Blog – Page 24 – Traveling Mark

Angkor Wat Tour with Best Itinerary

Angkor Wat is not only the most famous of all the temples within the Angkor Archaeological Park, it is also the nearest to Siem Reap, from where you will be starting your tour so it’s expectedly the first ancient temple each first time visitor to Angkor area goes to see. The small circle tour – the most popular itinerary because it covers all of the biggest, most famous and most important temples has Angkor Wat as its first stop if you start the circle in the clockwise direction. This may seem like the best itinerary scenario because you naturally tend to want to start your tour with the nearest point of interest first and progress your way along with the next nearest, until you have covered the entire circle.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I took a closer look at the map of the Angkor Archaeological Park and this is also what every guide book recommends. Unfortunately, this is the worst way to take the small circle and I really can’t believe none of the guides tells you that. Let me say it again, when you start your tour of the Angkor Archaeological Park and do the small circle to cover all of the most impressive temples first, do it in the counter-clockwise direction, not clockwise, the way it would seem natural and the way all of the tourist guides would have you do it. The reasons are simple (just for some reason nobody considers them):

All of the temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park face east, except from one – Angkor Wat. Because of that, if you start your itinerary by going to Angkor Wat in the morning, the sun will be illuminating the back side of the temple making for truly tough back-lighting, difficult photography conditions, detail lacking pictures even if you know how to set up your camera for difficult lighting and because Cambodian sun is extremely intense, you’re gonna have a hard time getting a decent capture no matter what.

Photo: Angkor Wat in the Morning (left) When Sun Creates Strong Backlight Compared with the Afternoon (right) When Sun Is Behind You

But there is yet another important reason why you should go counter-clockwise – everybody else goes clockwise. Angkor Archaeological Park gets visited by thousands of people every day. Virtually all of them will go to Angkor Wat in the morning – at around the same time as you and will do the small circle by following the road in clockwise direction. You could spend hours upon hours waiting to get a picture of the temple without dozens of people in the view, yet you won’t get it. You will have hundreds of people to share the temple with and as you move from one temple to another, all of those people move in approximately the same time. The feeling of being in overcrowded spaces will follow you all along. But that’s still not as bad as the next reason why not to go clockwise:

All of local peddlers, touts, beggars, hustlers, scam artists and other obnoxious individuals preying on thousands of tourists visiting Angkor Archaeological Park know that virtually every visitor to the area starts with Angkor Wat and progresses on clockwise through other temples on the small circle so they move in approximately the same speed to ensure they are at the spot where the concentration of tourists is the highest. As such, you are guaranteed to get tons of them on every step of your way, harassing you all the time. They will move as you move and will be on your ass in vast numbers whole day. Whereas if you go counter-clockwise, you will only get the stationary peddlers who operate on the same spot all the time. This eliminates a lot of hassle and headache.

Don’t be silly like I was. If you start your journey with Angkor Wat, you will soon realize that the pictures don’t do the temple justice and will start planning for your next visit in the afternoon hours. The way Angkor Wat looks in the afternoon when sun is in the west and illuminates the front is way superior to the way it looks in the morning. Besides, going clockwise doesn’t merely screw your light for Angkor Wat.

Because Angkor Wat is the only temple facing west, if you take the clockwise itinerary, you will slowly progress your way to the temples on the eastern side of small circle, including magnificent Banteay Kdei and huge Sras Srang moat, and when you get to those, the light for them temples will be on the wrong side again.

You definitely want to start with Banteay Kdei in the morning to have it nicely illuminated by the morning sun, catch the sunrise as it emerges above Sras Srang and move along in the counter-clockwise direction until you make it to Angkor Wat, when sun is in the west and illuminates the front of it, making all fine details stand out and shine. This is the best itinerary you can arrange for when you are planning your Angkor Wat tour. Don’t start the tour by going to Angkor Wat first. You will miss out on wonderful sunrise over Sras Srang, will catch both Angkor Wat and Banteay Kdei in strong backlight and will have hundreds of other tourists around you to share the temples with. And that’s on top of dozens of hustlers who will follow you around. The best itinerary for the small circle Angkor Wat tour is by going counter clockwise, starting with Banteay Kdei and ending with Angkor Wat.

Road to Angkor Wat

This was the day I was waiting for. I took time to get acclimatized in Cambodia, to get familiar with the way the country works, to hook myself with my own, independent means of transportation and to wait out the rain so I make the most out of my visit to Angkor Archaeological Area. And now here I was – riding away to buy my 7 day pass and see Angkor Wat with my own eyes at last.

The road to Angkor Wat gets interesting right after you have passed the ticketing office. Trees that line the road are marked with name plates at the base of each tree. This educational effort is repeated and present along the roads of most of Angkor Archaeological Park. The plates offer the Cambodian name of the tree, as well as English and Latin names.

Photo: Koki Tree With Its Name Plate Alongside the Road to Angkor Wat

As I rode further, I came to my first T intersection. I already knew I was gonna go left because that’s where the nearest, but also the largest and the most popular temple is – Angkor Wat. I was gonna do the clockwise circle starting from the left so I can cover the most famous and interesting temples first. This way if I end up with some extra time left, I can return to these temples and explore some more.

Interestingly enough, as got close to that T intersection, I noticed a couple of friendly monkeys on a side of the road. Since the only live monkey I have seen before (at the Damnak Wat Temple) was a bit shy a ran away, I wanted to take this opportunity and snap some pictures of these few that seemed to be the opposite of shy.

Photo: Monkey Sees Me Stop and Starts Sneaking Up On Me

I really couldn’t wait to see Angkor Wat and I knew I was really darn close, but I was intrigued by the monkeys so I got off my bike, pulled the camera out and got ready to snap a few. What happened next got me by surprise, though. The fact that I pulled over and stopped must have been seen as an opportunity by the monkeys because within seconds from dismounting my bike, I found myself surrounded by dozens of them that showed no shame and went right towards me and my bike.

It was as though whole jungle that surrounds the Angkor temples came alive. There must have been a monkey hiding on every branch in sight and each showed up, climbed off the trees and sprinted in my general direction. Not knowing how to safely deal with the monkey, their straightforward approach got me freaked a little. I mean, these were cute little animals, but I didn’t know how dangerous they were. Last thing I wanted would be to get bitten by one and catch some disease. What’s worse, I didn’t know how strong they were and with increasing numbers that kept showing up I would be overwhelmed quickly. I started to beck off to keep my distance.

That didn’t go over too well, though. Seeing my bicycle, bunch of monkeys jumped on it and started pulling stuff out of my camera bag that was mounted on the steering bars. I had to yell at them and run towards the bike to scare them off but they leaped off and knocked the bike over. Others got dangerously too close and started to climb me reaching for anything that had a strap or was sticking out in any fashion. At this point, I no longer saw these monkeys as some cute animals. They were some truly greedy and shameless buggers one needs to watch out for.

Photo: Monkey Jumps on My Bike and Starts Stealing Stuff Out of My Bag While Another One Watches Closely

I got a last minute rescue when a family riding in a cab that was approaching got excited seeing all these monkey around me and wanted to experience the same. Monkeys noticed the car that just pulled over and their focus shifted from me to them. I took this opportunity and darted out of there. Monkeys are little cuties, but they are a bit unmanageable in highly touristy areas and their numbers are endless. I saw way too many of them emerge out of nowhere in seconds. It taught me a lesson and I stopped treating them like some cute kittens. Monkeys have very good control of their hands which look and work like human hands and are capable of grabbing just about anything they can carry. If they grab something and run up on a tree before you can halt them, you will have just lost it, regardless of how expensive it was. Watch over your stuff when monkeys are around. They are thieving little mischiefs.

Photo: Stopped Car Diverts Monkeys Attention - Time For Me To Go

Off I was set free from the monkeys and on the way to Angkor Wat the shapes of which I could already recognize. My heart was pumping with excitement. I’ve seen Angkor Wat in pictures countless times before and now here it is right before my eyes.

Angkor Archaeological Park

All of those magnificent, world famous temples of the the Angkorian-era Khmer Empire that drive millions of tourists to Cambodia each year are housed within the Angkor Archaeological Park. Covering an area of more than 400 square kilometers, Angkor Archaeological Park is the largest religious complex in the world. Today, Angkor Archaeological Park is considered to be one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and was declared a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s International World Heritage Program UNESCO in 1992.

Angkorian-era of the Khmer Empire lasted between 9th and 13th centuries during which most of the famous tamples of the Angkor Archaeological Park were built. Some of the temples date back to the 8th century while the latest additions come from the 1500s.

The most famous temple of the Angkor Archaeological Park is, expectedly Angkor Wat with Bayon Temple located within larger Angkor Thom counting as close second. The complete list of all 53 temple ruins located within Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap Province of Cambodia is below:

Ak Yum
Angkor Thom
Angkor Wat
Bakong
Baksei Chamkrong
Banteay Kdei
Banteay Prei
Banteay Samre
Banteay Srey
Baphuon
Bat Chum
Bayon
Beng Melea
Chapel of the Hospital
Chau Say Tevoda
East Mebon
Kbal Spean
Kleangs (North and South)
Krol Ko
Krol Romeas
Kutisvara
Lolei
Neak Pean
Phimeanakas
Phnom Bakheng
Phnom Krom
Phnom Kulen
Prasat Bei
Prasat Kravan
Prasat Prei
Prasat Suor Prat
Prasat Top (East)
Prasat Top (West)
Pre Rup
Preah Khan
Preah Ko
Preah Palilay
Preah Pithu Group
Roluos Group
Spean Thma
Srah Srang
Ta Keo
Ta Nei
Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm Kel
Ta Som
Tep Pranam
Terrace of the Elephants
Terrace of the Leper King
Thma Bay Kaek
Thommanon
Wat Athvea
West Mebon

The entire Angkor Archaeological Park is located in Siem Reap Province with the town of Siem Reap serving its main tourist and business hub.

Additional pre-Angkorian and Angkorian-era temple ruins are located Takeo Province, south of Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh. From historical and archaeological perspective, the temples in Takeo Province are some of the most important, however their visual appeal and magnificance don’t match up to the temples of Angkor Archaeological Park.

Angkor Wat Opening Hours and Visiting Times

When planning a visit to Angkor Wat and other temples and ruins of the Angkor Archaeological Park it is important to know what the opening hours and best visiting times are. There are additional details that I will share with you, details you won’t find in any guide book but can help you make the most of your visit to Angkor.

Angkor Wat Opening Hours Are:

Daily from 5.00am to 6.00pm

These opening hours apply to the main area of Angkor Archaeological Park and include all main and most popular temples, including Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom (Bayon, Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King), Thommanom, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, Bantey Kdei, Sras Srang, Prasat Kravan, Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon, Banteay Samre, Pre Rup, etc.

Photo: Information Panel at the Angkor Ticket Office Contains Opening Times and Entrance Fees Schedule

The opening hours allow you to get to the temples before sunrise and leave after sunset. Because Cambodia is close to the equator, the sun rises at approximately 6.00am and sets at approximately 6.00pm every day. Angkor temples are a little bit off the equator so this time fluctuates slightly, but as a general rule of thumb, you get exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness every day. Visiting hours have been adjusted to accommodate the desire of tourists to catch both sunrise and sunsets over the temples.

Banteay Srey Opening Hours Are:

Daily from 5.00am to 5.00pm

Because Bantey Srey is about one hour by Tuk Tuk from Siem Reap, which is the main tourist hub for vast majority of all visitors to Angkor Archaeological Park, the closing time for Banteay Srey has been adjusted so you can get back to Siem Reap before it gets dark.

Kbal Spean Opening Hours Are:

Daily from 5.00am to 3.00pm

Kbal Spean is considered to be one of the most sacred places by the Khmer people. It is located on the sacred Kulen Hill (Phnom Kulen) and requires 45 minute hike uphill through the forest. Cambodians flock to Phnom Kulen for the Khmer New Year to prey before the statue of huge reclining Buddha and enjoy the swim at the waterfalls. It’s one of the less visited places by foreigners, but one of the most fascinating. Well known to local Khmer population, the unfortunate part about Phnom Kulen is that it will cost you $20 as a foreigner to get there. That fee is way out of proportion to what you would get for paying $20 to get to Angkor Wat area but can be avoided by taking an extra 2 hour hike. Some truly amazing carving in the rock

What Guide Books Don’t Tell You About Visiting Times!

The opening hours are what you SHOULD adhere to as a visitor to Angkor Archaeological Area. If you attempt to enter the area outside of these opening hours, you would be going there while it’s pitch dark outside, but there are no fences to hold you back so you are in fact free to enter.

The opening hours posted above are also the working hours of ticket inspectors on duty who are paid to check that every foreigner who enters the area has a valid ticket. So if you get to the checkpoint outside of the visiting hours, there will be no one asking you to show the ticket, leaving you free to enter at your own will.

That being said, foreigners caught inside any Angkor temple without a valid pass can be fined, whether it’s during opening hours or outside. All of the above simply means that there is virtually nothing to stop you from entering Angkor Archaeological Area after dark (as per opening hours posted earlier).

This also applies to leaving Angkor after opening hours. I spent a lot of time in a Sras Srang village oftentimes leaving late at night during which time if I wanted to, I could wonder into any temple and stay there (temples have been used for centuries as shelters for travelers). I’ve never done that, but it was a possibility. If I was done in a village before 6pm, I’d still have the guards at the checkpoint to give a wave to, but if I left after 6pm, there would be nobody there so even if I were going towards the village (aka towards the temples) I’d be free to enter.

Please note, that I do not encourage anyone to visit Angkor temples illegally and I definitely do not encourage anyone to wonder the forests of Angkor after dark. While this area has been thoroughly demined, there are other danger lurking in the dark than land mines. The above information is simply provided as a fact I know of but nobody else does. But now you all do.

Angkor Entrance Fee Schedule

I did my homework prior to entering Angkor Archaeological Area and found out about the cost of entrance fees. This was quite an important bit of information I needed in order to plan out the budgeting and exploration schedule. What I knew before coming to Angkor was the following entrance fee schedule:

1 Day Entrance Fee to Angkor: $20 US
3 Days Entrance Fee to Angkor: $40 US
7 Days Entrance Fee to Angkor: $60 US

One day pass is good enough to explore main and most popular ancient temples which are located along the small circle that most visitors take. This includes Angkor Wat, South Gate of Angkor Thom, Central Angkor Thom with Bayon, Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King, Victory Gate, Thommanom, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, Bantey Kdei, Sras Srang and Prasat Kravan ruins.

Three day pass allows a visitor to explore all major temples as well as some less frequented ones along the grande circle with enough time to dedicate to your favourite spots. On top of what you would see on a single day pass, you would also get a chance to explore Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon, Banteay Samre and Pre Rup as well as quite possibly a bunch of smaller ruins.

Seven day pass is for serious explorers and gives you enough time to explore all of the main and smaller temples of the main area, as well as some of the more remote temples, such as Banteay Srey (Citadel of the Woman) or Rolous Group temples (Bakong, Preah Ko, Lolei). You could also visit the West Mebon, which is submerged in the waters of the West Baray moat.

Photo: Seven Day Pass to Angkor Costs $60 US, Contains a Photo and is Laminated. Holes Are Punched Upon Each Visit

Because Angkor temples were on top of my must see before I die list, I definitely wanted to pay the price of a 7 days pass and explore the area thoroughly. At the same time I realized that because entrance fees are rather steep (keep in mind that average monthly wage in Cambodia is $90) for Cambodia, so I wanted to make sure I use each day to the fullest.

Because of that, I would not consider going on a rainy day. I wanted to take some nice pictures while I’m exploring and that’s virtually impossible in downpours typical for rainy season in South East Asia (unless you have some specialty water resistant equipment and don’t mind getting soaked the hell out of).

I’ve been patiently waiting for the right day and it’s paid off. The biggest disadvantage of multi day passes was the fact that you had to use them up in consecutive days. I did not see the possibility of scoring 7 consecutive days of sun in rainy season but I remained hopeful and determined.

Luckily, there was serious talk that Apsara Authority will be changing this rule and multiday passes will be modified to allow for use over a period of time, rather than consecutively. If you bought a 3 days pass, you would have a week to use it and a month if you bought a 7 days pass. This sounded more like it. If this was put in place, I’d be able to go at it full throttle on a nice day and if the following day turned out rainy, I would not go and would wait until the next sunny day to make full use of my 7 day pass.

Luckily for me, the consecutive-days-use rule was terminated on the day I didn’t get to go because I was with Ha. When I got to the ticket booth on my attempt to get the first glimpse of Angkor Wat, they were just replacing the signs with new ones which stated that you could use multiday passes over an extended period of time, not consecutively. That was great news and there truly was nothing in my way to start exploring the ancient temples of Angkor.

The rule of non consecutive days is still in effect. If you buy a 3 day pass, you can use your three days over a period of 1 week and if you buy a 7 day pass, you can use your 7 days over a period of 1 month (it will terminate on the day prior to the day of purchase of the following month).

Photo: Rear Side of the Seven Day Pass to Angkor with Hole Punched To Signified Used Entry

Three and Seven day passes will have your mugshot on it. If you have a passport photo on you, you will be asked to provided it to the person processing your ticket which generally speeds up the processing and sets you on the way to Angkor quickly. However if you don’t, you will just be sent to another window where your mugshot will be taken with a webcam and this image will be used to print on a pass. This is how I had mine processed. It was an extra step I needed to do but it only delayed me a few minutes.

If you wish to have a pretty picture on your pass to Ankor and have yourself processed faster, then bring one passport sized photo with you. Either way, try to show up for the purchase of your entrance ticket before 7.30am as after that time buses full of tourists from Japan and Korea start coming and none of them will have a passport photo so they all will wait to get a mugshot taken. This could put you back quite a while – if you get there right after half a dozen buses full of elderly Asian people with cameras hung on their necks.

Free Sunset

If you purchase your entrance pass at 5pm or later, it’s validity won’t come to an effect until the following day but you will be allowed to enter the Angkor Archaeological Area and enjoy a free sunset.

How a Prostitute Works

Ha really needed to make some money so she can buy food for her daughter, but because she was an alien in a foreign country, her options were slim. All she was left with was prostitution. Because I had evenings reserved to getting some computer work done for myself, I had to leave to her to look after my job during which time she said she would go back to the Temple Club and “work” the way prostitutes “work”. Because Siem Reap is not a sex tourism destination, chances were that she would just spend the night looking pretty but not scoring any paying customers. I knew very well how prostitutes work and how they get treated and was not happy knowing Ha was going to put herself up on the market again, but this was her only option at the moment. I told her she could come stay the night with me again after “work”. I had actual shower and could keep the room at a comfortable temperature level. Plus the beds were comfortable so at least she could get decent sleep.

Ha gave her daughter good byes and lay her in wooden plank bed to sleep. Then we left for the Pub Street so she can promenade herself at the Temple Club and so I can sit in the Khmer Family Restaurant and do some work on a computer. Again, I wasn’t too happy Ha was forced to sell her body out, but I didn’t have the funds to support two more mouth myself and she didn’t have any other options either, so work of a prostitute it was.

This was a rather sticky situation, but I did all I could to offer assistance. I provided Ha with shower and sleep facilities at no charge, took her out for meals with me and bought treats for her daughter. I think I made their tough lives a little bit better without resorting to giving them the money.

I was done with my work at around midnight and briefly popped in the Temple Club to meet Ha and see how her night went. I was ready for the possibility that she may not be there – which would indicate that she may have scored a “customer” and is “working” to earn money. Horrible feeling but it was the fact of her life at the time.

Oddly enough, I went through all of the Temple Club and didn’t see Ha anywhere so I left. I was sort of happy for her, hoping she scored a whale who would pay her a lot of cash for her “services” but at the same time I was sad to have to go home alone. Even though she did not do the “work” with me, I enjoyed her company and loved talking with her.

Photo: Temple Club Where Ha Went to Work as a Prostitute

As I was about to leave the line of Tuk Tuk drivers at the beginning of Pub Street, I felt someone jump on me. Warm embrace and lovable laughter gave Ha away. She said she’d been at the Temple Club whole evening but no luck scoring any customers. She didn’t see me either, but one other girl who also works at the club noticed me and remembered me from previous night. Knowing I was looking for Ha, she let her know that her man just went through the club obviously looking for someone, but hasn’t found her so he left. She must have thought I took Ha with me the night before to have sex with and was looking for her again to do the same thing this night as well. Being a nice fellow-prostitute, she let Ha know and that’s how she caught me just before I would have disappeared in the gloomy darkness of the street that leads to the Prom Roth Guesthouse.

This was good news. I really didn’t want any men abusing this wonderful girl and at the same time I wanted to enjoy her company myself. On top of it, I wanted her to get decent sleep and be able to take decent shower so I was glad she didn’t score a customer that night. But that also meant that she wouldn’t have any money for her daughter so I would have to support her somehow. I was gonna do it like this:

Get up reasonably early in the morning to see whether it’s a nice sunny day again. If the day was going to be nice, I would sit on a bike and ride to Angkor to visit the ancient temples at last. Because the entrance fee to Angkor Archaeological Park is very expensive, there was no way I could also take Ha with me. This meant that if the weather was nice, Ha would have to go her own way while I’m at Angkor. We would still meet in the evening, but wouldn’t be able to spend the day together.

Whereas if it rains, we would just go ahead with an alternative program which wouldn’t involve me going to Angkor, because I wasn’t gonna waste $20 for not even being able to take a picture of any temples because when it rains in Cambodia during rainy season, it really comes down.

Either way, I would take Ha to have a breakfast with me and would buy large meal so she has left-overs to feed her daughter with. This way I would still support Ha and her little girl without giving them money directly. I needed to eat before heading to Angkor so this step would be unavoidable and since she was spending the night with me, she could come along.

This plan went pretty well, except from one thing – we were forced to get up much sooner than I would have liked. Because Pchum Ben festival was still underway, Preah Prom Rath temple which was just outside my window started playing really loud Khmer music out of their old loudspeakers. Music was so loud, we were virtually wide awake shortly after 6am. I have originally appreciated the fact that Prom Roth Guesthouse is so close to one of the main temples in Siem Reap, but the fact that you won’t get enough sleep because of proximity to that temple made it a bit crappy.

This same thing has repeated every day for the rest of the Pchum Ben festival. I’m not an early bird and I work until late at night because I find working at night more productive and more creative. But with the noise from Preah Prom Rath temple early morning for a few days straight, this was becoming excessively difficult.

Regardless, I was excited to go see Angkor Wat at last. The weather was gorgeous and I knew this was the day. I was woken up sooner than I would have liked, but I was excited to go see my most desired site in the world so I sprung out of bed, shook Ha to get up too, we got dressed and headed to Wat Bo area to have nice traditional breakfast in one of the locally owned and operated restaurants. I had to say my good-byes to Ha right after, but that was only for the day. I knew I was gonna see her again in the evening so I did not waste any more time, and rode off north, towards Angkor Archaeological Park.

Getting a Glimpse of Angkor Wat

Since it was such a nice day today and I didn’t spend it exploring Angkor Wat, I thought I would use the evening to at least get a glimpse of it. I knew Angkor Wat is only some 6 kilometres from Siem Reap, so even though I didn’t have the entrance ticket for the day, I thought of taking my bike for a spin to at least see it and take pictures of it from the distance. Because it’s so close, it shouldn’t be an issue getting there within a few minutes of swift riding and even though they wouldn’t let me get close to it without a ticket, I was excited to at least get my first glimpse of it just before the sun sets for the day.

Without much hesitation, I rode off up the road that leads to Angkor Archaeological Park. I was expecting a nice day tomorrow so this would give me a better sense of how far it really is from Siem Reap.

This was the first time I rode in that direction and was surprised to see some of Siem Reap’s fines hotels along the way. I passed the Kantha Bopha children’s hospital (dedicated to Cambodia’s God King Jayavarman VII) in which cello concerts are held by Dr. Beat Richter for charitable purposes and shortly after, the buildings that lined the road disappeared and got replaced by big trees. The sense of leaving the town and entering the forest was only disturbed by a large number of locals on motorcycles and old cars driving in both directions.

I knew I couldn’t have been too far but I couldn’t see nothing for the trees were too tall. Riding was smooth because the road was well paved and there were no hills on the way. Then as I was keeping my speed I got yelled at and had to pull over. The man who was sitting on the side of the road pointed me in a direction of a building hidden in the bush of those high trees just off the main road.

I turned around and swirled off the road to approach that building only to find out that it was the entrance gateway for foreigners. The man on the road was there to halt all foreigners so only locals make it in without paying the steep entrance fee. As a foreigner, after you have paid the entrance fee, you will be let through and you will eventually get back on the same road, but you have to take a detour to go through the ticketing office first. Angkor Wat is a major Cambodian cash cow.

Sadly, no sight of any temple, any silhouette, any ruin or anything otherwise interesting can be had from riding up to that point. I don’t know what exactly I expected to see, but I didn’t get a glimpse of anything. I thought there would be a staple standing up high enough to protrude over the tops of the trees, but it wasn’t the case.

Photo: I Was This Close to Angkor Wat, But From Here You Can't See Any Temples, Only Lots of Locals Riding In and Out

At the time I didn’t realize how vast Angkor Archaeological Park was. The place is massive and temples are spread across a truly huge area. There is about one more kilometre of riding after the ticket booths before you get to see the nearest temple. This of course I didn’t know but I just couldn’t wait until tomorrow and had try to get a glimpse of Angkor Wat. It didn’t work out, but it gave me a good sense of how far it is to get to Angkor Wat from my guesthouse and it wasn’t far at all. At this point I felt confident that even though I haven’t kept myself in any particularly awesome physical shape, I could do the Angkor Archaeological Area on a bike with ease.

It’s Hard Being a Foreigner in Siem Reap

Ha introduced me to the hardship she and her daughter were going through, yet even though unintentionally, she was introduced to the hardship I was going through myself – the hardship of being a foreigner in Siem Reap. I didn’t have to say a word, all it took was for Ha to spend some time with me. After a brief while she acknowledged that being a foreigner in Cambodia is truly horrible, because of treatment we westerners receive from locals.

First of all, when I was talking to Ha, I was never able to finish a simple sentence without being interrupted by a pushy Cambodian eager to get money from me at any cost. I would be walking down the street, minding my own business yet because of my skin color, I would be treated like cheap hooker. I’d be yelled yet, clapped at from across the street, honked at, whistled at or just plain have somebody in my face doing his darn best to talk me into buying something from them. There was no end to this abuse and there was not a single minute I would get without being bothered.

No matter where we would go or what we would do, there would be locals jumping me and insisting on doing some business with them. They never take “No” for an answer and treat bothering foreigners almost religiously. It’s as if something terrible would happen if each of them who caught a sight of me (or anyone else who looks like an obvious foreigner) would not make some kind of move at me, whether verbally, by making obnoxious noises or by getting in my face directly.

This is the real Cambodia – extremely hostile towards foreigners and beyond pushy. Ha has never experienced anything like that because she’s Vietnamese and looks too close to being a Cambodian. But as she was there with me, she could see how much I as a westerner have to put up with and how Cambodians would not take NO for an answer and would continue bothering me even if I completely ignored them. It was frustrating the crap out of her and she was not even the victim.

I think every Cambodian should try hanging around with a foreigner to see what it is like when a person doesn’t get a minute of peace without being harassed by a local. And I really hate to sound like I’m exaggerating, but when I say “a minute of peace” I’m actually being excessively generous. If it was only once per minute that some local jumps me, perhaps I wouldn’t even bother writing this post. But Cambodians go way above and beyond harassment. It is virtually nonstop – as a foreigner you get harassed at virtually every moment.

We had to leave talking to when we are in the room as that was the only place where I could finish a sentence without being interrupted by a pushy local. Courtesy and respect are not virtues known to Cambodians. Personal space means nothing to them so they will stick their noses straight in your face and won’t remove them easily. It almost seems as though their strategy at earning your business is to frustrate you to the point at which you eventually give in. Instead of trying to earn your business by offering quality service, they simply believe that after you have been harassed enough, you will eventually break and agree to accept their Tuk Tuk ride or whatever it is they want you to spend money on.

Photo: Siem Reap Tuk Tuk Driver Looking Out for Foreigners

Being a foreigner in Cambodia is truly hard. Most locals or people from the hood would not realize what we foreigners have to go through in Cambodia, but those who try to hang out with one of us will get a first person feel of what it’s like. And what it’s really like is anything but pretty. Ha knows it very well and felt sorry for me. It got to a point when she would jump pushy locals back and scream at them in Cambodian to leave me alone. While I was at the end with my senses despite ignoring all pushy locals, Ha stood up for me and tried to beat off some of that unceasing abuse. Ha introduced me to the hardship she and her daughter were going through, yet even though unintentionally, she was introduced to the hardship I was going through myself – the hardship of being a foreigner in Siem Reap. I didn’t have to say a word, all it took was for Ha to spend some time with me. After a brief while she acknowledged that being a foreigner in Cambodia is truly horrible, because of treatment we westerners receive from locals.

Being a foreigner in Cambodia is truly hard. Most locals or people from the hood would not realize what we foreigners have to go through in Cambodia, but those who try to hang out with one of us will get a first person feel of what it’s like. Then they would change their approach instantly. After meeting with and speaking to countless foreigners in Siem Reap, I could see that this approach hurts local businesses. Foreigners who would otherwise spend more money refuse to go shopping so they don’t have to expose themselves to this treatment and those who would otherwise stay longer are making plans to speed up their departure as they can’t put up with this anymore.

There is no doubt that disrespect of foreigners has opposite of desired effect for locals. Because of that, even if there are any sincere locals who would like to offer sincere service to foreigners, they will be ignored because foreigners are pushed to the limits and have no other option but to ignore. You can see which foreigner has just come to Siem Reap and is still hanging on to being polite and responds multiple times every minute to being jumped by explaining that they are OK for now. You see the same foreigner a few hours later and without responding, they are speedily moving towards their guesthouse to escape the mistreatment.

Because Ha looks like a Cambodian, she was not subjected to abuse but it only took her a few hours of hanging out with me to get fed up with that herself. It got to a point when she would jump pushy locals back and scream at them in Cambodian to leave me alone. While I was at the end with my senses despite ignoring all pushy locals, Ha stood up for me and tried to beat off some of that unceasing abuse.

I Can’t Stand Kids No More

It’s funny how we sometimes can’t stand certain things yet in the end it’s that very thing that makes us love them. This is exactly what happened to me. I had bad experiences with kids and it got to a point that I couldn’t stand kids anymore but it only took that one kid to make me see them in a whole new light and now I can say that I can’t stand kids no more (no more being the keyword).

When Ha told me she had a child, I had all kinds of weird thoughts. I’ve never had children of my own so my perception of them has always been rather third handed. The last memory I had of kids was that of a horrible plane experience. Each of my three flights from Edmonton to Siem Reap, Cambodia had annoying, screaming kids on board who would not quit yelling for one minute. As if being cramped within a small space, with limited legroom for 10 hour was not bad enough, I also had to listen to nonstop screaming that started before takeoff and didn’t stop until I got off the plane. Long flights tire you down a lot, but having someone scream without a break while you’re at it takes it to a whole new level by giving you a headache from hell.

After this type of experience with kids, I really didn’t feel like coming in further contact with children, no matter how presumably well behaved they were believed to be. That’s why I couldn’t grasp the concept of Ha loving her child. My first thought when she told me that she had a daughter was – “Why don’t you just get rid of it somehow and be done with her? She’ll be no burden to you no more…” I thought she’d be happy if someone wanted to rid her of that kid… I thought she’d grab at the first opportunity to be done with the girl and move on with her life without the annoyance of a spoiled, screaming kid.

Yet she kept mentioning how much her daughter meant to her and how she couldn’t imagine life without her so I just silently wondered what the heck was wrong with her and politely nodded to each of her daughter-full heart pours.

We were at the Royal Independence Gardens admiring the shriek of mesmerising Fruit Bats when Ha told me it was time for her to go home to check out on her daughter and insisted that I go with her. She wanted me to meet the little girl and said she would pay for the Tuk Tuk so long as I come. I was not impressed with the idea, but she had spent whole night with me and went with me to see the bats (aka she went where I wanted her to go) so I somewhat felt obliged to return the favour and go where she would like me to go.

It was a beautiful day but there would be no way for me to use it to initiate my Angkor Archaeological Park exploration adventure and since I had nothing more exciting lined up for today, I agreed I would accompany Ha to her uncle’s place where she was staying and meet her daughter. I really enjoyed Ha’s company and wanted her to spend more of the day with me, but for that she needed to go home to change clothes and do whatever other things she needed to do so it only made sense that I would go with her.

We flagged down a Tuk Tuk, the driver saw me which meant he tried to overcharge us for the ride but Ha put him in place and we headed towards the north east corner of Siem Reap, to an area far away from where any foreigners ever go. The houses there looked the way most Cambodian houses do – thatched barns on stilts made exclusively of wooden planks. This is what most Cambodians live in and so did Ha’s uncle and his wife who accommodated Ha during her stay in Siem Reap.

The house had a little storage room attached to itself at the front end, it was only big enough to have one bed also made of bare wooden planks inside and that’s where Ha and her daughter were staying. Roof was covered with random, irregularly shaped pieces of metal, wood and thatch, with many holes that let water in when it was raining. Since there was nowhere to hide inside of that room and since it was rainy season, the two ladies must have been getting rained on on regular basis. From a westerner’s point of view, it looked like something I wouldn’t even throw a dog to live in and here it was used as the only way by a 23 year old girl and her 4 year old daughter. But the worst part was, that they had to pay (unreasonably high) monthly rent for it.

Photo: Big Lizard Crawling Down The Base of the House Where Ha and Her Daughter Lived

From what Ha explained to me, her uncle wanted to actually help her out and wouldn’t mind leaving her in the room for free, but his wife (Who is Cambodian – typical) was against and decided to cash on a desperate couple that didn’t have many options and had to take whatever was offered to them. Way to make a bank on other people’s misfortune.

This was how Ha and her daughter lived. No wonder she was so excited to accept my invitation to sleep with me in an air conditioned room, on a soft bed with blankets and with shower with clean water. Coming from a dog house that looked like slaves storage facility, anything would be an upgrade.

Photo: Home Made Decoration Reflected The Condition of the House

But let’s get back to kids and how I couldn’t stand them. After I had met with Ha’s daughter, my hatred for kids was gone. I started to understand what she meant when she said that she loved her daughter and could not imagine her life without her. I started to understand where the beauty of small children lies. My perception of children was wrong, but was I in for a surprise! If at some time I couldn’t stand kids, then after meeting Ha’s daughter this feeling was in me no more.

Photo: Little Girl Showing Me Where She Lives

More photos of this little girl in the 4 Year Old Daughter Photo Gallery.

Four Year Old Daughter Photo Gallery

When I first met Ha’s four year old daughter, the little girl was crying. I had some chewing gums on me so I gave her the pack which made her stop. I don’t know exactly why she was crying, but I know that she was nothing like I expected. I went to meet with Ha’s daughter anticipating a spoiled kid that screams all the time and acts like a general irritation, but she was none of that.

I will leave the pictures in a gallery below to speak on my behalf. Even if you were like me – someone who used to perceive kids as sheer annoyance, you would instantly start seeing children as a blessing, instead of a curse. This girl was the embodiment of cuteness and was well behaved and respectful. She was nothing like the kids from the plane. I was reluctant to go spend time with a kid, but after experiencing her bubbly personality, I actually had to pull my camera out and snap some pictures so I can print some for Ha.

Realizing the hardship Ha told me about, I felt even more inclined to try to seek for solution and help so they don’t have to spend their lives running and hiding. This little girl should go to school and get education. She should also get some medical care, including dental care because that cavity in her front tooth spoils otherwise gorgeous smile. This girl deserves to enjoy her childhood and go out to have fun with her friends. But for this to happen, something would have to get fixed. The two are constantly on the move so she can’t make any friends and because they don’t have any money, their health issues are not looked after. They can’t afford a toothbrush or a toothpaste so cavities are inevitable. And that makes their story so much sadder.

Because father of this girl is an American, she doesn’t look obviously Vietnamese. WHile she does have some Vietnamese features, she’s a Caucasian cross with dark eyes.