A Boat Ride Through the Country to Siem Reap, the Land of Ancient Temples

We headed out early on Thursday, April 26 for our 8-hour boat ride to Siem Reap. The boat was very basic but did a good job of getting us there.We traveled thru the canal and passed a “zillion” stilt houses. I love the tv antenna.

We continued on to the river and saw the many floating houses, stores, schools and community centers. We stopped for lunch at a floating restaurant.

This last building was the site of a “floating” wedding. We crashed the reception (these celebrations last three days) and had a celebratory beer and did some dancing with the locals. Cambodians are very friendly.We had a photo opportunity with the bride and groom—- notice how tall I am.

The largest religious site in the world, Angkor is close to Siem Reap and easily accessible. There are 300 ancient temples that can be visited with the largest being Angkor Wat. Most of the temples have a history of both Buddha and Hindu religions—based on the reigning king’s preference. This area was the capital of the ancient mighty Khmer empire that included Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. At that period of time more than a million people lived in this area. We only visited 5 temples. It is absolutely amazing!

We spent the next day visiting other famous temples.

We have had plenty of good Cambodian food which is mainly stir-fry, noodle soup, curries and plenty of rice. Our guide has us stop for local snacks. This women at Angkor Wat is selling grubs, beetles, and crickets. I would only try the crickets—they tasted like barbeque potato chips. We also stopped for palm candy and the coconut water is delicious–cost $1.

We got to see the Cambodian Circus with incredible acrobatic performances. We take Tuk Tuks all about town and get to ride by the night markets and the “happening” streets where a beer will “put you back” 50 cents.

This afternoon, after an incredible 45-minute foot massage and 75-minute oil massage ($30 including Tuk Tuk) I was ready to spend the evening “chilling out” and packing for tomorrow’s adventure—–stay tuned.