Impressions of Siem Reap
On the bus for almost eight hours might be a torturing trip and drove passengers like me bored as interesting activities on the bus like reading, playing games or chatting with nearby passengers seemed to run out of interest, but instead the strong impulse to reach Siem Reap overwhelmingly overruled. The trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap took us approximately 8 hours. I set off at 12 o’clock noon and managed to set foot in Siem Reap around 8 at night. The trip jet lagged me and pained my back; however, the deep passion to immerse myself in the excitement with well-known fresh, abundant air and the wonder of the temples seemed to magically offer the healing and refreshed the mood. After throwing myself on bed merely 20 minutes and washing face, I joined with other enthusiastic people to experience the night life in Siem Reap. The city is very lively and bustling with joyful activities, smiling and cheering faces of local vendors and tourists who are walking and bicycling. The clean streets, bright light from electricity and beautiful decorations by vendor stalls as attraction to passengers, ostensibly add stunning life to the city. Another good thing is most restaurants set reasonable food prices, and Wi-Fi is available and convenient to find. More exciting and fascinating to me is a whole bloc known on the main street as Pub Street has several western-styled pubs with the most recent disco songs. As a result, Pub Street has seen regular throngs of onlookers and party-goers.
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| The street is lively and bustling. What else could you seek to feed the fantasy in entertainment as the pub street renders virtually all services from pubs and various traditional should-try dishes to aquarium fish massage where you can be laid back with friends or relatives chatting and sipping drinks spontaneously if you like? |
The first night was just the beginning of fun, of course. Although my body felt quite sore, the strong fascination to view the grandeur of the temples was so effective to recharge my physical energy. Therefore on the next day, I along with three friends headed to Banteay Srei temple by Tuk Tuk. Reaching there, we were impressed by craft products like krama and other souveniers at the entrance of the temple. We bought a krama and some wooden crafts. Interestingly, the owner of the stall happened to own a restaurant and we were surprised and delighted by the courtesy and good services after trying lunch there. The owner is so polite, friendly and sensible. After lunch we continued to see the temple. Banteay Srei, alias Citadel of Women or Citadel of Beauty, is a magnificient temple awestruck by the spectacular bas-relief carvings. We wandered around the temple to enjoy intricacy of the carvings and the tiny dimensions of the architecture.
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| Intricacy of the carvings and the tiny dimensions of the architecture
It's around three pm already after Banteay Srei temple visit. Feeling a bit tired, yet we agreed to explore during this best time for viewing the splendid sunset at Bakheng mountain. We hopped on Tuk Tuk and traveled to Bakheng temple. It took us about 30 minutes to arrive at the decided destination. It's almost five and we, like other curious visitors, rushed quickly along the windy trail to the atop steep hill. It's a trekking on foot although the path to the peak has been paved and clearly constructed. In previous times, visitors riding elephants to climb to the mountain was an interesting sight to see. This time I hardly saw one and apparently there was no sight of any elephant from the foot of the mountain. The stair up to the peak has been replaced by decent wooden rail making it convenient to walk up although there was throngs of visitors in queue. It took less time compared to the authentic stairs of the temple. As anticipated, the place on the summit was well occupied by curious watchers in pending to catch first hand the glimpse of sunset illuminating with its intensive orange light. Interestingly, there was a mass of people on the way flocking to the top behind. Our attempt and patience paid off as the sun gradually set and we took our time to eyewitness the attractive, beautiful sunset.
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| People in throngs are thrilled by the fabled sun |
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| Perfectly safe to walk around at night |
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| Feel thrilled with the peace and safety at night |
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| An elegant hotel on the main street |
After all, I had a wonderful time in Siem Reap. The time moved fast and thrilling. I also would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to BlogFestAsia 2012, the festival of bloggers gathering in a conference held in Siem Reap from November 1st to 5th, which I could grab the chance to visit Siem Reap and write about these impressions.
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