A snapshot of an ancient civilization

After the busiest week yet in Cambodia, and right before people come to visit in a tag-team fashion (starting from next week, we'll have non-stop people visiting us, which is amazing, but takes a lot of time to prepare and will cut in our me-time, and us-time), I needed to get out of the city and get lost in nature, and in my thoughts. A step back, a little break to recharge to give myself 100%.

Kiki's birthday

Last week was very busy, we celebrated Kiki's 24th birthday in a relaxing fashion during the day and had an all-out party to finish it off. The day went as follows:

Relaxing morning

Kiki woke up at 9 am, in a room filled with pink balloons, and with a party head ready to be worn the rest of the day. First, we went to Little Red Fox Café to drink their self-proclaimed 'Best coffee of Siem Reap'. The hipster coffee tasted good, but I still prefer a strong, black coffee.

After the coffee, we had brunch at Bayon Pastry School. Last Wednesday, I went there to order a pair of their almond croissant. They are delicious and usually sold out before we get there.

Next on the agenda was a massage in Secret Eden. The massage and spa place was very well hidden, we're so lucky that Google Maps exists! They did such a good job! I felt so relaxed afterward. As expats, we also got a discount on top of the birthday discount Kiki got.

After the relaxing massage, we went back to the apartment to hang in the pool and call Kiki's family, they all wanted to wish her a happy birthday and it started to get morning in Belgium.

Foody afternoon

After all the calls and the cooling down in the pool, we got ready to eat cake with a couple of Dutch friends in 'The Muffin Man'. They have delicious cakes and food! Linde, an expat from the Netherlands, and Nour a friend from Belgium who is traveling here, joined us there. Nour was waiting for us in the wrong Muffin Man, there are two in Siem Reap, but not for long she joined us.

During the sugar rush, we walked to the next activity: pizza eating. Joshua joined us here. The pizza was delicious! When everyone was finished, we planned on going to Mex'd Up. Linde, who was tired from the previous day/night, excused herself and went home.

Binge drinking evening

Most of the night we've spent at Mex'd Up, a lot of friends that we've met here in Cambodia showed up. It was a lovely evening. We went home at a very responsible hour as well, around 2 am. We both felt hungry, as you do when you're drunk, and our favorite street food vendor was still working, so we asked to take away some fried rice.

Very friendly locals invited us to wait for our food with them at their table, and we had a lovely conversation. When we finally went home it was 5.30 in the morning. RIP preparing for work tomorrow.

This resulted in a lot of extra work during the week. So flash forward to yesterday, at the end of this busy week, I really needed to recharge!

Temple hopping

Angkor Wat is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decorations and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of. - Antonio da Madalena

To do so, we (Joshua, Kiki, and myself), went to the Angkor area. It was Joshua's first time seeing the temples.

We started the day pretty well-rested, at 9.30 am we ate breakfast together at Brownie Temple. We all had his amazing smoothie bowls. Their healthy, refreshing, and filling!

Angkor Area

Once everyone finished and everything was paid for, we headed out to have a snapshot of an ancient civilization. We rode our bicycles for around 10km when we entered the Angkor Area. The area is in big contrast with the city of Siem Reap. Siem Reap is a big city with a lot of houses, busy, and not so much nature or vegetation, except for the river splitting the city in two. The temples in the Angkor area, on the other hand, are located in a vast forest, there are a lot of tourists there of course near the most famous temples, once you leave the tourist route, you can witness temples without the danger of getting pushed around or people stepping on your toes ;). We were lucky during this day trip, it was a cloudy day, with almost no tourists or people visiting. This resulted in no lines and the viewpoints almost for ourselves.

Angkor Wat

One of these temples, a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo, might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged. - Charles-Emile Bouillevaux

We started with Angkor Wat or the City of Temples. It was originally a Hindu temple, later occupied by Buddhists. The ancient Khmer capital city of the old Khmer Empire lies merely 5.5 km north of Siem Reap. The Guinness World Records considers it the largest religious structure in the world. It was built in the 12th century and was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century. It was built as the king's state temple and the capital city of the Khmer Empire.

The temple is a symbol of Cambodia and is a source of national pride that has factored into Cambodia's diplomatic relations with France, the United States, and its neighbor Thailand. A depiction of Angkor Wat has been a part of Cambodian national flags since the introduction of the first version circa 1863.

The stone bridge is restored, and it was the first time Kiki and I entered Angkor Wat the way was intended. We crossed the grass field and entered Angkor Wat. We didn't really go around, but we walked straight up to the higher points in the temple. At the top, you have some stunning views over the area. We went down on the right side of the temple, and discovered a mini-temple on the middle flour of Angkor Wat! I really can't describe how huge this place is.

We walked around and got lost in Angkor Wat for a couple of hours. It is a lot to take in and even though it is the third time I have entered the temple, I still feel like I haven't seen half of it!

In 1177, approximately 27 years after the death of Suryavarman II, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital and state temple (Angkor Thom and the Bayon, our next stop), a few kilometers north, dedicated to Buddhism, because the king's new wife, Indratevi, a devout Mahayana Buddhist, encouraged him to convert. Angkor Wat was therefore also gradually converted into a Buddhist site, and many Hindu sculptures were replaced by Buddhist art.

Angkor Thom

After Angkor Wat, we went north to Angkor Thom. To enter this area, you need to go over a bridge with stone guards, they are all staring at you whilst you enter the premises. These bridges are called the 'nagabrides' because the 'rope' the guards are holding is actually a snake with multiple heads. Once through the gate, you enter a huge foresty area, inhabited by monkeys and wildlife.

In the center of this area, at a roundabout, lays Bayon. Bayon, or 'Victory Mountain' is a richly decorated Khmer temple related to Buddhism, is also built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of King Jayavarman VII. Near the temple, many monkeys are strolling around getting and sometimes stealing food from visitors. This is exactly what happened to Joshua here. We pulled over when we spotted a couple of monkey families. Parked our bikes and took a closer look at the monkeys.

One of the younger monkeys saw the empty water bottle on Joshua's bicycle and thought it was a snack. He climbed on the bike and tried to open the plastic bottle. When he figured out that it was empty, and not food, he got upset and pushed all our bikes to the ground. It was both a bit funny and scary! When the monkey left, we quickly got back up on our bikes, went to a parking spot, and entered the temple.

The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of stone faces of Buddha on every side of the many towers from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.

The Bayon was the last state temple to be built at Angkor, and the only Angkorian state temple to be built primarily to worship Buddhist deities, though a great number of minor and local deities were also encompassed as representatives of the various districts and cities of the realm. In Bayon, there are multiple religions worshipped and integrated. They say a lot of spirits houses in this temple from multiple religions and deities.

When you're at the temple sites, it is all very impressive and beautiful. But it is also very exhausting. After the two main temples, we were very tired and decided to have lunch at a local street food place. We all drank a Cambodian beer and ate fried rice. After our short break, we entered a smaller pyramid-like temple; Phnom Bakheng. This temple was built at the end of the 9th century. It was way smaller but with a sketchy and steep staircase. There wasn't much place to put your feed and it was oh, so steep, with ants and bugs crawling around. The reward, at the top of the temple, was a small chamber with a lying Buddha statue, and a stunning view.

The sun was getting low and we went cycled back to the apartment, fully recharged and ready for the next week.