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Published: January 7th 2007
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Angkor Wat Sunrise
Early morning expedition to the main temple of Angkor, it was quite breathtaking. Cambodia - A country that has proven to be frustrating, depressing, beautiful and inspiring.
We left Bangkok and headed east via bus. After getting our Thailand immigration details taken care of, and having a swim in the office’s complimentary pool, we made our way to the Cambodian border. Without much trouble we acquired our Visas, got through “security” and entered the Kingdom of Cambodia. I quickly felt unease, though I’m not sure why, most likely because I was in a country about which I’ve only heard bad things. After a taking a walk through the welcoming arches, I became calmer and started to take in my surroundings. Oddly enough most of what I saw was a cluster of big fancy casinos. Gambling being illegal in Thailand, it’s apparently quite an activity to jump borders and throw some Thai baht around a table for a weekend. We then got stamped into Cambodia, got to sit for a minute and I decided to celebrate with Cambodia’s national beer, Angkor.
It was from that moment that things started going downhill. We finished our beverages, and then hopped on a decent bus. There were about 30 of us that were carried about one
"Protecting" Angkor
Many protecting shots have been photographed by the boys on their journey, I'm happy to be a recent addition. kilometer, and told to get out of the bus. We followed directions, only to see the biggest piece of crap bus I’ve ever laid eyes on. Almost half the size of the current bus, no bumper, filthy, broken seats, battery car parts strewn across the ground, this bus was surreal. Quickly our bags were unloaded and we were left to suffer the worst rides of our lives. I may sound like I’m exaggerating, but seriously this was bad. It was about 6 o’clock when we crammed 25 people into this thing (5 people bolted and hired private cars to take them to Siem Reap - so smart they were!) Somehow the bus started up, and we began the slow roll of 6+ hours and traveled only 150 kilometres. No, the math doesn’t make sense. Our driver took his sweet ass time.
Leaving to border town in a storm of dust and smoke (the dirt roads were chaos) and then traveling on the most remote route he could have planned, he had a scheme up his sleeve. As darkness filled the sky, so did black smoke; on each side of the random highway were dozens of fires burning on the
"Ya"
This cute, and very smart, Cambodian girl was a lot of fun to be around. She was our host while we relaxed at a lake near Angkor. horizon. It felt like we were in some kind of war. Without a hope of sleeping (most people were sitting 5 across, cramped up and covered with dust) we all just hoped for the best. The driver had many stall tactics, he stopped once for “battery troubles” which he glamorized by having a team of “mechanics” cluster around the bus with flashlights and lots of talking. Another stop because the car’s lights suddenly failed, many delays because of the humungous holes on the road. Finally at a long stop and some random roadside café the driver insisted on stopping for some food. It was nearly 1 am when, after almost falling asleep several times, the driver pulled into some random guesthouse.
We knew for quite some time that were was a scam going on, and there was nothing we could do. It was 1 am, all other guesthouses were closed, and conveniently this one was open, and had plenty of rooms available. Out of principle we wanted to force ourselves not to stay with these lying scoundrels, but we had little other choice, and got a cheap room for the 3 of us. We had read about scams like
Faces of the Past...
Meet a face from the future. This temple was home to dozens and dozens of these impressively sculpted granite faces. these, with drivers running into “problems” on the road and then coincidentally arriving just late enough so that no other guesthouse was open, except their friend’s. I had a very bad taste in my mouth after that experience, but that was last bad thing that happened.
The next day we did some exploring of Siem Reap, the gateway city to Angkor Wat. The city is actually quite beautiful; originally occupied by French forces in the 40’s, the city has quite a nice design and is rather colonial in places. Of course with a rising population the growth has spread chaotically outwards, which is equally as interesting. We checked out a local market, which was full of delightful and disturbing aromas. A local tuk-tuk driver carted us around town in comfort, and we got a chance to see come interesting culture. Jason and Ryan said Cambodia’s “way of life” compares only to parts of Africa and India, which is saying a lot.
The depressing aspect involves the kids. At such a young age they're desperately trying to sell all kinds of things to tourists, at the demand of their parents. Though I'm sure it brings in much needed income,
Volcano Delight
We not only learned the name of the foreign dish, but also mastered its use. It's fun, tasty and hot! they're really not having the fun to which kids should be entitled. There are also all those that have suffered accidents with landmines. Musical bands, whose musicians are all landmine victims, are scattered all throughout Angkor Wat. It's hard to think about the rough and scary past that this country endured during the Khmer Rouge regime that saw to millions killed.
On a lighter note, the beautiful Angkor Wat is a World Heritage Site and is said to be the largest religious structure in the world. 203 acres with scores of moats and walls, inside of which are dozens of temples of various sizes. All built in the 11th/12th century and excellently preserved. We hiked up a viewpoint hill for the sunset, which was impressive to say the least. The following morning we got up very early (4:45) and made our way to Angkor (the main temple) and basked in the magnificence of the temple with the sunrise in the background. We only brought admission for one day (it’s rather expensive) so we had quite a busy day going from temple to temple thoroughly exploring the architectures.
Almost exhausted by noon, we managed to visit all the temples
Leper King's Tomb
I ascend into the abyss of sculptures on the wall of the Leper King's resting place. in the main grounds of the site (there are a dozen or so others spread out in the forest in the surrounding kilometers of the main site.) We parked ourselves at one of the many lakes, and enjoyed a few well deserved minutes of relaxation. Lots of young kids started showing up, most of which had something to sell. We bought a couple Angkor beers and enjoyed the view. Before we knew it 3 pm rolled around and we had been drinking quite a while, had purchased quite a few trinkets from the kids, and had a really fun time hanging out with them, teaching them all kinds of stuff.
Naps drew us back to the hotel, where we conked out pretty quickly (except Ryan who somehow still had energy and played video games for a few hours while we slept.) On the bus ride to Siem Reap we met two Canadian girls who were also staying at our hotel. We all checked out Angkor together and later hung out at the hotel at night. They’re also traveling through to Vietnam so we may have some companions for a bit, if they can handle us!
The people here
Ruins
It's no wonder they call them ruins; all of the temples once looked like this and worse - but they reconstructed everything. are actually very friendly, and we realized that the evil bus people are few and far between and only ruin the true image of Cambodia. We’re not sure how much time we’re going to spend in the country because we’re eager to get to Vietnam, but as long as we’re enjoying ourselves we could be here for a while! Tomorrow we leave Siem Reap, and head south to the capital of Phnom Penh.
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Emily
non-member comment
new palce indeed...
That road scam sounded sooo creepy, like something out of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I would actually be more concerned about them cleaning out your wallets while you slept, beware. On the otherhand, it's always difficult to see sweet and innocent little children begin forced to take on adult roles because their families are so poor. It must feel very rewarding to make differences in their lives, no matter how small they seem to you I'm certain they affect the children on a much larger scale. It also makes you that much more greatful for what you have and what is waiting for you when you come home. P.S. I hope there aren't any old curses that are going to befall upon you for climbing all over Leper King's Tomb.... :S Cheers!!