Epic and awesome are often over used words – but in a case like this it is fair to say that the impressive Angkor Wat is both of these things! Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world. There are hundreds of temples, and many of these are apparently worth visiting, and although we were going to barely scratch the surface of what was to be seen we thought we would get a three day pass to try and do justice to some of the more popular ones.
The first day we hired a tuk tuk driver who took us firstly to the gates into the city of Angkor Thom. I might sound like a stuck record in this blog as I run out of ways to try and describe the scale and impressive nature of these structures. Each of the gates had four large faces of Avalokiteshvara and were still incredibly detailed considering they were built around 1181!! The whole ‘complex’ of temples and structures are set within a kind of park land which for me added to the epic but still peaceful feeling of the area.
Our first building was Bayon, this was a very large building, and there were signs around the ruins explaining what some of the rooms would have been used for including a library. It was stunning and although they were ruins there was a lot remaining, including corridors and structures that you climb up to get magnificent views. One of the things that was fantastic about the place was there was no restriction to where you could wander, climb and explore making the place wonderful to get lost in. The same face that we saw at the gates appears here 216 times (bless the guide book of facts we had)– every time as big as me in size. Combine that with many intricate and wonderful carvings and you have a place where I just kept finding things that were amazing and impressive.
We then visited Baphon which is in the process of being restored, so you could only look from the outside while they were still reassembling areas of the ruins. We visited the Terrace of Elephants which is aptly named as it is a 300m long terrace with bas-reliefs of elephans and garudas (mythical human –birds). Then we took a brief visit to the Terrace of the Leper King before catching our tuk tuk to see some of the slightly further away temples.
The next set of temples were far more ruined, and were slightly smaller but no less impressive. The jungle had been allowed over 100’s of years to begin reclaiming the land and there were many areas where tree and their roots engulfed the stonework. Apparently there were areas of these temples where Tomb Raider was filmed, and it was indeed a perfect area. I also found the forest helped me gain a sense of age of the ruins. I also felt they were more interesting and amazing to look at than some of the more restored temples. These were called Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. That was to be the end of our first day. Awesome.
The next day we decided to tackle the temples by bike. Angkor Wat was only a couple of Km from Siem Reap, so we jumped on our bikes and firstly came to Angkor Wat an obvious first choice as we had left that one out from our first day. It’s scale was unbelievable. It has a large moat around it, and then there is a temple within a temple. To get to these you walk along a causeway where you pass over the moat. After walking about 500m from the entrance it turns more into a large wide path and either side there are large square pools which reflect Angkor when the light is right. Then through a massive archway and I find myself inside the ‘first temple’. Here there are many corridors to explore, wonderful carvings to look at and large pits which apparently used to be pools. Once into the middle of the ‘first temple’ you see the temple within the temple and this was a funerary temple of a deity called Vishnu. Unfortunately this temple was not opened to the public but was still fantastic from the outside as it is 55m tall! However, much to our surprise we turn round to see Chris and Brian being lead up the stairs into this temple by one of the police officers that was on patrol at the temple! It turns out that they had managed to bribe him for a few $’s each to take them up there. They said it felt great to see apart that is not often seen by members of the public, and we looked at their photos with some jealously!
We managed to spend most of our day in this temple and after a quick bite to eat we jumped back on our bikes and decided to cycle one of the inner squares of the complex and try and catch a few of the smaller less popular temples before it went dark. We saw a few before it was time to cycle back. One had been partly restored and had many areas where it was very obviously stuck back together, I can’t help thinking that sometimes things are better left incomplete or as ruins. The last temple we got to see was very different in that it was all made from red brick rather than large grey stone blocks.
We were loosing light so decided it was time to cycle home, just as we had made the decision it started to rain; then it started to pour; then the heavens really opened! I can honestly say I have never seen rain as heavy – let alone cycled in it! It was quite an experience as the thunder and lightening started up! We were drenched very quickly indeed so decided there was no point stopping we should just get home as fast as possible as we had no lights (and the streetlights weren’t on either), Rob’s saddle kept falling off and my brakes didn’t work so it made for a very funny ride home! A hot shower has never been so welcome!
The final day at Angkor was just spent watching the sunrise behind Angkor. Me and Chris (both very stoned at this point!!!) and Brian (who had to put up with me and Chris) sat by one of the square pools to see the reflection forming in the water as it slowly became light. It was very strange watching the shadows begin to form on the stonework and the reflection form on the pool (or was that the space pizza?) but unfortunately the sunrise was pretty unspectacular as there were no colours and it was a little cloudy to really see the sun. I am still very pleased I did it despite Rob insisting he was also very pleased to stay in bed!
The whole experience was awe-inspiring and one of the most impressive pieces of man made history I have ever seen.
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Siem Reap
The first thing I should mention before I start to tell you all about Siem Reap is that hotelier work was not the only thing that our guesthouse did to earn a living! After being told to check out the back of the hotel by a very excited Chris, we wandered down our top floor corridor and out onto a little balcony. We stared down into a stagnant green pool amazed as a dozen full sized crocodiles came into view! To the side of this pit was a series of little what looked like rabbit hutches, where the baby crocodiles were reared. We were later to discover that these guys were all being bred for their skin, and the hotel had guests (often Chinese and Japanese) who would pick their croc and then take the skin home – presumably to be made into a pair of shoes, handbag etc! I’m guessing the Cambodians don’t have a division of the RSPCA... and as we were to discover later the meat doesn't go to waste either!
After crocodile watching we headed into town, and I was surprised by what we found. The centre of town was very western and still retained a colonial French feel. It was in general a very pleasant place to stroll around and had a fantastic French influenced bakery and lots of bars and restaurants. It even felt European in the weather - lots of rain :)
We had a great couple of nights out enjoying the many drinking establishments all with cheesy names such as the ‘Temple Bar’ and ‘Angkor What?’ The whole town flaunted its obvious wealth in comparison to its neighbours, which undoubtedly derives from the hoards of westerners coming to see Asia’s version of the pyramids. I’m sure that outside of the tourist areas the place had a very different feel to it – this poverty was hinted at by the child beggars and the landmine victims who had a band on the corner of one of the streets. If Siem Reap was your only insight into Cambodia you could be forgiven for thinking that it was as rich as its neighbour Thailand.
The other thing of note we did one evening was take a wander around the night market. This was full of tourist souvenirs and goods and had a very vibrant feel. In the centre of the market was a big square tiled trough containing lots of tiny fish. These 'DR Fish' as named by the locals running the stall – ate dead skin. The idea was that you popped your feet into the water and these fish would nibble at your feet and remove all the dead skin – 'leaving your feet smooth and refreshed'. We were intrigued, we had to try it. So for a few dollars we jumped in for our 20 minute session (it is probably good to explain here that strangely they have 2 currencies in Cambodia the US Dollar and Riel. Most people preferred and would quote prices in Dollars but you would quite often get your change in Riel. Even the cash points only dispensed US Dollars!)
It is a hard sensation to explain – but it is incredibly tickly! I pushed my feet hard to the floor to start with so the fish did not nibble the bottoms, and as I got braver slowly lifted them. It was almost too much to bear, and me and Rob found ourselves laughing uncontrollably at times. You could have as many as 50 little fish nibbling all over your feet at points! We don’t have any photos unfortunately as we mislaid the memory card (more about that later). But I really recommend it if any of you ever get the chance – it is an experience, and what’s more it actually works! My feet have never felt to supple and smooth! Maybe one day it will reach UK shopping centres?
Also at the end of this market was a tiny cinema which showed a film about Pol Pot. If I am honest I didn’t before visiting Cambodia know much about the Khmer Rouge, so we went and watched the film; and although informative in places left out a lot of detail. It did however make me keen to learn more about this part of Cambodia’s dark history and I knew I would learn more when I got to the Capital.
The final thing to mention was our pizza experience in Siem Reap. We went to this restaurant for pizza and discovered you could ‘space up’ the pizza at no extra charge! We were of course slightly cynical at this claim so we ordered our pizza with ‘space’. We thought it was funny that the owner and his family then came and sat in the restaurant, and then we realised it was blatantly to laugh at us stupid tourists! He had done what he claimed and indeed the pizza was heavily ‘spaced’ so much so that within an hour we found ourselves giggling manically and making very benign conversation. Then we got very tired, and as myself, Rob and Chris were all planning on going to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat at 5am we retuned home to bed. However, when getting up at 4am to my surprise I was even more stoned than when I went to sleep, so much so I forgot our passes for Angkor and had to go back for them while Rob didn’t even make it out of bed. Needless to say watching the sun rise over Angkor was a very other worldly experience for many reasons! Our hazy evening is also when the memory card went missing, neither myself nor Rob has a very clear memory of leaving the restaurant with or without a memory card, but thankfully my camera and card survived the experience so we still have some photos of the previous 2 days. The moral of the story – don’t be responsible for anything for 24 hours after eating pizza in Cambodia!
After crocodile watching we headed into town, and I was surprised by what we found. The centre of town was very western and still retained a colonial French feel. It was in general a very pleasant place to stroll around and had a fantastic French influenced bakery and lots of bars and restaurants. It even felt European in the weather - lots of rain :)
We had a great couple of nights out enjoying the many drinking establishments all with cheesy names such as the ‘Temple Bar’ and ‘Angkor What?’ The whole town flaunted its obvious wealth in comparison to its neighbours, which undoubtedly derives from the hoards of westerners coming to see Asia’s version of the pyramids. I’m sure that outside of the tourist areas the place had a very different feel to it – this poverty was hinted at by the child beggars and the landmine victims who had a band on the corner of one of the streets. If Siem Reap was your only insight into Cambodia you could be forgiven for thinking that it was as rich as its neighbour Thailand.
The other thing of note we did one evening was take a wander around the night market. This was full of tourist souvenirs and goods and had a very vibrant feel. In the centre of the market was a big square tiled trough containing lots of tiny fish. These 'DR Fish' as named by the locals running the stall – ate dead skin. The idea was that you popped your feet into the water and these fish would nibble at your feet and remove all the dead skin – 'leaving your feet smooth and refreshed'. We were intrigued, we had to try it. So for a few dollars we jumped in for our 20 minute session (it is probably good to explain here that strangely they have 2 currencies in Cambodia the US Dollar and Riel. Most people preferred and would quote prices in Dollars but you would quite often get your change in Riel. Even the cash points only dispensed US Dollars!)
It is a hard sensation to explain – but it is incredibly tickly! I pushed my feet hard to the floor to start with so the fish did not nibble the bottoms, and as I got braver slowly lifted them. It was almost too much to bear, and me and Rob found ourselves laughing uncontrollably at times. You could have as many as 50 little fish nibbling all over your feet at points! We don’t have any photos unfortunately as we mislaid the memory card (more about that later). But I really recommend it if any of you ever get the chance – it is an experience, and what’s more it actually works! My feet have never felt to supple and smooth! Maybe one day it will reach UK shopping centres?
Also at the end of this market was a tiny cinema which showed a film about Pol Pot. If I am honest I didn’t before visiting Cambodia know much about the Khmer Rouge, so we went and watched the film; and although informative in places left out a lot of detail. It did however make me keen to learn more about this part of Cambodia’s dark history and I knew I would learn more when I got to the Capital.
The final thing to mention was our pizza experience in Siem Reap. We went to this restaurant for pizza and discovered you could ‘space up’ the pizza at no extra charge! We were of course slightly cynical at this claim so we ordered our pizza with ‘space’. We thought it was funny that the owner and his family then came and sat in the restaurant, and then we realised it was blatantly to laugh at us stupid tourists! He had done what he claimed and indeed the pizza was heavily ‘spaced’ so much so that within an hour we found ourselves giggling manically and making very benign conversation. Then we got very tired, and as myself, Rob and Chris were all planning on going to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat at 5am we retuned home to bed. However, when getting up at 4am to my surprise I was even more stoned than when I went to sleep, so much so I forgot our passes for Angkor and had to go back for them while Rob didn’t even make it out of bed. Needless to say watching the sun rise over Angkor was a very other worldly experience for many reasons! Our hazy evening is also when the memory card went missing, neither myself nor Rob has a very clear memory of leaving the restaurant with or without a memory card, but thankfully my camera and card survived the experience so we still have some photos of the previous 2 days. The moral of the story – don’t be responsible for anything for 24 hours after eating pizza in Cambodia!
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