Weekend family getaway yay! This time to Siem Reap and the Angkor World Heritage sites.
Day 1: Rain rain go away
On board our 3pm Silkair flight and arriving at the very lovely Sarai Resort in Siem Reap later that evening.
Dumped our bags and immediately headed out despite the rain. Walking in the rain to town was dreary but our delicious dinner at Khmer Touch recommended by Sarai's receptionist totally made up for the rainy evening.
These were the super yummy dishes we ordered:
- Pork and Prawn Spring Roll with Fresh Herb and Peanut Sauce (Fresh Spring Roll)
- Grilled Chicken Salad with Banana Blossom, Roasted Peanut and Khmer Dressing
- Grilled Sea Bass with Three Sauces (Green Mango, Roasted Tomato, Tamarind)
- Wok Fried Young Pork Rib with Grilled Eggplant, Sesame Oil, Soya Sauce and Saw Leaf
- Stewed Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk, Sweet Potato and Kampot Fish Sauce
- Wok Fried Morning Glory with Garlic and Soya Sauce
A couple of hours' walk around town after dinner, and a relaxing full body massage later, we're on our tuk-tuk ride back to the resort. Each tuk-tuk ride anywhere around town costs a flat fee of USD2 and takes up to 4 persons.
Day 2: Tire ourselves out at the temples day
Scrumptious a la carte buffet breakfast at Sarai's Goat Tree Garden restaurant before we set out on our 9am day tour.
Day 2: Tire ourselves out at the temples day
Scrumptious a la carte buffet breakfast at Sarai's Goat Tree Garden restaurant before we set out on our 9am day tour.
Our guide picked us up at 9am and we stopped at the Angkor Tourist Services enroute Angkor to purchase our day passes. Here's my Angkor World Heritage Day Pass:
First stop Angkor Thom where we would visit Prasat Bayon and Baphuon. Angkor Thom, our guide explained, means Great City and is located west of the Siem Reap river. It is a walled city surrounded by a moat. The south entrance from which we entered, was flanked by stone sculptures of the good guys or gods on the left and the bad guys or demons on the right. Several stone sculptures were headless, and some had been reconstructed.
Once inside the walled city we visited Prasat Bayon, the official state temple occupying an area of 9 square kilometers, much larger than Angkor Wat. Serene smiling faces greet you throughout Bayon. Lots of angles for nice photos but we were all perspiring so much and passed up on photo opportunities that were nicely framed in my mind as we climbed through the premises. Nevertheless we still managed to take these pictures hopefully with smiles that can match the beauty of Bayon.
Next stop in Angkor Thom was Baphuon, a three-tiered temple mountain.
Each time we got back to our vehicle between temples we were treated to icy cold towels which we promptly smothered our faces and necks with, or at least, that's what i did. And downed at least half a bottle of mineral water, courtesy of our driver. Excellent!
Dad checking out the map of where we'd just visited. Onward to lunch break, which was rather timely as it had started to rain. May-June is actually the rainy season and the low-peak season for tourists. Even so, there were quite a number of people at the temples. And fortunately for us there was sunshine for the most part of our trip.
At lunch we met the same ladies whom we chatted with at last night's dinner at Khmer Touch. I guess this was where most of the tours stop by for lunch.
When the rain stopped we went to our next temple visit - Tomb Raider temple, properly known as Prasat Ta Prohm, or as our guide calls it, the temple of trees where nature won in the battle of nature vs temple. It was a long walk in to the temple itself.
When the rain stopped we went to our next temple visit - Tomb Raider temple, properly known as Prasat Ta Prohm, or as our guide calls it, the temple of trees where nature won in the battle of nature vs temple. It was a long walk in to the temple itself.
After the third temple visit of the day, we took a little much-needed rest outside the magnificent entrance grounds to Angkor Wat.
I think by the time we got to Angkor Wat we were pretty much tired out or templed-out, as our guide called it. Aside from the magnificent view and beautiful bas relief carvings, what I'll remember of Angkor Wat is being super impressed with my 71 yo dad and 69 yo mum's stamina and energy levels. Then again, we met and chatted with an 87 year old grandma from Hong Kong with a walking stick and she made it up all the way to the base of the top tier of Angkor Wat effortlessly. What i'll also remember is my brother giving me a piggy-back ride up a long flight of steps inside Angkor Wat ha ha ha. My parents, and brother alternated as my supports, helping me up all those endless steps for where handrails were absent.
After Angkor Wat, we thanked our guide and driver and bade them farewell. We asked to be dropped off at Sister Srey, one of the many hipster cafes littering the streets of Siem Reap old town.
After satisfying our tummies, we walked around for a bit and checked ourselves into another massage place around the corner, De Kampuchea Spa cos of the happy hour 50% discount all treatments. Here's dad & mum deciding on the choice of massage. The massage was so good we came back a second time.
Completely satisfied post-massage and some shopping later, we had dinner at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant, a somewhat popular corner eating place we kept passing by.
Day 3: Family Cooking Class Day
So today after breakfast we had options to visit more temples at Bang Melea, go on a boat cruise to one of the fishing villages in Tongle Sap, hang out in the old town etc. We agreed we didn't want to visit any more temples, nor go to the touristy fishing villages, and there wasn't much of the town that we hadn't already checked out plus we could do that on our last morning the next day, so... we booked ourselves a cooking class! This was at Lily's Secret Garden which i'd found on Trip Advisor while googling activities to do in Siem Reap. It starts only at 2pm so we spent a leisurely morning relaxing, hanging out by the pool, checking out the hotel's spa. Mum & Dad had a free 30 min shoulder massage complimentary of Sarai cos ZY and I were woken up wrongly by the front desk at 4.45am for a 5am sunrise tour which we hadn't booked.
So today after breakfast we had options to visit more temples at Bang Melea, go on a boat cruise to one of the fishing villages in Tongle Sap, hang out in the old town etc. We agreed we didn't want to visit any more temples, nor go to the touristy fishing villages, and there wasn't much of the town that we hadn't already checked out plus we could do that on our last morning the next day, so... we booked ourselves a cooking class! This was at Lily's Secret Garden which i'd found on Trip Advisor while googling activities to do in Siem Reap. It starts only at 2pm so we spent a leisurely morning relaxing, hanging out by the pool, checking out the hotel's spa. Mum & Dad had a free 30 min shoulder massage complimentary of Sarai cos ZY and I were woken up wrongly by the front desk at 4.45am for a 5am sunrise tour which we hadn't booked.
Nua-ing at the poolside while ZY swam.
Lunch at Khmer Grill midway between our hotel and the old town was a variety of delicious grilled dishes - prawns, squid, pork, a whole fish, with fresh spring rolls and vegetables. Everything was good in this tiny little corner roadside joint. Oh and the avocado shake - yummy goodness.
Lunch at Khmer Grill midway between our hotel and the old town was a variety of delicious grilled dishes - prawns, squid, pork, a whole fish, with fresh spring rolls and vegetables. Everything was good in this tiny little corner roadside joint. Oh and the avocado shake - yummy goodness.
We met Chris, from Lily's Secret Garden, at our hotel lobby and took off in his tuk-tuk to the local markets to buy ingredients. Chris said he's from Belgium and has been residing in Siem Reap for the past 9 years. His cambodian wife, Lily, used to own a restaurant but they since closed it down and opened up their home for cooking classes. They have a 2 year old son, Austin.
Lily's Secret Garden had a small vegetable garden and we were introduced to the different plants by Darwin, a local chef who would later teach us how to cook our 3-course dinner comprising Green Mango Salad for starter, Red Curry Chicken for main and Banana Sago for dessert.
After dinner, we hopped onto Chris' tuk-tuk along with Lily & Austin and got dropped off in the old town even though it was 9pm just cos it was our last night in Siem Reap.
Day 4: Last minute squeeze
Our last morning in Siem Reap included taking pictures of our gorgeous hotel, shopping in the old town, checking out a boutique hotel, quick coffee & ice-cream and lunch for Dad & me, and a massage for Mum & ZY. All these before our 1pm check-out and airport transfer for our flight home.
Our last morning in Siem Reap included taking pictures of our gorgeous hotel, shopping in the old town, checking out a boutique hotel, quick coffee & ice-cream and lunch for Dad & me, and a massage for Mum & ZY. All these before our 1pm check-out and airport transfer for our flight home.
