Siem Reap and Angkor

We just returned back to Malaysia a few days ago, after a short pleasant stay in Cambodia. We flew into Siem Reap, Cambodia and spent all of our 5 days there. The city of Siem Reap is gateway to Angkor World Heritage Site. A renowned location full of ancient temples built in the 8th to 12th centuries. Somehow most of the temples remain intact to this day, making it an amazing experience to visit them. On our second day in Siem Reap we visited some of the temples. 

The first temple we visited was Bayon, the one shown above. Bayon was built under the rule of Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century. The temple of Bayon has 54 towers, with 4 faces on each side, covering the temple with 216 massive faces. Those huge faces are what makes Bayon famous and unique. 

The next temple we visited was called Phimeanakas. Phimeanakas was built during Jayavarman V's time of rule. It was constructed in the late 10th to early 11th century. Phimeanakas is the tallest scalable temple in the Angkor Thom area. 

We payed our final temple visit of the day to Ta Prohm. The mid 12th to early 13th century was when Ta Prohm was built. It was built in the regime of Jayavarman VII. Ta Prohm is my favourite temple in Angkor. Although it is not nearly the biggest, nor most spectacular temple it has a lot of character. Over the years nature has taken over Ta Prohm, sprawling massive tree routes through the temple. They have chosen to leave part of the temple unrestored, so it is still in the same condition they found it in...covered in trees with some boulders piled on the ground. It has a really jungle like atmosphere and in where its not restored its rather quiet and peaceful.

A couple days later we ventured out to Angkor again in our tuk-tuk. Tuk-tuk's are my favourite way of travel. They are a motorbike pulling a covered cart, with two bench seats facing each other inside. Unlike a taxi, you can feel what is around you. You can feel the breeze. You can smell the good and bad aromas. And you can see and hear the life of the locals.

At 5:00am we were out the door, anticipating the Angkor Wat sunrise. We arrived at Angkor Wat just in time for a magnificent sunrise. Hues of pink and purple flooded the sky as eager onlookers flashed their cameras-capturing a moment that connects now with centuries ago. I watched attentively as the sunrise made its way across the sky. The Angkor Wat sunrise in a moment in time that I have captured and will never let go. When the sunrise was finished we went inside Angkor Wat and explored. It was about 6:00am by that time so it was still relatively cool and not busy. Angkor Wat was built under rule of Suryavarman II in the early to late 12th century. Angkor Wat is the biggest and most famous of all the temples of Angkor. It's exterior architecture is absolutely stunning and much of the inside is coated in bas-reliefs. A bas-relief is literally a story carved into a wall. It is composed of pictures, some showing stories of daily life and others of battles and other important events.

We drove in the tuk-tuk for about an hour before reaching our next stop, Banteay Srei. Banteay Srei was built under Rajendravarman's rule in the late 10th century. It is a rather small and flat temple but its extremely intricate carvings make up for it. It is amazing how beautiful the carvings are, I would never have thought they were carved so long ago. 

Our final stop in Angkor was at Banteay Samre. Banteay Samre was constructed in the mid mid 12th century under the rule of Suryavarman II. It has a very similar style to Angkor Wat, except its a lot smaller. Outside of this temple there were tons of little girls trying to sell us scarves and ornaments. "Only one dollar, only one dollar!" Was just about all I could hear. 

Our time at Angkor was great and I'm glad we chose to go. Our next stop will be Kuala Lumpur and then we will go to either Singapore or the Perhentian Islands.

Here are some more photos of Angkor Wat and Siem Reap:

 Me sitting in Angkor Wat

 My awesome pants I bought outside of Angkor Thom

 Yummy fried rice from the restaurant across the street in Siem Reap

A gas station our tuk-tuk stopped at in Siem Reap

I got a fish foot massage...It tickled soooooooo much!

Mekong Angkor Palace Hotel in Siem Reap

Kuala Lumpur

Finally we arrived in Kuala Lumpur! We got to the airport at 2:00 in the morning. We went downstairs to find a bus but there weren't any busses running at 2:00am. So we decided to go for a taxi into the city. It cost us about 100RM ($30) from the airport to KL Sentral train station.
Our first night we stayed at the Impian Budget Inn, defiantly not the cleanest or largest hotel room I have ever stayed in. To be completely honest it was a bad hotel. Everything was dirty and gross. The room was also very small-about 1 meter of walking space around the perimeter of the bed. It was cheap though, only 55RM ($18) per night. So you can't expect very much. It was suitable for a few weary travellers at 3:00 in the morning, that only wanted sleep.
The next morning we looked around the corner and found another hotel called My Hotel. It was on the higher end of our hotel budget at 150RM ($50) a night. The room was clean and fairly spacious so that was a big improvement from the night before. Another huge bonus was the fully functional free wifi. That was very important because we needed to book a room in Cambodia for the next few nights.
We wandered the streets of KL in search of the roti place we had eaten at 3 years ago. After a little while we found it! We ordered roti, the most amazing food ever! "I have been missing so much back in Campbell River!" Was the first thing I said as I took a bite.
Walking around KL is an experience of the senses...especially smells. Everywhere you turn there is a different smell, sometimes new and other times familiar. You really never know...one corner might smell like coconuts and curry, the next like incense and flowers and finally like sewage and rotting foods. Often it is a combination of the above.
We then walked over to KL Sentral and got the train to the Pasar Seni station by Chinatown. Kuala Lumpur has an amazing transit system composed of busses, LRTs and MRTs. That is one of the reasons I love KL so much. Another reason is the cultural diversity. KL is a melting pot of cultures, there are huge populations of Indian, Chinese and Malay people. Which leads to a variety of religions.
Chinatown's markets are composed of every kind of knockoffs you can think of sold at little stalls. Some of its most popular items are: Prada purses, Rolex watches, Calvin Klein underwear, Polo shirts, Ray Bans sunglasses, Beats by Dre and the odd authentic Chinese store selling dresses and fans. When I was in Chinatown I bought 2 Lacoste shirts, a Chinese silk robe and a lightning to SD card connector for my iPad.

Getting Ready

Hello all,
This is my first post on my new blog-Erin the Travel Girl! On this blog I will be documenting my travels throughout Asia and Europe through the next 3 1/2 months.

Oh my gosh, it's coming up soooo fast! I'm leaving tomorrow morning! I am fully packed and ready to go.

I had a great day skiing today as well! I went downhill in the morning and decided to go for 12km of cross country in the afternoon...it was a great distraction to keep my mind off the trip.

Once I got home I finished packing and cut out a bunch of Canada stickers to give to kids while we are away. It took a while to cut out those stickers but I'm glad I did it, for the sake of the kids.

I will keep you all posted as my journey begins!