Return to Siem Reap

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Kampuchea Angkor Express

After our late night with the girls in Phnom Penh, Eric, Corine, and I boarded the K.A.E. bus for a 6+ hour bus ride to Siem Reap. The K.A.E. and the Mekong Express are the two V.I.P. charter buses that run the route to Siem Reap. For $8 we received an air conditioned bus, with toilet, a cold towel, water, and a “snack” - which was essentially sweet bread. The best part was the Cambodian pop music playing almost the entire way up there, complete with music videos. The worst part of the trip was the toilet beneath the bus. Don’t ask. About two hours into the ride, we hit a “rest stop” in a small town. It included a restaurant, public W.C., and what seemed to be hundreds of people selling everything from water to mangos to fried spiders. On our return to Phnom Penh, one little girl, about 8 years old, had a large tarantula on her t-shirt, allowing tourists to take pictures for a price. At first, we thought the spider on her shirt was fake, or at least dead. Then, she lifted the bug and we saw its legs move. Yucky. The guy sitting next to Corine admitted he was quite frightened of the spider, and as much as we were all on the bus, the little girl was joking that she would throw the spider into the bus, which totally freaked out the Canadian tourist. On the way to Sieam Reap, the guy sitting in front of me on the bus bought some spiders. He was a tourist snapping photos on the bus while eating them. I just begged him silently to not vomit on the floor in front of me if those spiders did not sit well. We also thought about all of the various fried bugs for sale - baskets and baskets of various insects. Where do those insects come from? The area surrounding the market must be filled with bugs, and we all agreed we certainly would not want to spend a night in that village! I will also note that our other bus rides in Cambodia were similar, with several motos stored below with the bags. They each had some form of entertainment, with music videos and even a Rambo film, and a few minutes of Steven Segal. Classic. They made stops along the way, but rarely came to a full stop as the passengers got on and off. And, the horn. Every driver in Cambodia LOVES to use the horn. It is meant to allow people who are slower, i.e. motos or bicycles to know you are approaching. But, what we noticed was most drivers just honk the horn every few seconds on instinct, even when no one else is on the road. All of the scenery along the way was stunning, with open fields and rice paddies with tall towering palm trees, beautiful children and charming wooden houses on stilts.

We were excited to return to Siem Reap, the town that made us fall in love with Cambodia and swear we would return. The Angkor Temple complex brought so much peace to us during our last visit. We were just in awe of the grandeur and beauty of so many of the temples. We loved our tour guide, Chamnan, aka Nan, and all that he taught us about the temples and the culture. We also loved the pride he held for his country. It was refreshing. We also were spending almost 14 hours round trip on a bus, so it better be worth it!

After close to seven hours on the bus, ready to escape, and finally stretch my legs, we arrived at the bus terminal in Siem Reap. The bus terminal was a few wooden buildings on an unpaved parking lot, some buses, and what felt like hundreds of touts selling fruit and tuk tuk rides. It was mass chaos. We were diligently trying to watch our bags being unloaded from beneath the bus and being carried into the office for us to retrieve. We wanted to ensure they made the full trip and did not walk away without us. The bus employees were all yelling at us to get our bags from the office, and could not understand why we were waiting by the bus. Simultaneously, dozens of children were trying to sell various items, while also yelling. I had a bag of mango from the rest stop in my hands, and the children were grabbing my arm, and trying to grab the bags of fruit from my hand, begging for money. To top it off, tuk tuk drivers were desperately yelling at us to give them business. To say it was off-putting was an understatement.

We retrieved our bags and agreed with a tuk tuk driver that he would take us to the hotel we had a reservation with for $1. The three of us and our bags and the driver managed to barely fit into the tuk tuk. A few minutes into the ride, the driver pulled over to get gas from a makeshift gas station, taking an old beer bottle of gas to fill up. While pulled over, the driver attempted some chit chat with us, asking if we needed a driver for the temples over the next few days. Eric and I already agreed that we would not hire a tuk tuk or a guide and instead would rent bikes to drive around our favorite spots. We were trying to set Corine up with Chamnan, and was not sure if he had a car, driver, or tuk tuk that he worked with. We tried to tell the driver we were okay and did not need a tuk tuk for the next day, which started a huge controversy. We thought telling the driver this was our second trip to Siem Reap would make him aware that we knew where we were going and what we were doing, sort of like not admitting to a NYC taxi driver that it is your first time in the city. The tuk tuk driver wanted us to speak with someone at the bus station to let them know we did not need a driver. I told him no problem, because as I understood it, he would be out of work the next 2 or 3 days without our business, and the bus station would not let him get back in line for another group of tourists. It seemed a weird policy, but I was willing to make the call. He was taking forever to make the phone call, seemingly pretending to dial the number while he continued to talk us into using his services. We told him to take us to our hotel because after a seven hour bus ride we all needed to use the toilet and did not want to fight with him on the side of a dusty road. We told him we would discuss the issue at the hotel and would make a phone call then if need be. After a few minutes he agreed, got back on his moto and immediately turned the tuk tuk around to head back to the bus station, saying we needed to speak with someone there. That was the final straw. As we slowly headed back towards the station, we told him to let us off. We did not want to be driven by him if he was not going to bring us where we agreed. He would not stop the tuk tuk, but because he was trying to make a phone call, he slowed enough that we actually jumped out of the tuk tuk, grabbed our bags and walked away. Eric and I were furious, although Corine was taking it calmer. Eric said “welcome to Siem Reap.” We were immediately disappointed in our arrival. Where was the peaceful Siem Reap we remembered from 2006?

Siem Reap Town

After a huge mistake with our reservation, and traipsing all over Seam Reap town we ended at a guest house we did not intend to stay at. But, the evening in the end worked well as we headed out for Cambodian bbq. We grabbed beers at the bar that is famous for being a hangout where Angelina Jolie frequented while filming Tomb Raider in the area. We were

starting to feel better about our return as we calmed down, relaxed, and surrounded ourselves with the familiar sights and sounds of Siem Reap.

In the morning, Eric and I rented bicycles to ride around the temple complex. This may not seem like a big thing for most people, but I have only ridden a bike once in well over 15 years. I know the phrase - you won’t forget, it’s like riding a bike, but I just did not believe it. Siem Reap is a small town, but with a decent amount of motos, tuk tuks, and cars, intersections made me a bit nervous. There were not many traffic lights so intersections involved me plowing through and praying I would not be hit. Just after we started we needed to go over a little bridge with an incline. Not a problem, right? Not a problem until a jeep pulled in front of me and drove so slowly making a right onto the bridge and heading up the incline that he almost came to a complete stop and I almost was hit. I was convinced I was riding my bike better than his driving. From that point on, I started feeling a bit better.

Our tour of the temples was a bit on the long side, we estimated between 35 and 40 kilometers. The Angkor complex is several kilometers outside of town, and the entire complex itself covers well over 25 kilometers of land. We drove past Angkor Wat, through Angkor Thom to see Bayon Temple, and Ta Prohm. It was nice to return to the temples and walk through at leisure, remembering the awe we had during our first visit. It was great exercise, but by the end I have never been more sweaty or dirtier than I was at that moment, with all of the dust kicked up by the motorized vehicles.

After our tour we were exhausted, hot, and frankly, not feeling all that well, making us drive right back to the hotel after about 4 hours of riding to crash, napping in our air conditioned room. Corine had spent the day touring the temples with Nan’s father, Sivong. The main purpose of our return to Siem Reap was to see Chamnan. Nan and his friend brought Corine, Eric, and I to a locals’ restaurant, we never would have found on our own. We had to take a “local” road to get to the “local” restaurant. The local road was close to the town centre, but down a dirt and rock alley way. We had Angkor beers, a fantastic spicy soup, and some spicy, tangy fried chicken. We promised Nan we would come back to Cambodia for his wedding. Nan’s friend spoke more English than Nan, who has not been working as an English guide much over the last two years, focusing more on Spanish. The friend mentioned the Khmer Rouge so I used that as an excuse to ask his thoughts on the Khmer Rouge trial, he replied that he thought the defendants were too old but that it brought peace of mind to people. We talked about American movies and music, including James Bond - everyone knows James Bond. It was a great night!

Our last day in Siem Reap, while Corine returned to the temples with Sivong, we took it easy. We still were not feeling a hundred percent, possibly because of the bike ride the day before. Instead, we did some shopping at the local market, had a massage, and basically relaxed. Our trip to Seam Reap was a success in that we toured the monuments by bicycle and we had dinner with Nan. Aside from that, we were disappointed in the direction the town has taken, in particular the aggressive nature of the touts and the overgrowth of construction and tourism. The town is the prime example of thinking of today and not planning for the future. It made me sad for the future of the town. I still recommend people go to Siem Reap to view the temple complex, and I would recommend you go soon before all the charm is gone.

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Photos

Bayon Temple
One of our favorites.

Sweaty and Tired
Taking a break under the trees at Ta Prohm.

Tom V. Traveler
With an Apsara dancer at Ta Prohm.

Renovation
Is this a good or bad thing?

Dinner with Chamnan
Our guide from 2006.

Comments

[hanh]

thank you
hi, i am a student of English class in Le Quy don high school. Thank you for your volunteer teaching us. Hope you have a good time in Viet Nam