Phnom Penh to Siem Reap


Today was a travel day, a five-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap.  Tauck used to fly people between the two cities but found out that due to the airline unreliability, they were able to get people here quicker by busing them.

The highlight of the day was a stop at “Spider City” where you can purchase fried tarantulas, scorpions, spiders, cockroaches, etc.  It was not something that any of us were used to. 

We were greeted by children selling local fruits and holding live tarantulas that they would gladly let crawl on you.  One of our tour guides allowed them to put two on his shirt.  There were no takers in our group.




Over a million tourists a year pass through Siem Reap, making it the fastest growing place in Cambodia outside of Phnom Penh, the capital city. One of the main  attractions is the ruins of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century as a Hindu Temple and took 37 years to build.   After 1432, when the capital moved to Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat was cared for by Buddhist monks and became a Buddhist Temple..

Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We toured the temple for approximately two hours.  Like Machu Picchu, it is hard to imagine how this structure was built.  Large stones were moved over 20 miles, cut and carved (the carvings are intricate) and put in place by humans.  More stones were used in the building of Angkor Wat than were used in the construction of the Pyramids.






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