Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor

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Ross:

The six-hour coach to Siem Reap felt like a much longer journey, helped along by the driver's sadistic, heart-in-mouth, overtaking manoeuvres in the dark. We eventually arrived in Siem Reap to hordes of tuk-tuk and moto drivers. As we pulled into the bus station the pack of wild drivers was kept at bay by a swiftly-closed bus station gate, only to be opened again just as we alighted. The resultant barrage of overly-eager drivers was a tad intimidating and we didn't know whether to muscle in to grab our bags, or just run for cover. After the initial wave of panic subsided, we managed to fight off a few of the most persistent guys, and grab an innocent-enough looking chap who'd been mumbling something about taking us to the city centre for a dollar. Once, we'd made our choice of driver (and Polly had stopped growling at them) everything seemed to calm down and we pushed our way out to the winner's tuk-tuk. The tuk-tuk guys are clearly on commission and unless you can immediately give them the name of the guesthouse you intend to stay at, they will do everything in their power to drag you to each of their brothers, cousins, nephews and uncles' establishments possible - this seems to be the case for most of South East Asia. Seeing as we had nowhere in mind we gave our driver a budget to play with and let him lead the way. Luckily, after two unsuccessful stops at guesthouses that were full, we rolled into the courtyard of Mitri Guesthouse, tucked away down a narrow lane, a block and a half away from the main hub of the city and about five blocks from the river. They only had a twin room for $10 a night (with a private bathroom, hot shower and fan) but promised us that we could get a reduced rate and a bigger double room if we stayed longer than one night. With it getting late, and in desperate need of some food we took the room, and headed straight out to the aptly-named 'Pub Street' for a very unexpected but delicious roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings and a chicken kiev and chips, at Molly Malone's Irish Pub.

Whilst eating, it was difficult not to notice the number of people begging in the street, many with less than their fair share of arms and legs. This, coupled with the desperate persistence of the tuk-tuk and moto drivers, starts to give you a feeling of just how poor Cambodia is. We've since been approached by kids begging for food (miraculously, just as the waiter places your Full English on the table in front of you), and even water at some of the tourist hotspots. Luckily, there's a lot of humanitarian organisations doing their bit, but the poverty in Cambodia seems unparalleled by anywhere else we've been in South East Asia.

The following morning we moved to the adjacent room which was bigger with a double and single bed and negotiated to stay for at least another three nights at $8 per night. After getting our daily fix of muesli, fruit and yoghurt (a newly-acquired favourite of mine!) we found a friendly tuk-tuk driver by the name of John, to take us for our first day around the temples of Angkor. For $12, John was happy to take us around all of the main temples in the Angkor area and wait for us at each one, before ferrying us on to the next.

After a 15-minute ride north out of town, we started our temple tour at the main ticket office, coughing up the $40 each for a 3-day pass, before heading on to Angkor Wat, the jewel in the crown of the Angkor temples. A 100m causeway across a wide moat leads to the main grounds of Angkor Wat, with its main gate and gallery set on the far side of the moat. An inner causeway, with ruins of libraries on either side, leads on past two symmetrical reflecting pools, to the inner shrine, consisting of five towers on three levels. The centre tower was once home to Vishnu, apparently. The towers are surrounded on each side by three levels of galleries, each displaying intricately carved bas-reliefs along the walls. Very steep steps lead between each gallery level, each step being twice as tall but only about half as deep as your average staircase, making the climbs interesting, if not a bit extreme. After a couple of hours gandering at the temple, and following some light refreshments, we returned to find John waiting for us to take us on to Angkor Thom.

We approached Angkor Thom from the south, over a bridge lined with stone giants cradling a serpent. The South Gate is flanked by a trio of elephant heads on either side, with four large stone Buddha faces above looking out from each of the compass points. The central temple within Angkor Thom is the Bayon, previously the king's state temple. It primarily consist of many towers on varying levels, each with four smiling Buddhas' faces looking out, again one at each compass point. The ruins are a bit unstable in places so clambering all over them can be a bit hazardous, although the worst sections are propped up with timber and steel framework.

We wandered on, through more ruins scattered amongst the trees, to the Bauphon and its 70m reclining Buddha, albeit a bit too weathered and crumbling to make out clearly. Polly opted for an ice coffee from one of the numerous hawker stalls at this point, whilst I took a quick detour around the overgrown Preah Palilay, via the Royal Pond and the Terrace of Elephants (a long, ten-foot high wall with hundreds of carvings of war elephants in portrait and profile).

By this time, the sun was nearing the horizon so John drove us to Phnom (meaning 'hill') Bakeng to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, marching to the temple on the top of the hill seemed to be on most people's agenda, so, although we arrived early, by the time the sun was on it's way out, the place was swarming with tourists of every creed, colour, shape and size. The haze meant that the sunset turned out to be a non-event but the people-watching (especially on the steep steps) kept us entertained.

After a twilight tuk-tuk journey back to the city we said our farewells to John, before wolfing down a Cambodian dinner of chicken amok (steamed coconut curry in banana leaves) and fish curry. We then headed back to our guesthouse for an episode of CSI and bed.

On Tuesday morning Polly decided to have a day off the temples and opt for a massage and some administrative tasks instead (like buying nephew Gabriel a birthday card). I decided to skip the tuk-tuks and hired a shopping bike for $2, cycling back towards Angkor Wat to see some of the more remote temples we'd missed out yesterday, specifically Banteay Kdei and Ta Phrom. Ta Phrom is the stereotypical Angkor temple, with many of the ruins entwined in tree roots, and was used as a film set for Tomb Raider, with Angelina Jolie prancing around in hot pants and tight-fitting vest tops.

I spotted a few monkeys carrying babies on the way back past Angkor Thom, finally arriving back in Siem Reap at about 5pm, a sweaty round trip of about 35km. That evening, we headed out for a Cambodian BBQ dinner at a restaurant called 'Cambodia Soup' where a sizzling hot plate is plonked in the middle of the table, surrounded by a moat of bubbling broth. You fry thinly cut beef on the hot plate whilst boiling onions, green peppers, cabbage and basil in the broth. After dinner we had a chat with a very camp waiter and a tuk-tuk driver about the trials and tribulations of Cambodian life, before sinking a cocktail or two in the nearby 'Temple Bar'.

After a day's respite, Pol was ready for more temples so Wednesday morning saw us hiring bikes again for the trip to the Roulos group, about 16km southeast of Siem Reap. Before leaving town we had to call in at the post office to drop a few things off, giving us a chance to hone our skills in the art of assertive cycling. After a hair-raising ride along a very busy road out of town, we were relieved to finally turn down a quiet tree-lined lane to the two main temples in the group. Neither temple was a patch on the splendour of Angkor Wat, but the bike ride was memorable. After a plate of fried rice, we were back in the saddle to Siem Reap.

We'd been toying with the idea of meandering back towards Phnom Penh via the floating villages near Pursat, on the southern shores of the Tonle Sap lake. However, it seemed to be a bit of a long way round with not much else to see on the way, so instead we decided to take a boat tour from Siem Reap to the floating villages nearer by. After booking our tickets on Thursday morning, along with bus tickets to Sihanoukville for Friday 13th, we sauntered around town until our pick-up at 3pm.

We were picked up in a minivan along with one other guy, Mike from Colorado, and driven about 30 minutes out of town to a dock, where we boarded a large long-tail for a trip down a man-made canal. Eventually, after passing numerous fishing boats, the canal opened up onto the Tonle Sap lake, with hundreds of floating homes dotted around the estuary. There were kids playing in the water and old women ferrying goods about in dug-out canoes. There were even a couple of floating petrol stations and a basketball court. After cruising around the village for while, we were dropped at a floating restaurant pretending to be some sort of ecological centre, with a crocodile farm, snakes and tanks full of local fish species. It was then back on the boat for a short transfer to a much larger vessel for a sunset dinner on the top deck. The boat must've been able to comfortably hold about 100 people but oddly it was just Polly, Mike and I with the whole place to ourselves, and unlimited free drinks!

After dinner, when the sun had finally set we were shuttled by boat and minivan back to Siem Reap, calling in at the 'Temple Bar' for a beer with Mike, a couple from British Columbia, and a few games of pool with some of the local ladies of the night.

Friday morning was a shock to the senses. After a late night we both slept through our alarms, only to be woken up at 6am by the cleaners telling us that our pick-up for the bus to Phnom Penh was waiting outside. Luckily we'd packed up the night before so after a quick swill, we grabbed our bags and made a run for it. We'd also had the foresight to pay for our stay at the guesthouse the night before. Unfortunately, the guesthouse owner seemed to think otherwise, claiming that we hadn't paid, despite a number of his staff knowing otherwise. Eventually they phoned the member of staff that we'd handed the money to and reluctantly let us off without any apologies. By this time our transfer to the bus station had gone so we were left to get a tuk-tuk instead. Luckily, we didn't miss our bus and, after transferring in Phnom Penh, were on our way to Sihanoukville.

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Photos

Angkor Wat in all its glory
As seen from across the North Reflecting Pond

The Bayon
Where's Wally No. 1

More of the Bayon
Where's Wally No. 2