Wikitravel: Angkor Wat

Actually, Angkor Wat is only one of the many temples within the grounds, which are meant when mentioning this name. The temples really are very fascinating, and all who visit Siem Reap, should at least take a look at a few of them. According to our calendar, the facility dates back to the year 1000. Times when in Paris there was a population of around about 50,000, at the same time, there were already about one million people living here.

The temples are unbelievably impressive, mountains of stone processed piece by piece and stacked up. Without turning our short sex-tourist report into a cultural guide, because there are better sources of information, I will now show you a few photos just for a first impression. I took about 1000 photos whilst visiting the facilities; it’s a pity that the weather wasn’t all that good.

A ticket for the day costs 20 US dollars, there are also tickets available, which cover a period of a few days, in the long run, these are a little cheaper. It is possible to book tickets at the hotel; one is picked up in the morning and guided through the temples. I preferred to do things more individually, meaning that I got my driver to pick me up and take me down there, this meant that I was not dependent on a group or some special tour what ever. My driver waited at the front of the temple while I trudged around… It is well worth buying one of the guidebooks on offer here and there. They point out quite a few interesting places that one most certainly would have marched passed without even realising that there was something to be seen.

I found the large stone faces very impressive, and the symbiosis between building and plants to be found in some areas. Sometimes one wonders whether the building is keeping the tree together that is standing on top of it, or whether the trees roots are keeping the building intact…

There are quite a few begging children around the smaller of the facilities, they press some sort of rubbish into ones hand, and hold out their hand demanding „One Dollar“, a standard price. The Monks (there are also females amongst them) gladly give their blessing, and expect one to give them a small reward for doing so.

The facility seems to be a continuous construction site; the materials are partially very weather beaten. Some buildings have been destroyed by the huge tree roots, and the damage caused by the “Khmer Rouge” plays its part in making the temples’ requirement for renovation immense. At the moment, visitors are still allowed to touch the figures, and at some locations, the “frescos” have dark patches from the many hands that have stroked them whilst searching for luck, luck that these obviously promise. Despite the masses of visitors who are led through the facilities on a daily basis, everything is in quite an original condition, which provides the corresponding impression.

The first picture shows the only one of thousands of temple dancers who shows her teeth when laughing, nobody knows why she has such a dirty smile on her face, and nobody ever will. All records from this day and age were kept on organic materials and rotted away many years ago, this being the reason why many of the facilities mysteries will never be solved… these dancer can be found just behind the gate to the main facility.

One may not believe that what I have put together for this chapter is “out and about during the night-time”. On the one hand, I was only in the town for a short time, on the other, there is nightlife, but by far nothing like the nightlife of Phnom Penh, for example, here are a few tips and addresses that I had checked out myself:

The TAPHUL ROAD is a “brothel street” if you could call it that, this is where one is able to find quite a few massage parlours and smaller knocking shops. One should watch out for the signs “massage”, they are all more or less disguised. I had quite a few nice short times there for 15 US dollars a time, mainly with Vietnamese girls. Low budget, that’s Cambodia. One should not expect much more than a room with a bed with used sheets and a small shower.

The first evening I drove up to the place with my driver, girls came pouring out, some of them were even quite good lookers, and of course the Mamasan. Sure enough, she started a conversation with my driver, even though I made it obvious that I wanted her to speak to me. I was trying to avoid having to pay extra for a commission for the driver, just because he happened to be there. However, it was pointless. Prices of around 60 US dollars were being talked about, ok, then we will forget about that place. I made a point of coming back to the place later on, but on my own of course, this I did. So, bobs your uncle, suddenly the prices were quite normal again. I had the experience of seeing an Ami chuffed to fuck because he had “only” paid 50 US dollars for a bout of short time (she was good looking though). I disappeared quickly, it is no use trying to haggle the price down with such idiot present at the same time Us experienced sex-tourists are not having any of that, it’s bad enough that with our 10 to 15 dollars we still pay two to three times as much for a shag as the locals.

The street is easy to find, and I really do recommend that one pay a visit without taking a driver along. When coming from “Angkor Saphire”, cross the bridge, straight across the roundabout, now you’re on the national road number six. Then you will arrive at a crossroads, on the left had side on the corner is a large bank with a cash machine, on the right is the “Royal Independence Garden”. Just carry straight on, turn off into the next road on the left, and there you are. You will find a town map (scalable) here.

Siem Reap town plan

As I said, there are quite a number of massage parlours down there; I didn’t have all that much time to try many of them out though.

More addresses for the night:

Martini Pub Restaurant
N° 48, Street 95, corner Street 350

Yep, there is a disco with this name there, not just in Phnom Penh. I would say that it is quite a good “hunting ground”, even though it cannot quite keep up with Phnom Penh’s best offers. Just give it a try, all taxi drivers know of the place. I have found what I wanted there quite a few times up to now, even a nice Ladyboy. Yeah, I must admit… Was nice, sympathetic, but did a blowjob like my granny. Nevertheless, I had a “Gathoey” (Thai for Ladyboy); such a female like one is not awaited here.

Zone One Club
Phsar Nhe, Taphul Village
Svay Dangkum Commune

Lots of freelancers, but as down the Martini, not only. What I mean is that the “completely normal” village kids party here at the weekend and after knocking off work, those who can afford it anyway… Good for a few bevies and the music is mainly better that down the Martini where sometimes they play local music including the dances that go with it (dancing in a circle holding hands etc. By the way, the place is also down the so called “brothel street”.

Zanzybar Pub
Opposite Bakheng Hotel, near the Night Market

Yes, right next to the night market or „Old Market“ as it is known (see below). This is one of the places one can go to when other places have closed for the night; it even stays open until the early hours of the morning. Lots of girls also hang around here, either those who have earned a lot of cash and want to spend it, or those who have earned very little and would like to earn some more. Well, what can you say about that. Sometimes went there with my “beauty of the night” or have manage to pull one there, now and again it was the other way round, they pulled me. Once I bought the last bottle of vodka, some ice and a litre and a half of orange juice because my hotel fridge was bare. There is nothing more boring than throwing a small party with nothing to drink… The large photo above was taken there as well.

The

Old Market

Is mentioned, no use providing an address because it is an address in itself. A small quarter of the town, or should I say rather a square with many western style restaurants. There is live music, Cordon Bleue with chips, cocktails, a fresh draught Guinness, and everything that a temple tourist wishes to round off a successful sightseeing trip. Of course, there are no whores. And apart from the night market, there is all sorts of Khmer junk being sold, food as well, all in all just the normal stuff one would expect to find: Tours for tourists, gems probably of dubious quality, fashion jewellery for the ladies, music CDs etc etc. A few westerners chance visiting the restaurants frequented by the natives, probably those who spend the rest of their holidays in their hotel with a bout of “Montezuma’s Revenge”…

Still worth taking a look at!

I visited one of the small filthy bars that still happened to be there:

Blue Wave Club
N° 239, Achamean Street, Behind Hotel De la Paix

Easy to find, if one turns off to the left at the large crossroads where the bank is, then the next on the right, one will find it after a few metres on the left hand side of the street. My driver took me down there; it was pissing it down with rain. Of course, the driver had to wait outside, because where will we end up if we take our drivers with us into the knocking shops… He wouldn’t have come with me for all the money in the world anyway: Still, he had to look after his motorbike, nobody in Cambodia leaves them unattended.

So I went in, dim atmosphere, thick curtains, booths, a well sorted bar and two well dressed barkeepers. So far, it had everything I had expected from a nice bar, that’s if there had been a good choice of appealing girls. There were exactly three, two of them were occupied with holding each other’s hands, the third one was a bit older. Oh well! I thought, now that I am here… And bought a few round of drinks, of course a few more than normal, I wanted information about the bar instead of trying it out with these ladies. So, the price of drinks is moderate, and there are rooms just behind the thick curtains. The girls wanted 30 bucks for a bout of short time, I did without because I had not intended trying to haggle the prices down. After some time, I left the place to visit somewhere else with a better choice of fanny.

Ergo: Boring that day, but there was nothing against trying the place another day, particularly since I had been told that there were more girls available on other days.

Here an assortment of pictures of all this (sorry, a few of the pics taken outside have been marked by water, it had been pissing it down all day).

And to finish of with, a few private pics of „my“ Ladyboy. Yes I am so baaaaad!!!

Arrived at the bus company early in the morning (there are a few buses making this trip each day), and set of on the five hour journey after checking in and waiting for a short while (one is given a numbered coupon for ones luggage).

The journey went all right, even though the seating was a bit tight, „VIP“ bus is a little better. One is given a bottle of water, and they hand around a few snacks. The bus also has a WC. The bus stops at a restaurant in Kampong for about 30 minutes after about half the journey has been completed (quite good). The stewardess explained a few interesting things during the journey, she also told me personally that normally the busses are somewhat more comfortable (also those to Saigon, the company also provides a service on this route) and that during the evening she had a bit of free time, ok, not that direct, she tried to tell me carefully. Of course, I couldn’t be bothered at all with anything complicated, and the main thing was that I was visiting Siem Reap because of the girls. During the halfway stop, she offered to buy me the local speciality, fried giant spiders. I thanked her and turned the offer down .

The bus had hardly turned into the stopping place in Siem Reap when a huge pack of motorbike taxis turned up. Signs reading “500 Riel only” were held up. A lot of the bikes had a sort of a trailer with a roof. Great, so there would be no problem transporting my much too extensive luggage. I looked around for a driver I thought I might be able to trust, and found some young friendly bloke. During the journey he started the usual conversation, whether I preferred to stop in a different hotel (so that he could get a commission), how long I was staying for, and whether I was in need of a driver for a visit to the temple. I thought about the last offer, because I was indeed in need of a driver. Due to my first impression of him seeming to be confirmed (later as well), I booked him for the evening so that he could show me around some of the bars and the massage parlours. I gave him two dollars, because the 500 Riel (about 10 – 15 cents) would have been ok with it being offer, but was hardly enough to pay for the petrol for the journey.

This is the hotel I chose:

Angkor Saphir Hotel
#82 National Road No. 6
Siem Reap Town
Tel 092 9302619 – 016 37 25 35 – 063 96 53 39
Email: saphil@mobitel.com.kh

Overall, I was very satisfied with the place. A small restaurant (good for breakfast). The internet connection wasn’t working at the time, but there was an internet café about 50 metres further on down the road. The room cost 20 – 25 US dollars, all depending on the size. I took a large room, which unfortunately was up on the third floor. The trouble with this was that the air conditioning, which was not what one would call over-dimensioned, was only just able to keep the place cool. The service was very friendly, girls (of course) no problem.

Siem Reap is a nice, small, pretty clean, and peaceful little town. This is something I wasn’t expecting at all. One can see that the town is on the up and coming, they have spent a great deal of cash on the roads and infrastructure. No wonder, Angkor Wat and the other temples in the vicinity attract a great deal of international tourists who bring a lot of money along with them. The fact that a large hotel has been built smack bang in the middle of the historical grounds so close to the temple can be seen with different points of view. The big “run” hasn’t really started yet; the town and facility still have a lot of the original charm, well, as far as this is possible. The best thing to do is visit the place as soon as possible, who knows what it will be like in about ten years time.

Ok, the infrastructure is as it should be, although the days of having to take cash along with one… There are plenty of cash point, internet cafés, supermarkets, shops, and boutiques etc. For example, one of the glasses in my specs fell out, which left me without a clue what to do because it hadn’t been that cheap in the first place. I thought I would have to spend the rest of my holidays with my reading specs. I decided to let my driver take me to an optician, and what do you know! They were able to help me. He made me a new glass within 24 hours. Back in Germany, it would have cost me about 300 Euros (synthetic and bifocal). What did I have to pay here? A mere 50 US dollars including the price for the work. My optician told me later that the quality was ok. See what I mean…