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Published: November 20th 2006
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The Faces of the Bayon
Ever get the feeling you are being watched .....population 60,000,000" say the kids selling postcards, bangles and books in Siem Reap. It's pretty repetitive but is done by such sweet kids that it's impossible to get angry.....and it beats the adults whose response is to say "Lovely jubbley" or reel off a list of Premiership players.
Siem Reap is a fascinating place, its main pull is the temples of Angkor including the most famous Angkor Wat. The temples bring in masses of tourists ranging from backpackers to rich western tour groups. The hotels, restaurants and bars cater for such diverse groups with $10 guesthouses alongside famous names like Raffles where rooms can be up to $2,000 (a night!). The tourists obviously are the main reason for the number of kids selling their wares, they are fairly present in town but congregate mainly around the temples. At Angkor Wat a 15 year old girl calling herself Spidergirl watched our bikes in return for us buying cold drinks from her after we had been in the temple (Matt reckons it's the same as the kids at Anfield who will watch your car for a quid).
There is something about the kids in Cambodia, their friendliness and charm are touching
The Jenga Temple - Preah Palilay
How the hell this thing hasnt collapsed yet is beyond me especially when you realise some of them have pretty hard lives, many are shoeless and dirty usually with ripped clothes. After our first day at Angkor Wat we began taking bags of dried fruit and bananas to give to the kids that were begging rather than handing out cash that goes only to the adults who drop the kids at the temples each day.
There are a lot of orphanages in Cambodia and with the absence of a welfare state they rely on donations, we decided to visit one within walking distance of our hotel and take some colouring pads and pencils as well as making a small donation. The
Sunrise Childrens Village houses just over 60 kids from birth to 18, they do not get adopted which keeps the celeb spotting opportunities low! In the nursery we met 7 babies including Bok (translates as Diamond) who at 2 years old had been there since just after he was born. Bok's mother had died three hours after giving birth and his father, fearing Bok would bring bad luck, wanted to kill him, fortunately his Grandmother rescued him and took him to the orphanage. Bok was a typical boisturous 2 year old,
Reflections of Angkor Wat
The biggest Religious site in the world has to be seen but lacks the mystery and atmosphere of other nearby temples terrorising the smaller babies with no obvious signs of the problems that he had already faced in his short life. We were given a tour of the entire orphanage accompanied by Bok, it was a much happier place than I had expected, if you are going to Siem Reap it's worth a visit!
Siem Reap is quieter than Phnom Penh and the nightlife is concentrated in one area rather than spread, it's pretty easy to get round. It's a fairly relaxed place and it feels comfortable (probably beacuse it's so geared up for tourists). The bars and restaurants have a fairly cosmopolitan feel and the majority serve Cambodian food (or Khmer as it is usually called) which is really good, in particular the Amok fish which is in a coconut sauce. Despite my fears we saw no dog on any menus though we did see a tounge-in-cheek sign stating that a particular restaurant served no dog, rat or worm!!
The Temples
We decided on a 3 day pass to the temples, it cost $40 so is one of our most expensive purchases since being away but was well worth it. Contary to belief there is more
And the winner is....
Racing monks up dangerously steep stairs is just one of the activities you can partake in at Angkor Wat to the temples than Angkor Wat though it is undeniably the largest. The temples are spread over a huge area and range from no more than a basic stone layout to intricate residences with trees growing through them. We went twice by tuk tuk, once from 10am to 6pm (to see sunset though the crowds and the haze made it a little unspectacular) and once 6.30am to 10.30am, which made a world of difference to the atmosphere. The middle day of our pass we hired cycles for the 14k, round trip (plus probably another few km actually at the site). I had mixed feelings about the temples prior to the visit as I thought I might be let down, maybe because we had been to other ruins that were disappointing, but they were fantasic. Angkor Wat itself was huge and not as awe inspiring as expected but we saw it on day 2 and by then we had seen lots of really impressive temples, had we seen it on day 1 it may have had more impact.
Matt took loads of pictures and has put together a short summary of the temples.
Quiet contemplation...
...Or just catching your breath after chasing monks up steps ???? Matts 'fools' guide to Angkor
We saw close to 20 temples over our 3 days, the ones i haven't mentioned come closer to piles of bricks than major tourist attractions but these 9, especially the first 5 have to be seen to be believed
1.Preah Khan Like an Ancient Labyrinth. We spent hours here over 2 visits and even managed to get lost in the middle and find an old lady who seemed to live there. After lighting incense at her altar she gave us directions back.
2.The Bayon Although always busy (unlike Preah Khan) it is just as amazing. From a distance it looks ruined but up close you can see the 100's of faces carved into the towers. The way the sun turns the grey stone brown in the afternoon sun is spectacular
3.Ta Prohm The Hollywood temple made famous as the setting for Tomb Raider. Just as interesting as Preah Khan but wooden walkways, loads of signs and about a million Korean tourists take away the atmosphere. We went back at 7am to avoid the crowds
Posing Monks at Angkor Wat
Hundreds of them flock to Angkors most famous attraction with their digital cameras and guide books, just like all the other tourists except for the orange outfits 4.Banteay Kdei A mixture of the Bayon and Preah Khan, but much smaller
5.Preah Palilay The Jenga one, looks like its gonna collapse any minute. Has the huge trees like Ta Prohm but manages to stay quiet as the tour buses don't come far enough off the beaten track to visit it
6.Takeo Another one to avoid the crowds, mainly because most people dare not risk the 4 sets of almost vertical steps to the top
7.Angkor Wat The most famous but up close not as memorable as the others mentioned. Has so many visitors, but the size of the whole thing still keeps it pretty peaceful
8.Banteay Srei Located away from the main bulk but worth the visit. Small but very detailed it is like a lego land version of Angkor Wat
9.Pre Rup Another left alone by the tour groups so still retains its ancient feel. Almost a whole community of Street kids seem to live on the sight and a Police man there to keep them away tried to sell me his Police badge???
Bless you CLD
the smallest woman in the world gives Carla a red wrist band for good luck (she also rubbed yellow powder all over our wrists which smelt like curry) You will notice from the amount of pictures attached that at every turn there is a photo opportunity, I just hope we managed to capture some of the magic of the place.
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Trev
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Yet again another fascinating journal,great pictures!!Can't understand why we have four emails of this one and the previous ones came with two emails!!still as long as we get them who cares.Happy journeys - Love ya Trev X