Cambodia - Siem Reap & Angkor Wat

With our house building and school painting projects behind us, we  had  5 days to play tourist and enjoy the sights and sounds of Cambodia.  We decided to visit Siem Reap and the ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat.  Phnom Penh is about 350km from Siem Reap and so we weighed our options about how to get there.   Prior to leaving we looked into booking a flight between the two cities and had a great deal of difficulty doing so.  We then looked into taking a boat up the Tonle Sap river to Siem Reap.  We then found out the river is not navigable all year long and that we were visiting at the peak of the dry season in which river levels were at their lowest.   Foiled again.  So ground transportation it was going to be.   Having received some tips from friends who had previously made the trip, we were strongly discouraged from taking a bus.  So, we looked into hiring a car.  Easily enough, we were able to hire a car though the hotel and the price was right...only $60.  Pretty darn good for a trip of that length, I thought.

The morning of our departure we were greeted by our driver who was driving the car of choice in Cambodia..a mid-nineties Toyota Camry.  I thought it was great!  It's just like the '93 Camry we used to drive at home.  My family on the other hand, was not totally enamored with the eclectic appeal of this fine automobile.  Side note:  Lisa is also not entirely happy with the fact that '93 Camry of yore is still technically a legal possession of ours which is currently being rehabilitated as a part of a rather lengthy restoration at the local high school in St. Thomas, Ontario.

In we jumped and were immediately relieved to find out the air-con worked.  And so, the long journey began.  Now back at home, a trip of this distance would probably take about 3 hours to cover.  Our trip was considerably longer. 

The reasons why the trip proved a long one are numerous.  First of all, there was traffic congestion.  Lots of vehicles on a two-lane road.  Then, there's the condition of the road.  Although acceptable in some sections, large stretches of the road are extremely bumpy and the rather worn out suspension of our car didn't fare to well on these corduroy roads.  Then there's the slow moving vehicles. Finally, there's the farm animals.  Throughout our journey we had to slow and sometimes stop to allow grazing oxen to cross the road.  These animals are still used the way we use horses at home and can still be regularly seen pulling carts and ploughing fields.

6 hours later we arrived in Siem Reap.  After driving through the country for such a long time, it was good to see civilization again.  We headed straight to our hotel and couldn't wait to have a shower and take a look around.
We were staying at the Sokha Angkor resort and were immediately impressed with the place.  Unlike our rather spartan accommodations in Phnom Penh, this place had all the amenities...pool, gym, restaurants, Irish pub etc.  We also noticed as we checked in, that they had afternoon tea with complimentary choice of dessert. This was an offering our sweet tooths simply could not ignore!

Speaking of food, this was one of the most pleasant surprises of our trip.  The food offerings at the various restaurants we went to were wide and varied and the prices simply could not be beat.  For example, one night our house building crew went out and a group of 20+ people had a combined food bill of less than $300, including drinks!  Even the food in our hotel was affordable. So much so that we actually ordered room service without blinking at the prices on the menu. Nice.

Our first night there, we were met by our Tuk Tuk (taxi), driver Pealey who was conveniently arranged for us by our Tuk Tuk driver Mickey in Phnom Penh.  There are far too many Tuk Tuk drivers and not enough business to go around, so Pealey took us down to Pub Street in Siem Reap and was completely willing and prepared to wait for us  while we ate our dinner so that he could give us a ride home.  First, we checked out the Red Piano bar, where apparently Angeline Jolie liked to hang out when she was visiting Tomb Raider.  Before we could decide on a place to eat, Haylee came down with a sore stomach and so we called it an early night.  Just as well, as our next day would be a busy one at Angkor Wat.

The following day Pealey came to pick us up ( he was now OUR driver, as the drivers show an allegiance to their customers) and escorted by our guide, Boon Rong, whom we had hired for the day, we headed off to see the ancient temples of Angkor Wat.  Note: Guides are recommended but not required for visiting the temples in order to get some background on their history and development, which, due to the sheer size of the complex is more than a little overwhelming. It was very well worth it as the information shared by Boon Rong told a story that the stones and  murals/reliefs could not tell.

The first day we decided to visit the the Bayon Temple in the ancient city of Angkor Thom.  Built in the twelfth century, " Angkor Thom was built as a square, the sides of which run exactly north to south and east to west. Standing in the exact center of the walled city, Bayon Temple represents the intersection of heaven and earth".
(I won't attempt to re-tell or plagiarize any additional info., so check out the links for more if interested.)

Seeing the temples for the first time was awe inspiring.  The majestic beauty of the temples and the detail in the carvings was something to behold.  We found it hard to believe that a walled city that was once home to close to a million people (and the largest city of the pre-industrial age) was simply abandoned.  But I guess it's simply another example of history repeating itself, as witnessed in places like Egypt, Greece, Italy etc.

One the second day, we went to visit Angkor Wat.  It is the largest religious building in the world, originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and then Buddhist.  To quote someone else's words again, " Angkor Wat is the best preserved example of Khmer architecture in Cambodia and is so grand in design that some rank it among the seven wonders of the world. It appears on the Cambodian national flag, a very rare instance of a flag incorporating an image of a building."

We spent the afternoon wondering through Angkor Wat.  It seemed like around every corner there was another incredible photo taking opportunity.   In the late afternoon, our guide recommended that we visit Phnom Bakheng Temple.  Who were we to argue?


Before we go any further, you may have noticed some repetition in the names of places, so I'll provide a quick Khmer language lesson to fill you in.    The word Phnom means hill, so we were previously in the city of Penh Hill and we were now on our way to Bakheng Hill Temple.

From the top of  Phnom Bakheng Temple we had a 360 degree view and could see of all of  the Angkor Wat  complex (Angkor means city and Wat means temple) and the West Baray.  The West Baray or reservoir(more like a lake) was built by diverting water from the Siem Reap River and was what allowed the ancient city to thrive.  Water fed from the baray through irrigation canals to the fields allowed for year round agriculture.  A  prolonged two decade drought coincided with attacks from neighboring Thailand and ultimately led to the abandonment of Angkor Wat. But, I digress.

We made the long, circular walk to the top of the hill and the Bakheng Temple.  At one time, there were stone stairs one could climb that kinda formed a,"stairway to heaven" on the eastern and western side of the hill. However these are now partially grown over and too dangerous to climb.   We were greeted by hundreds of others who had made the journey.  Unbeknown to us, this is a popular viewing site and it's not uncommon to see a thousand people their at the height of tourist season.  Come to think of it, I should've figured this out earlier when we were greeted at the base of the hill by a throng of locals selling everything from cold beer to silk scarves.
 

We watched the setting sun over the West Baray and happily made the much easier walk down the hill to our awaiting Tuk Tuk (and our faithful driver, Pealey) and called it a day.

 Our third and final day of touring the temples would take us to one of the most eerily picturesque temples of all, Ta Prohm.   Located about one kilometre from Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm has been left in much the same condition as it was found.  The combination of trees literally growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings give it a very different feel than the other temples we visited.  Many scenes in the movie, "Tomb Raider" were filmed here and consequently it is a popular temple.  We found that it was a great temple to visit on a sunny day because the jungle canopy offered a much needed respite from the sun.
After Ta Prohm, we bade Angkor Wat farewell by taking a victory lap of sorts in our Tuk Tuk past Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat for one last look.  We bade farewell knowing that someday we would be back for more.

 
On our final night, we went out on the town and visited the Siem Reap Night Market.  The usual fare of t-shirts and bootleg dvds were being sold but the interesting thing was the different 'spas' where one could get a massage.  Nothing illicit or sordid here (at least not that we saw).  The amazing thing was the price.  The massage industry kinda has the same problem that tourist driven industry has: way too much competition.  The end result is the consumer wins: big time.  A foot massage or a back massage for 20 minutes would set you back for the princely sum of $1.   Fish spas are all the rage over in SE Asia and there's no shortage of them in Siem Reap.  In Singapore, you would ordinarily pay $15-20 for 15 minutes.  The price at the night market? $2. Plus, you get a free beer! Unbelievable.

The following day, we boarded the plane for our journey home: Siem Reap-Phnom Penh-Singapore.  We arrived home at 10:00 p.m. on the Sunday night, completely exhausted and completely satisfied with the most fulfilling and enjoyable of vacations.

Ah Kuhn, Cambodia!