The Roluos Group
Today we started with a visit of the Roluos group temples (Bakong, Preah Ko, Lolei, and Prei Monti). A complex with Angkor temples that was located just outside Siem Reap. The complex was to a large extent under renovation.
We were not really alone during our visit because several vans with tourists arrived at the same time as we did. The complex was quite small compared to the other temples sites that we had visited during the past days, so it felt a bit crowded.
The Phsar Leu Market
We needed more or less 1 hour to complete the visit and then we drove back to Siem Reap where we visited the Phsar Leu market (which really deserved a stop).
When strolling through the market, we were hoping that our meat or fish would not come from here. The hygienic conditions were far from what we were used to.
A Relaxing Afternoon
After that, we headed back to the hotel for a swim in the beautiful pool.
In the afternoon we had booked a wellness treatment in the hotel, which we really enjoyed. We decided on an aromatic massage but before receiving it, we had to fill in a questionnaire. This was needed to understand the issues that we might have and the area’s they should concentrate on during the treatment. I had asked for a ‘soft’ massage, since I am easily hurt :-). It was really funny to learn that the pressure points that I did not refer to as issues where those that hurt the most.
Birthday Dinner @ The Raffles
In the evening, we celebrated Koen’s birthday in the Raffles hotel “Grand Ankor”. I had arranged with the hotel that they would drive us to the dinner in style. They happily agreed to the use of one of their special cars, a Rolls Royce. This was a real surprise for Koen, who loved classic cars. He knew that normally they would have picked us up at the airport in such a car, but because we arrived by taxi, we missed that experience. So it was a very lovely gesture of the hotel !
We had to congratulate the driver because it was not so easy to manoeuvre with such a big car alongside all other traffic (motorcycles, tuk tuk’s, bikes, cars…).
At the Raffles we were welcomed in style. We decided on the Royal Kmer Menu, a menu with 10 dishes. We thought that we had to make a selection between the dishes, but instead, we received all 10. Everything that we ate was so well presented and absolutely delicious !
When we arrived at the dessert, we were unable to eat anything anymore, our stomachs were completely full. However, the waitress told us we could not leave without trying them. So we made an effort. Koen loved the banana dessert, so the waitress offered to get an extra portion which we kindly declined… When we left, we received a box of biscuits to take with us. Such a nice gesture ! In any case, we would not be hungry the next hours…
Fantastic end to our day !
