Our trip to Siem Reap like the rest of the tourists were for the sole purpose of going to Angkor Wat - the largest Hindu temple complex in the world. Built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
Eventhough the temple was huge and impressive but to me it lacked the charm of other ancient heritage sites. For one thing, the stones were of black-greyish kind. So it made me feel a little bit depressed.
I found that I was more amazed by the Temple of Ta Prohm. Built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Huge trees are blended into the walls and rocks hugging the giant roots gives the temple a surreal appearance.
Nothing much to do here except visit the ancient temples and buy multicoloured sapphires. Actually I'm not really sure that the "sapphires" sold are actually authentic. Here, they have all sorts of colours. And the sales girls claimed all are sapphires! I think I'm probably one of many that was conned.. hehe whatever..
Siem Reap is just like a small underdeveloped town. I've been to Phnom Penh before in 2003 and I think the capital was much more vibrant. During my visit then, Phnom Penh just got their new spanking airport and I was told that it was built by a Malaysian company. The locals speak French more fluently than English due to their past history with the French.
We went on our own for this trip. The plane tickets for two by Air Asia cost RM322. We were there from 14-17 April 2006. If you wish to go, I think 3 days-2 nights are more than sufficient.
I've uploaded 63 photos. You can access the photos at my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mkhasha.n.travels/. Go to the photo albums.
Njoy!!
