A Khmer’s Legacy

Author’s thoughts…

Angkor Wat is really an amazing magnificent temple. We found ourselves either just standing and admiring the intricate carvings in between the corridors and small alleyways, or just snapping away photos of every little inch of architectural details, that we sometimes forget that we had our Sony camera on the backpack mount.

The biggest religious monument in the world – that is a simple line to describe Angkor Wat. From Siem Reap International Airport, we had our focus set on ticking off yet another must-see on our bucket list.

The touristy accommodation was convenient with excellent customer service from our hotel, Golden Temple Villa. The guy in charge, Tekea, was basically our adviser for the whole trip, arranging tuk-tuk drivers and telling us what are the fair prices to pay during our whole stay in Siem Reap. And no, we weren’t charged extravagantly for his services. He just loves quality customer service.

What amazed us was the fact that Angkor Wat is an archaeological park with many temples spread over 400km2 rather than the main icon which we associate Angkor Wat with (The Bayon Temple).

You definitely need a driver to drive you around the whole day to explore the vastness of the whole complex, or better yet, rent a bicycle.

There’s ALOT of nice angles around this huge complex that you can shoot from. Here are our top 5 favourite photos….

Traveller tip: Buy the tickets (20usd for 1-day pass) after 5pm. This will give u a ‘free’ day to catch the sunrise at the many Angkor Wat vantage points and give you a good headstart bypassing the counter queues for sunrise the next morning.

Day 2

We started off our 2nd day at dawn to prep our cameras for a sunrise time lapse (a habit we’re getting accustomed to these days). Our tuk-tuk driver was ready for the long day ahead. When we reached the main carpark, we were greeted with many other like-minded tourists but everyone had their own space as the place was huge.

A compulsory picture to take was that of a tree trunk growing out of the temple stones as it was depicted in one of the scenes from Lara Croft’s Tomb Raider.

Day 3

The 3rd day was spent visiting the Landmine Museum which by far was the most memorable highlight of the trip. Owned by Akira, a Cambodian famous for being a bomb diffuser, all the proceeds from here goes directly to the Cambodian people especially kids amputated by landmines.

The museum is supervised by Akira himself though he is humbly shy. The older kids (from the shelter behind the museum) helped out in the shop and there was just a strong aura of awe if i need to describe it.

It shows all the mines Akira has diffused (which is A LOT) just using simple tools like sticks (now he uses proper diffusing equipment). A conscripted child soldier who specializes in planting landmines during the Khmer Rouge regime, he has devoted his whole life to undo what he did. All in all, its worth mentioning again how this was the highlight of my Cambodian trip.

Day 4

The last day was spent on a tour zip-lining with Flight Of The Gibbon in the Angkor Wat jungle. The adrenaline boost was average but the staff’s service was exceptional!