Day 23 : Siem Reap, Sunday 30th June 2024
Cloudy/showers, 32°
NZ$=KHR2500 ( Cambodian Riel )
KHR1=NZ$0.0004
NZ$1=US$0.60
US$1=NZ$1.6
US$1 =KHR4,100
Up 7:00am, downstairs for breakfast at 7:30am ( ok breakfast with a good range of food, in a very nice room ( not all breakfast rooms are nice!) ), and out at 8am
Walked to town and went to “Green Bike Hire” looking for e-mopeds to rent; that shop was closed even though it was supposed to be open ( and in the 3 days we were in Siem Reap we never saw it open ). We walked around the block to “Blu Bike Hire” ( yes, honestly these were the names ) and rented 2 electric ‘moped’/scooters. These have batteries, are fully electric powered, but have pedals so they are, apparently classed as ‘bikes’ in Cambodia, and therefore no license is needed to ride them ( or a helmet apparently ). The senior lady and the young boy running the shop acted like they had never rented out these bikes before but eventually we got 2 bikes, for 3 days, for US$45/NZ$65. We paid up front. We also got helmets and 2 chargers so we could charge the removable batteries in our hotel room.
A couple of notes; the bikes only get up to 25km/h, have a range of about 60kms, and in Cambodia they drive on the right ( and don’t seem to obey the road rules, if there are any ). So far this trip we have seen cars/bikes on the wrong side of the road, not stopping at lights, not giving way etc. And it is not unusual to see a moped on the right, being overtaken by a car and the car is simultaneously being overtaken by another bike or car or bus. But underlying this is a politeness ( and maybe an expectation ) of bad driving, with no horns toots ( except of the “hey I am coming through” type ) and no aggression. The key seems to be being aware, making eye contact with other drivers / riders, and being polite. And it all seems to work.
With this in mind we jumped on our bikes and headed back to the hotel to drop off the chargers at 8:45am.
Back to the bikes then we headed north through town, stopped at an atm to get come money, crossed the river and headed to Angkor Wat / the temples. We stopped to get our passes scanned on the road to Angkor Wat ( we just had electrotonic versions on our phones that seemed to work ) then around the moat of Angkor Wat, to the carpark for Angkor Wat at 9:30am. Even though we had a 25km/h limit it was nice to ride with the breeze blowing through the forests around the temples.
We parked the bikes in the shade next to the other 100’s of motobikes and walked through the café/shop complex that has appeared since last time we were here, and back to the bridge over the moat. We walked across the bridge and into and through the complex. We had been here before so this was just a quickish visit to reacquaint ourselves with the stunning and large complex of buildings.
After walking around and taking photos we left via the ‘temporary’ ( it was here last time we were here 7 years ago ) floating bridge ( entry is across the old permanent bridge, exit is across the floating bridge ). A quick stop to get a drink, and sit and cool down at an empty cafe, then back to the bikes at 11am.
Headed north out of the Angkor Wat area, stopped at the south gate of Bayon for some photos ( this spot is where a couple of months later a tree fell during a storm and killed some people in a tuk-tuk), and past Bayon Temple, then east to and through Victory gate ( stopped for photos ) then on towards Ta Keo Temple ( one of the temples we visited last time ). We turned north off the main road up a dirt road, and then east to Ta Nei Temple.
Ta Nei Temple is not one of the ones on the normal tourist route, but it is only about 1km off the main road through the jungle. On this visit to Siem Reap we were keen to visit some of the ( literally ) 1000’s of little out of the way temples, and enjoy the peace and quiet without the bus loads rampaging through.
The sign at the entry to Ta Nei Temple said it was closed but we walked in anyway as we could see the ranger sitting near the temple chatting to someone. We asked the ranger if the temple was open and she said yes, and when we mentioned the sign the park guide/ranger said something and gave the universal sign for ‘oops, forgot to do that” and then walked back towards the sign to switch it over. She probably wondered why it had been quieter than normal.
We walked around the complex for about ½ an hour and we were the only people there apart from the rangers ( there were 2 or 3 floating around ). The complex consists of a main temple ( reasonably intact ), with a moat, and 2 smaller buildings to the east and west of the main one, surrounded by jungle. It was very pleasant to take our time and wander, and also to talk to the the rangers.
We jumped back on the bikes at 12:20am and back to the main road, then south and east, then south again on the road that would take us back to Angkor Wat. The road was busy at times, but not too bad, and it was nice to tootle along on quiet electric mopeds when there was no traffic.
On the ride back to Angkor Wat we got hit by a downpour, so we stopped under a tree for 10 minutes until it had passed ( we didn’t have ponchos or any other waterproof clothing ). The roads were soaked but quickly dried in the heat. We carried on back past the moat for Angkor Wat then south on the road back to Siem Reap ( Charle de Gualle Rd ). By this stage ( 1pm ) we were looking for lunch, so we crossed the river just north of town and stopped at Noir Coffee for some lunch ( 2 panini, and 2 drinks US$14 ). We caused some chaos by paying with a US$100 note ( which is what the atm gave us ) as they didn’t have enough change. There is electronic payment in most places but ( like back in Singapore ) it is often a system that is more of an automated bank transfer system, not something run through Visa; so without a local bank account we were stuck paying cash for most things. We got our lunch then eventually the change from our payment after someone left to go get change from somewhere.
Back on the bikes at 2pm and back to the hotel. We parked the bikes in the forecourt and took the batteries out, and took them upstairs to charge ( they were both down to 30% ish ).
Got changed then down for a swim. Back to the room and back down at 3pm. We asked at the reception about where to park the bikes and they said there was a basement garage ( well the signaled with thier hands to go out, around the corner then downstairs. So we got the batteries, rode the bikes around the corner and down to the parking garage. This was full of motorbikes and mopeds ( probably staff vehicles ) and was certainly not designed for cars as the ramp down was too steep to drive up, and too steep for our bikes to make it up without a runup.
Back to the room to drop off batteries the headed to a café across the road for coffee and cakes, and we stayed for a while as there was a heavy thunderstorm passing through ( no-one was keen to leave the cafe during the rain ). Back to the hotel at 4:15pm.
Out at 6:15pm, walked into town and had tea at the Khmer Kitchen restaurant ( Lak Lok Beef, spring rolls and 2 beers: US$11/NZ$16 ). Walked around town a bit then across to the night market on the east side of the river then back to the hotel at 7:30pm.
Another enjoyable Siem Reap day.