Cambodia: Days 2-4 (Siem Reap)

Cambodia is one of the most phenomenal places to visit - the people are very friendly and willing to help, although this may come across as them being pushy at times. As long as you recognise that there will be beggars, and it is a very poor country, you'll have a lot more fun, and learn more as well. The longer you spend thinking about how dirty or undeveloped it may be (especially on the road into Siem Reap from the Thai border) the less time you will have to recognise that the world has differences, and it is our place as privileged students on exchange to try and make a difference - no matter how small.

Days two, three and four were spent in Siem Reap, with the majority of our time spent exploring the ruins of Angkor. In addition, we visited the floating market, and the city itself. It was quite a busy three days, and one that unfortunately I can’t really do justice to with my blog. That’s the problem with Angkor – you either write a lot, or a little, and in this case, I am choosing to write a little, as there are far better historians and travel guides out there.

We hired three tuk-tuks, or more technically 3 motorcycles with tuk-tuk style carriages attached at the back (known as a remoque-moto), for the three days. My driver’s name was Khen - khensaroeurt@hotmail.com – and he was very helpful. Whilst he was not there to give us a history of the temples or anything like that, he knew exactly where he was going and what we wanted to do. We basically left our itinerary up to him, and it paid dividends. Our hostel arranged the bookings.

His lack of historical knowledge was not really an issue, as at each of the main temples, young boys walk around giving impromptu lessons on the background and heritage of that particular ruin. If you want him to stop, just say “Thanks” and walk away, however if you listen to him and let him continue, it is expected that you will pay him US$1. When you think about it, this could become quite expensive if you see a lot of temples, but they really know their stuff (although we couldn’t confirm what they were telling us was true, it definitely sounded convincing), and they remain far cheaper than the organised guides. Plus you are giving money back to the community, rather than to some international tour organisation based in the UK, the US, France or Australia.

The visitors passes for Angkor are quite expensive by Southeast Asian standards – 1-day US$20, 3-day US$40, 7-day US$70. For many travellers, there is only one option that is feasible, and that is the 3-day pass. One day just isn’t enough time to see half of what’s there, and 7 days would just be too long. I think, had we spent another day in Siem Reap, we would have explored the city and surrounding areas, rather than see more temples. As bad as this sounds, one does become “templed-out” and they begin to look the same. My parents had told me about this with regards to British castles, but I never thought it possible.

Day Two (Day 1 of our 3-day pass, 20-02-2005).

Today we started with the big ones – driving around the "Small Circuit". This is the main loop that many who are only able to stop for 1 day do, and includes the blockbuster temples (Angkor Wat and the Bayon), as well as some of the other main attractions. These other temples include Ta Keo – which remains unfinished; Ta Prohm – known as the jungle temple, as it is the most destroyed and the least restored, and was my personal favourite); and the entire Angkor Thom square, including the ancient Royal Palace. Our day at the temples ended with a short-lived trek to the top of Angkor Wat to watch sunset – we were there about 30mins before the guards (before sunset) stated that the temple was closing The temples do live up to their high reputations – if anything they are far more amazing in person, as you really get a chance to understand the history behind them, and imagine Cambodia 1000+ years ago. This is especially true as there are still no rules on what you can/cannot do at the temples.

Obviously it is illegal to steal parts of the temples, although I am not too sure how they can enforce this . Just don’t do it! However, you are still able to climb all over the temples, something that, at the time, we just took for granted. Looking back on it now, if everyone does that, it is only a matter of time before the degradation of the temples is accelerated, especially as the area is only gaining in popularity. Having said that, French, Japanese, German, American, British and other restoration teams are working constantly on the ruins, and I guess if they had wanted to control people’s access they would have been able to – I wonder if anyone has any ideas on the matter?

That night we had an excellent dinner at Deadfish, which is a traditional Cambodian restaurant (done tourist-style), serving delicious Thai and Cambodian food. No badly done steak here, just a whole bunch of expats eating cross-legged on mats. Very cool. Then we retired, with our newfound mate, Tom (who studies at USyd with Jacinta and lives at Pauls!), to Angkor What?, another tourist bar nearby. The highlight was catching up with the Dutch exchange students who were also in the area, and trying the “bucket” of rum-and-coke. That stuff is toxic!

Day Three(Day 2 of our 3-day pass, 21-02-2005).
One of the highlights of many people’s trips to the Angkor ruins is watching sunrise at Angkor Wat, which we attempted on our second day. Despite the early start (up at 5am), we managed it successfully, and it was spectacular, even though the clouds and lack of rain meant we lost the “wet” look so many postcards have. Ah well, I’ll just have to return. From there, we continued our temple tour in the morning though to Preah Khan (with its restoration museum); Neak Pean; Ta Som; the Eastern Baray and the Eastern Mebon.

By this time we were quite tired, however we kept going, visiting Banteay Srei. Banteay Srei is probably the furthest away temple many visitors see, and to be honest, I didn’t feel it was completely worth it, but it was very nice. We had a very interesting ride through the villages outside the town centre, and for me that was more informative than the temple itself. To drive past communities and see how the non tourism-affected Cambodians live was a learning experience, and made me realise income inequality is still alive and kicking in Cambodia. For those who are lucky enough to live, or be able to move to, “tourist” destinations, life offers many new opportunities. For those who cannot, life remains basic and repetitive. Yet still they appear happy and wave to us as we pass – their resilience amazes and inspires me.

Coming home from Banteay Srei, we visited Pre Rup (a small and out-of-the-way temple nearer the city), which was very nice and relaxing. We had intended to spend about 15mins there, but in the end we spent about 45mins there just talking to some of the local kids and reflecting. Very peaceful.

No sooner had we left the quiet Pre Rup were we at our sunset destination. If we had thought Angkor Wat was busy for sunrise (which surprisingly, it wasn’t really), than this is something else. Phnom Bakheng, the hill overlooking the ruins of Angkor, provides one of the most spectacular views over the temples. However, on the evening we visited, the clouds on the horizon meant that our picture-perfect sunset was not to be. To me, however, the sheer numbers of people who had climbed up the slope of a hill to be there demonstrated the popularity of Siem Reap, and the changes tourism must be bringing to the country. I felt lucky to have made it there before it became completely tourist-ised, and before large international brands entered – Cambodia remains one of the few countries in the world without a single McDonalds or Starbucks.

Day Four (Day 3 of our 3-day pass, 22-02-2005).
Carol, Kristin and I began our day with a very early (7am) walk into the town centre, to have breakfast and discover the Old Market. As it happens, the Old Market does not really begin opening until about 9-10am, so our trip was mostly in vain, however we did manage to pick up some kramas (Cambodian scarfs) and I finally bought my “Thai pants”. These are just like sarongs with legs, just one piece of stitched fabric, designed for the hot, dry, dusty Southeast Asian climates. The obvious French legacy remained with the ever-present cafés and patisseries, and the delicious baguettes.

Then we joined the others for a trip out to the Floating Village on the Tonle Sap – the lake linking Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. This trip was excellent, if only so we could see the distinct changes between rural and semi-urban Cambodian life, and the importance of agriculture to their economy. As Carol commented, the scenery changed dramatically and began to ‘look like Europe’. Though the tour was commercial (we had to buy our tickets from an ‘official’ ticket booth – at which we could bargain! – and we stopped off at a souvenir barge), it was nothing compared to the Floating Markets near Bangkok. Cambodia is still relatively untouched, and I sincerely hope it stays like this. The complete destruction of the river near the beginning (where the water was grey, not brown) was the only sign that tourism had completely altered the scenery here. We have already left our mark; I just hope it doesn’t get any worse.

The rest of the day was spent back at Angkor Wat to revisit and explore the area. We walked around behind the temple, and read the reliefs along its walls backwards (unintentionally at first, and then we didn’t have time to turn around!). These were fascinating, and I’m really glad we got to spend some extra time there, as it became quite obvious why it is the most famous of all the temples. It’s just in a league of its own, in design, conservation, history, and sheer size. Following this, we went back to the Bayon to watch the nightly Buddhist prayers (on around sunset), but were unable to find out what the different coloured robes indicate. Currently, I think it denotes status.

Dinner was had at one of the street-side market stalls for US$1.25 (incl. 75c drink!). Whilst I really expected to get sick from eating here, so far, nothing has happened. It seems my stomach is more resilient than I expected! Yay!

Tomorrow Andy, Nina, Bernd and I leave for Phnom Penh, whilst Christelle, Carol and Kristin leave for Bangkok. Farewell girls!