On the day we were to fly from Hanoi to Siem Reap, Cambodia, we were very ready to leave Vietnam. It is not that we had a poor experience in Vietnam. On the contrary - we had a lovely time and the people we met were wonderful. The reason that we were ready to leave Vietnam was because there is so much pollution and noise. By the end of the trip I was actually finding it difficult to breathe, with every breath pulling in more exhaust than air. Further, the lack of sunlight in Hanoi was starting to take its toll on me, adding to my irritation from all of the honking. So when we landed in SR, it was definitely an appreciated change.
Cambodia is lovely. Though SR is a town built almost exclusively for tourists who are visiting Angkor Wat, it is a very quiet and clean city - which is just what we needed after Hanoi. Angkor Wat itself is an impressive structure, and the two others that we visited (Ta Promh and Bayon) were also quite amazing. Here are a few quick facts to give you an idea of the sheer magnificence of Angkor Wat: It was originally built by King Jayaverman VII during his reign from 1113-1150. It took 37 years, 500,000 men, 30,000 elephants (there are only 675 elephants in Cambodia today), and 7000 bamboo rafts. Angkor means "city" and Wat means "monastery," so this was originally the Monastery City. It is comprised of nine towers, 6 libraries, 4 bas reliefs (one of the 37 Heavens and 32 Hells, one of the King's Army, one of the 18 day war between two cousin kings, and one of a Hindu myth story of how a monkey army saved King Ram's wife Sita from Ravana - who took her to the island Lanka). Also in Angkor Wat are 2000 Apsara carvings. The Apsara are "beautiful dancing women" or "nymphs." Of the 2000, they exhibit 37 different hairstyles, many different clothing and jewelry styles and they are all smiling - though only one Apsara in all of Angkor Wat is smiling with her teeth showing. Angkor Wat has been in repair since 1993, and they are still working. The reason that it fell into such disrepair was that the temple was abandoned twice. After Jayaverman's death, there was a war and the Capitol was moved to Phnom Phen. The Wat was rediscovered until 1914 during the French occupation off Cambodia, and they tried to restore it. However, when Cambodia was granted Independence in 1953, they hastily finished and didn't do a great job at that. The Wat once again fell into disrepair during the tumultuous Cambodian Civil war, which started in 1973 and it was left until it was granted status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.
Sorry to fill your head with such a long list of facts and dates. I find it incredibly fascinating and I hope you have a chance to see it one day.
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