Cambodia: Alluring Angkor Wat

After months of talking about it, Aimee and I finally went ahead and purchase a plane ticket to Bangkok, Thailand for one of our dream vacations. After tweaking the Thailand-Cambodia itinerary of Aimee’s friend, we were one step closer to visiting Angkor Wat. I can’t clearly remember what lead me to invite Glenn and his best friend, Rodel after I finalized the trip details. Being travel junkies themselves, they said yes and it became a party of four. But we almost didn’t make it because weeks before our June 17 flight last year, the Red Shirt Crisis in Bangkok erupted. I almost backed out of fear for our safety, but Aimee and the guys were adamant that we push through with it. Rodel flew in from Australia and arrived in the morning and waited for Glenn who took an earlier flight with Thai Airways from Manila. The guys had time to roam around Bangkok’s Central Business District. 

Since Cebu Pacific’s cheapest flight to Bangkok at that time is at 11pm, they went back to Suvarnabhumi Airport for our 1:30am arrival. The plan was to explore Cambodia first. We were going to take the bus to Aranyaprathet to cross the border to Cambodia’s Poipet. The first trip was at 4am so we stayed at the airport for several hours before taking a taxi to Mo Chit Bus station for 360 Baht. The fare in the relatively comfortable bus is 212 Baht. After almost 5 hours of travel, we arrived at Aranyaprathet and immediately queued at the immigration office. Several steps away is Poipet, Cambodia’s side of the border. We took a free bus ride to Poipet terminal then commissioned a cab to take us to Siem Reap for 2000 Baht. The driver didn’t take us directly to our hotel but rather advised us to transfer to a tuktuk and assured us that we don’t have to pay extra for it. It turns out that the reason for the free ride was so that they will have a chance at convincing us to take their tours. But I already made arrangements with The Villa, our hotel to take their full day Angkor discovery tour. That was our first brush with those persistent touts.

At the Aranyaprathet-Poipet border crossing

Standard room at The Villa in Siem Reap

Our first night in Siem Reap was spent hunting for souvenirs at the old market. Aimee and I went crazy with the scarfs and bags made of Cambodia’s silk. Then it was off to dinner at the Temple Club in Pub St. We ordered the Amok set, Cambodian BBQ and Khmer curry for $12. Quite expensive, though we were treated to an Apsara dance show.

Apsara dancers

The next day, we woke up early to start our tour by witnessing the sun rise over the Angkor Wat complex.  We paid $20 for a one day Angkor pass then followed the throng of people to the viewing spot. Watching the changing hue of the sky as the dawn was breaking was a beautiful start to our day.

Dawn in Angkor Wat

We went back to the hotel to have breakfast and to prepare for a busy day visiting three temples. Our first stop was the Angkor Wat complex to explore the place thoroughly. We climbed the highest point of Angkor which was a feat for me, someone who is afraid of heights.

Finally, a dream come true

Famous Angkor Wat view

Angkor in black and white

One of the temples' hallway

The Bayon was the second temple that we visited. It was the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, and was the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. Its most distinctive feature is the massive stone faces which are believed to resemble the king.

Stone faces from a scene of the Churning of the Sea of Milk

Bayon's famous feature

It was so hot and humid that after lunch, Aimee and I just wanted to go back to our  hotel room, never mind that we still have one temple to visit. But our guide was insistent and convinced us that it shouldn’t be missed. He tempted us by casually mentioning that Ta Phrom is where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider. The temple originally called Rajavihara, was founded by the Khmer King Jayavarman VII as a monastery and university.

Nature taking over Ta Phrom temple

In its zenith there were around 3000 villages under it

We celebrated our Angkor visit at Red Paino, which serves the Tomb Raider cocktail that was said to be created by Angelina Jolie herself. It was a day of childhood dreams coming true. And it was all worth $243 for all four of us.