Hi there readers. For those of you who read Day 6, you know that today I didn’t have anything planned until the evening. As such, I didn’t set me alarm.
However, as I was well-rested, I still got up reasonably early, ate some cashews and canned tuna which I had bought earlier and wanted to finish up before leaving tomorrow, and then once more headed out to a local gym, this time choosing Angkor fitness, where I arrived at 9:55 AM. Similar to Gold Gym where I had gone a couple of days earlier, the cost of a day pass was $5 USD. However, despite the lack of a pool here, which I had no interest in using anyways, I thought this was the nicer of the two gym options. No doubt much of this was due to the time of the day, but I also found the temperature much more tolerable here than in Gold Gym. Finally, while it was not a huge difference, the resistance training area seemed to be slightly better.
I finished up at the gym at 12:16 PM and went out walking with no particular destination in mind.
Along the way I came across this shop with rather beautiful wooden carved statues. I didn’t enter to look at anything closer, since I had no intention of even considering purchasing anything, but from the street it looked impressive. Then at 12:46 PM I stopped in at a random restaurant which seemed to specialize in serving only dishes with duck. From what I could understand, at this time of the day there were only two options: duck with noodles or duck with rice. I opted for the rice dish which arrived at 12:48 PM.
The food was simple but pleasant, and with a price of only 10,000 Riel ($2.43 USD) there was certainly no reason to complain. By 1:21 PM I had finished and then walked back to the apartment, arriving at 1:35 PM. As I did not have anything planned until 8:00 PM in the evening, I decided that I should try to still do something else nearby here in town in order to not “waste the day”.
On day 1 it had originally been my intent to go to the Angkor National Museum, but then I had just felt too tired to do it, so since it was rather close to where I was staying, it seemed reasonable to go there today. I took a quick shower, changed clothes, and then headed out walking from 2:00 PM, arriving at 2:18 PM.
The standard cost to enter was $12 USD for adults and $6 USD for children ages 6-11. There was no mention made of special prices for residents vs foreigners. For those without cash, it was possible to pay with a bank/credit card. There is also an audio guide service which I decided to get for an additional cost of $5 USD, but in retrospect I really do not think it was particularly helpful, since it just seemed to generally restate the same information which could easily be read throughout the museum. While this was not a big deal, it was also the one place I encountered where it seemed to be a slight disadvantage to pay with local currency. My total was 71400 Riel ($17.34 USD).
The museum is pleasantly designed with a spiral walkway going past a soothing pool of water as you head up to where the visit begins.
Unlike many museums where you just sort of choose your own adventure, here they definitely want you to do things in a particular order, and there are abundant staff throughout who helpfully direct you along to the next prescribed area. As directed, my visit began with a short briefing video, and I was then pointed to the first Exhibit Hall, aptly named the 1000 Buddha gallery.
I did use the audio guide throughout, but as mentioned earlier, if you actually read things, the English and Khmer explanations prominently placed throughout already do a very good job of explaining things. Some might argue that they do too well of a job explaining. In summary, this was a very educational museum, and I think it would have been much better for me to visit BEFORE my Angkor Wat visit, as had been my original intention. However, while it is very clean, informative, and well-organized, this is definitely not appropriate for most children nor a place for those who are not really very genuinely interested in a lot of the historic background of the ancient civilization around this area.
At 2:57 PM I moved on to the next section which was specifically all about Khmer civilization, religion and the great Khmer kings.
I felt like much of this museum would be extremely interesting for art students, but I will admit that it was hard for me to stay properly interested, even though the explanations were very well-done. For instance, I learned about how Khmer artists would use arches and intentional support structures to give their sculptures more strength and stability. However, similar to what happens in many museums, it could quickly become sculpture and history overload.
Again though, I did pick up quite a few bits of knowledge, such as the importance of door lintels in a lot of their traditional temple and palace architecture. Furthermore, I was surprised to tell that historians could ascertain the age of a building simply by looking at the design of the lintels. While this made sense to me, I also wondered why some architects didn’t ever decide to intentionally create a different type of a lintel or perhaps purposely copy a lintel style from the past?
Even though it is hard to appreciate in the picture, I was particularly impressed by the carving of this final lintel which I saw. To think that such detail and depth had been carved into sandstone and that nothing had accidentally broken off was truly amazing.
In case you are curious, pretty much everything on the lintel has easily understood meaning, and yes, I did learn about it, but no, I will not force you to also read about it. As I write that, I realize that maybe the audio guide DID have a bit more extra information than what was simply posted everywhere, but I think most visitors would still be fine without paying the extra $5 USD.
Coming out of the rooms with the A-C exhibits there was a welcome display of Batik art, not so much because I thought it was particularly amazing Batik, but mostly because at least it wasn’t just more sculpture.
At 4:30 PM I was in room D, which was all about Angkor Wat. Except for the recreation of sunrise on Angkor wat in this room, I was not particularly impressed, but that might simply be because I had already spent two full days at the real Angkor Wat ruins.
At 10:49 AM the hallway which led to and then the next E room was full of Asura and Deva sculptures as well as many more of Buddha. I was once again struck by the similarities of the relationship between Asura (frequently translated as “giants” or “old gods” or even “demons”) and Deva (the new or “current” gods) and the similarities with other systems of religious mythology/tradition in Greece, Nordic countries, and other parts of the world. Unsurprisingly, the Asura seem to always be depicted as having sort of pouty faces; whereas, the Deva are serene.
There was plenty more to see and discover, but I confess that I was mostly historied out by this point.
The last G room was all about ancient clothing which could be seen in the sculptures, but as I said earlier, at this point I was no longer really paying attention, so lucky you, there are no pictures and no commentary on that room.
At 5:30 PM I exited the main museum and was unsurprisingly directed into a rather upscale gift shop. The museum itself only covers a period of about 1000 years when the Khmer empire was supposed to be the most influential and powerful, finishing up around the 13th century. As mentioned earlier, while it is well laid out and there are good explanations throughout, the place can get a bit tiring. Furthermore, the audio guide really is not necessary for most visitors, but I think it did have a BIT extra information; still, most would probably be happy to skip it. Finally, if you were thirsty, right after the gift shop there was a slightly overpriced, rather under inspiring cafe.
At 5:43 PM I was outside the museum where I found the temperature was very pleasant. With that in mind, and even though it was a little under 4 km to walk there, at 6:09 PM I decided to start walking over to my final activity of the day, planning to stop for some food along the way.
At 6:24 PM I stopped at Sros sokleap Restaurant to get fried frog, fresh spring rolls, fried mixed vegetables and an Angkor beer for 34000 Riel ($8.29 USD).
The food was “nice” but I think I preferred the stuffed frog which I had eaten earlier in the trip. At 7:11 PM I was out walking once more. While this route still felt completely walkable for me, it definitely took me outside of the main pedestrian areas of the city, and I could see how some solitary travellers might think it was better to take a tuktuk.
Regardless, I arrived at 7:36 PM, and since I had bought my ticket online ahead of time, I was directed into the gift shop, which then allowed me to arrive to my seat along with my complimentary metal water bottle, already filled with chilled water, at 7:43 PM. Note, my entry experience was maybe a bit different than that of many others, since I had bought the most expensive VIP reserved seating ticket for a cost of $38 USD ($18 USD for children 5-11). For those really wanting to spend more, there is also the VIP + backstage pass which costs $63 USD which includes a 30-minute escorted tour before the show starts. On the other hand, adult tickets can be had for as little as $18 USD, and as long as you arrive a bit early, I think it is still a good experience for everyone, even some sections of the “cheap seats” are partially obstructed by poles and/or subtitle screens.
Pretty much every review you will read about the Phare Circus and everyone who has visited will tell you that you absolutely cannot miss this show when you are in Siem Reap. I will be no exception to that rule. The pictures do not begin to do it justice. My only complaint was that the seats were rather uncomfortable despite having thin cushions, but the show itself was just amazing, and pictures cannot begin to do it justice.
As mentioned earlier, I was very happy that a coworker had strongly suggested that I leave this as my final evening activity in Siem Reap. Yes, like with many “artistic stories” whether they be in painting, music or dance, the obvious connection between the supposed story and the actual act was rather tenuous, but that in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the overall experience. By 9:16 PM I was out the door and once again walking back to my rented apartment for my final night’s sleep in Siem Reap.
As for the walk back, I probably would not recommend it for most solitary travellers. While the temperature was very pleasant, much of the walk was through rather poorly lit more “authentic” residential areas, and I could see how some people would not have felt safe. I was perfectly fine myself, but most people would probably prefer to either take a tuktuk or a taxi away from the circus at this time of night.
Nevertheless, I arrived back safely with no incidents to report at 9:51 PM, and that was my last full day in Siem Reap. I will confess that I was not exactly feeling melancholy, but I did wish that I had a bit more time. So far, this has definitely been a good vacation, and I guess that’s the way you want to feel at the end of a visit. If you are eager to go back home, then you probably did not have a very good time . . .
Travels with Jay 