Cracked Pepper: Angkor Highlights

There have been MANY technical difficulties here at Cracked Pepper with a bug uploading photos and formatting. Hopefully the problem has been resolved.

Here are the highlights of our amazing trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia one of the most magical places on Earth!

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Our first morning we left the Angkor Pearl before 5am in order to be at Angkor Wat for sunrise. Unfortunately, Mr. Happy's aunt forgot to reset her watch. She waited in the lobby from 4am! Good thing she has more energy than all of us!

Upon reaching this finalist for the New Seven Wonders of the World, we suddenly channeled Abbey Road.

Then we sat down and took it all in.

Ok, the sun is up. Can we go back to bed?

Finally, proper stairs!

After a quick breakfast back at our lovely hotel Angkor Pearl, we met up with our superb guide, Channa. We entered Angkor by the South Gate.

Our first stop: Angkor Thom

There are hundreds of faces carved into the Bayon at Angkor Thom.

Mugging for the camera

Eskimo kisses!

Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

Taking a break while the tour guide hunts down missing members of our party!

Love in the ruins!

Viren, Buddah, Meredith

Channa patiently answers all of our questions.

We all loved Channa. If you visit Siem Reap, I highly recommend that you hire her. Not only is she an expert guide who speaks excellent English, but she is so thoughtful and looked after each member of our group from our youngest (6) to our oldest (74). She made sure everyone had a wonderful time! You can reach her by email: uy_channa2005@yahoo.com

Channa holding everyone's bags so we could walk around more easily!

We then climbed in our tuk tuks and rode over to Ta Prohm.

Peek -a-boo

Ta Prohm is the temple that was featured in the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider films. This temple has been left relatively untouched since its discovery. It is my favorite.

For hundreds of years, birds dropped seeds around the temples. Now, those seeds have grown into massive trees which are part of the structure of the temples.

Our very own Apsara dancer

Pounding chests in the Ta Prohm echo chamber.

We headed it home. It had been a long day :)

After a fantastic dinner in town where we feasted on Khamer food, we were ready to tackle the next morning. We'd seen it at sunrise, but now we were going to tour Angkor Wat properly with Channa.

Channa and Riana share a banana breakfast with some monkeys!

A "Wat" is a temple. Angkor Wat is the largest of the temple complexes in Angkor, Cambodia. It was built in the 12th Century.

View from the highest part of Angkor Wat. A VERY steep staircase.

If you plan to climb to the top you must be 16 and be sure that your knees and shoulders are covered. Also, your head must be bare. Remove your hat. When we visited there was a group of Muslim women who couldn't climb to the top because they wore head scarves.

The handsome photographer!

The Elephant Terrace

In the afternoon, we visited the floating village, Kompong Phluk. The trip is about one hour by tuk tuk.

Channa taught Rianna how to make origami birds along the way.

Boarding the big boat to reach the floating city.

Anchors Away!

Little Miss Orange

Kompong Phluk is a much better option than the closer Chong Khneas which is a Vietnamese village which is rather unpleasant in its full court pressure on tourists for money.

The Love Boat

Floating through the forest felt like we had stepped into the pages of a storybook.

On the way back to town we stopped off on the outskirts of the Full Moon water festival. It was packed! The next day we learned that during a similar festival in the capital Phenom Phen, a number of people died. So tragic.