Siem Reap

Well Cambodia has gotten the least amount of days from me, but that doesn't mean it wasn't great. I arrived in Siem Reap on Friday and we left on Tuesday. However, for one city, that was a good enough time and it was kind of amazing. The biggest attraction, or maybe the only attraction, is the Angkor Wat temple complex. Which we didn't get to until Monday, so had lots of time to explore the town and get to know the area a bit.

I arrived kind of late on Thursday and my hostel arranged for a tuktuk ride once I arrived. I think he was waiting for a while since 3 flights landed about the same time and it took some time to get through immigration. Fortunately the ride into town didn't take too long. We didn't get any food on the flight, even though it was international. I guess since it was only an hour flight? So of course I was starving by the time I checked into the hostel. I dropped off my bag and went in search of an atm. And that took some time. The first atm didn't want to give me money. I thought the 2nd one was hijacked by criminals since it completely froze and took about a minute before I could get my card out. The 3rd one didn't have any money. I went in search for a 4th and that took some time, but finally I was able to withdraw some US dollars. I decided on that instead of local currency since all costs were in USD, including the restaurants, the hostel, and even the street vendors. Finally with some money, I went in search of food. When reviewing the menus in USD, it seemed pretty cheap. But by Southeast Asia standards, quite pricey. I definitely was facing a dilemma. On one hand, seeing my home currency on menus made me realize it was pretty cheap. But I also knew I was paying double the price for food that I had been in Vietnam and even India and Sri Lanka. I was pretty hungry though, so just planted myself at a restaurant. Which happened to be a Mexican themed restaurant. And I ended up ordering Italian. Solely for the fact that I was running a 20-miler the following morning. So there I was, in Cambodia, sitting at a Mexican restaurant, eating an Italian dinner with wine from Chile. Not quite the first meal in Cambodia I expected. On my way back to the hostel, I made a pit stop at the convenience store and I thought I was at home. So many familiar brands. I tried to not go overboard, but did end up splurging on some KIND bars. I figured they would be good nutrition during my long run.

Carbo loading.

The following morning came and it was time to get in my last long run for this training cycle. And it went ok. There was some pretty brutal humidity and I was dripping wet when I finished. But the scenery was amazing and I felt good. I was definitely thirsty when I finished and may have been slightly dehydrated (but this affected me later, not during the run). My goal was to get at least 18 miles in, so was pretty pleased that I made it to 20. When I was researching where to run, I had a general idea of where I was going to go. I am not familiar with Angkor Wat at all. Or I should say I wasn't at that point. I followed along the Siem Reap River for a ways and ran through a lot of little cluster of houses. So many kids yelling out "hi" at me, which was very nice. I'm not sure if they know much more English, but I wasn't stopping to chat, so no worries. I then found myself on these dirt paths through the forest. Or jungle I guess. Which was nice and peaceful. The trails were on my MapsMe app, so I wasn't going to get lost. I figured I would end up near the various temples of Angkor Wat, but wasn't sure if I was going to see anything or even be allowed in. I eventually made it on a road with some traffic, mostly tuktuks, and pretty much followed that. I decided I would stay on that for 10 miles and worse case scenario, that would be my turnaround point. If possible though, I wanted to do some sort of loop. And I was able to. I kept going and came across a few temples. Which was kind of exciting. They weren't the well known ones (I learned later), but it was still pretty cool to see. I didn't want to linger since I had miles to get in, but also was planning on an in-depth tour with my friend. The landscape was all trees and quiet roads with various market stalls close to the temples. There were a few people giving me looks, like why is this girl running around the temples. I didn't mind, especially after I saw signs for the Angkor Wat half marathon the following weekend. I'll pretend that people assumed I was getting ready for that. I have to say that I was a little sad that I'm missing it. This is the 2nd time that I'm one week too early for a race. I haven't been able to get any races in, and doing that would have been very cool. Maybe a future vacation. I eventually made my way around the complex (I saw Angkor Wat temple from a distance), I headed back to town and wrapped up my run.

Running on some trails.

After I packed up my stuff, and sat around for a bit to recover, I decided to walk around town. I checked out the Old Market where I finally got some lunch. I wasn't feeling super great, but the food helped. It was some version of pho (or maybe that is what is was?), and even though I was sweating while eating it,  I got some more fluids and what I hope was some sodium. I also bought myself a very cute tank top with elephants on it for only $3. I think I could have gone down to $2, but I didn't negotiate hard enough. I wanted to do some Christmas shopping, but decided to wait a bit longer since I didn't want to add too much more weight to what I'm carrying. Plus, I didn't know who my Secret Santa was at that point. 

Lunch in the Old Market.

I was ready to relax, and headed to where I was meeting my friend Susan. We booked a resort type place in between town and the temples. She was flying from NYC and was arriving late afternoon. I took the downtime to organize myself and anxiously await her arrival. Our bungalow was super cute and had a little patio where I could spot her coming down the path. Once she got there, we caught up over a few drinks and dinner at the hotel. We actually met a couple from LA and spent some time chatting with them as well.

Home for a few days.

We wanted to relax a bit the next day, so decided to do the temples on Monday. We slept in and went for a run (and a little bit of a walk) nearby. Eventually we headed into town and did some shopping in the Old Market, had a few local beers, checked out the Night Market, and then got some local Khmer cuisine. As with so many of the other countries I've visited, the food has been so fresh and amazing. The food in Southeast Asia definitely has a lot of similarities so far, well at least from what I've had in Vietnam and Cambodia. They just have so local twists on the standard rice and noodle dishes. I'm definitely not complaining. 

Hanging around Pub Street and the Old Market.

After we had our fill of food and shopping, Susan and I headed back in order to get some sleep before our day of temples. Our alarms went off around 4am so we could get to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise over the temple. We hired a tuktuk for the day that was going to take us from temple to temple, from sunrise to sunset. We made our way in the dark to the ticket office and purchased our one-day pass and then headed to our first stop, Angkor Wat. We had to fight the crowds a little bit, but were able to get a good spot in the corner where we could watch the sun come up behind the temple. The reflection in the lake was well worth the early wake-up call. After the sun came up, we went and explored the complex for a couple of hours. 

Angkor Wat.

After we had our fill, we went in search of our tuktuk and found him relatively quickly among all the tuktuks milling around. After a short ride, and a quick walk through the South Gate, we got dropped off to explore the Angkor Thom complex. This included the Bayon and Baphuon Temples, and the Terraces of the Elephants and Leper King. We climbed so many steps. And some were not easy since they are so worn down and somewhat steep. But the views were well worth it. 

Bayon Temple.

We then headed off the small circuit and stopped at Preah Khan. I wasn't sure what to expect as this wasn't on the must-see list, but it ended up being pretty cool. The walls had green algae and were pink-stained, which made for some cool stones. And this was our first glimpse of the crazy trees. I still have to figure out how they grow like this. 

Preah Khan.

It was finally time for lunch. We stopped at a restaurant, as opposed to the road-side stands. Our tuktuk driver really didn't give us a choice. But since we had breakfast so early, I didn't care as long as I was getting food. And since it was so hot out, we hydrated with some coconut juice. I kind of wish I had an IV for the juice. I definitely sweated my body weight hat morning and continued to do so. 

Hydrating.

It was time to explore, what I think was one of the highlights of the day, Ta Prohm. I think it's tied with the sunrise. There were more of these crazy trees everywhere, which was so amazing. This is actually where some of Tomb Raider was filmed. And I can see why. This particular temple has been taken over by the jungle. I couldn't stop taking pictures of all the different trees. And of course some posing throughout. 

Ta Prohm.

One more tree photo and proof I was there.

I did eventually stop taking pictures of the trees, and to cap off the day, we headed to Pre Rup to watch the sunset. My camera's battery did start to die at this point, so I don't have too many photos of this particular temple. And maybe I was "templed-out". But I was ok with it. The sunset wasn't as great as the sunrise, but it was nice to catch it over the jungle. 

Hiking up more stairs at Pre Rup.

Sun going down on a great day.

It was a pretty great day. There are passes for multiple days, but I'm glad we powered through the one day. And power through we did. According to my Fitbit, we walked over 20,000 steps and 11.63 miles, and hiked up about 50 flights. All in 93 degree weather. I know there are a lot more temples we could have explored, but all the more reason to come back. And I still want to do that half marathon. 

I capped off Cambodia with a run on the trails, a dip in the pool, and some food and beer before heading to the airport. Off to Laos we go. Cambodia was a very short visit, but so worth it.