Where in the World are V and M?: Siem Reap

One weekend while in Cambodia we did what everyone who visits Cambodia does… visit Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. Angkor Wat, A UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a Buddhist temple that was once a Hindi temple built in the 1100’s. Over the years it has been impacted heavily by the tropical climate so it looks much older than it actually is. We knew for sure that this place would be awesome.

So, from Phnom Penh we took our 5 hour, overnight bus ride to Siem Reap (the city Angkor Wat is in). We were surprised to find that our bus is what is called a sleeper bus. Instead of seats the bus has beds (elongated seats). Mu and I were on the bottom bunk at the front of the bus. The bus left at midnight so we would arrive in Siem Reap by sunrise. After some repositioning we finally fell asleep.

We arrived at 5:30am and pretty much prepared ourselves to go straight to the temple so we could watch the sun rise. We hired a tuk-tuk driver for $15 to take us to the temple and drive us around for the day. We came to find out that Angkor Wat was not the only ancient temple in the area… there were a ton more sites that we would visit on the tour. All I can say is that the tour was awesome. The driver took us to all the places (he waited for us as we checked out the sites). We started the day at 5:45am and went till about 2pm. We took a bazillion pictures while praising God for such a beautiful day!

After we left the temples we found our hotel (Passaggio Boutique Hotel), checked in, showered, and spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in the pool and in the most welcomed air conditioned room. It was a really nice place, the service was top notch (we wrote a 5 star review) and the price was actually less than $30/night including breakfast (awesome!!). Later that evening we walked to the Night Market where we discovered that the GAP t-shirts and tank tops, Tommy H polo's, Ralph L polo's and such which we buy in the US are actually made right there in Cambodia. So we shopped (bargaining for the best price) and then had some dinner.

The following morning (Sunday), we met with the Siem Reap Church of Christ and worshipped with them. It was very encouraging. The group isn’t so big, maybe 50 people, but the love was so enormous. We thank God that we were able to meet the disciples there, sing with them, pray with them, commune with them, and enjoy lunch together with them. (Please pray for them. They are in need of funds to repair their children’s classes because the rain season always does a number on the building.)

It was such a great trip. Definitely a place we will never forget.

Vernon and I in the sleeper bus. They even provided blankets!

At 6:00am enjoying the view of the Angkor Wat entrace. Angkor refers to the capital city of the Khmer Empire that existed between the 9th and 12th centuries.