Indochina bike tour days 18&19 (Siem Reap)

This video covers days 18&19 of the Thailand to Indochina group motorbike tour as we ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, home of the ancient Khmer citadel of Angkor, the Angkor Wat temple and surrounding ruins.
Along the way we visit a 12th century Angkor period bridge, and take a sail on the Tonle Sap lake, the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia. Then we spend a day in Siem Reap.
Our first stop is Kampong Kdei Bridge, a 12th century Angkor bridge. This bridge is 86m long, 14m wide and has 21 spans, employing a type of gothic arch design, and built from sandstone and laterite. Restoration of the bridge was undertaken in the 1920s and again in the 1960s.
Next stop is Tonle Sap lake for a sunset cruise. At 2,700 sq km Tonle sap is the biggest freshwater lake in SE Asia and was a vital source of water and fish protein for sustaining the Angkor population at Siem Reap. Despite its huge size it's amazingly only 1m (3 ft) deep on average, and its maximum depth is only 10m (30ft). It has enormous biodiversity and is home to carp, snakehead, Walking catfish and other species. It did have crocs once apparently. It provides 60% of Cambodia's freshwater fish supply.
The next day we visit a school where one of the group donated money to help establish it because of the poor infrastructure and quality of the state schools that he saw a decade before, and it is now in the care if a charitable NGO and is very successful. The students put on a show for us of traditional Khmer dancing.
We then visit the Angkor Wat and surrounding area. Angkor Wat is a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex (400km2) within the larger ancient Khmer capital city of Angkor. The complete original Citadel is reckoned to be 1000km2 and was home to between 750k and 1m people at its peak, being the largest city in the world at the time. The wat was built between 1110 and 1150 by King Suryavarman II (at a similar time to Tower of London and the great cities of Europe).
Link to a good video about Angkor Wat history
• Angkor Wat: The Ancien...
The Angkor area was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Considered by some experts to be the largest religious structure in the world, it is regarded as one of the best examples of Khmer architecture and a symbol of Cambodia, depicted as a part of the Cambodian national flag. The Angkor Wat is a major tourist attraction and attracts more than 2.5 million visitors every year.
Thanks as always to Gavin (Coolpics) Colpitts for the cool pics, Win Nguyen @dttravelvietnam for drone and car footage and others for providing pics, and Mike Gagne @mikefreeriderAsia for leading the trip.
#motorbike #motorbiketouring #motorcycle #motorcycletouring #Thailand #Laos #Vietnam #Cambodia #Indochina #Asia #Southeastasia #bordercrossing #borders #Sihanoukville #Cambodianhistory #Triumph #Triumphtiger #adventurebike

[@mikefreeriderAsia]

Very informative, great job Nigel

[@living_riding_in_thailand]

Cheers Mike. 🙏

[@graceanndinero2291]

woow its nice to visit a lots of place 🌅⛰️ in Asia 🌏 Stay safe 🙏

[@living_riding_in_thailand]

Thank you 🙏 Asia is beautiful and fascinating -so much to see.

[@KhmerMinnesnowta]

Wecome to Cambodia as the country has come a very long way since its civil war was officially ended in 1998.
Enjoy your bike ride tours. Peace out from a genocide survivor 🎉

[@living_riding_in_thailand]

@@KhmerMinnesnowtathank you 🙏