The Temples of Angkor - Wat a Site

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After a fourteen hour bus journey we finally arrive in Siem Reap around midnight. Our guesthouse - Garden Village, we had pre-booked as we heard it gets full pretty quick, however arriving at the reception we're told our room was given away as we are so late...Great! Finding somewhere else to stay at this time of night after being on a bus for so long is not a challenge that I'm relishing right now, but then out of nowhere a friendly looking Israeli girl pops her head round the corner and says "I have 2 spare beds in my room if you want to stay with me for the night?"... What a lifesaver! We say a greatful thankyou and crash out for the night, and the next morning move to our own room for just $4 each - bargain!

Garden Village is a pretty big guesthouse, with a really cool bar terrace on the roof, 50 cent beers, pool tables & free internet. They offer rooms from $1 to $18... The most expensive being fully equppied with Sky TV and air con, the cheapest being (and you can't really call this a "room") dorm beds which are mattresses laid in rows with mozzy nets over them... Which actually line the walkway to the stairs up to the bar! Brilliant! I'm all for a bargain room but to pay $3 more for a private bathroom and.. Well... Four Walls, I think I can stretch this far.

We take a wander in the town to get some cash and are greeted by the first child beggars I've encountered for some time..."me no want money, me want a meal"... Says one boy as he tugs on my arm. I politely say no, sorry and walk away.. still with my instinctive "don't give to beggars" attitude that has been embedded in me since India. Mel, on the otherhand, not having a heart of stone when it comes to these circumstances, takes the boy into the supermarket and buys him some food. While she is in there I see another boy dragging a Western woman into the shop. Two minutes later, she storms out looking pissed off, the boy follows looking sad. Mel comes out shortly after and I ask what happened? Apparently the girl behind the till in the shop told the woman it was a scam - that whatever you buy for these boys they take it back to their "pimp" who sells it back to shops for the money... Now I don't know the ins & outs of all what goes on - it's hard when people tell you things are a scam - obviously the kids are being exploited in some ways, but they still need to eat, right? Still, you can't give to everyone, so my reluctance to dish out a dollar or two stays intact for now, despite the occasional pang of guilt.

Later we arrange a tuk tuk to take us to see the temples of Angkor, starting with sunset at Phnom Krom. We meet a British guy called Jamie who asks if he can hop in with us, he seems nice so we re-arrange for a bigger tuk tuk carriage to take us for a few extra $ and split the cost. It's quite a long way out of town in the tuk tuk, stopping at the side of the road for a Pepsi bottle full of petrol to fill the tank, we zip along the streets of mayhem; children playing, cows strolling around, moto's weaving in & out of pedestrians & potholes... It still shocks me when the tuk tuk man half rides into, half was ridden into by a young school girl on a bike! Luckily both she and her bike are fine but it just brings home just how dangerous the streets can be.

We climb the 2 million (or it felt like it!) steps up to the top and are rewarded with a view over miles and miles of rice paddies, all luscious & green, and the Tonle Sap Lake. And of course the magnificent temple itself!

We return after sunset to the bottom to find our tuk tuk driver is nowhere to be seen... A little bit concerned, we have a wander round to look for him... We didn't pay him yet so I can't imagine he'd have just driven off! Then out of the darkness he comes running up to us.. "Sorry, Sorry". He says "Tuk tuk broken... In garage fixing"... So we walk down the road to the garage and sit outside on plastic chairs waiting for it to be fixed. A boy of about 10 years old is fixing it, and does so within half an hour, so pretty soon we're on our way back to town.

After riding on many forms of transport, I have found that even though they are notoriously unreliable, always late and often break down, if they do break down, they're fixed pretty dam quick. These guys know what they're doing, there's no messing about or waiting for up to 3 hours for the RAC to rock up, they just get on with it.

The next morning, we get up at 4:30am ready to watch the infamous sunrise over Angkor Wat. We make it down to reception at 5:05am to find no tuk tuk driver and no Jamie. Assuming the tuk tuk driver's just late and Jamie's still in bed, we go to knock on his door... Only to find he's buggered off with our tuk tuk driver already! The bastard! We went out of our way to help him out and he just ditches us! We get another tuk tuk driver (which costs us extra) and about 5 minutes after arriving, see Jamie already there. Of course we naturally have a go at him, call him a cock and move on.

Watching the sunrise over Angkor, though cloudy, was still special. The dark monuments looming over the lake was definitely an impressive sight, And would have perhaps been a little eerie, if it weren't for the dozen photographers in front of us with their large tripods, even larger lenses and larger still egos, all trying to get that elusive shot.

Once the sun was up, we wander through the temples of Angkor Wat & Angkor Thom. The area is so vast, it's amazing to think how something so huge was not only built, but also partly destroyed by Pol Pot's army in 1975 and then restored as if it was a giant jigsaw puzzle. Still so many pieces lay around, yet to have found a place for.

We move from Angkor Thom to Ta Prohm, a site where nature itself seems to have taken over. Amongst all the temple ruins, originally built in 1186, the large banyan trees have grown stealthily, entwining their trunks around walls & doorways, through roofs and wrapping their branches around the decrepid buildings as if protecting them, or perhaps claiming them and declaring to man "they're mine now!". It's truly astonishing to think that what was once created by man, destroyed by man and currently in the process of being restored by man cannot contend with the force of nature.

The sun gets higher and the heat starts to slow us down. Our tuk tuk man drives on to the next temple, stops outside and asks if we'd like to take a look but we wave him on... Not that we don't find it all fascinating, but 6 hours of temple site seeing is quite enough for us so we drive back to base, our tuk tuk driver no doubt happy to be let off early!

Now in the guidebooks, it does suggest cycling around the temples as the best, and cheapest way to see Angkor, however it's 37C and after the nightmare I had in Don Det I wasn't even going to entertain the idea... And yes I suppose I am a bit lazy as well!

We arrive back at Garden Village to be greeted by Mikkel, a Danish guy we've met a few times throughout our travels and who is taking full advantage of the $1 dorm beds! So after an afternoon "Nanna Snooze" we head to the Night Market, myself & Mel getting a pedicure & Mikkel opting for a massage. I treat my self to a manicure as well for an extra dollar and Mikkel, enjoying a bit of pampering with the girls, decides to get a manicure too, complete with his pinky fingernails painted bright orange, of which he is very proud of and everytime he glances down at them over the next few days, he smiles with delight.

Later, we head out after for dinner to sample a typical Khmer barberque around the many food market stalls. Mel is feeling a bit more adventurous than I or Mikkel and chooses Barberqued snake and... Not just frog but "Sexy Frog" as the menu describes on the large chalkboard by the Chef stood at his grill station.

Never being one to pass up trying a bit off someone else's plate, I have first go on the snake which, although chewy, is kind of like a thin version of crackling, and isn't entirely unpleasant. The "sexy" frog is in fact really tasty, and yes I suppose a bit like chicken, but if it weren't for the fact it was an actual frog, that was grossing me out a bit, I would've really enjoyed it. I'm still not sure what made him so sexy apart from the provocative pose we styled him in for the photo..

We head from there for a few drinks, down Siem Reap's infamous "Pub Street", trying to be Khao San Road in Bangkok, but this place actually has lots of nice-ish restaurants, bars and cafes... If it weren't for the bright neon flashing "Pub Street" signs flashing at each end of the road, it would actually be a lot more tasteful. Saying that it inevitably attracts a party crowd and we join in, starting with drinking games in one of the pubs with a group of guys & girls that Mikkel knows. Now its a while since I've played any drinking games, not since Uni days and even then I was bad at them! The game is called Kings whereby each player takes it in turns to draw a card from the pile and each number represents a different challenge... i.e "everyone downs their drinks"... "only girls drink"..."someone invents a new rule" etc etc... Half way through one Canadian girl, who is really rather wasted to put it lightly, runs to the toilet to be sick and projectile vomits all over the bathroom... Only to come back to the table to carry on. Oh dear, what have I let myself in for?... I didn't go in the toilet myself but Mel comes back telling of what a state it's in and that the poor staff are left to clean it up...

Now it's my turn, I pick a "5" which is the "bitch" card... This means I can pick someone to be my "bitch" and they must do whatever I say. So I choose the loudest one of the group, a young ginger Irish lad who's name escapes me but to finish off the stereotype, let's call him Paddy. My mind's not very imaginitive at this stage, already having sank several Mojito's so I say the only thing I can think of..."Go and clean the girl's sick up in the toilet!"... There's a cheer and I get high 5's all round. I feel bad, but at least the staff don't have to do it, and Paddy, un deterred and fully respectful of the rules of the game, like a proper student would, takes a mop and bucket and cleans the toilet til it's shiny new.

When we're all drunk enough, we head to the creatively named "Angkor What?" bar for a good old dance. When we leave, we see many kids on the street dancing to the music coming from the bars - Shakira, Beyonce... They're really good dancers and seem to be having real good fun, despite being there to beg for money. It's such a shame, I assume this is another situation where the kids are being pimped out, but all I see in front of me is children enjoying themselves, despite it being 2am, but you can't force a kid to have fun, and those smiles and laughs are genuine. I'm by no means condoning what goes on here but it's beyond my understanding so it's hard to make a judgement, especially as a westerner looking in on such a different world - everyone needs to make a living, even if it's not PC with European standards....

But then neither is riding down the river on the roof of a slightly lopsided boat, which is where we find ourselves the next day, en route to Battambang. I must admit I feel slightly ripped off by the $20 fare. Not that I was expecting the QE2 but the cramped space inside and the engine vibrating so loud I couldn't even hear my iPod wasn't exactly the relaxing day on a boat I'd anticipated. Therefore, the roof was the only saviour from the noise, so there we sat, for 5 hours, leaning on boxes of god knows what was being transported, soaking up the sun and watching villagers go about their daily lives, fishing, carrying rice, washing in the river and waving at the many excited children splashing around in the water. I get chatting to a local man who is holding an English Dictionary and who keeps asking how to pronounce certain random words..."Coal"..."Watermelon"..."Grass"...I have to laugh at this one as he says "Grass or Grarrrss"...It's "Grass" I correct him - spoken like a true Northerner!

Battambang, we find to be a small dusty town, not too much going on and not that many tourists which makes it a great place to wander around and see real Cambodian life - fish being prepared in the market, a class of children being taught in what resembled someone's garage, and for some reason mobile phone shops EVERYWHERE. I've never seen so many! This would give Tottenham
Court Road a run for it's money...

We book a tuk tuk to take us to the Killing Caves, which was one of the many sites in which 7 million Khmers (almost a quarter of the population) were brutally killed by Pol Pot's army in 197...

We arrive and, all ready for the steep climb, the tuk tuk driver announces that his brother is getting married that afternoon and would we like to go?... An invite to a Cambodian wedding sounds like fun! But not having enough time to climb up to see the caves, 2 moto drivers appear and offer to take us up the hill for $2 each. Not being the most confident passenger on the back of a bike, I'm a little bit wary..."You have a spare helmet for me?". I ask "No, no need helmet" he says " it's not dusty!". I laugh at his carefree attitude, typical of most motorbike drivers in South East Asia but I insist and he finds me one so we ride up to the caves.

I had a similar feeling within me as when I visited Auschwitz years ago, it's so shocking, so hard to believe such a thing happened less than 40 years ago. I'm in a cave, the actual cave that thousands of bodies were thrown after being beaten & bludgeoned to death... For being too intelligent, for being different, for not being intelligent enough or for no reason at all - there was no sense to Pol Pot's maddness. The guide takes us to a second cave..."the baby cave". This is where they did the same to the babies. Why, they felt, in the process of these horrendous killings, they needed to sort the adults from the babies, is beyond me but then the whole ordeal was so preposterous it's hard for anyone to make sense of.

After visiting a couple of beautiful temples, also on the hill, we return to the tuk tuk driver and head to the wedding. We arrive to see lots of bright coloured drapery hung around a bright pink marquee with loud music playing and beer flowing freely. We're ushered to a table and immediately draw the attention of the crowd, 2 white girls turning up to the wedding is hardly going to go unnoticed! I feel like a bit of an imposter but nevertheless we were invited in good faith and everyone is very friendly & welcoming. The food arrives of various meat & fish dishes, duck & squid salad. The guests are getting really rather merry and come over to toast with us and drink yet more beer. We see one girl actually sick on the floor while sat at the table - she gets up to go to the toilet and when she returns, wipes the vomit off her face with the drapery! Nice! We get up to dance with some of the guests, who are all getting more & more sloshed... One girl, who is quite heavily pregnant is really eager to dance with me... She keeps stumbling and I think it's just the ridiculously high wedges she's wearing but then I soon realise she's absolutely wasted! So much in fact that one guy falls into her on the dancefloor and she falls backwards, banging her head on a concrete step! Pretty soon her and her friend are in tears, hugging eachother -I try to see if she is ok but there are so many people gathered round by this point I decide to leave them to it.

We meet and give our best wishes to the happy couple who're both dressed in pink - the groom in a sugar pink shot silk jacket with black trousers and the bride in a bright pink, all singing, all dancing wedding dress - blinged up to the max with jewels dripping from head to toe. The other guests are also adorned with many accessories, caked in make-up to make themselves look paler, thick false eyelashes, crazy patterns & jewels on their nails, tiaras in their hair, all to match the long satin gowns that most of them are wearing. To say that Mel & I feel underdressed is an understatement!

I must admit my wardrobe has taken a downwards spiral since I left the UK. It's just not the most important thing when you're travelling, especially in 37C heat! But I do have those shameful moments when someone asks what I do for a living and I reply "I'm a fashion designer"... To which I quickly add "...but I'm having a year off.. As you can tell!" and look down at the outfit of vest with bikini underneath and denim shorts which I'm wearing for the 3rd day in a row...

We leave the wedding, after saying our goodbyes, thanking the father of the bride and making an offering of a few dollars that we've put in an envelope for the bride & groom, a Cambodian tradition instead of bringing gifts, and head to catch our bus to the capital city - Phnom Penh.

Another long bus journey, and an exploded tyre on the way resulting in only a 20 minute hold up, and we arrive in Phnom Penh in the early hours. Mel, through one of her friends back home, has arranged for us to stay with a guy named Ramone, a Dutch guy who invented couchsurfing.com and who owns a cool house on the outskirts of the city from which he also runs a cinema for ex-pats called The Flicks. He lives downstairs while upstairs there's a terrace, a bar and a cinema room with a huge screen, beds & sofas to get comfy to watch the films on. It's every guy's dream batchelor pad, except for maybe a pool table & Nintendo Wii...

After experiencing Siem Reap, I kind of expected Phnom Penh to be a like larger version, however it's much bigger, busier and much more modern...almost like a budding Bangkok. Amongst the old markets and palaces dotted around the city, the streets are wide and not only full of the familiar tuk tuks & motos but a fair amount of posh cars & 4x4s. There is certainly some money here, and it reflects in the abundance of swanky cafes and eateries geared up towards ex-pats & tourists alike. Of course if you want deep down & dirty old school Cambodian fare this can also be found in equal measures.

We stay for two nights, wander around the city & markets and then Mikkel & I pay a visit to the S-21 museum - originally a school which was turned into a prison of Pol Pot's army which, again, brings home how real and horrific the tortures & killings were. I knew little of the history of Cambodia & The Khmer Rouge before I came here and the only Pol Pot I'd heard of was the Carphone Warehouse guy who won the first Britains Got Talent (bad joke, I know but you were all thinking it!). I feel a bit ignorant in my lack of knowledge, and although it's quite depressing to say the least to visit sites such as this, it has taught me an awful lot about Cambodian history, which makes it even more amazing that the people here, despite many of them having witnessed the atrocities first hand are such positive, friendly, smiling people.

We return after dinner to watch the film showing that evening... And I'm so excited!! It's funny but after seeing so many amazing mountains, rivers, sunsets & waterfalls they do start to get less exciting after a while (I did comment to Mel one day that to be impressed by a waterfall again I would have to see Niagara) and then all of a sudden, the most mundane, normal things back home, if you get them abroad, once in a while, become the best thing ever! Film, glass of Sauvignon in my hand, a bowl of popcorn in my lap & I'm in my element!! Home comforts, just once in a while, can bring as much pleasure as a stunning mountain view any day!

Now don't even get me started on cheese!!....

Xx

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Photos

Petrol for the Tuk Tuks
Yes, this is how it's sold...at the side of the street...