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Published: January 1st 2013
Sunrise in Angkor
No its not with any temples, but it is very beautifulOur first morning visiting the temples we were picked up at 5 am by our jolly, lovely tuk-tuk driver Mr Theoun and our Apsara Authority guide (we decided to book a guide for the first day, in the hopes of both seing things when they were least crowded and coming away with more than just sore thighs and high body temperatures).
We watched the sunrise over Sra Srang, a quiet experience compared to the thousands of people we saw gathering at Angkor Wat, and continued to Ta Phrom (now also known as the «Tomb Raider» temple...) as the dawn was still breaking, and the grounds were quiet. We felt priviledged to be there nearly on our own, witness to the remnants of an old empire being slowly swalloed by the jungle. The distances between some of the sites and the sheer scale of the temple network are hard to describe (they stretch all the way to Laos and Thailand). Let's jsut say we were glad to have the tuktuk, as bicyling, though initially alluring, would have been exhausting and tremendously inefficient.
We visited Angkor Thom, the sprawling ancient city, and our guide earned his keep by taking us not
The Jungle is taking over
It is a strange thing with the trees growing over everything, it is very beautiful and magical, but also sad as it is destroying the old marvels around but up to the city walls, on which we enjoyed a leafy walk along the treetops and were obviously the first to have been there in a long time.
We visited the Bayon and its hundreds of smiling faces, and then went to Angkor Wat while the tour groups were having lunch (and the sun was at its peak). This was a wonderful place to have a guide, as otherwise most of the carvings would have ended up looking the same.
We couldn't help but try to imagine what it must have been like to visit this huge temple complex for the first time at the height of the empire. To come from a poor fishing village, and to have heard for years the tales of the enormous stone city, and to take the long trip to witness one of the big celebrations there. Approaching the walls from afar, the towering spires gleaming in the sun, coated in gold leaf, prayer banners in all the colors of the rainbow strung accross the towers, elefants in full costume parading down the walkways, it must be safe to say people must have fainted at the mere sight of it.
No, its not Tomb Raider
even though the movie gave several of the temples new nick names, it is not something the locals like very much It must have been grandiose and ornate beyond their wildest dreams.
Say what you will about globalisation, about the fact that it is wonderful that people on one side of the world can know what the other side looks like without having been there, but it does take away some magic, and definitely that kind of immense surprise that for many is a thing of the past.
The next day we had a late start – we didn't leave until 7 am!
We did part of the «grand tour», visiting Pre Rup, and being lucky enough to have the time to visit Kbal Spean adn Banteay Srei. Kbal Spean was very different, not a temple but a carved riverbed, where the sculptures and carvings lined a river and even covered th ebottom of it. It didn't hurt that there was a waterfall we could soak ourselves under after the hike up, either.
Banteay Srei became an instant favorite. So intricate and delicate, so beautiful at every turn, made out of red an pink sandstone, it (almost) didn't matter that the heat was so intense we could barely muster up the energy to get the camera out.
The gate
This is one of the gates in to Angkor town, just imagine entering the town for the first time when it was just built... And it was quiet, too. We watched the sun set over Angkor Wat and felt very fortunate indeed to be able to see these sights.
Our third and last day of exploring started at 4:30 am, and we walked up Phnom Bakheng in the dark. We had braced ourselves for a 40-minute hike but the guide books have clearly never been to Norway, and we were there in 15. Even though it was slightly overcast, it was a magical experience to watch the sun rise from the top of the mountain-temple, and to watch the sun reveal the spires sticking up amongst the trees.
We went on to visit the rest of Angkor Thom, Preah Khan, Neak Prean, Ta Som, Banteay Kdei and even Bat Chum, which our driver took us to, inspired by our obvious affinity towards any place devoid of other tourists. It was in terrible condition and obviously attracted nearly no interest, as even the rebuilding of it was halted. But it was lovely to see any temple without hoards of people (mostly children) trying to sell us things, or even begging.
Satisfied that we had spent a more than adequate amount of time
Holy water
We were just glad we could avoid having the frantic korean tourist jumping up and down visiting the temples, and had seen them on our own terms (often at their emptiest and usually following a roundabout, but less trodden, route), we went out for dinner with the Belgian couple we had met in Vietnam, who we had run into that day, and then hit the pillow with what we can only imagine was a large thud, except we were already alseep when it happened.
Funniest exchange overheard (by the riverbed waterfall, where the water flows over thousands of representations of Vishnu, thus blessing it before it reaches the rice paddies):
-loud Korean tourist to his guide: It's so hot! Can I go under the waterfall? Is the water safe, is it clean?
- lovely young guide: why yes, sir, it is safe, it is holy water!
- loud Korean tourist: holy? (he failed to get the joke...)
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