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Published: December 24th 2006
First off some quick lessons from the Khmer lexicon. The word
Wat is Khmer (Cambodian) for
Temple and
Angkor is the name of the city and seat of the great Khmer Empire that once ruled most of South East Asia with its centre in what is now, Cambodia.
Next we'll start from the beginning, not as far back as the Khmer empire but to 8 months ago when we were still in the UK making our last minute travelling plans. Back then, Cambodia did not figure, despite friends (namely Pete and Adrian Rands) telling us that we'd be missing out if we didn't include it. Move forward to the present and we're now here. Why..? Well we had to agree with the masses. So many people had told us the same and since we felt we would still have plenty of time to visit everything we wanted to in Thailand, we did some itinerary jiggling and headed off in search of Angkor...
Since Siem Reap was our first stop in Cambodia, our first step was getting into the country - not a simple step, more of a challenge but one we were looking forward to. Travelling had become a
bit easy lately and for some reason we were looking forward to a bit of hassle and unpredicatability!
We chose to brave the notorious Thai-Cambodain border crossing at Arunya Prathet - Poipet - a dodgy frontier where bribery and scams are commonplace. Here follows our account which we hope will serve as a guide for anyone else wishing to tackle it. Everything mentioned was either experienced or witnessed so be sure that it's all "standard practice".
Arunya Prathet - Poipet Border Crossing Guide
Firstly don't buy an all inclusive ticket from Bangkok to Siem Reap. It'll either be the scam bus (in which case it'll seem ridiculously cheap but the journey will be excruciatingly long and you'll end up in a guesthouse not of your choice or liking) or it'll be a rip-off (costing over 800 Baht). Get the government bus from the Northern bus station to Aruntya Prathet (~ 200 Baht). The roads are good and the journey takes only 3hrs.
Once at Arunya Prathet, take a Tuk-Tuk to the acual border a few kms away. It should cost about 70 Baht but make sure that's understood before you go. They'll say "yeah, yeah, yeah.."
but believe me, when you reach the border they'll demand a standard fare despite any agreement you've made. Show them the number somehow (on paper maybe) so there are no confrontations when you reach the border - it's the last place you want trouble!
Next step is the Thai passport control - piece of cake, 10 mins max and you're through.
Cross "no man's land" - firstly you'll pick up some touts and followers - they'll cause you no problems and can actually be helpful so don't dismiss them. They're only hoping you'll take a share taxi to Siem Reap which believe me, you want to anyway if you are planning on using your backside and knees for a whole lifetime! Watch out for little "urchins" sniffing around you and your bags - they may be pickpockets!
Get your visa - queue up, hand over a completed form (easy-peasy), a passport photo and $20 - no more! They'll ask you for more but ignore it just keep shoving you stuff their way with a friendly "no". They may even ask for 1,000 Baht too - that's $28 and you're being scammed - just $20 will do. After
about 15 mins waiting you'll get your passport back and your pretty Cambodian visa.
Final step is Cambodian passport control - it's easy but a long wait. Don't be surprised if you're there queueing for 1-2 hours to get a stamp. We were and it didn't even seem busy!
For the record, there are no other forms to fill in or money to pay. You should even get free shuttle transport between the various bits along the way.
Finally, make some friends and share a taxi to Siem Reap. It's $40 well spent which shared between four people is the same cost as the bone-breaker bus. The road is crap - you can't do anything about that - the journey is scenic though and you'll be there in 4 hours.
Good Luck!
Siem Reap - First Impressions
Siem Reap is a nice city with a colourful old market centre, lots of decent backpacker accommodation and great places to sample Khmer food. It's really on the map though because it's so close to Angkor not because of what it has to offer itself.
In Siem Reap, we stayed at the "Home Sweet Home"
guest house - a very nice place and run by lovely people. That's definitely our first perception of Cambodians - they are smiley, helpful and genuine people (except at the border, ignore them). Considering the amount of s!*t they've had to endure, mainly catalysed by the US war (how often will we say that about Humanitarian crises) in Vietnam, you might expect hostility towards Westerners but not at all. They're embracing tourism and only looking forward to putting the evils of the Pol Pot regime behind them. It saddens me to think these great people could be treated so badly.
Other first impressions of Cambodia
* The Number of Amputees - the beautiful grassy plans and paddy fields hide the danger of huge numbers of land mines laid during the Khmer Rouge revolution and that still maim victims today
* The Terrible Roads - the worst is from the border to Siem Reap which despite being so busy and so important for tourism is still not being repaired. It's a dusty dirt track forcing Cambodian bikers to wear face scarves wherever they go. Our Tuk-Tuk driver in Siem Reap told us that there's a rumour that an airline is
bribing the Cambodian government to delay its highway improvement (LP suggests that too so it must be true!).
* The Signs of Poverty - most Cambodians definitely live below the poverty line but it's recovering after years of hardship.
*The Litter Problem - No refuse collection... No point having bins then... Rubbish everywhere, covering the streets and waterways.
If you look past the cosmetic imperfections like I did, you will see that this is a country of inner beauty. What is more, stripping the imperfections away removes character and interest - not everywhere needs to be squeaky clean like Singapore to be plesing to the eye. You could certainly never accuse Cambodia of lacking character!
Cambodia's future economic development and Cambodian's quality of life, is currently in the balance. A huge tourism industry is being nurtured and the country is going in the right direction. Unfortunately though, Cambodia suffers from massive corruption in the upper echelons - only the other day I read an article which put Cambodia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world! Politics here, are always about the short-term and although the people want the long-term gains, it only takes another power-hungry
elitist to upset things and believe me, there are plenty in waiting. Here's hoping for a rosy future - the people really deserve it.
Angkor
After securing a nice Tuk-Tuk driver for the two days of Angkor touring, we were ready for the off. He was eager to show us his his newly developed photos of his recent wedding - we could tell straightaway he was a nice guy
Joining the throngs we headed to our first stop, the city of Angkor Thom. In Khmer, "Thom" (pronounced Tom) means big and so when I told Cambodians my name I would immediately be greeted by a "oh - big" - very fitting I think for someone of ~6'5" (195cm). Like me Angkor Thom is indeed big, huge in fact! It's the city of Jayavarman VII and was the last capital of the Khmer empire. It consists of a number of large temple structures within a large walled perimeter. The grandest structure is Bayon, a huge temple of faces - 216 in fact, adorning 54 stupas. The face is apparently a composite of Jayavarman's and Buddha's (see, I learnt something). Anyway, he sure left his mark and his
power was only emphasised by the fact that wherever you were, his carved face was watching you!
Within Angkor Thom are smaller but still impressive, temples. Baphoun is regarded as the largest jigsaw puzzle in the world as the restoration work continues to reassemble the structure. It's made more difficult by the fact that a giant buddha reclining was later added to one side but not completed.
Laura and my favourite area was the Prasats Suor Prat with a series of small stupas facing the "Terrace of the Elephants" - an area where military parades would take place in front of Jayavarman. Cambodian men were wading nearby in the the small ponds, attempting to catch their lunch.
The highlights of the afternoon were the "big stars" - Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat.
Ta Prohm is the "Tomb Raider" famed temple - overgrown with huge trees and vines that are rooted in the stonework. You feel like an explorer as you clamber over the jumble of rocks to find hidden corners of the place. Avoiding the Japanese and Korean tour groups can be tricky however!
Angkor Wat is the Angkor complex centre-piece. It's the largest temple
Working The Fields
On the road to Banteay Sreythe Khmer empire built with its picture postcard location, surrounded by a large moat (that were once home to many crocs), pretty lily covered lakes and it glows in the afternoon sun. The best time to see it is at sunrise. We did just that on day 2. Arriving at 5:30am you'd think that it's be quieter but everyone makes the effort - everyone raves about sunrise so it's hardly surprising. The sun comes up over the temple, the lilys open and despite the huge crowd watching, there is tranquility in the air. If I am ever asked to name my must-do life experineces, this will be one!
I think we stayed at Angkor Wat for 2-3 hours enjoying the peace and the wonderful visual effects the light created. Eventually we had to force ourselves to leave so we could make the long journey to Banteay Srey. It takes an hour but is well worth the Tuk-Tuk ride into the Cambodian countryside to see this small and very ornate, pretty red temple. Whilst walking around admiring the Khmer people's handiwork, we were entertained by the sound of a mine victim band playing a few numbers by the temple. They
were raising money and awareness and were very good. They even had a guy playing "The Leaf". He'd picked out a good one from the abundant, fresh supply. We sat and listened, ending a special and memorable two days on the Wat trail...
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non-member comment
Wow!
Some of your best pic's. Def looks worth the border hassle! Happy NY too!