siem reap

hello!

This past weekend, I took a short trip to Siem Reap. I was there for around 24 hours, but I think we were able to experience a lot in that time.

We arrived early Friday evening after a very short 30 minute flight. After we settled in a bit to our hotel, we quickly went out to explore. The place we were at had a lot of tourists, but I liked how much energy there was as we were walking. The sides of the streets had stores of various sizes and goods, with storekeepers trying to attract customers with their best English.

In the morning, we went out to visit several temples, which is what Siem Reap is known for. We had a guide who shared the history of the temples and a lot of stories that were inscribed on the walls on these temples. Many of these temples were originally Buddhist temples, but were converted in Hindu temples (or vice versa), which I thought was interesting. The current religion of Cambodia is said to be Buddhist, but our guide shared that the practice is more like a mix of Buddhist, Hindu, and cultural traditions. The ruins are very impressive, considering that many of them have been standing for many hundreds of years. It also just felt so surreal to be standing next to a ruin that you would easily see in a history book or museum. 

My favorite temple was Ta Prohm, one that was left untouched / un-renovated to show how trees were destructive to the temples. I actually loved how the nature intermingled with the ruins and it kind of reminds me of a Studio Ghibli movie or something.

We ended our tour a little bit early and so we went to this cafe where you literally just lie down in a hammock while enjoying a enjoying a drink. It was probably one of my favorite hours of the trip, haha. 

until next time!