'Angkor Wat: A Beauty'

The incredible Angkor Wat
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5th Nov

After a dodgy sleep + a wakeup call at 4.15am, i felt surprisingly ok and we arrived at the eastern Bus terminal still under the cloak of darkness, though the streets were still as busy as before I went to bed. Ate our complimentary Bread and orange juice and got some kip on the 4hr bus to Aranyaprathet (Thai side of cambodian border). However, its still a half hour tuk tuk ride to the actual border. Had noodle lunch and had to exchange/withdraw some cash as there are supposedly no ATMs in the whole of Cambodia! (though by the time i reached Sihanoukville, i had spotted 4 ATMs all dispensing cash...) Furthermore, rather oddly, the national currency is Riel though it is perfectly acceptable - indeed preferable to locals and tourists alike - to use US dollars as the De Facto currency. In fact, its advisable to only take USD and pay for everything with it; most restaurant menus and souvenirs are made out in USD... weird ness. During our time here, we were alerted that Adam had in his misfortune left his plastic wallet containing his passport, cash, VISAs and plane tickets on the bus and in the mass panic to go back to the bus station, it turned out that the wallet was there but the contents not. Thus, to our sadness he was not able to come on the trip and had to return to Bangkok. That's fucked up and we all felt for him.

'My marvel of the Khmer empire was realised in the incredible manifestation that is the glorious Angkor Wat...'

6hr in road hell
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We waited for what seemed ages strapped into our packs within the staged 'Farang' or Foreigner queue to get the exit stamp with all the locals glaring at you :) Went thru a spectularly Cambodian border gate in the style of the Khmer temples i was looking forward to seeing. I had arrived in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

After immigration, we got a golf-cart like thing to the pickup point to catch the most painful 6hr journey (2pm - 8pm) you could imagine. The 160km journey contained no concrete roads, but the most atrocious pot-holled bastard mud track none of you have ever/or would hope to see. Not only that, the whole time, you bounced on your luggage in the back of a pickup truck (yewt for you americans) hopefully on your arse, though more often or not in the 6hrs, your arm/elbow, leg or back would again and again and again reap the metal edge reward of the unpredictability of the road which was navigated by, i must say, a legendary driver. To add to the self inflicted purgatory, an hour long rain storm towards the end of the journey soaked everything in the back and in travelling in darkness, ones face became a supermagnet for bugs. That is one journey ill never 1) forget 2) do again.

Bayon Temple
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IN FACT, It is well known that this neglect of an important land connection is a direct ploy to make people fly to Siem Reap, an hour trip from Bangkok lol...But by plane, one misses out on some stunning untouched paddy field landscape that we travelled thru, meeting excited children running along side when we approached, waving locals exchanging their newly learnt 'hello!', the truck packed with standing people, the motorcyclist whose rear passenger balanced around 10 5m long metal poles, and stayed on the bike using only his thighs as grip and his balls to soften the impact of pot holes, or, my personal favourite, the truck with cheering Cambodians dancing to the music blaring out of this speaker one of them was holding. Quality.

Crossing the border...
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It was thus a great surprise to all of us that after witnessing some poor living standards, that our arrival was in neon lighted streets lined by Las Vegas sized hotels! It didn't seem right, but the hostel we stayed in was no where near that standard, with blocked drains and dirty sheets...Had a delicious Cambodian style chicken rice at Soup Dragon in the bustling centre after the best and most deserved shower ive ever had. Went to bed knowing we had to be up for sunrise over Angkor though we all secretly hoped that the rain would continue so that we didn't have to go and could instead awake at a more humane 8am...

Locals seemingly enjoying the ride
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6th Nov

It Rained.

This day belonged to Angkor and after breakfast and the stopping of the rains, it was a monstrously hot day to be exploring this world wonder...

We were introduced to our robotic tourguide for Angkor at half 8 after i came down late as become habitual even though we had escaped watching sunrise. The first sighting of the towers of Angkor Wat got me all giddy and buzzing with excitment with the text/documentary-induced anticipation that had accrued in the days preceding this visit. Taking 30 years to build during the 12th century, this temple was and still is the proud pinnacle of the Khmer empire...

The intimidating gate to Angkor Thom city
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However, our first stop was Angkor Thom, with Angkor Wat at the end - saving the best till last though there were fears that it would rain by then. Angkor Thom was the ancient capital and at its peak contained some 1 million people within a site protected by a wall and further surrounded by a HUGE moat. Symbolically, the moat represented the sea, the walls: mountains and the Wat: Heaven, though it was strategically a good defence from invasion. The incredible town entrance is lined by an army of some 50 life size soldier statues like the terracotta warriors of Xi'an who play tug of way with the Naga, a seven headed snake. A very intimidating prospect it must have been when first discovering this place as a foreigner in the height of the empire. The gate itself adorns the all seeing 4 faces, straddling by three-headed elephants.

Ta Phrom...nature reclaiming its land
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Stepping off the bus, we are mobbed being 'Barang' (foreigner in Khmer) by little kids selling guides; postcards; wooden flutes (!); drinks and the ubiquitous bangle. These were some of the pushiest touts ive seen and they had the added emotional advantage of being 'innocent kids'...

Within the complex is the simply incredible Bayon temple. Set in massive woodland, it contains some 126 intricately carved faces which stare at you from every angle as you walk around.  You just cannot be prepared for it.  Furthermore, there are some beautiful bas reliefs (like hieroglyphics, but carved out of rock) depicting some fascinating Hindu stories. However,the then King Ramajara VII sought to combine Hindu and Buddhism to unite the people for peace...not a bad idea. The funny smiling faces are still well preserved despite their incredible age.

Perfect tourism with this pic
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Ta Prohm temple, the location for the tomb raider films, followed. Outside the Thom (Town), this uniquely fascinating ruin sees buildings slowly being eroded and ruined by gigantic trees which manage to grow on solid rock! And the way their roots grow down the walls in search for water and nutrients makes for some dramatic photos, witnessing nature reclaiming the land.

After a delicious Cambodian Lunch: Amok fish curry, it was time to head for the Jewel in the Crown: 'Angkor Wat' (Angkor temple) and the long causeway leading up to it, gave us ample time to absorb the enormity of what was in front. It was incredible. With its own moat and wall, the long corridors surrounding the central temple area were covered in 200m long stone carvings depicting legends of Good vs Evil; the highlight was this massive battle scene involving literally hundreds of finely detailed soldiers in a tug of war with evil to emancipate the elixir of life under the sight of God. Amazing. On reaching the central area, we climbed the (for me) obligatory though (for everyone else) dangerous 20m up some large and steep partly eroded stone steps without support for the reward of the tremendous view of the distinct Khmer architecture of the main towers and the empire itself.  This wat is the pinnacle of a huge Khmer empire, and by what we saw, an empire that easily matches any contemporary. The kids were naggy. They would ask your name so that they can write you a personal postcard, which represented a written contract to buy their souvenir/drink! And with the number of children selling, thats a lot of postcards; though we were good to be polite even at the 20th time of refusing. This wasnt the case here for some infuriated tourists who lost their rag. Wrong. they clearly didnt appreciate that these children were sent here young by the parents to learn english so that they could support their families. Being a weekend, there was an extra buck or two to be made so fair play to them.  Sure, you are not obliged, but there's no need to be rude to people less fortunate in their own country.

Magnificence
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What i learnt later that pissed me off somewhat, is that the 20 US dollar entrance fees goes straight to the government who give nothing to the locals whose area they're exploiting BUT a fair portion to the 6-star luxury hotels who are driving out local businesses...Why are they encouraging these outrageous Las vegas style hotels? they are hideous and clearly out of place... And not helping the poverty in this region? We should be visiting this UNESCO world heritage sight Angkor on the locals' own terms and accepting their own standards of service, not imposing ours. Its THEIR country afterall, and traveling is all about learning how people do it differently. If it isnt, then STAY AT HOME for pete sake and rent a DVD documentary on Angkor. If you do come, do try and help as much as possible the locals by buying from the kids (at your discretion as exploitation may be going unchecked), using the tuk tuks instead of hotel shuttles to Angkor, and staying at local guesthouses which are more personal and friendly, leave the jacuzzi for when you get home. .

Big wow.
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We also had the opportunity to visit an amazing project ran by a previous Khmer guard, Akira, forced to plant mines against his will, at the Landmine museum which provided hostel for a family of landmine victims. It was heartrenching to see them put on a brave face as we came to say hello...one cannot imagine how difficult it is to deal with losing one or more limbs at such a young age. Although they seemed happy to see visiters with smiles, there was an inescapable sadness in their faces and i felt helpless as all i could do in support was to buy a few overpriced souvenirs and hopefully spread the word on the good work going on for this campaign. Sadly, non of the milking of the Angkor cash cow funds these sorts of projects esp the landmine problem which is rife in Cambodia to this day. After that rather depressing note, we needed to try and unwind over a nice dinner though we were still reflecting on what we had just seen.  However, rather unexpectedly, we, especially the ladies: special shout out to Warrior waster Nia, got obliterated in the slightly-humorously named 'Angkor What?' Bar and danced the night away till the early hours...

7th Nov

Today was a free day in Siem Reap so we all slept in after the heavy night...some longer than others. Whilst others went on boat trips or souvenir hunting, i hired a motorbike driver back to Angkor, paying another 20 dollars as i, and my camera, were unsatiated by only one day. My driver Dom was safe and agreed to wait as i revisited some temples of yesterday and some others on the 'Grand circuit'. Motorbike is the recommended way of getting around as the Angkor site is huge and a fast bike can cool you down between temples.

First, a quick foray of pictures @ Angkor wat. Still inexplicably dumbstrucked by the size and intricacy of these monuments. For further angles, i decided to climb Pekheng Hill in the midday heat via the appropriately labelled 'dangerous route'...ragged rocks, roots of trees and loose soil in a steep hike to the top. A beautiful temple was at the peak, but as i was too knackered to climb more steep stairs to see what was inside, i was content on taking aerial views ofthe Angkor Wat complex incl the immense surrounding moat and wall bisected by the grand walkway.

Next was Preah Khan temple, where i was greeted by an illegal tour guide who, uninvited, went at lengths to explain the temple in good english. Though it was indeed interesting to see the shrinking doorways to the king's grave, and the neoclassical library ruins containing the king's arms, i had to part with more money than i would have liked though i threw in some singapore and malaysian money to appease him. So, a lesson for you is to say 'no' however nice the salutation as i did for the remaining less popular temples.

As it was a monday, the end of the weekend had taken with it the 1000s of Japs from yesterday. thus, the next temple (i forget its name) was empty and i was given special attention by over 10 children selling memorabilia and useless wooden flutes. Also, the temperature was cooler as i surveyed more towers being eroded by patiently violent trees.

Next on the circuit was a beautiful artificial lake with a temple in the centre, the site of many tranquil walks by the royals. Bumped into the two girls who were in a panic a few days earlier at the border as they had no idea how to get to Siem Reap...they were understandably happier now.

I then revisited 'Tomb-raider' Ta-Prohm Temple for the photos id missed.  However, today there was this really loud sound here, which initially i thought was machinery, but as with the other visitors soon realised the source were these birds.  Added magnificently to the eerie atmosphere of ruined buildings which with the huge trees seemed to still be alive.  Returned to the group at the hotel after bartering 2 t-shirts for 4 dollars.

Went for dinner in a posh-looking restaurant showing premiership football, this place is so much more modern than i was expecting... A cute waitress really liked a shirt, one i had bought earlier, which she saw in my bag. Therefore being a gentlemen, i sold it to her for 2 dollars and she was well chuffed. Got a photo and some free coke too. Opposite was a posher bar with lounge singers doing old songs and we hung there for a bit, though Marco was scaring everyone by hanging his expensive camera off the balcony to take some night images...this guy could take pictures for Japan!