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Published: August 9th 2007
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Fortunately, getting from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap no longer requires sitting on top of a speed boat in the middle of a giant lake for six hours getting sun stroke. Instead, for a quarter of the price, you can spend the same amount of time in a cramped, aggressively air conditioned bus while listening to the hits of Khmer Karaoke. The bus operators were even kind enough to include several microphones for those who wished to sing along. Luckily, nobody took them up on the offer.
I was starting to feel under the weather, and sentimental Cambodian pop music along with its video accompaniment of awkward, poorly acted foreplay wasn't helping matters. According to the booklet the travel clinic gave me before I left (published in 2004,) there are no international clinics in Siem Reap. The view out the window included a series of identical factories, with masonry chimneys and huge piles of timber outside. The sign on one of them said handicraft factory. We were on the main road connecting what were perhaps the two largest cities in the country. Fortunately, it was paved last year or the year before, so there was no problem driving in the
rain. It's still only one lane, so the bus did a good bit of swerving around to let other vehicles pass.
The day before, we tried to figure out a decent hotel to stay at. While we wanted to do a step up from a bargain basement guest house because of the mosquito situation, we didn't want to spend more than 15 or 20 per person per night. We decided on this decent looking hotel we saw on a website, and booked it. When we got there, it seemed alright and definitely hosted a domestic tourist crowd.
While Siem Reap is a step up from Phnom Penh, it does offer its share of good Khmer Food, crazy, cheap markets, poor sanitation, and dust and grime. It's clear that powerful forces are working to transform Siem Reap into destination that's palatable for non-backpackers and upscale package tourists. There are sites all over the city of a crumbling building with a corrugated steel roof abutting a glistening new five-star hotel. A "tourist village" is even underway in central Siem Reap, which will allow visitors to stroll though the area around their hotel without seeing anything remotely Cambodian.
It would
be myopic to say that any of this is nescessarily bad for Cambodia or Siem Reap. The troubling part is to think of how many people were displaced by the buldozing of their tenements. Angkor Wat, Cambodia's wonder of the world, has always been its ace-in-the-hole. My Phnom Penh Blog Darkness at Noon goes into more detail about this issue.
Of course, the reason why people want to go to Siem Reap has nothing to do with the city itself and everything the to do with the Wonder of the World that's just outside it-- Angkor Wat and its neighboring temples. The dozens of temples were constructed between the 9th and 15th centuries CE, with Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure on Earth, constructed in the 12th century.
Mom, please skip these next two paragraphs.
My condition was deteriorating fast. I was feeling the effects of something and, when morning came and we were scheduled to meet our Tuk Tuk driver to go to the temples, I couldn't get out of bed. Alex did his best to try and wake me, but I was incredibly tired. Two thoughts were going through my head: I was hoping that
I hadn't caught Dengue from a mosquito in Phnom Penh, and that I was going to miss seeing the temples, an unthinkable outcome.
Luckily, I was able get out of bed, put on some clothes and meet the driver. I tried to get some Tylenol for my headache around the Hotel and surrounding stores, but I just got funny looks when I asked for it. The hotel offered my something which Alex thought was aspirin, and therefore a big no no if Dengue was in the picture. The tuk tuk driver knew what to do and took us to an open air pharmacy, which luckily had a bottle of Tylenol. I purchased two pills from the bottle, took them, and, within about 20 minutes, felt like a million bucks. It looks like the Dengue is negative, but the results aren't in yet on hypochondria 😊
The first temple we visited was Bayon, a 12th c. temple with well preserved stellas and towers with faces pointing each direction. It was quite a site. I had all my energy back and was ready to explore. Inside the temple, I was motioned over by a lady laying down incense in front
of a Buddha statue. She handed me three sticks of incense and had me make a praying motion, and then methodically place them into the burner. I don't know what the Buddhist significance of that was.
I had been particularly excited about visiting Angkor Thom, the picturesquely overgrown ruins of a royal city and temple. Apparently, Tomb Raider was filmed there. The site went on and on, with all sorts of amazing things around every corner. After Thom, our driver suggested another ruin, which was sort of disappointing.
As I stepped into the main structure, I was motioned aside by a little man wearing what appeared to be a police uniform. He said that he was very poor and he wanted to sell me his "badge" for 4000 riel. I was about to respond with "2000 riel" (it would have made a hell of a souvenir) when I thought better of it and left. Sensing a sale, or at least a bribe, he decided to run after me. Luckily, he wasn't in the best shape so a brisk walk was all that was needed to escape him.
We were beginning to get Watted out and it looked
as if it was about to rain, so we had our driver take us to Angkor Wat for the grand finale. From the temple's ancient opening gate, the Wat seemed far in the haze. Getting to the top of it requires a rather scary climb up a near vertical flight of stairs. The stairs (more like steps on a ladder) are slippery and eroded, and there's a large climb-at-your-own-risk sign.
When I made it to the top, I was greeted by a puddle of urine. Luckily, I noticed it before my foot landed in it and I was able to enjoy the nice views from the top. Climbing down was naturally harder than getting up. As I was leaving the main complex, I saw a monkey hanging out by the wall. Mystery solved!
You can check out Alex's version of events here: Angkor Whoa!.
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John Turner
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Thom, wow!
The great narrative continues. The snapshots of Thom (and also Banyon) were just amazing. I can imagine wandering around there for days if there was an English speaking guide to explain why it was all so complex. [And, as an afterthought, I presume your mother has also ordered you to go back to the pharmacy and buy the whole damn bottle of Tylenol!]