Mans greatest treasures and worst crimes

---

---

Our first challenge on our journey to Cambodia was navigating the border crossing circus at Poipet. As we’d done it before three years ago, we knew what to expect, but it was a shame to see nothing’s changed, as it really gives a terrible first impression of such an amazing country.

We caught a public bus from Bangkok to the border town on the Thai side, and then strolled straight past all the touts claiming it’s not possible to get a visa at the border… but of course we could get it through them. Once stamped out of Thailand, we stopped at the visa office before Cambodian immigration, and played the waiting game. The official price for a one month tourist visa is US$20, but they ask for US$25, their claim is that this ensures your visa gets processed straight away, and you don’t have to wait 2-3 hours, but we know that the extra goes straight into the border officials pockets. This is of course is a prime example of just how corrupt officials can be.

Faye and I refused to pay any extra and just sat back to read our books, waiting for the call that they were ready. We were repeatedly approached and asked to pay the extra but each time we refused, saying we had all the time in the world, each time though the price kept falling. After about an hour I approached the desk and offered 100 baht (~US$3.50) extra if our visas were done now, and after reluctantly agreeing, they handed over our passports straight away. They were already done; they were literally just waiting for us to crack and hand over the money, but at least we managed to minimise the amount they extorted out of us.

Once we got through immigration we then had to negotiate the hundreds of touts to organise a taxi to Siem Reap, which although much more expensive than a bus it’s considerably quicker and a whole lot more comfortable. We were actually pleased to see that they are improving the road (read badly potholed and rutted track), which was absolutely terrible the last time we did the journey. Once in Siem Reap we found a hotel in the centre and were amazed by how much the city has expanded and grown just in a few years, we also organised a car and driver for the next day as we wanted to visit some of the more remote temples.

Temples of Angkor

The first temple we wanted to visit was Beng Mealea, a temple that used to be quite difficult to reach until a new road was built passing it. It’s located about one and a half hours drive (77km) from Siem Reap and is far enough away not to be included within the ticket for the main Angkor temples so we had to pay $5 to enter.

Almost immediately we realised it was a good idea to make the effort to come all the way out to this temple as there must have only been about 10 other people strolling around the place, and as it’s one of the larger temples, we managed to have whole sections of it to ourselves, sometimes not seeing another soul for half an hour or more.

Built in the early 12th century, the temple has been left largely un-restored, with plenty of trees and thick vegetation thriving amongst the many structures and piles of blocks. There were only a few marked trails and walkways (the remnants of a recent film shoot), and exploration often entailed scrabbling over piles of stones, checking out all the nooks and crannies. After a few hours we felt we’d given the temple the time it deserved and left for the journey back to Siem Reap. Although yet to see the main temples again, from memory I’d rank Beng Mealea as being one of the best Angkor temples I’ve seen, I love the fact that it’s still covered in vegetation, crumbling away and with no ‘no entry’ signs scattered about, it really made you feel like an explorer, especially as no one else could be seen or heard most of the time.

Once we’d freshened up back at our hotel, our driver picked us back up and we headed over to the main temple complex to pick up our day ticket for the next day which also allows you to get in for free after 5pm the day before. As we wouldn’t have much light left we decided that we’d just go to Angkor Wat to take some photos, with the orange glow of sunset reflecting off the temple.

Angkor Wat is the most widely known temple in the large Angkor complex and has undergone considerable restoration, clearing away all the accumulated earth and vegetation. The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia and is even depicted on its national flag. Its popularity is evident as soon as you enter the complex, from the rush of touts when you leave the car, to the continuous flow of humanity pouring over the causeway leading over the moat into the temple grounds. Once inside the grounds, we found a nice spot in front of the temple and waited, appreciating the change in colours on the sandstone and the beautiful reflections cast in the royal ponds as the sky blackened around us. Once the sun had well and truly disappeared, we joined the throng of people leaving the temple and found our driver, so we could head back to Siem Reap.

The next morning was an early start so that we would be at Banteay Srei before the crowds turned up. We kept our driver and car from the previous day as this particular temple is also located a bit further away from the main group (25Km).

Banteay Srei, a 10th century construction dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva is built mainly of pink sandstone, and viewing it first thing in the morning by dawn light really shows off the colour difference between this and the other Angkorian temples. As well as the colour it’s also famed for its elaborate carvings, many of which are perfectly preserved, because of these properties it’s been dubbed the ‘Jewel of Angkor’, which considering how spectacular the other temples are, really means something.

Luckily we were among the first to turn up so we managed to see the temple in its entirety, without any people in the grounds at all, but this didn’t last long and as it’s quite small it quickly filled up. Everything that was said about this temple is true; the carvings are simply exquisite, with every surface covered in intricate designs and motifs. Once it was at bursting point though we moved on, back towards the main temple group.

Our first stop was to be Ta Prohm, made famous by the Tomb Raider movie and my favourite from the last time we were here. I’m not sure if we timed it wrong but as soon as we entered we were shocked by the amount of people, predominately large Korean tour groups. I couldn’t help but flashback to our last visit, the memories of us and a friend we were travelling with, meandering around the ruins largely on our own. I was also disappointed to see a lot or restoration work had been carried out, and was still going on, it was its ruined state which made it so atmospheric and photogenic. All the large iconic trees are still present of course, which really makes this temple unique and a joy to photograph, you just have to be extra patient to try and grab your shot… in between the groups of people jumping in front waving their ‘peace’ signs. 😉

The next site we visited was Preah Khan, a temple located to the north of the main temple group. This would be our first visit to this particular temple and we’d not heard a lot about it at all so didn’t know what to expect. After a quick noodle lunch outside, we entered and were pleasantly surprised to find very few people; it looks like lunch time is a good time to visit. It may also be down to its size, it was considerably larger inside the complex than the pathway in leads you to believe. We also quickly realised that like Ta Prohm, its undergone minimal restoration, with numerous large trees sprouting out of all the blockwork, making it a real pleasure to wander around, giving you that Indiana Jones experience.

Our final stop for the day would be visiting the structures inside Angkor Thom, a huge walled city covering 9 Km2 at the centre of which lies Faye’s favourite site, the Bayon. From afar it resembles a pile of rubble, its beauty only becoming apparent once you get close enough to realise you’re being watched by a multitude of gargantuan stone faces peering out from the many towers and the central peak. There are approximately 200 faces in the temple, so wherever you are in the upper terrace, you’re always confronted by several, looking down on you. After The Bayon we strolled around some of the other temples and terraces in the immediate vicinity, before making our way back to our driver. On the way out he dropped us off at the south gate as we were leaving Angkor Thom, just so we could get some photos of the statues in rows guarding the gate, before we headed back into town ending our time at Angkor… We couldn’t help but feel incredibly fortunate that we’ve been able to do this ‘once in a lifetime’ for the second time.

Phnom Penh

From Siem Reap we took a fairly short bus ride to the nation’s capital Phnom Penh and checked into a nice hotel by the riverside. On our first day we took a walk around the city orienting ourselves where everything is, visiting a temple and the large complex of the Royal Palace.

The following day we started at the national museum, which we really didn’t think we’d enjoy, but it turned out to be very interesting, filled with amazing examples of Khmer art, there were even some of the original heads from the guards situated outside the gates of Angkor Thom. From here we went straight to the Tuol Sleng genocide museum where the Khmer Rouge, set up a prison and interrogation centre to detain individuals accused of opposing the regime.

Named S-21, the building was formally a school, where all the classrooms were converted to cells and bars placed on the windows and covered with barbed wire. Upon arriving at the prison, detainees were photographed and detailed biographies of their previous lives taken. Most of the prisoners were held for 2-3 months, and most were taken for interrogation within the first few days, where they were brutally tortured to make them confess to whatever ‘crimes’ they were accused of. Once the captors were finished obtaining as many confessions as they could, the prisoners were killed, for the first year the corpses were buried near the prison but they soon ran out of space and they were then taken to the Choeung Ek extermination centre, 15km from the city. Here they were executed and buried in mass graves containing anywhere from 6-100 bodies. It’s estimated that 17000 people passed through S-21 of which there were only 7 survivors.

After entering the complex we noticed that a film was about to be shown so we decided to watch it first before seeing anything else. It was set out drama-documentary style following the life of a female detainee using letters that were found while going through all the documentation left by the Khmer Rouge, although not particularly great quality (the sound was appalling) it was a good introduction to what we were about to experience.

We decided to hire a guide to show us around the museum, which turned out to be a great decision as it turned out she was personally affected by the Khmer Rouge and we got a first hand account of what people went through once Pol Pot was in power. Both her Father and Brother were killed by the regime, her Father because he was a teacher and her brother because he was a student. She and the rest of her family were then marched 300km out of the capital taking 3 months to work in the fields; she was only 14 at the time.

She first showed us some rooms where the corpses of the last 14 victims killed at S-21 were found before the prison was abandoned. There was a photo on each wall showing the corpse in-situ as it was found at the time and the room still contained the original bed and instruments of torture used on the victim.

We then entered some rooms containing thousands and thousands of mug shots of the people who passed through the prison. The first thing you noticed is that there are a lot of pictures of children; our guide told us that they killed whole families to eradicate the possibility of ‘revenge killings’, even new-borns were mercilessly murdered. Also a lot of the people are smiling which we were told was due to the photographer trying to make them laugh while taking the photos. They also took photos of the guards at the prison, many of whom were really young and many of which are still alive today. There were even some gruesome shots of people who died during torture which were used as proof of their death. In another room there were some paintings done afterwards by one of the few survivors of the prison showing the horrifying details of what he saw during his time in the prison.

The next morning we visited the killing fields of Choeung Ek, the final resting place of many of the victims of S-21. Here the prisoners were beaten to death (to save precious bullets) before being buried in mass graves. Some of the graves have been excavated and there is a memorial at the site containing the skulls of the dead. It was actually quite a peaceful place, which made it really hard to comprehend what occurred here. We passed a tree with a sign on it saying that babies were beaten to death against the trunk… to imagine that something as majestic and beautiful as that tree was used so horrifyingly was just unthinkable.

Although the main sites in and around Phnom Penh, are quite depressing, it’s definitely worth visiting. All in all it was a real chilling experience, but it was well worth seeing what mankind is capable of at its lowest, and maybe it could help to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Sadly this was our last stop in Cambodia before we pass onto Vietnam, but we’re leaving with some lasting memories, especially from the people who are always smiling, despite the tragedy that happened both to them and their country.

---