Angkoring for Peace and Quiet

Angkoring for Peace and Quiet

It’s been a good couple of days, but filled with mixed emotions.

But before I submerge you in the usual detail I must make special mention of Threeland Travel. Our tailor-made 15 day tour has been simply superb - far better than we imagined it could possibly be - and today Threeland decided to finish our tour with a flourish :o) Instead of the 2 star shed, in which we were expecting to end our final days of the tour, we were taken to a super hotel in the heart of Siem Reap. We were graciously received by the reception staff, who brought a big beam to Jan’s face when they said “We have decided to upgrade you to a Suite”. So now my sweet is in her suite, rolling about on the baseball pitch sized Four Poster while I type this blog in the sitting room. With two showers, an enormous four poster bed and more floor space than our own home, Madam is in raptures :0) Thank you, Threeland.

But now, back to Saigon!
Thanh picked us up at 09:00 for our transfer to the airport. We spent most of the transfer journey showing Thanh the ‘photos on my laptop. When I showed an unsmiling ‘photo of Thanh with his parents….well, he dropped a bombshell! (Thanh is deeply superstitious and spent much of his time with us reading hands and telling fortunes, for us and our children. So when he looked at the ‘photo and said “We don’t take pictures of three or five people. We believe the one in the middle will die early” …. Well I was mortified :o(
Pray God Thanh hasn’t been….

At the airport we swapped fond farewells and then hurled ourselves into the business of booking in. Let me say here and now that Saigon is the slowest, most irritating airport we have ever visited. We arrived 2 hours early and slowly worked our way through a series of queues. When we finally got through the last of them we were able to sit down for just three minutes before our flight boarded. A close shave!

Siem Reap was reached in a blink of an eye, and visa and customs were really quite well organised. And so outside to meet our irritating new guide, and to make the transfer to the Hotel.

First impressions were not good: Our guide asked to see our programme. “Different to mine.” He said, throwing it back. He then spent the entire trip rattling off the names of all the hotels we passed “5 star, built 2005, owned by Vietnamese, 5 star, owned by Singapore, most expensive suite in Cambodia……” and so on. (No chance to build up a rapport.) Then came a well-rehearsed dialogue about Cambodia and Siem Reap. Everything he said was clearly a script, learned by heart. Any attempt we made to talk was ignored - either because he didn’t understand or because it wasn’t part of his script.

A distinct feeling of unease surfaced when we saw the sheer number of new hotels springing up in every available space from the airport to Angkor. Where on earth were all these extra bodies going to? If they all head for the temple complex it’ll be unbearably crowded - possibly leading to 5 star tourists staying away….. (And the rest of us)

We refused Lunch and asked to go to the hotel for a shower and costume change. Then out for an introductory tour. As we headed into the temple complex we passed the West Gate of Angkor Wat. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and a lump developed in my throat. I had looked forward to this moment for years. (Tomorrow I’d be close to tears over Angkor again - but for an entirely different reason)

First up was the Bayon - something I had been eagerly looking forward to. But when we arrived we were surrounded by coach-loads of Japanese and Korean tourists. “Quick, Peter, hurry over here. No tourist - take picture now. Not there - over here best spot.” Quick, quick, hurry, hurry. Tourist coming …. Stand here, take picture.” And so it went on. We were rushed from pillar to post - I had no time to stop and look around, no opportunity to soak up the atmosphere and no hope of taking any kind of creative image.

And then there were the Japanese: The older generation scowl, barge through any kind of queue and operate in packs. The younger generation are loud, effervescent and never stop shouting and giggling.

Picture the scene: a beautifully decorated door frame is perfectly aligned with an ethereal sculpted image of a smiling face, umpteen metres high. You think about taking a ‘photo … when a pack of forty or so young Japanese arrive. One stands inside the door-frame and mimics the facial expression of the statue beyond. Thirty-nine voices shriek approval and a photo is taken. Now number 39 strikes up the same pose … more laughter, more camera clicks …. Followed by number 38 ….37…..36….yawn! You move on and forget the opportunity lost…..but discover the next ideal viewpoint is surrounded by a coachload of elderly Koreans, shuffling up in turn to pose, deluding themselves that their own visages outshine the glorious architecture they partially obscure with their posing.

“Quick, quick, hurry, hurry - no tourist, take picture now….”
And so it went on, through a series of minor temples. Our guide was delighted to be hosting a photographer - he had once worked as an assistant for a professional and knew all the best places. (Oddly he hadn’t got a clue about the capabilities of the various lenses I was using - just kept shouting “Not there - best picture here - Hurry, Hurry, Tourist coming….”) But soon his manner changed and it became clear he was suffering quite badly from stomach cramps and fever. We left him sitting on a grassy knoll and went exploring on our own.
Bliss :o)

After an exhausting and thoroughly frustrating afternoon we went back to the Hotel to have a cooling shower and to change for an entirely average meal and Aspara dance. We ate sparingly, left early and went to bed …. dreading the morning.

At 07:30 sharp our guide was waiting in the foyer with a beaming smile, proclaiming “Feel much better today” We got into the car and headed off … in the wrong direction. Our guide had decided to take us to Banta Sreay (which should have been on the final day before a walk in the Jungle to The River of Lingas). Well, we’re never one’s to grumble, so we went along with his plan. The early start worked well and we had at least ten minutes of peace and quiet before the coaches of Japanese and Koreans arrived.

Back in the car, as we headed off in the wrong direction yet again, it appeared that our guide had scrapped our itinerary and was intent on rushing us through as many temples as possible, stopping only to take ‘photos at viewpoints he had selected.

“When are we going to the River of Lingas?” I asked. “Not going there - too far - road bad, break car - too dangerous, too many wild animals….”

That was it! We had specifically told Threeland that we wanted to view a few iconic temples and then finish off with a walk to the River of Lingas. Now it was time to mutiny!

“STOP!”

“We aren’t interested in rushing round the temples. We want to see Angkor Wat, Prah Thom, The Bayon and Banta Sreay. We would also like to stop to view village life and get to meet some Cambodian Villagers.” We decided that if he wouldn’t play we would abandon our guide and go solo if necessary.

A sudden change occurred. We compromised and accepted that our trip to the River of lingas was now wrecked. Instead we arranged to visit Prah Thom (my biggest wish) today - and perhaps a couple of minor temples. Tomorrow we would visit Angkor Wat (silly not to, really) and then hire a boat (at our own expense) to visit the floating villages on Tonle Sap.

Well, the day suddenly improved beyond recognition, We stopped frequently to enjoy rural scenes (and nearly had Happy Buddha impaled by an angry bull when I invaded his territory) we met lovely village children and sat around at market stalls, teasing the youngsters trying to flog tat. (We had read about how pushy these kids are, but in reality they are absolutely delightful and great fun to spend time with.)

Prah Thom was simply overwhelming. The massive trees growing through the cascading ruins of this temple, the slanting beams of sunlight, the “Zzzzing” of the cicadas and screeches of the circling parrots created an atmosphere that the jabbering masses of Japanese coach tourists could not destroy. We stopped and sat on a grassy knoll while I tried to imagine the feet that had trodden these terraces a thousand years ago. Prah Thom alone is sufficient reason to visit Cambodia.

Back at the hotel we declined the set meal provided with our tour and settled for a swim in the pool and a couple of cocktails. Then we made our way into Siem Reap for a wonderful Cambodian meal, with G&Ts, lots of beer and cocktails to finish. All for the princely sum of 12 quid!

Jan and I simply floated back to the hotel in an alcoholic haze :o) A bad start had reached a glorious conclusion and all was well with the world. We had managed to take the helm and get our wonderful holiday back on course.

Tomorrow was eagerly awaited - Angkor Wat followed by Tonle Sap. A perfect agenda :o)
Surely this would be the perfect end to a perfect holiday? What could possibly go wrong?

Don’t miss the next episode: “A thousand steps to hell - The drips finally rebel!”

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