Side)

Our first impressions of Cambodia were of a poverty-stricken country as we bounced along dusty potholed roads lined with drying mats of harvested rice and boney white oxen.

Our primary destination was the port city of Sihanoukville, a stopover before and after our Koh Rong stay. Here we found dive centers and booking agents concentrated around the beach areas. Serendipity Beach had some potential, but litter and dirty rivers kept us from spending any length of time there.  

Seredipity Beach, Sihanoukville

We were warned about safety by friends and locals. We stayed alert and carried few valuables with us and found no trouble. A large majority of the tourist bars, restaurants and guesthouses were managed by western staff, and there seemed to be plenty of jobs on offer. A giant blue spotted Torkay gecko made an appearance at our guesthouse, but disappeared by the time we got the camera out. Once the weather conditions were right, we hopped on the ferry to Koh Rong Island.   

Phu Quoc Island

We were reaching the end of our Vietnam stay and were desperately hanging out for some good beaches. Apart from the tiny strip of sand in Ha Long Bay, it had been nearly two months since we were on a beach.  So we flew south to Phu Quoc Island, and swapped the busy city for sleepy island life. Spanning 50km from top to bottom, we based ourselves on the west coast on Long Beach.  Every night brought a spectacular new sunset.  

Sunset on Phu Quoc Island

The beach was long (no pun intended) and waveless.  If the floating jellyfish didn't scare people out of the water, the swimming monkey might have. She was a tame three year old female who spent hours splashing around in the shallow water with various tourists. She was a surprisingly strong swimmer.

Water Loving Monkey

We wandered north to the little town of Duong Dong, a sad site with lots of litter lying around. Without much to see or do we happily returned to our sun loungers.

Duong Dong, Phu Quoc Island

The end of the day bought cooler weather (although the water remained warm enough to swim all night), and we sat outside with our toes in the sand eating dinner at the water's edge.  There was plenty of locally caught seafood on offer displayed in a colorful wooden boat.

BBQ Boat

Our Phu Quoc stay was a great way to spend the last of our visa limited days in Vietnam.  When it was time to leave, we caught the ferry to Ha Tien, and a bus on towards the Cambodia border.  It was time to watch the sun set in a new country.

Another Sunset on Phu Quoc Island

Ho Chi Minh City

We arrrived into Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) exhausted after 16 hours crammed into triple bunk beds aboard the train from Danang. We were incredibly grateful to our wonderful kiwi hosts Ingrid and Graeme. We picked their brains on local culture and discovered that living in Vietnam as foreigners can be very rewarding.

An Phu District, Where We Stayed

Relaxing away from the manic city centre gave us the energy we needed to tackle the city site seeing. HCMC has a hectic urban centre divided into 19 different districts. We spent most of our time exploring District 1, still known as Saigon (the city's former name).

Our wai-wai express tour took us past the impressive Notre Dame Cathedral and next door, the ornate
Central Post Office. We experienced first hand the drawn out process of sending a parcel from Vietnam. Felt a bit like signing a serious contract.

Notre Dame Cathedral, HCMC

The Ben Thanh Market proved a repeat attraction both by day and by night. Whilst the day food market was a bit dubious, the evening stalls provided an absolute Vietnamese banquet for us. It was rather novel cooking our own meat on a heated roof tile.

Roof Tile BBQ

Potato String Prawns

Further along Le Loi Street, we rested in the gardens around the statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of the impressive People's Committee Building. 

Ho Chi Minh Square

The Saigon Centre was a clothing market mania with little room to move or breathe and serious bartering skills were required for successful purchases.

The fantastic public bus system moved us between the suburbs and the city centre with ease and for ridiculously cheap fares.

If it wasn't for the oppressive heat, we probably could have wandered along the wide sidewalks and skyscrapers for days. Needless to say we spent every afternoon trying to return our body temperatures to normal levels in the apartment pool. Icy cafe sua da (sweetened iced coffee) from the street vendors helped too. Delicious and highly addictive, you have been warned.

Going out in the evenings once the sun had gone down lowered the heat stroke risk. We sat in miniature chairs peeling hard boiled quail eggs and rolling them in salt. Followed up by hot chips served with butter and sugar and beers for under 50c.  We tried some very local cuisine including crumbed eel with mint and chilli prawns hot enough to make your eyes water.

The broad Saigon river was never far away, and was teeming with well lit dinner cruise boats at night (for a hefty price).

We were sad to say goodbye to this very lovable city!  

Hoi An

Visiting Hoi An was like stepping back in time.  The Old Town has more than 800 historical buildings, most carefully preserved except for the odd ruin.  There was a distinct blue and yellow color scheme.



Once a major silk trading port, skilled tailors and quality fabrics still abound and lure many travelers to this quaint town. Dresses, suits and leather shoes are made to fit in less than 24hours, endless options with literally hundreds of shops to choose from.  

One of Many Tailor Shops in Hoi An

Shoe Shop, Hoi An

When we visited the Thu Bon River was precariously full and frequently spilled over into nearby streets. We crossed over the river on the ornamental Japanese Covered Bridge.

Thu Bon River, Hoi An

The inner roads were closed to scooters and cars for periods of the day.  Those who preferred not to walk could be peddled around in one of the many cyclos for a small fee. Classical music was broadcast over the street loudspeakers creating a truly romantic ambience.

Cyclo

In the evenings the town was lit up by brightly lit handmade lanterns.

Lanterns in Hoi An

The food in Hoi An was unique to the area with a Chinese and Japanese influence.  We had to try the banh boa (white rose) and cao lau. The locals made sure we added all the extra condiments to optimise the flavors.

After a few days in Hoi An, we heard news of the approaching monster Typhoon Haiyan.  We were right in the middle of it's projected path, so decided along with many other tourists and locals to flee south as quickly and safely as we could.  We ended up on a 16hour sleeper train in a space the size of a coffin.  As we were leaving Danang we saw many people filling sandbags to hold down roofs and pruning trees right back.  Everyone was bracing for the coming storm.

Hue

Life seemed to move a little slower in this ancient UNESCO heritage city.  Scooters lined the many bridges crossing the Perfume River.  In the centre of the city we explored the history-rich citadel, surrounded by crumbling walls and over grown moats.  

One of the Ten Fortified Gates Surrounding the Citadel

The Forbidden Purple City in the centre of the citadel can be reached by passing through three great walls.

The Second Great Wall

An elderly man floated in one of the moats, harvesting the river weed, while villagers tried their hand at fishing.

The imposing Flag Tower (Cot Co) at 37m high can be seen from miles away and marks the entrance to the citadel.

The food in Hue (pronounced 'Hway') was exceptional, and we seemed to fill our days grazing on different delicacies. We enjoyed rice cakes and pancakes topped with shrimp and pork crackling, tomatoes carefully stuffed with pork and local mushrooms, and banana flower salad (normally reserved for local wedding celebrations).   

Rice Cakes