Temple Trekking Highlights & Floating Villages

Amazing Bamboo Sticky Rice with Sweet Bean

We did not explore all temples in consecutive days, but since you must buy a 3 day pass into the Angkor Wat complex we did combine our visits into daily trips as planned by our friend Sha.

Day 1 - The Temple Beyond

First Temple we visited was Beng Mealea, it's about 68km outside of Siem Reap and does not require a day pass from Angkor. The trip is 1hr each way by car or 2hrs by tuk tuk... we had a tuk tuk. The drive was beautiful, through villages where the kids wave and say hello and we could see people making palm sugar, palm oil and even grinding rice. We stopped on the way back from the temple and tried bamboo rice which is fresh rice cooked in a bamboo stick over the fire with coconut water and sweet beans, very simple but super delicious. Beng Mealea was one of our favorite temples. In the book they say it's like being in an Indiana Jones movie and it was!!! The temple was huge with hanging vines, impressive and detailed carvings and many small corridors to explore. We hired a tour guide but really he just started giving us a tour and it was amazing!!!
Beng Mealea - Temple of Water and Flower (Hindu Style)

Day Two -- Exploring Inside Siem Reap. The Vast Temples of Angkor (Old Capital)

Next on our itinerary was what they call the "Small Circuit" which are temples in the complex of Angkor. The Small Circuit takes in several of the major and minor temples in the area. Beginning at Angkor Wat the circuit takes in the major elements of Angkor Thom, Ta Phrohm, and Banteay Kdei, and some of the minor but interesting temples such as the Baphoun, The Terrace of the Leper King, The Terrace of the Elephants, the Twelve Prasats, Spean Thma and Sras Srang.
Temple of Angkor Wat

We started early to beat the crowds but it is near impossible to beat any crowd at Angkor Wat. For this matter, we have to mention that this is a World Heritage and UNESCO site so there are times it can feel a bit overwhelming. However, approached in the right prospective and at the right time, it's easy to break from the crowds and get a tooth and nail real experience. Angkor is believed to be the worlds largest religious building and is broken into sections by north, south, east & west gates. The temple is full of pools and libraries and is surrounded by a huge moat which forms a giant rectangle around the temple. It is a truly spectacular sight.
On our tour of Angkor Wat, we learned that on the 13th of May it happened to be Visakha Puja or Buddah Day. This is a celebration of Buddha's birth which falls on the eighth day of the fourth moon (May or June). Such luck!! It is best observed at Angkor Wat (says our book) where you can see over 900 monks gathering (says our guide). We made it back for the celebration and saw hundreds of monks getting ready, unfortunately we were too early to join in the celebration, but we were able to see hundreds of monks marching through the temples on our first day to Angkor Wat.

Day Three -- Going Through the Big Tour.
The twenty-six kilometer Grand Circuit is an extension on the little circuit but taking in Preah Khan, Preah Neak Pean to the Eastern Mebon and the various monuments like Ta Som, Preah Rup, before returning to Angkor Wat.
We also decided to include Banteay Srei (some of the finest stone carvings said to be built by women) and Banteay Samre. Our favorite and last temple visited was Preah Khan (temple of the Sacred Sword) it was almost empty of visitors and we entered in at the east gate (not the main entrance) and were awe struck by a pair of trees with monstrous roots overtaking the temple. There was now way of leaving without Shawn squeezing in a sweet Kung fu kick at this site.
Sites from day two - fun w/ Sha & our driver Ny:

Since each day was so full of activities and there was so much to see, sometimes we would pack a cold beer to enjoy on our ride home.

Day Four -- Beyond The Temples. Journey To Floating Village.

At this point we've seen most every temple in Angkor, so we decided to visit the floating villages of Chong Kneas. We meet up with Sha to drive to the lake where we hire a boat to take us to the village. This place was amazing! Chong Kneas is on a huge fresh water lake called Tonle Sapp. We were told that the local population was around 1,500 and the village was complete with floating restaurants, gas stations, schools, stores and a town center. The villagers live here because of the fishing. Simply put, it's easier to catch and procure ones product when you live directly at the source! We had a great time wandering the village by boat and the locals were friendly enough to let us take pictures while going on with daily business. There was a small fee we paid which included the boat ride up there and money for the privlage of seeing the village.Here is a few shots from an experience we will never forget.

We had an amazing time and will never forget our adventures with our friend Sha. It was real, you could smell the food, gas, fires roasting for early night meals. Cambodia is loaded with friendly locals, distant smiles, giggling children, and connected people that care for family and community. It comes in layers with the tourist industry but in looking for authentic travel, we found it here. It came without industry, but through the amazing friends and people we met here. Feeling blessed to have met all our local friends and share in the countries greatest asset -- the Khmer people.

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