We have to tell everyone about an amazing place that we've been to that very few people will have the privilege to see in their lifetime, and one that we feel extremely fortunate to have seen...Angkor, in Cambodia. This is definitely one of the wonders of the world, and one of the top highlights of our trip. Even though we had a short visit, we feel it therefore deserves its own post. We had three amazing nights in Cambodia, exploring the temples of Angkor. We stayed at a beautiful little retreat called "La Maison D'Angkor" on the outskirts of the town of Siem Reap - I had a tough time convincing Nadia to stay in our room after the hotel staff killed what looked like a tarantula sized spider in our room by smushing it against the wall with his hand. We were glad we stayed, because it was a beautiful resort and no more arachnids bothered us after the first night! Here are some pictures, including one of Nadia's furry friend:
For two days, we were taken around in a motorized tuk tuk by our ultra-reliable and friendly driver, Sarith, who moonlights helping out disadvantaged children at the local orphanage. Here's a picture of Mr. Sarith's magic ride, with Mr. Sarith himself: 
Over the two days, we went on our tuk tuk to amazing temple after amazing temple after amazing temple. The vastness of the empire at Angkor was incredible, the setting was perfect (amongst huge banyan trees that are hundreds of years old), and the ability to see the sights up close was totally uncompromised. But make no mistake, climbing some of these monuments was not an easy task as it often involved climbing many steps at a very steep angle in temperatures well above 30 degrees celsius. For anyone who went to Chichen Itza before they closed off the main pyramid for climbing, you'll know what I'm talking about. Speaking of which, the temples at Angkor reminded us both a lot of Chichen Itza; however, the complex of temples is even more vast and impressive than those in Mexico.
On our first day, we checked out the temples inside the ancient city of Angkor Thom (9th - 13th century), including Bayon (which is know for all the three headed statues) and has been filmed in movies such as Tomb Raider:
As well as the Terrace of the elephants:
The Royal Palace, which presented a bit of a challenging climb to the top:
The Terrace of the Leper King, which has a similar feel to some of the temples that you see in pictures in places such as Mali: 
A small, but just as impressive set of temples, Ta Keo:
And my personal favourite, Ta Prohm, where the ruins are fighting a losing battle with nature as the Banyan Trees are slowly but surely taking over. Even the trees themselves have a character of their own, such as the one below whose roots actually look kind of like people camping at its base:
Here are just a few more photos from around the ancient city of Angkor Thom, including one of the strange Mike Tyson-esque dogs that seem to be native to this region:
And of course, we capped off the day with a visit to the world famous Angkor Wat:
For two days, we were taken around in a motorized tuk tuk by our ultra-reliable and friendly driver, Sarith, who moonlights helping out disadvantaged children at the local orphanage. Here's a picture of Mr. Sarith's magic ride, with Mr. Sarith himself: Over the two days, we went on our tuk tuk to amazing temple after amazing temple after amazing temple. The vastness of the empire at Angkor was incredible, the setting was perfect (amongst huge banyan trees that are hundreds of years old), and the ability to see the sights up close was totally uncompromised. But make no mistake, climbing some of these monuments was not an easy task as it often involved climbing many steps at a very steep angle in temperatures well above 30 degrees celsius. For anyone who went to Chichen Itza before they closed off the main pyramid for climbing, you'll know what I'm talking about. Speaking of which, the temples at Angkor reminded us both a lot of Chichen Itza; however, the complex of temples is even more vast and impressive than those in Mexico.On our first day, we checked out the temples inside the ancient city of Angkor Thom (9th - 13th century), including Bayon (which is know for all the three headed statues) and has been filmed in movies such as Tomb Raider:
And Baphoun, known for a huge reclining stone Buddha (which might be a little difficult to make out from the pics): 
As well as the Terrace of the elephants:The Royal Palace, which presented a bit of a challenging climb to the top:
The Terrace of the Leper King, which has a similar feel to some of the temples that you see in pictures in places such as Mali: A small, but just as impressive set of temples, Ta Keo:
And my personal favourite, Ta Prohm, where the ruins are fighting a losing battle with nature as the Banyan Trees are slowly but surely taking over. Even the trees themselves have a character of their own, such as the one below whose roots actually look kind of like people camping at its base:Here are just a few more photos from around the ancient city of Angkor Thom, including one of the strange Mike Tyson-esque dogs that seem to be native to this region: And of course, we capped off the day with a visit to the world famous Angkor Wat:On our second day, we has assumed that we had pretty much covered it, and to our surprise, we saw what we felt were some even more impressive temples. We went to Preah Khan, also gradually fighting a losing battle with the banyan trees:
Neak Pean, with its amphitheatre-style temple surrounded by several pools:
Ta Som:
East Mebon:
and last but not least, Pre Rup:
Neak Pean, with its amphitheatre-style temple surrounded by several pools: Ta Som:East Mebon:and last but not least, Pre Rup:Contrary to what you may think, the town of Siem Reap in Cambodia attracts lots of tourists, and we couldn't believe the number of large hotels that have been built. Here's a short video of us riding around some of the big hotel complexes of Siem Reap:
In order to take in some local culture, in the evening, Mr. Sarith took us to see a great Apsara dancing performance. Here are some pics and videos:
In order to take in some local culture, in the evening, Mr. Sarith took us to see a great Apsara dancing performance. Here are some pics and videos:
Our experience in Cambodia was absolutely fantastic, and we're so happy we included it on our list of destinations, even if we were only there for a few days. We would highly recommend it for anyone traveling to Southeast Asia, as it's almost what one could call a "hidden gem". Although from the number of tourists we saw, it's clearly not altogether hidden.
We're off to Vietnam next for more adventures and experiences. Looking forward to keeping you all informed...
Mike and Nadia
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