We arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Monday, 3 November 2025 and immediately made our way to Golden Temple Residence (see: Cambodia – Siem Reap and the Golden Temple Residence). Ursula had tours lined up beginning in the afternoon of the fourth, as well as the next two days beyond. So, we had the morning free, stepped out onto the street early on the fourth, and started walking around. We didn’t get far, because we found an eager tour guide right across the street… a guide who happened to have on hand a motorized rickshaw. I distinguish “motorized rickshaw” from tuk tuk because, despite both having three wheels and technically both are tuk tuks, in my mind a tuk tuk is enclosed.
However, this tuk tuk was open air, so I’ll just refer to it from here on as a rickshaw. We’d already passed by several rickshaw drivers who we thought were overly aggressive, which is the nature of the game but still a bit off-putting. The stated prices were also rather exorbitant. Now, I realize these initial prices are just the opening salvo of an expected negotiation, but it’s been my experience that when someone starts out high, you’ll still wind up paying too much at the end of the bargaining. This gentleman began his negotiation at a much more reasonable opening, was friendly, and by no means aggressive. So, after several minutes of haggling, we agreed on a price, sites, and tour length.
As we had a long tour set up for later that day and wanted to get lunch in beforehand, we were a bit time constrained. As such, we spent most of our time at our guide’s first suggested stop, Wat Preah Prom Rath. Wat Preah Prom Rath is a Buddhist temple constructed in 1915, and it was built on the site of a former Hindu temple. And one of the noted features here is the “reclining Buddha.”
There is a lot of fascinating background to this temple, including an intriguing folk tale-based legend on the monk to whom the site is dedicated. In the garden you’ll even find a “replica” of the boat he supposedly used in his frequent trips from Siem Reap to Longvek to replenish his rice supplies. And standing atop that boat is the monk holding a bowl of rice.
For more information I highly recommend this apparently well-researched piece: The Legend of Wat Preah Prom Rath. We’ll continue touring this fascinating temple and garden complex on Wednesday. Until then I leave you with this photo gallery/slide show:
Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
R. Doug Wicker — Author 