Temples, Temples, Temples.

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As promised, I am blogging on my last day in Siem Reap. My original intention was to write this blog this morning, watching the election results come in. I did however realise yesterday that I am a day to early, and when the election results come rolling in, I will be in a car going to the middle of nowhere, quite literally. Instead I am blogging this evening, which also allows me to give you a glimpse of some of the non-temple activities we have taken part in, in Siem Reap.

Clearly, the main attraction in and around Siem Reap is Angkor National Park, which was once home to the mighty Khmer empire. The Khmer empire was at its height between 800 AD and 1400 AD, and ruled over Cambodia, Laos, Southern Vietnam (South of Hue) and Southern Thailand (stretching from around Ayutheya to the Malaysian Peninsular). The Khmers were great builders, and built a host of grand temples to both Buddhist and Hindu Gods. Our first visit was to the most spectacular of all the Khmer temples, and possibly one of the finest temples in the world, the Hindu temple of Angkor Wat (see above). The approach to Angkor Wat is spectacular, we drove along in our Tuk Tuk you gradually see the three massive towers which engulf the sky-line. When entering the temple, you really get a sense of just how amazing the temple is. As when you look closely at all the stone work and carvings, you realise how worn they are, which reminds you that this temple is over 800 years old. When you consider construction abilities at that time, it becomes clear how difficult it must have been to build such a structure.

The second stop was Angkor Thom, which was the city at the heart of the Khmer empire. In its day, it would have housed around a million people, today all is left is a thick forest and temple ruins within city walls, and of course, hoards of tourists. This brings with it its own oddities, and wandering around the city are a several elephants, ferrying tourists around. The most magnificent temple in Angkor Thom is the Bayon temple. Viewed from the North, South or West, the temple looks purely like a pile of rocks. Viewed from the East, however, you begin to understand the beauty scale of the temple. This was particularly notable on our last day, when we drove past and a thunder-storm was brewing. With the dark clouds in the background, the temple really did look as it was straight out of Lord of the Rings. Climbing up to the upper area of the temple, I noticed that all the towers have four faces, facing the compass directions. This adds to the almost sinister feel of the temple, it is as if wherever you tread, you are being watched.

In order not to bore you too much, Ta Prohm is the final temple I talk about (probably in the whole blog, as the rest of the cities won’t be too temple heavy). Ta Prohm, I am reliably informed, was featured in the Tomb Raider movie. On arrival, it was easy to see why. Unlike the other temples, there has been little effort to remove the thick forest that engulfed the Angkor temples when French explorers rediscovered the site in 1908. This means that there is a forest growing throughout the temple, making you feel like a real explorer. It truly is an awesome site, seeing the tree roots covering the ancient site.

The temples of Angkor, as well as the delights of our hotel (swimming pool :D) took up most of three days. Yesterday evening, we visited the Amazon Angkor restaurant which treats you to a large buffet meal, and live Khmer dancing. Whilst I was at first doubtful of how good it would be, the dancing was fantastic, and was truly worth the expensive per person fee ($11!!!!). Today, our last day was spent at some non-temple sites. The first was at the crocodile farm, which was perhaps a waste of time, ($3 for a large collection of crocodiles - after seeing one, the rest are pretty dull). The second, however, was well worth the money and the trip. We made our way down to Tonle Sap Lake, where there is a large floating village. Housing over 5,000 people, it was great fun to go on a boat through the floating villages and into the market. There was some embarrassment caused, however, as the guide spoke with a thick Cambodian accent. That meant that I often did not fully understand what was saying. As an active listener, I will often say things like oh yes, and fantastic, to show I am paying attention. However, in the tuk tuk, returning to the hotel Sarah informed me that our guide said something like “It is quite sad, that as there is no purified water, many people will get ill by drinking dirty water from the lake” to which I replied “Oh yes, that’s excellent”, perhaps not the response he anticipated….

Anyway, I forgot to put on bug spray tonight, and I’m fighting to keep them away, so that’s all. I’m off to Ban Lung next, which is around a 12-14 hour drive. I’ll see you all on the other side, when I get back on the 10th.

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