Temples, Tourists, and Tuk-tuk-mobiles

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Cambodia. It’s the end of my prolonged stay here in a country that I barely knew. There are a lot of things in Cambodia that I haven’t really seen. I have seen very little of it as a matter of fact. Siem Reap is one. The area around the temples of Angkor is another. These two places are hardly representative of what Cambodia is really all about because there are too many tourists, and you know how places can be corrupted by tourism; too many hotels, too many foreigners behaving poorly, and too many enterprising locals who don’t really give a damn about you other than to take away that almighty dollar that you’re holding on to so tightly in your hand because there’s this tendency for travelers to be so frugal when traveling and who expect everything to be given to them for free. I was thinking about this while eating breakfast on the second floor restaurant of the FCC hotel. I was having my usual Khmer style rice porridge, tropical fruits, and a cup of tea. The rice porridge is mixed with some chicken broth and strips of meat with a dash of cilantro and chili, a taste of heaven. The tea was a little disappointing considering that I’m in Southeast Asia where the quality of the tea is suppose to be superior to the United States, yet the cup of tea that I was drinking tasted like Lipton Tea.

In the past five days I have prowled around the Angkor area and tried to see as much as I can, yet I’m still not satisfied. There are just too many features to explore, not just the designs and the meanings of the bas-relief carvings, but from a practical point of view, the construction techniques, the inserts that attaches each component together and provide stability to these structures, and the logistics that made this whole place possible, are just a few of the things that are on my agenda, my 1000 things I’d like to do before I die list. Unfortunately such an ambitious agenda takes a lifetime to complete and impossible if you only have one life and ninety percent of it is spent working for a living, like me, who must now saunter back to reality and end my little journey pretty soon after a couple of stops in Southeast Asia. In the last five days I’ve visited Angkor Wat, the compound of Angkor Thom, Preah Khan, Banteay Prei, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, and Banteay Kdei. I could bore anyone who has the patience to be bored by my endless description of each one of these temples that I visited in the Angkor area, but I’ll spare everyone the agony and meander along instead on a rambling digression of temples, tourists, and tuk-tuk mobiles.

Preah Khan and Beyond

Preah Khan is on the edge of the Angkor Thom compound, not inside of it but outside on the east side of its North Gate. My tuk-tuk driver dropped me off on the West Entrance of Preah Khan and we agreed to meet on the North Gate in a couple of hours or so. A few hundred yards of walking will take you to the West Gopura of Preah Khan. By now the layout is familiar to me; a wide terrace at the entrance, nagas, Buddha statues, and garudas meet you at the entrance, and groups of tourists being escorted by KATGA guides taking pictures of the ruins. I follow a group of Japanese tourists to the entrance where a huge garuda statue with a wide wingspan greets you at the gate. The Japanese tourists say something to one another. They had that look of amazement and awe in their faces and in their tone of voice and the rhythm of their speech indicated to me that this was something very exciting to them. It was nothing but a statue of a garuda to me. One of them opened a guidebook showing a large glossy picture of the same garuda that we were all looking at and it showed some fine details that they, the Japanese tourists, retraced with the actual statue. Evidently I was missing something important here. It’s too bad I couldn’t understand their language. The KATGA guide provided even more edification by pointing and explaining, in Japanese, the meanings of the feathers and beads and all the symbolisms that this work of art contained.

I moved on ahead of the Japanese tourists while they examined the garuda in more detail. A little Cambodian girl, no more than the age of six or seven, was squatting down and picking up some edible shrubbery on the other side of the entrance. Up ahead of me were some German backpackers taking pictures of the terrace that leads to the entrance of the main structure of Preah Khan. At the entrance is a temple dedicated to Vishnu. Again, I am totally ignorant of Hindu mysticism, so I was awed only by the beauty of the structure and not by the meanings of the symbols. These German backpackers probably knew more about this stuff than I did. I moved on ahead inside towards the central sanctuary and took as many pictures as I could of all the interesting carvings that I saw. I particularly liked the Hall of Dancers on the east side of Preah Khan. On the northeast is a courtyard of red bricks and a cruciform walkway with a two-storey library, I think, with round columns. None of the guidebooks call it a library however but in the general design of Angkor temple architecture such a solitary building on the corner is usually a library. The round columns are also unique to Preah Khan. Another KATGA guide, escorting a couple of British looking people, explained that these round columns are relatively modern compared to most of the designs in Angkor where the columns are usually made of square blocks laid on top of one another. The guide said the round column is a signature of thirteenth century design of the temples.

I sat on the steps at the edge of the two-storey building with round columns, watching the tourists walk around and cooling off in the shade from the humidity. My bottle of water is now eighty percent empty. A trickle of tourists are casually walking along the walkway and doing the usual touristy stuff. A temple like this normally doesn’t rate that high to many tourists and many decide to skip them, opting instead to sight see for the more popular Ta Prohm, Angkor Wat, and Angkor Thom temples only and zip out of town as fast as they can because Siem Reap itself doesn’t really have much to offer although I myself kind of like the laid back feel of the town. It reminded me somewhat of Malacca in Malaysia, where the only thing it offered was its history.

The beauty of Preah Khan lies in its quaint sense of secrecy, as if hidden somewhere deep in the jungle and impossible to find unless you were guided by a knowledgeable but obscure monk who knew of its existence. It is no Shangri-La but its existence isn’t as obvious as the rest of the temples in the area like Angkor Wat, due to its enormity, grab your attention right out of the gates of Siem Reap International. Preah Khan’s beauty isn’t that easy to appreciate at first sight either. Like any worthwhile endeavor, you have to work on it to appreciate it. It has plenty of potential to be as magnificent as the other temples but the fallen masonry may take decades to restore. I would guess that only forty percent of the compound is still standing or restored, the other sixty percent is lying in tattered ruins. There are trees everywhere sprouting on top of old brick walls and towers.

I walked back to the central sanctuary with three other tourists from Belgium snapping pictures of the Hall of Dancers along the way. It’s dark inside but a beam of sunshine seeps through in some of the ports within the sanctuary. I pay respects to the statue of Buddha in the central sanctuary by burning incense and leaving two thousand riel worth of notes, roughly equivalent to fifty US cents. The Belgians did the same.

Banteay Prei

Right across the North Gate of Preah Khan is a jungle and a patch of crop land sponsored by the South Korea-Cambodia Tree Planting Friendship Unity, or something to that effect, a coalition of two nations with a ridiculously uplifting sounding name. What this usually entails is aid from a relatively wealthy nation like South Korea to a poor third world undeveloped countries like Cambodia, Laos, The Philippines, or Timor-Leste in exchange for favors in terms of business opportunities and the like for the wealthy counterpart, a Quid Pro Quo if you will, but there’s nothing equal about it. Usually the less wealthy nation gets screwed in the process; the Cambodian market is flooded with South Korean electronics in favor of electronic gadgets from other nations in exchange for a statue of Prince Sihanouk in the center of a huge plaza dedicated to the Prince, for example. I notice this plot of South Korean-Cambodians Friendship crop land while riding a tuk-tuk along a narrow dirt road on our way to the Banteay Prei temple.

There is nothing remarkable at all about Banteay Prei. As a matter of fact it is probably the least significant temple in the Angkor area. It’s not even mentioned at all in many of the guidebooks, and for good reason; it’s not worth mentioning. It is nothing but a small square temple, approximately no more than fifty by fifty meters, or twenty five hundred square meters in total land area, with a simple inelegant tower at the center. The central sanctuary is enclosed by a five meter wall with only a few bas-relief carvings, unlike the other temples where some kind of Hindu symbolism is usually displayed on the walls of its surrounding as a way of chronicling the life and times of the era. Banteay Prei has none of that. Some bas-relief carvings of a devata in full regalia are the only noticeable feature of this temple, next to the large tree inside the wall, which seems to dominate the whole place. The walls are crumbling and a few wooden supports buttress many of the bricks that are about to fall apart from the structure. There was only one other tourists inside, an older Englishman wearing a straw hat, steel rimmed glasses, a flowery Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes.

No one here but us

he said to me.

That’s just the way I like it

I replied.

He obliquely laughed and promptly walked away. Now there was absolutely no one in Banteay Prei except me. My tuk-tuk driver was waiting for me half a mile away from the temple. I walked around in the rubble with the mid-day sun beaming down on me, the heat and humidity fully in its equatorial effect, sweating like a dog, and loving every minute of it. There is not one temple in this whole place that is not being trampled on by tourists. Here bricks and broken naga statues are lying on the ground next to wild vegetation. I wanted to savor this solitude for as long as I can, in this hidden secret of a paradise with no one but chirping crickets to keep me company.

Ta Prohm

If Banteay Prei is the least popular among the temples, Ta Prohm is probably the most intriguing to the typical tourist due to its bizarre intertwining existence with the jungle, or at least it appears that way to the pedestrians. Huge roots of trees have practically gobbled up one section of the gallery in the second enclosure. This is one of the most popular point and clicking spots for tourists in the temples of Angkor. Hundreds of tourists take turn standing in front of the root-dominated alcove and having their snapshots taken of their merry selves. It’s quite ridiculous, and annoying, because it’s hard to get a snapshot of it by itself in its full grandeur in the magic light of the afternoon sun.

Like many temples in Angkor, the main entrance faces east, with a cruciform terrace and a gopura at every entrance. Even before I reached the famous giant roots on top of the second enclosure gallery excitement was already building up among the sightseers in the area. I bumped into a family from Seattle (Ballard). They were standing around second gallery by the huge roots and snapping pictures of one another, one by one. I politely obliged to take a picture of the whole family in front of the famous Ta Prohm sight with their camera. Next came the Cambodian family that I had met earlier in the week back in Bayon of Angkor Thom. They too wanted their picture taken in front of the roots, and I politely obliged. Then came a few not so friendly Americanos who mumbled to themselves about people fouling their view and spoiling their snapshot of the roots clawing over the gallery wall. One of them was a big burly guy with a potbelly.

I wish these clowns would get out of the way so I can take my picture

said the fat Americano. The clowns he was talking about were the Cambodian family that I just took a picture of. I politely told him that he is just a visitor to these peoples country, so lighten and be considerate, have some patience. The fat Americano looked at me with disgust, and I smiled back with condescension. He got even more disgusted and walked away with his companion, a tall older fellow with white hair and coke bottle glasses. The look on the older fellow’s face told me that he was embarrassed for his friend.

It is difficult to discern the actual layout of Ta Prohm from just walking around because much of the site is crumbling and is being dominated by these huge trees growing over them. The grandeur of the Khmer empire that these temples clearly remind us of has fallen, and the trees growing over them are an indication that life has moved on without them. The Khmer Dynasty has had its turn, and now it is the Silk Cotton Trees and the Fig Trees turn to flourish in the jungle. The route from the second enclosure to the first enclosure is rather circuitous because of these trees. The Temples of Angkor Preservation Society, if such a society exist, has made a little easier for tourists by putting up wooden walkways and footsteps to get around the rubble. One of these walkways has an excellent vantage point for taking a picture of, yet again, the roots of a huge fig tree snaking around one corner of the wall of the first enclosure.

Banteay Kdei

A tall European woman in her mid-thirties was chatting with the touts and vendors loitering in the entrance to Banteay Kdei. The male vendors were obviously trying to sell her something, a bottle of soda, a bottle of water, a scarf or whatever, but the touts and vendors were really more interested in her because she was flaunting her white tight shorts and big breasts over a pink tank top to these sweaty and libidinous young Cambodian males. I had just gotten off my tuk-tuk and making a beeline for the entrance when one of the children hawking something stopped me. I was just about to ignore her when I noticed the tall European woman flirting with the touts. The touts were enjoying themselves immensely.

Mam, one scarf, one hat, for you, or for your boyfriend, one doughlah okee

one them said, chuckling and drooling.

No, no boyfriend, just me

the lady said coyly in her slight German accent, or was it Dutch, Austrian or Belgian, I can’t tell. She was not gorgeous looking but she looked sexy in her tight white shorts, and she knew it by the looks of the gawking touts.

I pretended to be interested in what the young Khmer girl was hawking at me, fruit juice, a bottle of water, or whatever, but what I was really interested in is the flirtation going on a couple of yards in front of me. There were six of them and one of her, and she too seemed to be enjoying all this attention.

Mam, drink you for, very cheap, one doughlah

another tout said, slobbering all over himself.

Where you stay?

, he added.

The lady mentioned some unnamed guesthouse on Wat Bo Street. She was asking about places to eat and drink, and what the nightlife in Siem Reap was like. This got the touts all excited. They were recommending a few places near Psar Chas, the old market area, and a couple of places on Wat Bo Street near her guesthouse. If she liked, we could keep you company, one of them said. This seemed to be an agreeable idea to her, and they talked some more, but they were drifting farther and farther away from me as they talked, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying. The Khmer girl was nagging me about a bottle of water. I finally bought one just to get rid of her, and tried to catch up with the touts and the European lady who wanted to party with them, but by the time I finally caught up to them she was gone, walking inside the entrance to Banteay Kdei. Another golden opportunity to eavesdrop slipped away. I almost kicked myself for missing out on a perverse amusement.

I too walked into the gates of Banteay Kdei and started my walking tour. What I was about to write, about the grandeur and the pleasure of seeing a magnificent little temple with same style and design as Ta Prohm and the Bayon, could not possibly top the brief interlude of gawking touts flirting with a tall European woman in tight white shorts. My plan all along was to tour Banteay Kdei and chronicle the things that interested me inside the temple, but the dalliance I witnessed outside changed all that. Instead I grabbed my little notebook that I carry with me while traveling and wrote down the incident for posterity because it is obviously more interesting. Banteay Kdei is interesting too, but on a different - higher - level. After I finished frantically scribbling in my notebook, making sure that I didn’t miss anything important while the memory is still fresh, I continued my walking tour, satisfied with myself for being perversely observant.

I was in such a good mood, very agreeable, and walking light footed that I became friendly and generous to anyone and everyone that came across my way. I saw a couple of Khmer kids selling postcards without much enthusiasm. They were just putting up postcards in front of every tourist, hoping that was enough to entice them to buy. I walked up to them and bought a set of postcards from each kid. The little Khmer girl no more than age eight or nine couldn’t believe her good luck. She beamed with a look of success without trying.

Ta Keo

Takeo Spikes is a football player,NFL, who used to play for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills. He also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, I think, although I’m not sure because I’m not a fan of any of those teams. He is now older, slower, and less dominating than he was in his prime with the Bengals and the Bills, but he still has some value as a defensive player, a linebacker who can plug holes and stop a run on occasion, but not every down. The Frisco niners picked him up, on waivers probably, to fill that role.

Takeo Spikes has nothing to do with the Temples of Angkor other than his name sounds similar to Ta Keo, the tall temple right across from Ta Prom. It is a steep climb to get up there, and it looks marvelous from a distance. There were not many tourists inside. I saw only one Japanese tourist while I roamed around and climbed up the steep steps to the central tower. There are five towers, one on each corner, and one at the central, the one that I was climbing up to. It took awhile, abut ten minutes to get up there, and when I finally made it to the courtyard facing the final steps to the central tower, I Khmer fella wearing a UPS brown set of clothing greeted me and started talking to me in English. He said he is a student studying English and hoping to learn enough to get a job as a tour guide but for the time being he is working as sort of a park ranger for the Angkor area, thus the UPS brown uniform. He guide me around and helped me climbed that final steps of what must have been the steepest climbed yet for me up to the central tower of Ta Keo, and what a glorious sight it was. You can see the towers of Angkor Wat from up here. He can also see the mountains where most of the stones were gotten to make this and all the other temples in the area. My pseudo-guide showed all of this to me. He said the temple was never actually completed because lightning struck it down and the King, Jayavarman V, thought it a bad omen and a curse to continue.

I liked the fact that this temple, although significant and magnificent in its own right, was not oft visited by tourists. I was the only one there. The Japanese tourist who was there before me had already left. It’s a perfect place to end my temple journey. I tipped my pseudo-guide generously when I left.

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Photos

Garuda
Half man and half bird

Khmer kid
Living off the land

Morning Green
In Preah Khan

Khmer Art
Dancers

Preah Khan Courtyard
in vivid red

Round Columns
Just sitting underneath the round columns of Preah Khan

Banteay Prei
Solitude in Banteay Prei

Ta Prohm
One of the many fig trees gobbling up Ta Prohm

Ta Keo
Magnificent in its own right

Inside Banteay Kdei
This kid looks like he's flipping me off

Inside the Halls
A Banteay Kdei courtyard

Terrace
Notice the wooden supports to keep the gopura from falling down

Kids Playing
These two kids were selling postcards perfunctorily

Small Kid Time
These two couldn't believe their luck when I bought their postcards without solicitation