Siem Reap

Hello everyone!

After telling you about Phnom Penh, I need now to talk about Siem Reap.
Siem Reap is located in the north of Cambodia. You normally go there to visit Angkor. Angkor used to be the seat of the Khmer Empire between the 9th and the 15th centuries*.
The former "city", even if not fully discovered, takes at least 3 days of visit. Two circles, one small and one big, are part of the minimum visit you pay to Angkor.
I didn't actually visited Angkor in a religious purpose and most of the people neither. It's just amazing to see these very old temples, which once were covered in silk and gold, being "eaten" by the jungle.
And, just for your information, Khmer were (and still are) very small people! Doors and rooms were so small! I wouldn't be able to live there... I mean, it would take a lot of gold to convinced me to live in a small place like that!!!
Ok, I stop the jokes...
I was lucky, because I was able to share the tuk tuk to go to Angkor. Otherwise, I would have paid 12$ every time. Ouch!
I did the sunrise twice in Angkor Wat, the biggest temple and center of the city of Angkor. It's just overwhelming! How many sunrises these temples saw! Well... as much as the Cathedral in Lausanne or Zurich. But still ;)

Let me tell you a funny story:
I did the big circle and sunset with a guy from Hong Kong. When we were on our way back to the hostel, he suddenly turned to me and asked:
"- You like Italian music?
- Sure! (I actually thought Eros Ramazzotti or Laura Pausini... )
- Me too!!!"
He took his iPhone and looked for some music... and suddenly... AN OPERA STARTED TO PLAY!!!
So here is the picture: a blonde girl, a Chinese guy, on a tuk tuk, in the middle of nowhere, in the dark night... listening to opera out loud!!!
These things only happen when you travel...

Beside Angkor, of course, I loved Siem Reap!!! Small city, lots of markets and shops, good food, cheap beer, lots of massage places (I tried fish massage... mmm, ticklish!). Definitely my favourite place in Cambodia!

I'll tell you about the south of Cambodia in my next post. In the meantime, best of luck, folks!

Rebeca

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor