Boat to Battambang

Knowing that I was going to be taking two long bus rides in the next couple of days in order to get to Saigon, I decided to splurge and go for the boat ride from Siem Reap to Battambang. The travel agent said that it only would take an hour more than the bus, about 5 hours in total and I trusted her against my better judgement. In fact the boat – that was supposed to leave at 7am but didn't push off until 8:30 – didn't arrive in Battambang until almost 5:30pm!! 'Twas a looooong ride. Luckily it was also incredibly scenic so despite my numb bum on arrival, it was a lovely day. Floating villages were the sight of the day and they did not disappoint.

If anything the sight of these floating villages made me want to finally do my Mekong Delta tour even more! Sadly it will still not be possible this time around since I won't make it into Vietnam for a few more days. The reason for my detour to Battambang is a visit to the Vietnamese consulate here. The Vietnamese government changed their visa policies on January first and I had not planned ahead for this. Travel agencies are now only offering 15-day tourist visas (instead of 1-month and 3-month ones) and this would mean that I would have to pay 40$ every 15 days in Vietnam to renew my visa for the next 4 months! Getting a visa-on-arrival approval letter for a 3-month visa only works if you arrive to Vietnam by plane. Strangely plane tickets between Phnom Penh and Saigon cost almost 200$ even though the flight is only an hour. According the the sketchy and fragmented information I've gathered so far, the consulate in Battambang might be able to help me sort out this whole mess. I certainly hope so! That shall be my mission tomorrow!

Angkor Wat

In the lonely planet's "Why visit Angkor Wat?" section they write: "welcome to heaven on earth". With that type of description, coupled with all the good things I've heard about Angkor Wat, I was worried that I'd be disappointed. I wasn't. The last 24 hours I spent surrounded by the beautiful expression to both humanity and nature's power were incredible. I was lucky to have great guides on both my visits. They both were in great happy moods and went out of their way to make sure I was also having a great time!

Yes there were crowds of tourists at times, but thanks to the knowledge of Mr. Chan, my guide for my full day at Angkor Wat, we were able to dodge them for most of the day. He even brought me through the jungle to a lesser known temple. In fact, we were the only two souls there! It was wonderful to get to linger in the temple and simply enjoy being there.

I think pictures would be better justice to the visit and any description that I can give, so here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

5:15am wake up was worth it for this view!

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There's heaven on earth right there!

Enjoying some early morning sunshine

The trees were just as impressive as the temples to me.

When they say to stand in doorways during earthquakes, you'd better do so!!

Beautiful archway made better by Batman's tuk tuk going through it!!!

Last temple we visited. The carvings were the most intricate of all, and it predates Angkor Wat by two centuries, making it about 1100 years old!!!