Exploring Cambodia and Angkor Wat

When we found out we were moving to Southeast Asia, we knew traveling to Cambodia to see Angkor Was was a must-do. So for our second family foray out of Bangkok we flew 45 minutes to Siem Reap for a 4 day weekend. 

We stayed at Sala Lodges which was just a little slice of peaceful heaven in an often chaotic Asian world. The resort has transported traditional Khmer homes (Cambodians refer to themselves as Khmer) onto the grounds and transformed them into tranquil vacation cottages. We had house 7 which was perfectly positioned by the pool and was one huge room with two beds. 

Forest loved sleeping under a mosquito net! 

And sleeping in the room with mommy and daddy. He actually did ok but since the bathroom door closed with a bolt at the top which he couldn't use, we had a few 'mommy can you please unlock the bathroom for me' moments in the middle of the night. (We are super pumped that Forest is FINALLY night time trained- but I'll post more on that later. Basically after almost a year of 'training' him, one day he just stopped having nighttime accidents and started waking up to go in the night and we had absolutely nothing to do with it. He still has the occasional accident but it's usually small and maybe happens once a month, which considering all the upheaval he's had recently is pretty remarkable. Ok, tangent over....and also knock on ALL the wood!) 

Forest loved exploring the grounds, eating at the resort restaurant and swimming, of course. 

Everyday we were greeted back to the hotel with a cold rag and a 'welcome back drink'. 

Angkor Archeological Park is not really a kid friendly destination. It's hot, crowded, steep and boring for a 5 year old. 

We figured he'd have a short attention span for these excursions going in so we made our peace with the fact that we'd go first thing in the morning, just see the highlights, take plenty of ice cream breaks, and spend our afternoons relaxing at the resort. We got 3 day passes so that we could take our time and not feel like we had to see it all in one day. 

The first day we just went for sunset, but F was having a tummy ache so we didn't even make it that late. 

For some reason he's convinced that lollipops help stomach aches? Or he's just playing us. 

The next day we had to wake him up for an early start (ps on days where he can sleep in, he is always up by 6 am, but on days where we need him up at 6 he is snoozing away. We explained to him that this is called 'irony' and he responded: 'well maybe its all your ironing that is waking me up so early.'). 

We did 4 different temple complexes the first morning, including the most famous, Angkor Wat. 

Forest kept a good attitude for the first hour and a half and then started whining quite a bit. He perked up with ice cream and when we saw some Macau monkeys. 

He freaked out when he saw one with a water bottle and rushed to snatch it away (they are learning at school how dangerous plastic can be for animals) but luckily I stopped him in time! 

The monkeys were friendly enough but we saw one lady get hissed and scratched at. 

After hitting one more small tucked away Buddhist temple we headed out for a local lunch and then back to the hotel for a restful afternoon. 

The next morning got off to a rough start with Forest having a full blown panic attack before 7 am because he locked himself in the restaurant bathroom . He was crying so hard and loud that everyone in the restaurant was concerned for him. It stressed me out to be on the other side of the door from him and not be able to get to him. The hotel staff started to break the door down which I thought would actually be more traumatizing (and HELLO might hurt the child who is way too panicked to move away from the door) so we convinced them it wasn't so urgent that they didn't have time to find the key. 

But it's been over a week since that happened and he still keeps talking about it, and is even having trouble at night saying 'mom, I just can't stop thinking about being locked in the bathroom.' 

Anyways, we were pretty emotionally spent by the time we headed to the temples so told our guide 'look, just take us to Ta Prohm and then let's do some different sight seeing today.' We also came up with a scavenger hunt for Forest which he loved. If he got all of the items on the list he got a lollipop (no stomachache required). These temples were our favorite, and what we always pictured in our minds when we thought of the Angkor Archeological Park. Just magical, beautiful, jungle-overgrown ancient ruins. 

We were amazed that many of the buildings were painstakingly being put back together from absolute rubble.  Our little engineer was totally fascinated by this task and said he wants to help when he grows up. It did seem like a really advanced LEGO set (without instructions and with the need for heavy machinery). 

Apparently the crane is a new addition. Most of the reconstruction was done without it. 

So much of Angkor Wat has been destroyed by the jungle and by war, with many of the temples being defaced by the Khmer Rouge. There are Buddhist and Hindu temples but only the Buddhist temples are currently in use. I would definitely recommend hiring a private guide (in an air conditioned car). Prices in Cambodia are fairly cheap (and also they take American money so it was nice not to have to do conversions for everything) and it was nice to be able to cater our day to what we wanted to see and how much stamina we had with a preggo lady and 5 year old. 

After Ta Prohm we headed by boat to see a traditional water village. It was fairly depressing but the boat ride was a fun change of pace for Forest and I think seeing the squalid living conditions was eye opening for all of us. 

It was cool to see the resourcefulness of the villagers (many are Vietnamese or Muslim and therefore can't own land, so they live on house boats). They've created floating gardens, schools, restaurants, churches, etc. 

We were pretty hot (real feel was about 115) and tired after another full morning so even though Jon wanted to explore the market,  F and I outvoted him and headed back to the resort for napping and swimming. 

So...one little thing I didn't realize about Cambodia is that the country regulates it's electricity during the day. So there is very little AC to be found during the hottest parts of the afternoon. This meant swimming until the sun started to set. The pool wasn't exactly cold but being in the water felt better than being in a stuffy hot Sala. And the smoothies were very yummy. 

I feel like the trip was a great balance between sightseeing and relaxing. Forest is just getting into an age where we can expect him to tag along for more adult centered adventures as long as we balance that out with fun for him. I'm glad we did Angkor Wat before baby just because of the extreme heat and steep stairs. Once baby is born, we plan on doing lots of Thai beach resorts! Our next trip is to the Maldives in 2 weeks where Jon plans on doing some diving, F plans on doing some kids' clubbing and I plan on doing NOTHING. My kind of Babymoon...:)