We spent most of the day at Tha Prohm, better known as "The
Angelina Jolie Temple," or "The
Tomb Raider Temple." As such, it is nearly as visited as Angkor Wat. When we arrived, there were a half dozen or more tour buses parked in front, and as many or more cars and tuk-tuks. That was at about 11:15. According to Lonely Planet, most tour groups head into town for lunch, leaving the temples pretty empty. We expected a thinning of the hordes, but nothing like the mass exodus that happened at noon on the dot. By 12:30, we had the ruins virtually to ourselves - a far cry from the maddening crowd when we arrived.
The temple itself, once everyone left, is a huge, eerie place where trees are slowly engulfing the remains of an enormous temple complex. Over a relatively short time, the Angkor Empire defeated the Jungle to build a massive capitol city. As soon as they left, the jungle set to work reclaiming its rights. In Tha Prohm it seems to be winning. Preservationists can do nothing to stop the forest, as many of the trees have wound their roots around and through the structures to such an extent that to remove them would destroy the buildings anyway.
In the afternoon, we decided to forgo further temples in favour of exploring the modern town of Siem Reap. It is amazingly Western complete with CD shops, sidewalk cafes, and bars with slick interiors and names like "Soho". There's even a gay bar called "Linga" (the word means Shiva's phallic symbol) . After scoping out the neighborhood by day, we headed back to our guest house to shower and wait until dark to see the neighborhood all lit up.
It did not disappoint. Narrow alleys came ablaze with lights and sidewalk seating. If not for the Khmer menus, it could easily have been Paris or New Orleans French Quarter. We ate dinner at Dead Fish Tower, which proudly proclaims "Don't serve Dog, Cat, Rat, or Worm"- a real concern when ordering 'unidentifiable bits soup' from street stalls. The owner of our guest house once even had his dog stolen - he found her the next day tied up in a kitchen about to be made into soup. Dead Fish's other claim to fame are its resident crocodiles. These fellows lounge in a pool near the back waiting for fish or the occasional drunk Aussie to fall their way.
After dinner, we and our friend decided to hit Linga for a few drinks. After all, how many people do you know who have frequented a gay bar in Cambodia? Linga oozed style, and would have felt just as at home in NYC or San Francisco. The clientele were an eclectic mix of backpackers, Asian 'moneyboys', and mustachioed ageing Castro Street types. We had a lovely time sipping overpriced martinis (only one each - one cost almost as much as dinner!) before that over-priced-ness, and knowledge that we had to be up at 5:00 to catch the bus to our boat tomorrow sent us home....but not before stopping at Warehouse, a pleasantly chilled out place where we opted for non-alcoholic treats for the reasons stated above.
We spent most of the day at Tha Prohm, better known as "The Angelina Jolie Temple," or "The Tomb Raider Temple." As such, it is nearly as visited as Angkor Wat. When we arrived, there were a half dozen or more tour buses parked in front, and as many or more cars and tuk-tuks. That was at about 11:15. According to Lonely Planet, most tour groups head into town for lunch, leaving the temples pretty empty. We expected a thinning of the hordes, but nothing like the mass exodus that happened at noon on the dot. By 12:30, we had the ruins virtually to ourselves - a far cry from the maddening crowd when we arrived.
The temple itself, once everyone left, is a huge, eerie place where trees are slowly engulfing the remains of an enormous temple complex. Over a relatively short time, the Angkor Empire defeated the Jungle to build a massive capitol city. As soon as they left, the jungle set to work reclaiming its rights. In Tha Prohm it seems to be winning. Preservationists can do nothing to stop the forest, as many of the trees have wound their roots around and through the structures to such an extent that to remove them would destroy the buildings anyway. 
In the afternoon, we decided to forgo further temples in favour of exploring the modern town of Siem Reap. It is amazingly Western complete with CD shops, sidewalk cafes, and bars with slick interiors and names like "Soho". There's even a gay bar called "Linga" (the word means Shiva's phallic symbol) . After scoping out the neighborhood by day, we headed back to our guest house to shower and wait until dark to see the neighborhood all lit up.
It did not disappoint. Narrow alleys came ablaze with lights and sidewalk seating. If not for the Khmer menus, it could easily have been Paris or New Orleans French Quarter. We ate dinner at Dead Fish Tower, which proudly proclaims "Don't serve Dog, Cat, Rat, or Worm"- a real concern when ordering 'unidentifiable bits soup' from street stalls. The owner of our guest house once even had his dog stolen - he found her the next day tied up in a kitchen about to be made into soup. Dead Fish's other claim to fame are its resident crocodiles. These fellows lounge in a pool near the back waiting for fish or the occasional drunk Aussie to fall their way. 
After dinner, we and our friend decided to hit Linga for a few drinks. After all, how many people do you know who have frequented a gay bar in Cambodia? Linga oozed style, and would have felt just as at home in NYC or San Francisco. The clientele were an eclectic mix of backpackers, Asian 'moneyboys', and mustachioed ageing Castro Street types. We had a lovely time sipping overpriced martinis (only one each - one cost almost as much as dinner!) before that over-priced-ness, and knowledge that we had to be up at 5:00 to catch the bus to our boat tomorrow sent us home....but not before stopping at Warehouse, a pleasantly chilled out place where we opted for non-alcoholic treats for the reasons stated above. 
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