Siem Reap

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We began our morning meeting with our tuk-tuk driver Alex and arranging for our transport over the next 3 days, ensuring that we had enough time to see every temple in the Angkor area. A tuk-tuk is the cheapest form of transportation in Cambodia and consists of a motorcycle pulling a covered open air carriage that can seat up to 4 people.

Angkor is a complex that contains hundreds of temples built during the 9^th century until the 15^th century. It is considered to contain the most magnificent architecture of the ancient world and houses the largest religious structure in the world. Angkor was known as the Mt. Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of the ancient gods. Several god-kings ruled during the Angkor period spanning 600 years, each building temples in an attempt to be more magnificent than their predecessors.

I had decided to visit the temples in a reverse order than is normal, and start with the smaller ones and work our way up to the crown jewel, Angkor Wat. We started the day ($24) driving to Kbal Spean waterfalls, about 40km outside of Siem Reap, taking about an hour and a half in the tuk-tuk. Our travel would have been faster throughout the stay taking a bus, but we enjoyed being out in the fresh air, taking in the sights, sounds and smells on a more personal level. Every few minutes we passed local children who would yell out “hello” to us, waving and smiling enthusiastically.

The falls were a 2km hike up deep into the jungle. I was sick again for another day, but did not want to miss out on any sights by staying close to a bathroom. The river around the water falls contains several carved Hindu deities into the stones, and the bed of the river was carved into a 1,000 linga’s, or phalluses, also accompanied by the female fertility symbol to represent the union between man and woman and the life giving nature of water. The falls and carving were not “rediscovered” until 1969 as they are hidden deep within the jungle, and the area had been heavily mined. The area was not safe to visit until 1998 after the civil war had ceased.

We ran into our Czech friend Jaroslav during the hike, and coordinated to meet up with him for dinner and to share the costs of transport to another outer lying temple the next day.

After the falls we visited Banteay Srei, considered the art gallery of Angkor and houses the most beautifully carved and decorated temple of Angkor, and considered by many the finest stone carving on earth. Some believe all the reliefs were carved by a woman because the details were too small and fine to have been done by a man.

After lunch we visited some of the outer Grand circuit temples, Preah Khan, Neak Poan, Ta Som. We quickly noticed that all the temples were overrun by locals hawking souvenirs, most young children that were adorable but annoyingly persistent. As much as we wanted to buy knickknacks from them out of pity, we realized that we would go broke if we patronized them all, and buying from them only encourages the behavior and keeps them out of school where they should be at such young ages. We decided that we would primarily give money to the multitude of disabled amputees, many of which form bands that play traditional music to serenade you and set the mood as you trek through the jungles and temples.

We returned to town around 1630, and decided to stop at Kantha Bopha, the Children’s Hospital in town. I had read a message board on Tripadvisor while I was planning this trip and read about the desperate need for blood donors in Cambodia, and that there was a blood bank at the hospital. We were led to the blood bank which was about what we had expected for Cambodian standards. It was not modern and a bit shabby, but nevertheless they used new needles and appeared clean. We spoke with the nurse who was very grateful, and thanked us for our donations that were desperately needed because of outbreaks of dengue and hemorrhagic fever throughout the country. Cambodia has the highest rate of HIV in Asia so because of the widespread communicable diseases and lack of interest among the local populace, blood donations are desperately needed. Dennis likes to refer to his blood as “liquid gold” because he has O-, a very rare and highly desirable blood type. Once we were finished we were provided with gift bags containing a t-shirt and an invite to a charity concert starring a Swiss pediatrician who is a famous cello musician.

After having dinner with Jaroslav we received our complimentary couples massage that was included with the stay at our hotel. After being pummeled with the traditional Khmer massage we fell asleep early.

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Comments

[Big Sammy]

Thanks for the great post
Jess and Dennis - Me and Natasha miss you guys! Your blog posts are great and wonderfully written- Salvatore loves the adventures and can't wait to be on some himself. Keep up the great writing! The Cameratos