The City That Smiles

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Siem Reap, the City of Smiles. Whether it’s friendly guesthouse owners, ‘tuk tuk’ drivers, semi clothed children playing in the dirt or landmine amputees with haunted eyes, everyone here had a smile for us. Despite the horrendous recent history of Cambodia, from genocide and landmines to foreign invasions and the dark trade of children in the sex industry, we have arrived in one of the friendliest places on earth. Sure, they want a share of the dollars in your wallet, but when confronted with the suffering and poverty that they are, who can blame them.

Following the tribulations of our eventful journey from Pattaya, we arrived at the Golden TaKeo guesthouse, just across the river from the main centre of town. All we wanted was some air conditioning, a warm shower and a comfortable bed to lay down and stretch out on after the cramped conditions of the previous 16 hours. We got one of the three! The electricity had been cut for the neighbourhood we were in so that meant no fans, air conditioning or showers of any temperatures! The beds however were very comfortable, just a shame that they were in stifling hot rooms! We made do with a nice cold drink on the roof terrace and chatted to Prov, the owner. We were slathered in mosquito repellent because dusk was falling and Prov told us a little bit about the surrounding area and also that we had agreed a price with Luke the ‘tuk tuk’ man that was around $10 too expensive. He helped us plan an itinerary for the following day and said it should cost $20 for the transport and not the $30 we had agreed. This meant 8am the next day would bring another round of negotiating with my fellow Tottingham City fan. Pretty soon, the electricity came on and we could retreat to the artificially cool air of our room and the refreshment of a shower. There is something really grubby about the feeling you have after a long day travelling wherever you are in the world, but the heat and dust of South East Asia just compounds this feeling. We paid a quick visit to the little café next door for some dinner and so that we could line our stomachs ready for our dose of Malarone (anti malarials).

The memory foam mattresses (we haven’t even got that at home!) meant that we got a great night’s sleep ahead of our 6.30am alarm call on Monday morning. A quick breakfast followed before Luke, the Cambodian Cockney arrived to take us out for the day. Some swift and amiable bartering took place and we settled at $25 for the day. Luke truly was just the negotiator, as he lead us outside to his ‘brother’s’ ‘tuk-tuk’ and bid us farewell. Our driver for the day was called Gun and soon we were chugging along at a speed of around 20 miles per hour and out of the city. Our first stop was the furthest away, at a temple called Banteay Srei. The journey took around an hour, and despite the bumpy roads, lack of suspension and hair raising interpretation of the Highway Code by every Cambodian road user, it was an extremely enjoyable journey.
The sights we saw as we ambled along just reinforced the fact that we are a world away from home and the comforts of the western world. We saw some young toddlers having the time of their lives. Stark naked playing with twigs in the dirt on the roadside and some older children peddling along in their smart but simple uniforms on bicycles that were enormous when compared to the their small and skinny bodies. We saw roadside stalls selling what looked like vegetable oil in whisky bottles which seemed to be the fuel of choice for the numerous ‘tuk tuks’ struggling along the roads. Farmers were tending to emaciated cattle and lush green crops in their fields. All this was set to the cacophony of vehicle horns from the buses and cars to warm the little ‘tuk tuks’ and motorcycles that they would be mown down if they didn’t move over. There are no rules of the road here, its survival of the fittest and the bigger your vehicle the better you fare!

Eventually we arrived at the site of the ancient temple of Banteay Srei and Gun showed us where he would be waiting when we finished. Banteay Srei was described to us by Prov as the ‘Lady Temple’ and we learnt that this was because it was dedicated to the female goddesses of the Hindu religion. The temples in the area were all mini cities (some not so mini!) from around 1000AD to 1200AD that have been discovered and re used in the last 100 or so years. All these facts are from recollection so apologies if some of them aren’t 100% true but you get the impression. Banteay Srei is different from other temples complexes in the area in that it was built from pink sandstone which gives it a striking colour as you wander through the ruins. We spent some time strolling around, dodging the hordes of Japanese tourists and admiring the images carved into the stone almost 1000 years ago. Before long we were back with Gun and aboard our trusty ‘tuk tuk’ ready to continue the journey.

Next on the agenda was step away from the serenity and spirituality of the temples and into the horror and destruction of the National Landmine Museum. The Museum itself is a collection of tin huts and is a school for under privileged children as well as a museum. It documents the story of a Cambodian man who was a child soldier for the Khmer Rouge as well as a soldier in the Cambodian Army in their struggle with the Vietnamese. Since he left the army and peace has settled on the land, he has dedicated his life to make the countryside safer, one landmine at a time. Initially he worked alone, clearing the mines, but more recently he has been working alongside national and international agencies to try and help with this problem. There are approximately 4-6 million unexploded munitions in the country and each years thousands of people are mutilated or killed by explosions. Landmines are designed to maim and not to kill, which leads to the horrific injuries we have seen on some of the amputees since we arrived here. The museum itself was interesting enough, but it left with us another example of the struggle this little country faces to shed the horrors of its past and develop.

Gun shipped us between a few more temples over the next couple of hours with a brief stop for lunch. Each temple we visited showcased the unbelievable standard of workmanship that went into the building of the complexes and we were amazed at how intricate the carvings (called ‘bas reliefs’) were and how well preserved they were after a thousand years of monsoons, baking sun and almost being eaten by the jungle around us. We were touched by the children selling various wares around the outskirts of the temples and got talking to two particularly charming young girls, who had a quite astonishing grasp of the English language. When we said we were from England, one girl told us that there were four parts to England, which were Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England and then when she asked where we lived in England, before we had a chance to say anything, she began to reel off a list of names of where we could be from! “Manchester, London, Leeds, Nottingham, Sunderland, Bristol!” Quite astounding considering she didn’t even go to school every day! Prov at the guesthouse had told us about the problem facing children here in Cambodia; school is free, but books and uniforms aren’t. Therefore it makes economical sense to sell things to tourists rather than spending on going to school. Pretty shortsighted to you or I, but they don’t seem to have much choice.

The last two temples on our tour of the Angkor region were the two most famous. First, Angkor Thom, (the setting for Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider film) a 9km square ancient city that used to be the capital of the Angkor region in days gone by. We spent a couple of hours wandering the ruins, marveling at the size of the place and nearly getting lost in the mazes of the main temple area! We also had the treat of seeing a couple of monkeys eating scraps of food near the car park. It was at this car park that we were once again astounded by a local child. He was probably no older than ten, trying to sell us 10 postcards for $1, and when he found out we were from England, he proceeded to tell us that our Prime Minister was David Cameron! I’d wager that there are some adults in the UK who don’t know that, let alone a kid from Cambodia! I almost asked him how the Con-Lib coalition was faring as I haven’t seen an English paper for 4 months, but thought that would be pushing it!

The last temple on our itinerary was Angkor Wat. It is the religious building in the world and the jewel in the Cambodians crown. It adorns the national flag and the locals are justly proud of it. It is a microcosm of the Hindu universe, with the large moat surrounding it (the ocean) and five towers on top (the mountains). One of the most impressive features of the complex was the bas relief which circles the whole temple and depicts in microscopic detail, various events of the ancient world. It is also the only temple in the area which has been in constant use since its construction in the 12th century. It was undoubtedly impressive but was tarnished slightly by the unsightly but necessary green netting and scaffolding which was in place to help restore some of the temple, but also to stop stone falling from the heights and injuring people or worse.

By the time we arrived back at the guesthouse we were well and truly ‘templed out’ but it had been an eye opening, fascinating day. Our weary bodies were dragged to the city centre for some delicious Khmer Cambodian food and a short walk round sampling some of the madness that is Asia by night. Every second building was offering a massage, beer was around 30p a can, and ‘tuk tuk’ drivers desperate for fares would hassle us at every turn. I guess this madness is what makes the place and it was certainly less seedy than our experiences in Pattaya. Our night ended with a famous Cambodian Fish Foot Massage back at the guesthouse. We dipped our feet in a paddling pool filled with fish bout the size of a cigarette lighter, which then proceeded to nibble away at the dead skin on our feet. A suitably bizarre way to end a crazy day.

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Comments

[greg]

smiling city
great reading, makes me feel like I've experienced it too, I love this kind of travelling...its good for the soul.....!!!!!!!!........ I know what that heat feels like, having back-packed around Malaysia a few times, Sri Lanka ,Thailand and living for 4 years in North Queensland in Oz.........would love to do Cambodia.......watch those mozzies guys..........x