During our ship’s stay in Viet Nam, we took off on an overland excursion to Cambodia! We docked at Da Nang on the 19th, and we left with 12 other fellow passengers that morning. We took a tour of Da Nang first (in the last blog post) and boarded our plane that afternoon. It was a turbo-prop - not our favorite by any means, but life is nothing if not a series of adventures, right? We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia, at around 7pm, checked into our lovely hotel, the Sokha, and had dinner and early bed - big adventures await in the morning!
We are here to see Angkor Wat! This is absolutely a bucket-list item and we couldn’t get this close and not see it. A little history before we begin - The Angkor region of Cambodia was the heart of the immense Khmer Empire which ruled from the 9th to the 13th centuries. During this time, they built magnificent Hindu temples designed to represent mountains - the dwelling places of the Gods. Giant mountain-shaped towers, huge courtyards, incredibly intricate carvings, giant statues of the gods and areas for worshiping the three main Hindu Gods - Brahma - creation, Vishnu - preservation, and Shiva - destruction.
First stop - Ta Phrom temple - consecrated in 1186. It occupies 2.5 acres and in it’s hey day was home to nearly 13,000 people! It was used for several hundred years and then abandoned to the jungle which overtook it relatively quickly. It was “found” by french explorers and the process of uncovering, clearing and studying began. I can only imagine the surprise of explorers to suddenly come upon this immense temple hidden under centuries of jungle growth!
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| The entrance |
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| This Banyan tree grew from the top down - starting from the top of the temple |
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| And the roots on the other side making their way down to the earth. |
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With our ship escort, Ben, at the site that figured in to the Lara Croft-Tomb Raider movie
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Next we visit Angkor Thom. Thom means “big”, and this was the “great capital” of the area. It is square - 1.8 miles per side - and was bordered by a moat. There were up to a million people within its walls! It was a thriving community for centuries and within its walls were temples, homes, markets, and meeting areas. Here, we saw the Terraces of Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, and Bayon Temple. This was also left to the forces of the jungle, until discovered and reclaimed.
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| Terrace of the Elephants |
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| Terrace of the Leper King |
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| The carvings on every wall tell the history |
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| This is what you do here - like pretending to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa |
After a very nice lunch at a hotel in the city, we visited the Angkor Museum for some insights on the highlight of the day - Angkor Wat. First things first, though - we need a cache in Cambodia! So off we go on the main local transport to find one. Success!
The museum was very interesting, and did provide a foundation of information for us to take with us to Angkor Wat.
And then - We’re there!!! “Wat” means monastery, so this temple was the monastery of the Angkor region. This temple is not the largest - just .4 square miles, or even the most impressive, but it is the most famous. Mainly due to the fact that it has never been out of use! Built from 1113 to 1150, and in continuous use until today. There are areas off limits to tourists because of that. It is dedicated to Vishnu.
This was an absolutely outstanding day. These temples are spectacular! We had no idea they would be this huge, or that our access would be so great. This was indeed a day to remember, and a highlight of this incredible trip.
We flew to Ho Chi Minh City, the morning of the 21st, where we rejoined the ship, having missed only a sea day, and the following day was our visit to the Cu Chi tunnels (also in the last blog). We’ll have one sea day the then Thailand!! Wow.
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