The A — Z of My Favourite Travel Destinations — K is for Krong Siem Reap

Yes, the real name for Siem Reap is Krong Siem Reap, Siem Reap City. It differentiates itself from the province of Siem Reap. Leave it to us westerners to shorten the name used by Cambodians for this famed site. It’s like leaving off the word city for New York City, as the city is in the state of New York.

Krong Siem Reap was our first stop in Cambodia after having spent almost a week in Laos. We were whisked away to our hotel by the guide that met us at the airport. Once we were settled in and we had told her about our desire to see a school, we were taken to a floating school. My wife went to the kindergarten-primary barge/boat, while I got to visit the elementary school.

The next morning, we went to Angor Wat, a site that was featured in one of those adventure films, Laura Croft: Tomb Raider. Just an aside, it was also the setting for much of another film, Lord Jim.

We spend the day at the site taking so many photos that I knew, in the end, would make sorting through them a difficult exercise. By the time it was time to go back to the hotel, we were exhausted.

The next morning, we returned to the floating schools where we would have a better opportunity to interact with the students as teachers. We learned that when it was rainy season, the schools would rise with the flood waters. We obviously learned more than we taught.

From the school zone we went a bit further south to catch a small boat that would allow us to see the Chong Khnies floating village at the northern edge of the lake called Tonlé Sap. After a long morning and afternoon, we decided to get off the boat early and walk back to the boat launch area in order to see what appeared to be a rag-tag camp filled with makeshift dwellings. These were the poorest, almost homeless refugees from other places.

Our final day in Krong Siem Reap was spent seeing the tourist side of the city, the temples, the Buddhist monastery, a city park which had trees filled with large fruit bats, and an evening of Khmer culture.

Now, for the main treat. Here are three great stories told at Globetrotters. First, we begin with Rochelle Deans. Having already been in Vietnam for a month, this story was of particular interest.

Next up is a post by Jesse R. Barker. We had intended visiting Gdansk just before Covid broke out. The pandemic put that on hold. Now, we are waiting for the Ukrainian conflict with Russia to be over before we once again try that trip.

And finally, Simon Whaley writes about reindeer in Scotland. Once upon a time almost 50 years ago, I used to hunt reindeer [or caribou as they are also named] when I lived in the northern reaches of Canada. I can’t recommend this post enough. These are such gentle animals who aren’t afraid of humans.