English version:
So, the adventure continued on the morning of the 5th of Feb when I got on the minivan which took me to the pier. From there I went to Ha Tien by boat in 2 hours and then jumped on another minivan which took me to Kampot in Cambodia, from there 🙂 we went to the capital, Phnom Penh and from there I got on a sleeper bus which took me to Siem Reap… Quite a journey from Phu Quoc isn’t it? We had to wait a few hours in different places so the whole trip took 18-19 hours. I didn’t mind. I preferred this not only because it cost me only $34 versus 200 (the flight) but as I planned a short visit only in Cambodia at least this way I saw more things.
The ride was ok except for one part when I ensured the driver that I am going to do very bad things to him if he doesn’t use the break next time. Everybody was shocked. There are a lot of animals running around everywhere: cows, water buffalos and stray dogs. One dog decided to cross the road and we were quite far (by accident I was just watching the road). The driver could have slowed a little bit down so the dog could have cross the road. This idiot didn’t break at all and hit the dog. And then he smiled. I told him how I feel and our mutual plans together next time if this happens again. Since that he didn’t look at me and said a word at all. Crossing the border was ok as I went through this agency who organised the whole trip from Phu Quoc end-to-end. I got the visa for $37 (where $7 was their commission), didn’t need to wait so I was happy with the process.
But apart from this incident all was good. I ate fantastic food in Krong Kampot and the sleeper bus was also amazing. See the images.
By the way food is for me, the best of the best in South East Asia.
I arrived in Sieam Reap at 1.30am in the morning and sat in a random tuk tuk in the middle of the night. He took me to the Garden Guest House & Pool Bar. The place is ok with a lot of loud parties until 5am (so earplugs are recommended :)) but the food is amazing and the staff too.
I had a good sleep that night, thanks to the mouldex earplugs what I bought a lot for my trip and after a fantastic chicken noodle soup (for breakfast! :D) I was ready to see Angkor Wat. Another thing I was looking forward to very very much.
I met a new friend Nakim that morning, who has his own tuk tuk and he took me to the temples. An amazing, very friendly guy who is happy to help you with whatever you need. We had great time together. Thanks man and for introducing me to the top seller food in Cambodia: the delicious amok. It’s a shame Cambodian food doesn’t have a strong marketing in Europe. It would beat a lot of well-known cuisine that’s for sure. If you guys need a ride to the temples or anything else in Siem Reap, contact Nakim. He will make your stay unforgettable.
Our first ride in approx. 20 mins was to the majestic Angkor Wat temple. On the way there I bumped into an old travel buddy I met in Hsipaw in Burma. He was chewing Cambodian grass, legs knee deep in the cool water of the canal. He recognised me and welcomed by theatrically shaking his ears for a couple of seconds. He told me he walked from Hsipaw because buffalos are not allowed on public transport in South East Asia… It was his dream to eat grass in the shadows of Angkor and to meet local buffalos over here. Now I figured, he also looks a little bit like Thibault.
We tuk tuked 20 mins and first stopped at the ticket office. I bought the day pass which covers all temples for $37. There are also, 3 days and 1 week tickets too. With the ticket in my hands we shortly arrived at The “Capital Temple”: the Angkor Wat.
It was built to be a Hindu temple of Vishnu and got changed into a Buddhist temple later on. Now it is a Unesco World Heritage site and the main symbol of Cambodia. They have a beer named after it too which is very important.
The size of the place and the details of the carvings in the stone is simply incredible. When you saw the towers on the other side of the lake you think omg it’s so big. And then when you go there you realise it’s only the entrance 😀 Then you go in and your eyes are trying to focus to send the good signals to your brain to calculate the size of this gigantic temple .
I spent a good 90 mins there to enjoy the view, make some photos and videos and to see some cheeky monkeys there too. There was a baby monkey who I wanted to take with me to the roliegoes.com journey but mama monkey showed her teeth aggressively so it didn’t work out.
If you spend more time here, it’s worth booking Nakim to take you to see the sunrise which must be beautiful.
Next stop was the Bayon Temple which has smiling faces graved in its towers. I went up and took some nice photos and videos.
And the final stop was the big surprise. I thought the main attraction here is going to be the Angkor Wat, but no. The Ta Prohm temple wiped Angkor Wat out of my brain unstoppably like a Hurricane. Bayon and Angkor Wat is in quite a good shape thanks to reconstructions but Ta Prohm has been kept in its original form. It is situated in the middle of the jungle which took over the building step by step. You hear amazing bird sounds all the time and huge trees growing out of the ruins which is unbelievable. I am sure it will be familiar for many of you. This is where Angelina Joly filmed the Tomb Raider movie.
Walking among these walls, listening to the bird sounds and using krav maga elbow techniques on other tourists was the best part of my day. I loved this place.
There are a lot of temples here guys. The size of the Angkor Wat temple complex including all the temples is around 160 hectares (approx 200 football pitches) so you really need the weekly pass if you a hardcore temple fan.
I am uploading this post from the middle of the sea on the way to Koh Tao from Koh Samui on the speed boat. There is a very good internet in Thailand.
Magyar verzio:
Kalandjaim februar 5. reggelen folytatodtak, amikor almosan beszalltam a szokasos mikrobuszba, amely elvitt a pho quoc-i kikotobe. Innen 2 oras hajout utan eljutottam Ha Tienbe es beszalltam egy ujabb mikrobuszba ami atvitt Kampotba, Kambodzsaba. Kampotbol aztan a fovarosba, Phnom Penh-be, ahol felszalltam (felfekudtem) egy alvo buszra ami vegul elvitt Siem Reapbe… Kellemeses kis ut? 🙂 Az ut soran nehany “allomason” par orat kellett varakoznom igy a teljes ut kb 18 – 19 ora volt, de nem volt ez baj. Ez a megoldas olcsobb volt, mint a repules illetve, mivel csak nagyon keves idot toltottem Kambodzsaban, igy tobbet lattam belole… Az ut buszostul-hajostul 34 dolcsiba kerult, a repuo pedig kb 200 lett volna.
Az ut okes volt egy resz kivetelevel, ami utan elmagyaraztam a sofornek, hogy tonkre fog menni az egeszsege, ha legkozelebb nem hasznalja a feket. Mindenki le volt dobbenve. Egy csomo allat koborol az ut szelen Kambodzsaban: tehenek, vizibivalyok es kobor kutyak. Egy kutya ugy dontott, hogy atsetal a fouton es mi eleg messze voltunk (epp veletlen az utat figyeltem). A sofor csak egy kicsit lassithatott volna, hogy a kutya atcammoghasson. Ez az faszfej egyaltalan nem fekezett es elutotte a kutyat. Aztan mosolygott egyet. Lehervasztottam a mosolyt az arcarol, aztan nem nezett senkire es egy szot se szolt. Ettol eltekintve es a hataratlepest beleertve siman ment minden. A vizum 37 dolcsiba kerult, amibol 7 az utazasi iroda jutaleka volt cserebe azert, hogy ne kelljen varni a hataron.
Ettol eltekintve minden tuti volt. Kampotban iszonyat finomat kajaltam, es az alvo busz is kiraly volt. Kepek es video alabb.
A kajarol jut eszembe, a kambodzsai a kedvencem eddig Del-Kelet Azsiaban.
Siem Reapbe ejjel 1.30kor erkeztem es meg felalomban felpattantam egy epp erkezo tuk tukra, aki elvitt a Garden Vendeghazba. Ez a hely is elegge party hely volt (kb hajnali 5ig), szoval fuldugo erosen ajanlott. Osszessegeben jo hely es a kaja vilagbajnok, plusz van egy bazi nagy medence barral felszerelve.
A mouldex fuldugoknak koszonhetoen nagyon jot aludtam (ezekbol jo adagot hoztam az utra) es miutan reggelire befaltam egy tekintelyes adag brutal finom csirkehuslevest rizstesztaval, keszen alltam az Angkor Watra. Meg egy dologra, amit nagyon nagyon vartam.
Aznap reggel ismertem meg Nakimot, aki tuk tuk-kal visz turistakat a templomokhoz. Egy nagyon kiraly, kedves srac, akinek semmi nem akadaly, hogy a kivansagaid teljesitse es jo tippekkel lasson el. Koszonet neki, hogy peldaul megismertetett Kambodzsa legismertebb kajajaval: a mennyei amokkal. Kar, hogy a kambodzsai kajanak (mint a magyarnak) nincs eros marketingje Europaban es az USA-ban. Siman agyonverne barmelyik kajaban hires orszagot. Ha Siem Reap-be jottok, keressetek Nakimot az alabbi elerhetosegeken, aki segiteni fog nektek mindenben..
Elso – 20 perces utunk – az Angkor Wat templomhoz vezetett. Ut kozben talalkoztam egy regi haverral, akit meg Hsipaw-ban Burmaban ismertem meg. Epp kambodzsai gyepet nadat ragcsalt, terdig egy patakban. Amint megismert, udvozleskepp egy teatralis mozdulattal par masodpercig razogatta a fuleit. Elmondta, hogy Hsipawtol gyalogolnia kellett, mert vizibivalyokat nem engednek fel semmilyen jarmure Del-Kelet Azsiaban. Regi alma volt, hogy az Angkor Wat arnyekaban falatozzon es, hogy talalkozzon helyi bolenyekkel. Most, hogy ujra talalkoztam rajottem, hogy az arca es mimikaja nagyon hasonlit Thibault-ra.
20 percet tuk tukoztunk tehat es a templom elott beugrottunk a jegyirodaba. A napi jegyet vettem meg, amivel az osszes templom latogathato 37 dolcsiert. Ezen kivul vehetsz 3 napos es heti jegyet is. A jeggyel a kezemben rovidesen megerkeztunk a Fotemplomba, az Angkor Watba.
Az epitmeny Vishnu imadasara epult, szoval eredetileg hindu templomnak szantak. Kesobb azonban valtozott a divat es buddhista templom lette belole. Jelenleg a Unesco vilagorokseg resze es az orszag fo szimboluma. Nagyon jo hir, hogy meg egy sor markat is beinditottak Angkor neven.
A hely meretei, a ko faragasainak reszletessege egyszeruen hihetetlen. Amikor eloszor megpillantod a tornyokat a to masik oldalan, teljesen elkepedsz, hogy milyen hatalmasak. Es amikor verge odaersz, radobbensz, hogy ez csak a bejarati ajto. Aztan bemesz es az agyad hosszu szivdobbanasokig fokuszal, hogy megfelelo jeleket tudjon kuldeni az agyadnak errol a monstrumrol.
Egy jo masfel orat toltottem itt, fotoztam, videoztam es majmokon rohogtem. Volt egy baby majom, amit el akartam vinni a roliegoes.com tovabbi allomasaira, de mama majom agressziven vicsorgatta osszekuszalt fogait, igy errol letettem.
Ha tobb idod van, erosen ajanlott Nakimot megkerni, hogy hozzon ki kora reggel napfelkeltekor. Ugy hallottam, nagyon szep.
Kovetkezo megallo a Bayon templom volt, ami a tornyokba faragott hatalmas mosolygo arcokrol nevezetes. Fel is mentem, hogy lojek par fotot.
Az utolso latnivalo pedig hatalmas meglepeted volt. Azt gondoltam, hogy az Angkor Wat less a fo attrakcio, de nem. A Ta Prohm templom hurrikankent soporte ki az agyambol Angkort, megallithatatlanul.
Bayon es Angkor Wat eleg jo allapotban van a folyamatos restauralasoknak koszonhetoen. A Ta Prohm viszont eredeti allapotaban van, egy bazi nagy romhalmaz az egesz. Mivel a dzsungel kozepen van, a hatalmas fak evtizedrol evtizedre teljesen atalakitottak az epitmenyt. Folyamatos elkepeszto madardalt hallasz es elkepedsz az epuletekbol kinott hatalmas fak lattan. Meseszeru latvany. A kepek alapjan biztosan ismeros lesz, mive Angelina Joly itt forgatta anno a Tomb Raidert.
A seta a romok kozott, a madarak eneket hallgatva es krav maga konyok-technikat gyakorolva a tobbi turistan volt napom legjobb resze. Imadtam ezt a helyet.
Rengeteg templom van errefele. Az Angkor templom komplexum – minden epitmenyt beleertve – kb 160 hektar teruleten fekszik (200 focipalya), szoval tenyleg kell a heti jegy, ha hardore templom rajongo vagy.
Ezt a posztot a tenger kozeperol egy hajorol toltom fel epp utban Koh Samuirol Koh Taora egy speed boaton. Jo a net Thaifoldon.
Roliegoes.com 