Greencaviar Travel

The pictures of Angkor Wat’s stunning architecture and landscape of spectacular beauty inspired me to travel to Cambodia. I never saw a picture of Angkor Wat with people in it, except for captures of Buddhist monks in orange robes reflected in the water as a backdrop to a tranquil landscape. Imagine my surprise upon seeing the long lines at the ticket office. (Passes to the park can only be purchased from the ticket office, a separate building about 10 minutes-drive to the archeological site park entrance. They take your picture and imprint it on the pass). Or I should not have been surprised. As the 8th wonder of the world, thousands of tourists shared the same goal of visiting Angkor Wat and checking it off their bucket list. Also on the night we arrived in Siem Reap, the current city near the Archeological Site, our guide mentioned that visitors outnumbered the residents in Siem Reap. I’d like to think of myself as a traveler rather than a tourist, so I had not done a...

After a 23-hour flight (including layover in Hongkong and Singapore), I landed  in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, but did not get into our hotel until 2 hours later because of the heavy traffic.  I passed out as soon as I hit the bed.  Having skipped dinner, I woke up hungry, so I went to the hotel restaurant as it opened for breakfast.  The hotel had a rooftop restaurant with an amazing view of the river.  While eating breakfast, I was entertained by the most amazing crimson-colored sunrise that appeared and disappeared behind the clouds before becoming yellow and reflected on the river below.   Perhaps, the absence of high rise gave the sunrise a more dramatic vibe.  Sunrise reflections on the river below and pool water above The first thing on our itinerary was to visit the grand palace, but it was closed for Buddha's Day.   So the schedule got changed to visit another main tourist attraction (if you can call it an at...