2015 - A bit Beyond Angkor & Saem Siem Reap Hotel

Today I go a little farther afield than Angkor Wat, to visit two less visited & so less crowded temples ..

On the way ...

Banteay Srey Temple is first on the list ...

A very pretty place, with a scattering of tourists ..

It's a bit hot out & even the kids can't be bothered with the tourists .. they have spotted something more interesting .. hopefully not a unexploded bomb ..

.. But perhaps the kids had found one of these ...

... or these ...

On the way to the next complex we pass the Land mine Museum & we backtrack a little so I can pay it a visit ..

A grim reminder of the millions of land mines still sitting, waiting to blow bits off some curious child.

In that context I felt absolutely safe during my time in Cambodia & would not hesitate to recommend a visit there to anyone.

But it is also a reminder to tourists that if a guide says 'Don't walk there', then don't walk there.

My contribution will not make a dent in clearing the mines but every little bit helps ..

We stop to buy some of whatever this girl was selling. Something sweet wrapped in leaves.

A quick stop at another small, out of the way Temple - Prae Roup

Almost a photo of my guide. He was a bit camera shy..

And it's back to the Seam Siem Reap hotel for a little relaxation.

The pool ..

Bananas beside the pool ..

The pool from the opposite end. It was well used after the tours got back. Hotel living is not as good as a cruise though. Hotel guests come & go much quicker than passengers.

Everything about the hotel was very good. From the welcome to the goodbye. Saren here even came for the ride to the airport with me.

Apart from her hotel work, Saren studies at university & volunteers at a local clean-water project. A very busy young lady.

I spent several days just hanging around the pool, popping into Siem Reap for lunch or dinner around pub street.

Siem Reap I did not find very easy to walk around but Tuk Tuks are plentiful & very cheap so I did get around ok

One evening my Taxi driver / Guide took me to see the Aspara dancers. & I wish I had taken my camera for that.

Another evening I went to the beer garden across the road from the hotel. There are a lot in the area of the hotel & I should have gone to more because this one was excellent. The staff literally fell over themselves to serve me the three bottle of beer I had. It was hardly for the two dollar tip on top of the three dollars for the beer.

Strangely, I could not get anyone in Siem Reap to give me a hair cut. I asked at several shops without success.

Here is another of the staff all of whom were cheerful, extremely helpful & charming to be around. I don't know what I was thinking not getting photos of the rest of the staff. There were lots of them.

Hard to see but this is a tree frog ..

Anyway - time to move on .. & heading off to Yangon, but I have already written about that so I will skip ahead to Luang Prabang in Laos with my next entry.

That was my second visit to Cambodia but probably not my last ..