Hearing those words spoken would often evoke thoughts of mysterious otherworldly bygone days. The truth is, unless you have actually gone and walked the ruins of this temple, you wouldn't know what to expect. Located in Siem Riep in the Northwestern part of Cambodia and reputedly "discovered" by the Frenchman Henri Mouhot, it is considered the largest Hindu Temple complex in the world.
Enough about that for now, first we need to get to Siem Riep. There are direct flights now from Manila but back then one route was via Singapore.
The airport in Siem Riep is not one of those modern glass and steel structures. It's architecture had a very local feel and there were no air conditioned tubes extending out to the plane. When you disembark, the heat and humidity greets you in its embrace. Siem Riep isn't very large or modern. It is more like a quaint and familiar provincial town for tourists. A 15 minute car ride will usually get you to your hotel of choice. Our home for the next 5 days was the Raffles D'Angkor. The first thing you see are the Royal Gardens across the hotel. This is how it looks from our hotel room.
And this is one of their rooms.
Do you see the copse of trees on the right hand side of the first photo? Around 6 every evening, large bats would fly out of them and head out on opposite directions. We were told that this is when they would forage for food and they eventually return at sun up. This is part survival instinct on the part of the bats, for if they fly out in daylight, they will get shot and end up as someones meal. Check it out...
Service at the Raffles D'Angkor was superb! Everytime you enter the premises, you are greeted with a cold towel, everyone greets you a good morning on your way down to breakfast, the attention to detail is excellent. Every night they turn down your bed linens and they would leave a bunch of papers on the bed. I assumed it was just laundry service or room service breakfast. It was on our last night that I realized among them was a short story written by a noted author. Every night had a different sheet. I requested for copies to take home with me and I was gladly accommodated. It was upon reaching home that I found out that these stories were excerpts of novels written about Siem Reap.
Usually, check in is done at the front desk. Not here! They sit you down in a spacious lounge that is so colonial in decor and this is where they let you relax while they process your reservation and give you your room keys. This is also where we would hang out some evenings and listen to a friendly Filipino pianist named Carlos play the classics. I was referring to Sinatra and not Mozart.
Every night at 7, the hotel would also host a 30 minute event in the lobby. It could be anything from wine tasting, to learning about products made from palm trees, taste testing canapes. This was the set up for a lesson about decorating with lotus flowers and leaves.
As it was still light out when we arrived, I had a chance to take some photos of the gardens and pool of the hotel.
Every morning we would look forward to breakfast. Our favorite was the pancake, waffle and crepe station. There were untold possible combinations and variations. There was also an omelette and noodle soup station. 5 kinds of fresh juices and combination fruit and vegetable juices were also available aside from cereals, cold cuts, salads and hot dishes. This is where it all happens...
Other activities that are offered are the Apsara Dance and Dinner that showcases classic Khmer dishes as well as classical dances and period costumes (Not to mention the pretty dancers).
There is also a short cooking course that includes a visit to the local wet market.
I love the way they display the young corn.
Different varieties and sizes of cucumbers.
A monkey would go ape around all these bananas!
One thing this Raffles Hotel is known for is that they have oldest usable wooden elevator. It only goes up 3 floors, fits only 4 people and moves slowly, but it works!
With that we put an end to part 1. It would have been nice to say that all these photos were taken on that first day in Siem Riep. One neat tidy package. It isn't so. So, this first part just focused on the hotel and what it has to offer it's guests. Next up will be essays on what we felt were the 4 important temples nearby and going around the town as well as part of it's recent history. We can't avoid talking about the dark days under the Khmer Rouge. Please follow is as we update our stories.
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