Daily Archives: 30 July, 2014

Old Market, Pub Street and Angkor Night Market (Siem Reap, Cambodia)

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Angkor Night Market

Though the focus for most visitors to Siem Reap are the ancient temples of Angkor, there is still much to do  after dark. After all, Siem Reap is a tourist town and the liveliest, ‘must see’ areas after dark are the Old Market area, and its surrounding area which includes the nearby Pub Street, the alley and lane off Pub Street, and the Angkor Night Market area (open in 2007, it is the first night market in the country).

Psar Chaa (Old Market)

The very popular,tourist-friendly and open-air Psar Chaa (Old Market) stretches from the river across to the night markets along Sivutha Blvd.. (the main north – south road a block or so west of the market). It is now the dining, shopping and nightlife center of town. Here,Osang, Violet, Jandy and I had dinner at the Nai Khmer Restaurant and Bar.

Pub Street by day

They offer the deepest selection of Khmer antiques semi-precious stones, and tourist souvenirs (T-shirts, backpacks, silverware, silk scarves, wallets, key chains, etc.), especially on the river side. You have to learn how to haggle, taking it to an art form level when buying more than one item..

Osang and Violet at Nai Khmer Restaurant & Bar

The north side of the market. along Street 9, is a good place for a budget meal and a taste of Cambodian cuisine as it sports a number of inexpensive cafe stalls serving Cambodian fare in an interesting, local atmosphere.

A variety of goods sold at Angkor Night Market

The Angkor Night Market, with a labyrinth of over 240 shops, fosters a very Cambodian atmosphere with its series of stylishly traditional, Khmer style huts. Items sold here include paintings, wood carvings, silk, and local delicacies.

Jandy at the Old Market

Weaver at Angkor Night Market

There were also a few massage and spa bars.  Here, Violet had a free fish spa massage after a foreigner challenged her to last 5 mins., with her legs immersed and nibbled on by fish.  He lost and paid for the session.  At a massage spa, we all indulged in a little more pampering after a full day of exploring the city.

Violet rises to a challenge at a fish spa at Angkor Night Market

Pub Street, a couple of blocks from the Angkor Night Market, is a short alley flanked by clubs, bars and restaurants that offer a wide variety of  Khmer culinary specialties and Western favorites.

Osang and Violet join revelers at Pub Street

Psar Chaa (Old Market): 2 Thnou St, Krong Siem Reap

Wat Preah Prohmreath Pagoda (Siem Reap, Cambodia)

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Wat Preah Prohmreath Pagoda

Wat Preah Prohmreath Pagoda

From Hard Rock Café, Jandy, Osang, Violet and I again walked, along the riverside, to Wat Preah Prohmreath Pagoda, one of the oldest monasteries in Siem Reap in terms of running time. It had a large imposing gateway and a red wall with a base of huge, golden lotus flower (which represents all achievement of all enlightenment) petals and Bayonesque heads on top of it .

The imposing temple gate

The imposing temple gate

This monastery, dedicated to Ang Chang-han Hoy, a revered 14th century monk, and the spirit of Ta Pom Yeay Rat (who provided the land for the temple), ancestor of a rich family in the area, was founded in 1371 AD.  It was also built to spread the Dharma (teaching of Buddha) and to provide lodging for monks.

The beautiful and quiet garden

The beautiful and quiet garden

King Ang Chan (reigned from 1806-1834) came to this temple to pray for victory against his rivals and, when he achieved this, the temple was named Ta Pum Yeay Rath. In the 1940s, it was renamed Wat Preah Promreath.

Golden lotus petals and a cannon

Golden lotus petals and a cannon

An active monastery and a school for monks, it also has stupas (cremation boxes) where the rich and famous have their ashes interred. Enjoying the peace and quiet of the gardens, we noticed a number of odd, garishly painted statues and a large replica of a boat with a monk on top.

Large replica of the monk and his boat

Large replica of the monk and his boat

The revered monk Ang Chang-han Hoy (1358-1456) was said to have traveled 300 odd kms. every day by boat across the Tonle Sap lake, from Siem Reap to Long Vek (near Phnom Penh), to collect alms and then returned, that same day, to Siem Reap to have lunch.

One day (so the story goes), his boat was struck by a shark and cut in half. He continued on to Siem Reap, using the front half of the boat, while the other half ended up at Wat Boribo in Boribo District, Kampong Chang province.

Thanking Buddha for saving the monk, a temple was built at each place.  In Siem Reap, a huge, reclining Buddha was made using wood from the boat.  The golden boat statue in front of the vihear was built by Cheakaro Tong Teourm in 2007.

 

Inner wall with religious murals

Inner wall with religious murals

The small open-sided temple has small statue of Buddha while the inner walls have a number of murals of religious scenes. The Preah Vihear (main temple), built in 1945, has a vast open hall with a huge seated Buddha at one end. The enormous reclining Buddha, which we failed to notice, draped in a very decorous orange and gold cloth robe, can be found in a pit at the back.

Posing with some monks in the temple

Posing with some monks in the temple

Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (Cambodia)

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Jandy and I were to leave Phnom Penh for Siem Reap on the 7 AM Aero Express bus, so we woke up early, picked up our complimentary packed breakfast, checked out of the Elite Boutique Hotel and were picked up by our free coaster service, with Osang and Violet now on board, that would bring us to Central Market where our airconditioned bus was parked. Bus travel is the cheapest and the most popular means of overland transport between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Arrival at the Central Market

Arrival at the Central Market

We loaded our luggage at huge baggage storage compartment at the side of the bus, below the passenger deck, stored our hand carried bags at overhead racks and occupied a row of reclinable, side-by-side bucket seats with armrests.  Our bus had an on-board toilet, ideal for the long haul trip that awaited us.

Our airconditioned Aero Express bus

Our airconditioned Aero Express bus

As the road from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is under construction, our 319.6-km. long trip was likely to take at least 7 hours no matter which bus we took. As we left the market, our bus slowly negotiated the mild traffic of the city center.

Road condition most of the way

Road condition most of the way

Once out of the city, the road quality of Highway No. 6 changed dramatically, with frequent potholes and sometimes the road wasn’t even paved. Due to the road construction, we encountered some traffic bottlenecks that slowed down the traffic a bit.

Houses on stilts

Houses on stilts

However, we were also ushered into some interesting, though not spectacular, rural scenery as we observed small villages filled with traditional or modern stilted houses, rice paddies, small but pretty temples, distant mountains and rivers.

The roundabout at Skun

The roundabout at Skun

About 80 kms. out of the city, after crossing the Japanese Bridge, our bus passed the roundabout in Skun which has a statue of 2 children holding a bird. Highway No. 6 continued on to the left, going to Kampong Thom and Siem Reap.

View from across a bridge

View from across a bridge

About 206 kms. out of Phnom Penh, we arrived at the provincial capitol of Kampong Thom,  We were now more than halfway into our journey and here we made a 30-min. lunch stopover at a restaurant located between Arunras Hotel and the market. The food served was mostly Cambodian fare.

A small temple along the highway

A small temple along the highway

Having lunch at a restaurant in Kampong Thom

Jandy, Osang, the author and Violet having lunch at a restaurant in Kampong Thom

After lunch, we again boarded our bus for the remaining uneventful half of our journey.  At a little past 3 PM, our bus arrived at the main Chong Kov Sou bus station near Phsar Leu (the ‘Upper Market’), a couple of kilometers west of Siem Reap city center.  The journey took just about 8 hours.  On arrival, we got out our luggage and easily got a tuk tuk (US$1 per pax) to take us to the Bopha Angkor Hotel.