Siem Reap & Angkor Wat - Amazing Ancient Architecture

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Day 48-April 22nd: I was up at 4:30 AM today and took a tuk-tuk at 5:00 AM to the airport. My flight from Vientiane, Laos to Siem Reap, Cambodia was at 6:30 AM. I after an uneventful ride, I landed at about 8:30/9:00 AM in Siem Reap. I met up with two fellow travelers: Charlotte and Lillian from Ireland. We split a taxi into town and found accomodation at the same hostel. We checked into Smiley Guest House and relaxed for a bit. It's a great place to stay if you're ever in the neighborhood! Clean, friendly, comfortable, quaint, good location. Always looking to share costs whenever possible, as were they, the three of us decided to share the cost of a tuk-tuk for the next few days to visit Angkor Wat. We decided to buy 3-day passes, as that was how long we were going to be in Siem Reap before heading to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

I ate lunch and then went for a wander around the city while the Irish gals rested. I wanted to see what I could see of the city before getting immersed into the Angkor Wat experience. It's a lovely town but it's beastly hot this time of year, so as per usual, I was sweating profusely standing still, because it's the height of the heat of the day. I have taken to the Asian custom of using an umbrella on sunny/hot days so that I'm always in shadow, though it only helps a little.

Charlotte, Lillian and I went out to Angkor Wat in the afternoon, despite the heat factor, to start our 3-day excursion and because we heard it's nice to see the sunset from Phnom Bakeng, a hill/temple near the familiar Angkor Wat buildings. (The next two days would be sunrise outings to the temples to beat the heat.) I learned from my guide book that Angkor Wat is the main/famous temple, but that there is a very large temple complex covering many acres of land and thus it takes quite a long time to see it all. You could stay a week in Siem Reap and still not see it all. But I saw a lot of it in my three days there.

First our driver took us to the famous and oft-photographed Angkor Wat. It was majestic, busy, huge, and as the kids would say, really cool! I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing it with my own eyes! We wandered around the grounds for a while, taking it all in. I took many, many photos! I'm fascinated but the fact that this whole complex is made from sandstone, which should have deteriorated but has been preserved remarkably well buried deep in the jungle.

From there we headed to Phnom Bakheng to watch the sunset. We had to climb up a winding path up the hill, and then at the top of the hill is a temple. It reminded me of a Mayan temple which one might find in Mexico. You can climb up this temple, but the steps are VERY steep so we had to crawl carefully to the top. There were dozens of others with the same idea as us, of course, so we waited and watched with the masses. From that vantage point, you can see Angkor Wat in the distance, getting fainter and fainter in the waning light. To the west, the sun sets over West Mebon/West Baray (a large lake and another temple which is accessible only via boat). The panoramic view was wonderful!

We headed back to Smiley's for food and rest. The staff at Smiley's put on a DVD documentary about Angkor Wat, which I watched for a bit. I then left in search of an internet connection. The first place I tried was too slow, the second place was slowish but tolerable. I went to bed too late - 12 midnight! - and then struggled to sleep because there was a dog - a puppy - yelping outside my window for an hour or two. I have an early morning wake up call to make sure I'm up for!

Day 49-April 23rd: I didn't get my 5:00 AM wake up knock on my door, or maybe I just didn't hear it, but I heard Lillian's knock at 5:45 AM. So I rushed to get dressed and got some food to go and we were off in a tuk-tuk to Angkor Wat. We were supposed to leave Smiley's at 6:00 AM but it was about 6:15 AM when we finally left. Our tuk-tuk driver (the same guy from the day before) drove us quickly and safely down the road. We got to Angkor Wat at sunrise to snap a few photos from the parking lot, then we were off to our first destination of the day: Angkor Thom.

Angkor Thom is HUGE! Within Angkor Thom, we visited several sites. First up was Bayon, famous for the many, many large carvings of faces of the god-king himself. He is staring at you from every corner and every turn you take. From there we walked down a road trying to find the other buildings. We took a wrong turn and followed a different path and ended up walking by the workers who were part of the restoration efforts. The were dusting/cleaning/sorting large bricks that haven't been categorized or organized. The restoration of Angkor Wat's temples is a major undertaking, a work in progress, seemingly never-ending.

After Bayon, we walked to Bauphon, currently undergoing some major restoration work so you can't climb up it. We went next to Phimeanakas, a small temple which you can climb to the top of. We went up and checked out the view. Next was the Terrace of the Elephants. There were two large bathing pools outside the terrace. Apparently one was for the king and one was for all his women. Around the outside of the terrace are bas-relief carvings of elephants. The were bigger than me and very cool! Some of the terrace has deteriorated, but the carvings are still visible as are the large staircases. A short walk from the Terrace of the Elephants is the Terrace of the Leper King, where we found a large and small Buddha temple. Near the Terrace of othe Leper King and across the road from the Terrace of the Elephants is North and South Kleang, a series of watchtowers.

We finally left Angkor Thom and rode to Ta Phrom, the most famous of the jungle-covered temples. It was amazing to see how the jungle has reclaimed these ancient buildings. Tree roots cling to the temple walls and doors and the tree trunks and branches reach high, high into the sky. In some ways the temples are dwarfed by the jungle trees. Needless to say, the trees make the restoration and preservation process much more complicated for archeologists! They are trying to save the temples but at the same time trying to keep some of the tree-covered temples as-is, so as not to lose the temples altogether. Such delicate work on such a grand scale! I bought some postcards here from the kids. Everywhere you turn, children are out selling souvenirs. This is a Cambodian phenomenon which I will comment on more later. Suffice it to say I said no about a million times to every one time I said yes. When you ask the kids about school, they tell you that they go to school in the afternoon (if it's morning) or in the morning (if it's afternoon). Hmmm.... something tells me that many of these children don't go to school at all. It's a complicated issue of pervasive poverty and tourist dollars pouring in and remnants of the Cambodian genocide. Like I said, more on that later....

Our last stops of the day - well, of the morning - were Banteay Kdei and Sra Sang Reservoir. Banteay Kdei had less tourists than the other places we visited and consisted of an endless corridor. The reservoir is, of course, a giant lake where kings once roamed. I got suckered in once again by the child merchants (their mothers watch and help but the kids are the ones making those sales) and bought 3 T-shirts from a teenager. So many children selling so many things! Well, I've bought my Cambodian souvenirs and it's only Day 1 in Cambodia!

We fianally got back to Smiley's and ate lunch and rested for a bit. I found a high-speed internet cafe and spent five hours (!) taking care of photos and blog and emails to everyone. It was fantastic! And air-conditioned! I went back to Smiley's for a late dinner and headed to bed. Charlotte and Lillian had made other plans for the next day, they were "wat-ed out" so I would be on my own. This time I asked our tuk-tuk driver to wake me at 5:00 AM so I would be sure to be up for sunrise at Angkor Wat!

Day 50-April 24th: Sure enough, our tuk-tuk driver got me up and at 'em at 5:00 AM. I was at Angkor Wat at 5:30 AM to see the sunrise. This time I went into the complex to hang out and watch the sun come up behind the temple. It was great, beautiful, but of course it was full of tourists. Since this was my third day, I headed straight from there to the places on the far side of it all, where there were very few people. I started at Prah Khan, which is another big temple complex. The most interesting part of this one is the two-story building in the northeast corner which has Roman columns and which archeologists can't really figure out what it's for. Hmmm.....

Next stop, Neak Pean, a smaller temple which was actually different-looking that the others. There is a temple/tower in the middle of a dried-up pool, which is surrounded by four smaller dried-up ponds. The drainage system was such that the water could move freely from the large ponds to the small ponds and vice versa. Each of the drains leading to the smaller ponds were in the shape of a different thing: a man's face, an elephant, a monster (I think?), a horse. I found them fascinatingly eerie.

After Neak Pean, I visited Ta Som, a bayon-style complex with large faces. The back of the complex was covered with trees. There were some adorable local children hanging out selling things with their mom. I didn't buy anything but the kids impressed me with their counting skills - they count to ten in about a dozen languages. (The postcards they sell come in packs of ten.)

I rounded out my day with a stop at East Mebon. This former city has been visibly rebuilt quite a bit. There were many old stone lions and elephants standing guard all around. I bought my driver a Coke and we rested for a few minutes. Finally, my tour was over and I got back to Siem Reap around 10:00 AM.

I ate breakfast at Smiley's and then caught the bus to the bus station. I was on the 12:30 PM bus to Phnom Penh, as were the Irish gals. Their day hadn't gone according to plan, so they cut their losses and decided to get on the road the the capital also.

After a few hours on the bus, we arrived at the bus station in Phnom Penh and made our way to Narin2 Guesthouse. We ate dinner and surfed the internet (free at the hostel!) and then turned in. I got caught up watching the cable TV which comes with every room - a luxury for me! I watched movies, videos, CNN, etc. Needless to say, I went to bed quite late as I was distracted by the Western TV I suddenly had access to!

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Comments

[Kristine]

sunrise
What the hell are you thinking getting up at 5am, yeesh, you're supposed to be on vacation.