Floating Village, Siem Reap
18/11 - 26/11 - Siem Reap, Cambodia
From the East I travelled 9 hours North to the famous Siem Reap. It wasn't a place that I was drawn to especially; merely a stop I knew I had to make. On the minibus there I befriended 4 french women, 3 of which were nurses using their break to travel. They hadn't booked a place for when they got there, so they ended up following in my footsteps. After being dropped off at the bus station we took two tuk-tuks to the hostel I’d found: Kafu.
The place was incorrectly marked on Google maps, so we were on a wild goose chase looking around, for what seemed like forever, to find it. We eventually got there and after another painstakingly slow process of checking it, I finally got to my dorm room. I took a shower, changed and went straight to the bar! I met a group of friends travelling together from all around the world. One was British, 2 were Australian and another from the States. They had all met through their own travels and pretty much stayed together ever since. One gin & tonic led to a big night out to the famous pub street of Siem Reap. I don't remember too much if I’m completely honest, but I do know I made new friends, bumped into the only other Brit from the Elephant trek in Sen Monorom and had a good laugh; which is all that mattered.
I awoke with a bloody knee and alcohol still coursing through my body. I went straight down and into the pool to get my head straight… I also ordered some food if all else failed. I had planned the day before to go with the French girls to the floating market for the day, and I made it! However, in hindsight, it was probably not sensible with a hangover. I was fine until about midday, when it suddenly kicked in at full blast. I didn’t make great choices though, I was sat in a floating restaurant after being on a bumpy boat right and decided to try the fish goujons, but unfortunately, I was beaten and the hangover won. Luckily, that was the worst moment and it was only up from then on.
We were driven around by some lovely tuk-tuk drivers and given a full private tour of the floating village on our own boat. It's inspiring to see how the villagers live so comfortably on the water (during the dry season they all look elevated on stilts as there is not water) and having tourists come by constantly. I imagine it would be quite frustrating having people photograph me in my home as if it's abnormal and somewhat interesting. Although, if they were given the chance, I'm sure they would. Everyone thinks their life is pretty normal, but thats because it’s YOUR life and you live it everyday… on the surface to someone else; your life might be quite peculiar or somewhat fascinating.
Woman and Man gardening on their front porches, Floating Village
Snack break from tending to the boats...
The following day was an early 6am start, ready to go for a full day temple hopping. We set off with the guys and their tuk-tuks from the day before, and went straight to Angkor Wat. We decided to avoid the sunrise tour as we had heard people basically get their spot and guard it like its their territory; meaning it would probably be very crowded and uncomfortable. Instead we arrived for 7am and it was manageable.
I think after 7 months of psyching myself up and creating an expectation of the Angkor Wat made me somewhat disheartened. It isn't that it wasn't impressive; just felt like a slight anticlimax. I focused my photographic eye on the colours, textures and details; forming a theme to my work. This allowed me to frame from repeating the constant snapping and repetitive shots that everyone was taking. Some people weren’t even looking with their eyes or at their camera… they were just snapping, snap snap snap… at anything? Rush rush, push push… I couldn’t handle it very well and it did make me feel very claustrophobic and frustrated sometimes. I had no room to really appreciate the history or space I was lucky to be in, because there physically wasn’t any… Don't get me wrong, anyone who goes to Cambodia must see it for themselves, plus it is a huge form of tourism and part of their history. Aside from the occasional hustle and bustle it was wonderful to experience so much beauty and rich history of the country I'd called home...
Luckily, after Angkor Wat, we did get to a nice quiet temple where no-one else seemed to either be yet or had already come and gone. We spent a good hour there and it was such a nice breather; I calmed down and got some lovely photographs and felt much more comfortable. Perfect timing as well, because after that we went to the final temple, which is one that I have ALWAYS wanted to visit; ever since I was a 12 year old girl with my hair in a french plait thinking I was a serious BADASS, pushing dat blue steel at everyone... Yus, you guessed it, LARA CROFT... the famous trees that have grown into the walls where they filmed Tomb Raider. It was so so so good and actually QUIET when we went. So happy and my day was made. LOVED IT SO MUCH... Highly recommend going around 4/5pm as most people would have gone home and its not so warm and ya'know, the sun would be setting!
After around 5 different temples, thousands of pictures between us all, witnessing many selfies being taken, plenty of walking and a fish amok later, we all made it back in time for the night bus we’d all booked to head down to Kampot. We grabbed some takeaway food and were taken to my first experience of travelling/sleeping on an overnight bus. This didn't mean on an upright seat each, but an actual sleeper bus with mattresses and bunk beds. I shared with one of the French girls and actually slept incredibly well? I awoke once or twice when we made stops and decided against getting up to pee. It wasn't until 5am, when the driver shouted "KAMPOT!" that I realised I really had to move this time...
After a pickle with the french girls and their hostel, they made it to theirs and I made it to mine. I couldn't check in until 7am, so I made use of a beautiful deck overlooking the river to ring my love, nap and wait for the trio to wake up. Yes, you heard me right, the trio! We were reunited once again! Another pleasure of travelling; somehow bumping into people multiple times along the way...
More photos from Angkor Wat and the Floating Village...
Next Week: The trio, me and addition of one of the trio's Sister hit Kampot, Rabbit Island and Kep...