I brought mum for a 3D3N tour to Siem Reap. We stayed at Tara Angkor Hotel. The hotel is about 2years old and everything is new, food was good too. Overall, the trip was great except it was too hot. I think average daily temperature could reach up to 40 degree celsius.
We landed at Siem Reap airport at 9:40am local time & greeted by our tour guide - Mr. Chan and also driver - Mr. D. After checked in to hotel, we went for our first exploration - Ta Prohm (mid 12th century). This temple is popular of overgrown trees. Some parasites trees took over its hosts. This temple was dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII. We had lunch at local restaurant before next destination - Banteay Srey. Banteay Srey is known as temple of the women. Srey in cambodian means women. The uniqueness of this temple is the colorful stones and beautiful & intricate carvings. The third temple we visited is Pre Rup. It has beautiful blind doors and windows. We went for dinner at Siem Reap city itself and night market. Nothing much at night market - souvenirs, clothes, batiks.
We woke up at 6am (which is 7am SG time). After sumptuous breakfast, we left to Angkor Thom where we started with Preah Khan. It was served as a Buddhist monastary & school in late 12th century. After reconstruction, it was dedicated to the father of Jayavarman VII. Preah Khan also known as scared sword. We also visited Bayon, Terrace of The Leper King & Terrace of the Elephant. We had lunch at a restaurant opposite to Angkor Wat. The sun was at its highest point, so we decided to go for foot massage first - USD10 for an hour. After foot massage, we went back to Angkor Wat and we were lucky as there were some clouds blocking the sun from time to time. Angkor Wat as constructed in early 12th century with 5 towers. Too bad that the wind was too strong, I did not manage to take picture with good reflection of the towers. Even the hot balloon was off service due to strong wind. We bought BBQ pork & duck at food market and had it by the riverside among the locals. It was funny that some locals were staring at us.
Third day at Siem Reap - we took a 63km ride to Beng Mealea. It was constructed in early 11th century. The temple was totally damaged by Thais. Unlike other temples, Beng Mealea is very original. It's very peaceful. We were the first tourist to be there on that day. This is the middle temple between Angkor Wat & Preah Vihear in Vietnam. On the way back, we stopped by Lolei & Preah Ko. We also grabbed some sticky rice & wild fruit sold by the road side.
The last temple we visited is Pnomh Bakheng(late 9th century) for sunset. Mum did not manage to climb the narrow and steep stairs from the temple. It is the first major temple in Angkor Area. After sunset, we went for dinner at the other side of the city to eat cambodian beef flat noodle.
Farewell to Siem Reap on the fourth day.
