Cambodia: Siem Reap and Angkor

Border crossing: scammed!
After reading our guidebooks and doing some Internet research in Bangkok, we decided to go to the train station to check out train schedules and bus schedules to the Cambodia border.  The internet forums all recommended buying tickets piecemeal and avoiding any preplanned itinerary.  The ticket agent told us to go to the information counter, and a woman standing near the counter, positioned to appear official, cleverly intercepted us as we approached.  She discouraged us from considering the train and suggested we sign up for bus trips from Bangkok to the border, and inside Cambodia to Siem Reap, as a package deal.  Completely forgetting our received advice, we accepted.  I really don't know how she convinced us to take the offer but it was wildly overpriced and added no value.
Additionally, the Cambodian agent who met us for the border crossing itself lied to us about the exchange rates and I changed money at a pretty poor rate.  We kept Min's cash in dollars to hedge our bets, which turned out to be a good decision.  Overall, we probably paid about $50 extra for the trip and the money changing.  It could have been worse, and at least now we'll be more wary.

The ruins of Angkor
The ancient Khmer ruins at Angkor and in the surrounding area have been something I've been wanting to see for a long time.  Their history is interesting, involving foreign and civil wars and religious rivalries.  I'm impressed with how well they have survived the elements and vandals.

Visual highlights
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and the surrounding temples are beautiful!  Especially in the early morning light, they really glow.

Bicyclists, the central field of Angkor Thom
Canon 10-22@11mm, 1/60, f/9

Rubble at Ta Prohm 
Canon 10-22@22mm, 1/40, f/9, ISO 200

Prasat Preah Ko
Canon 10-22@12mm, 1/40, f/9

Prasat Banteay Samrae
Canon 10-22@15mm, 1/125, f/9

Prasats Suor Prat
Canon 10-22@11mm, 1/50, f/9

Prasats Suor Prat
Canon 10-22@12mm, 1/80, f/9, ISO 200

Baphuon.  I wasn't technically supposed to be there that early, and I got out of the area fast when some workers started peering at me and shouting.
Canon 10-22@10mm, 1/25, f/9

Staying in Siem Reap
Min had been to Siem Reap before and had stayed at a very cheap guesthouse which caters mainly to Japanese long-term travelers. Their rates are still very good and we ended up staying there every night.

Lunch at the guesthouse.  I'm looking more and more like a skinny long-term traveler.

Everywhere sold fresh coconuts, including the guesthouse.

We went to the temples nearly every day by tuk-tuk. Most days we got up before dawn to beat the crowds. Since it's Christmas holiday in many places, this is the busiest time of year at the temples.

Our driver, Visa

When we tried to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, everyone else had had the same idea.

"Watch your head"

Reading at the Bayon

Doing my thing at Angkor Wat...

Bayon...

and Angkor Thom... where getting up at 4:30 really paid off one morning.

Other people like to ask me to take pictures for them.

The stone lions were copied and stylized from Chinese and Indian statues since the Khmers didn't have local examples.

Siem Reap
Siem Reap has very low prices, but you have to bargain for most things and make sure you know what you're getting.  Sometimes the quality is a little lacking.

Can you spot the problem? Bread was the only baked good that wasn't typically stale.

What?

People and animals we saw on the way

This poor horse was just hanging out on the field in front of Angkor Wat at dawn.

A boy with cows passing behind the temple at Pre Rup.  Cows were the only beast of burden we saw in use, for pulling farmers'carts.

A monk at Bakong.  I was trying out shooting from the hip from an article, and completely forgot about my shadow.

Kids picking fruit near Bakong

Aside from the beautiful ruins, I've enjoyed staying in Cambodia much less than I did Thailand.  The country's sad history and current political lockdown hang darkly over everything, and many people (especially farmers) seem depressed. We met a young English teacher who's teaching while he finishes high school, and he told us about his plan to go to university and try to become a teacher.  Many aspects of his life, from finding a job and building a career to small things like making a website for his school, have extra friction because of required bribes and complicated laws. He was upbeat about it though, and in other people we've seen that too.

Up next: This is the first post I've finished before we actually left an area, so I can't say definitively what we're doing next!  Our plan is to take a boat across Tonle Sap Lake to Battambang and then bus to Phnom Penh, and then maybe go overland into Laos.