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Published: December 15th 2009
Angkor Temple - Angkor Wat Krishna
The Hindu God with 8 arms is the reincarnation of Vishnu as Krishna.Hi everyone
Well I've been a little slack with my updates lately.....but better late than never!
When I last wrote I had arrived in Siem Reap and I was very excited about the days ahead of me exploring the temples in the area. I was staying in the Ta Som guest house which was pretty basic but at us$12 per night you couldn't expect too much....and that price included breakfast! So after I'd eaten my eggs, french bread and fruit (Yum!) washed down with a coffee laden with condensed milk (not so yum!) my friendly tuk tuk driver turned up to drive me around some of the temples. We managed to see 8 different temples on the first day including Angkor Wat (the main temple) and some of Angkor Thom (the town/city), my favourite of the day was Bayon which is the temple within the Angkor Thom boundaries. I was pretty much in awe all day of the architecture and amazing construction that must have been back breaking work involving thousands of people and hundreds of elephants.
That night I made a beeline for the markets to look for a genuine fake pair of Prada sunnies....I'd managed to hold
onto the paid I left Sydney with up until today but left them somewhere at Angkor Wat....I have a feeling there's a Cambodian child somewhere enjoying my genuine genuine Orotons! I found an indian restaurant nearby (yes there a number of Indians living in Siem Reap) here I met a very amusing Lebanese born Danish guy who spends 6 months a year in Cambodia.....we talked for a while and I realised pretty quickly that he was a bit of a "free spirit" but went along with it.....only to then have him offer me his services (and not as a tour guiede) while I was in Siem Reap....apparently he would make me very happy! I politely declined, had a little chuckle to myself and quickly left :-) There seems to be quite a few free spirits here....I think it may be that it's a perfect place to disappear from reality!
The next morning I was picked up by Mori my new tuk tuk driver for another day of temples. We planned a bigger tour with a trip out to the temples in the eastern area many with beautiful moats around them, trees growing up through the ruins and more amazingly
intricate carvings in the rock. I finished up the day with another visit to Angkor Thom and a hike up to a temple called Phnom Bakheng at the top of a hill to watch the sunset. I had a really lovely day and was in awe of the amazing scenery, history and atmosphere. Each temple has it's own story and unique designs, carvings and layouts with maze like corridors and surprises at every corner.
The 3rd day of temples brought a long drive out to the Roluos Group of temples, there are only a few temples in this group and are among the older temples in the area (they were built between 800 and 900 AD). We then drove over a road that had pot holes the size of very big pots out to the dock to catch a boat out to Kampong Phluk, a village that spends most of the year covered in water from the massive rains over the rainy season. The houses are built on stilts about 6 to 7 metres high and during the rainy season the water laps at the door. The villagers support themselves by driving the many tourist boats, growing water grass
for weaving and farming crocodiles in bamboo cages in the water for their skin (now I understand why the many croc skin handbag shops in town!). The people who live here are incredibly resourceful even down to having floating pig pens for their monstrous piggies!
Mori took me back to the guest house early in the afternoon, I'd been feeling pretty dodgy all day and was exhausted. I pretty much dragged myself into my room and lay on my bed feeling sorry for myself for a while before falling asleep for a good 12 hours, a huge sleep but it must have been just what I needed as I felt fantastic the next day!
I spent the next couple of days wandering around Siem Reap enjoying the lovely atmosphere of the place and chatting with locals as well as wandering around the many markets and funky shops. The French influence is very apparent here with lovely little cafes, great coffee and the best croissants and baguettes....I was in heaven :-) I also found the butterfly cafe where you can sit amongst many beautiful butterflies while enjoying an ice cold Angkor (the local beer).
During this time I
heard a lot of sad stories of people affected by the ongoing issue of landmines that the Khmer Rouge laid out haphazardly during the war and their occupation, also by the brutality of the Khmer Rouge where families were torn apart and now the issue of HIV....Cambodia has one of the highest rates of HIV rates in the world and as a result there are many children without parents and suffering from the disease themselves. The poverty here is confronting and at times very hard to take......
The next day I took a bus back down to Phnom Penh, I had stupidly booked my flight back to Bangkok flying out of the capital so needed to get back there. My trip was starting to come to an end and I felt like time was going way to fast....I was rather sad when climbed into a tuk tuk for the last time to make the hair raising trip out to the airport in rush hour traffic.
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