Guys and ruins, ruins and boys -trip to Cambodia in Oct 2022

[vinapu]

On our way back  I visited Banteai Srei temple, smallest of Angkor temples but intricately carved and it was good idea as she is always crowded but in the afternoon , hour before closing there were only few people there . Going back we stopped in so called sugar village to purchase jar of palm sugar

Banteai Srei below

 

 

Rest sightseeing on other 4 days was done by tuk-tuk , Kompong Pluk village on stilts on Tonle Sap lake and numerous temples list of which is like litany : Prasat Kravan, Pre Rup, Banteai Kdei, Banteai Samre ( my  favorite , always empty as it’s bit off way )  , Neak Pean , Ta Som , Preah Khan. I climbed Bakheng  but did not stay for sunset, crowds were already gathering for spectacle as it’s one of most popular spots far that.

Kompong Pluk

on our way to Komplong Pluk , on temple grounds I noticed village crematorium which my driver cheerfully called ' oven'

[vinapu]

Banteai Samre

Pre Rup

Neak Pean

[vinapu]

Ta Som

Preah Khan

view from Bakheng

 

 

[vinapu]

I spent a lot of time in two most important -Bayon and Angor Wat and did bit hair rising walk along the walls of Angkor Thom (city with Bayon at the centre ), which is my favorite part of every Siem Reap visit. Why hair rising ? it’s always very quiet and at least  three people on the way including one policeman told me ‘ be careful about the snakes “. I did not see any but made a point to watch anyways.

Snakes or not , I still recommend that walk to everybody and wall is surprisingly well preserved with ruins of temple at each corner and two gates ( West and East ) very rarely visited apart from three (Victory, North and South )where tourist transit goes through. It’s flat but long as each side  is about 3 km long for 12 km total so make sure to carry water , some snacks and umbrella and of course in case of snake encounter ,the will.

Bayon

Western Gate from inside the walls, then from outside them and how is seen from the walls themselves

moat and the walls

 

 

 

[vinapu]

local boy fresh from  taking bath in the moat by North Gate

Eastern Gate

two corner temples

 

 

[fedssocr]

Bayon is my favorite of all

[vinapu]

6 minutes ago, fedssocr said:

Bayon is my favorite of all

Preah Vihar, Banteai Samre and Ta Som for me please, not that I have anything against Bayon or Angkok Wat indeed other that they are too popular and thus usually crowded. In 2016 I skipped Bayon entirely for that reason, this time is was quite empty but I was early 

[vinapu]

 

Post-covid crowds did not arrive yet so it was quite pleasant , even at Angkor Wat there was no problem to climb to the highest accessible level , usually restricted to max 100 people. (5 years ago I was told 2 hours wait , 21 years ago nobody was counting or even watching )

post-covid morning crowd at Angkor Wat

 

steps to highest level and view from there

 

Nice surprise was extension of ticket’s validity, 3 day ticket at 62$ till end of 2022 is valid 5 days of consecutive 7 instead of just three. 7 day ticket costing 72 $ is extended to 10 days out of 30. Don’t lose it as tickets are being checked

 One inconvenience of buying ticket is that office is not located anywhere near the temples and requires detour but there’s bright spot – tickets can be bought at Banteai Srei temple.

 My apologies to those who think sightseeing part was too long but certainly there are members and readers here who never been to Angkor so I wanted to give than some idea what they missed.

Contrary to what one may think I was not templed out when flying out of Siem Reap to Bangkok  after 10 days  in Cambodia , 7 of which spent at Siem Reap. I could easily spend another week there not only because  there were still plenty temples to visit but also quite a few boys at 168Massage to try. Oh, well there’s always next time. Perhaps even that hunk from Space Hair bar will be willing to go with me to Siem Reap, lol

 

[TotallyOz]

50 minutes ago, vinapu said:

 My apologies to those who think sightseeing part was too long but certainly there are members and readers here who never been to Angkor so I wanted to give than some idea what they missed.

No apologies. Thoroughly enjoyable and amazing photos and details. The sparse number of people in photos is incredible. Wow. When I was there, it was a throng of people and almost like walking through the old Bangkok night market on a weekend. Thank you so much for sharing!

[PeterRS]

Thanks @vinapu for your report and photos. It reminds me of my trip to Angkor 18 years ago, especially those stone steps with no guardrail as you climb up to the top of the main temple at Angkor Wat. Those steps are incredibly steep with big distances beween the steps. I thought i was in pretty good physical condition and had happily spent the previous three days climbing over many other ruined temples. The main temple was to be the highlight of our visit. But on the last set of steps my thighs just gave up! Half way up I found I just could not move even using arms and legs. I decided I'd have to go down, but when I turned around and looked down, I knew my legs would never make it and I'd fall. After  pause of a minute or two, I summoned up the courage to clamber up to the top as best I could, all the while fearing I might not make it. I was then delighted to realise that for the way down there were the other wooden steps in @vinapu's photo with the bannister that makes getting down much easier. Later in the evening climbing up the small steps on to the Bangkok Airways plane, my thighs had still not recovered! I must have seemed 30 years older than my age!

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

The sparse number of people in photos is incredible. Wow. When I was there, it was a throng of people and almost like walking through the old Bangkok night market on a weekend. Thank you so much for sharing!

crowds were sparse although not as sparse as one may deduct from my photos, my estimation is about 1/5 of ' normal' crowds. In Angkor Wat, no doubt most popular and most accessible temple  there were corridors and galleries where there was nobody for good 10 minutes . Bottom line is best time to go is now before crowds return although area is so vast that apart from most popular (Angkor Wat, Bayon , Banteai Srei, perhaps also Ta Prohm ) temples in others crowd will be hardly overwhelming even if tourist traffic returns to normal.

When I made trek on top of Angkor Thom walls only people I met on my way were few locals and only tourists I saw  were on the road under Northern and Victory Gates as those are asphalted transit routes between temples.

Surprisingly all 4 nights I went to Barcode bar it was crowded to capacity ! Looks people had their priorities set.

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, PeterRS said:

I was then delighted to realise that for the way down there were the other wooden steps in @vinapu's photo with the bannister that makes getting down much easier. 

you were still lucky then, 21 years ago we were climbing using other set of steps , now out of bounds (photo below), I don't even recall any ropes along to help go up or down. 

It really felt like an adventure then 

[GWMinUS]

Many thanks for the great photos and the fond memeories they bring back. Anyone visiting Thailand should make a trip to see the beautiful Khmer temples along the border with Cambodia. And a special trip to Siem Reap to visit Ankor Wat and the other stunning temples there.

Well worth the days and guides for the trips!!

[forrestreid]

Great pics! Really wetting my appetite for some out of the way sites in Cambodia

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, forrestreid said:

Great pics! Really wetting my appetite for some out of the way sites in Cambodia

thank you , that was exactly reason for such long post.

Angkor Wat , Bayon , Banteai Srei and Ta Prohm are on every tour itinerary and for good reason  but there's so much more indeed even in close proximity to Siem Reap (those mentioned above as well as Western and Eastern Mebon, Rolous group , Ta Keo, Phnom Krom in the hill overlooking Tonle Sap lake ) not to mention more distant already mentioned above as well as pre Angkoroan temple group of Sambor Prei Kuk, all reachable within 1 day trip from Siem Reap . 

[emiel1981]

On 12/9/2022 at 3:31 AM, vinapu said:

Massage at Men’s was very professional, costly at 26$ for 1.50 hrs session and it was just that , very good massage , no extra’s. May be I was again not brave enough  to signal or masseur was not interested in any of that , anyways this reflected my previous experience there few years ago. 

I had totally different experiences. Stayed at Men's a few times (years ago, before covid). Had 4 massages there that all ended very erotic including handjob and happy end. Also I remember an American boy staying in the resort who was new to the gay expierence in Asia. He was shocked when the massage boy in Men's started working his cock. Shocked because he didn't expect that to happen so fast and easy. But he liked it too. 

Maybe things have changed at Men's massage... 

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, emiel1981 said:

I had totally different experiences. Stayed at Men's a few times (years ago, before covid). Had 4 massages there that all ended very erotic including handjob and happy end. Also I remember an American boy staying in the resort who was new to the gay expierence in Asia. He was shocked when the massage boy in Men's started working his cock. Shocked because he didn't expect that to happen so fast and easy. But he liked it too. 

Maybe things have changed at Men's massage... 

or I'm not skillful enough to instigate proper action there. I know somebody who was there after me recently and his experience reflect yours. Or may be I'm just too old in their eyes, lol. No idea what doesn't work for me  but your comments makes me willing to try again when I will be in SR. Anyways  168 massage provided more I could digest. 

 

by the way trip continues here:

https://www.gayguides.com/forums/topic/38709-back-in-thailand-from-cambodia-october-2022-trip-report/