Siem Reap

A brief word of warning to those short on time: this entry is going to be a doozie, so if you’re short on time, you may want to focus on the below executive summary.

Executive Summary

• Incredibly long bus ride to Siem Reap (lots of traffic, flat tire, over eight hours in all)
• Siem Reap Town – a ridiculous amalgamation of very fancy hotels and restaurants catering to tourists
• Pub Street – a street in Siem Reap seemingly transplanted from elsewhere in the world. It is closed to vehicular traffic and on one night we were there a man was juggling sticks of fire in the street. Am I in Montreal?
• Kbal Spean – very cool and unique set of 11th century stone carvings in a riverbed. The detail was remarkably clear given the potential for erosion from the water.
• Banteay Srei – temple with unbelievably intricate carvings in rose-colored sandstone.
• Banteay Kdei – unexpectedly cool temple complex. It was very long and somewhat narrow and quite empty in terms of crowds.
• Angkor Thom – enormous, sprawling temple complex (three square kilometers) featuring The Bayon, The Terrace of Elephants (300 meter long series of life-size elephants), among other things. Even though it appeared to be rubble from afar, The Bayon was my favorite site in all of Angkor as it had intricate bas-reliefs and over 200 Lokesvara faces carved into the stone.
• Ta Prohm – temple ruins in competition with huge kapok trees for space, with the trees or their roots often growing through or on top of the temple or its gates. My second favorite to The Bayon.
• Angkor Wat – though a bit disappointing that large sections of the temple complex are now closed to the public, it is hard to leave this majestic masterpiece off the highlight reel. This 12th century creation is the main reason people come to Siem Reap and the sheer size of the main towers as well as the enormous bas-reliefs are a sight to behold.
• Afternoon of Relaxation – a quick lunch, reading poolside, a poolside nap, a swim, a phenomenal massage, and a conversation with the masseuses in Khmer. Perfect afternoon.
• Wat Bo – 18th century temple in Siem Reap town. Before seeing the inside of the temple itself, I sat down to chat (in Khmer) with some old monks. They gave me water, bananas, and cookies despite their own state of depravation. I took a picture of the oldest and most frail monk, promising to bring back a copy of the image in December.
• Annoyances: 1) Tourists – mainly Japanese and Chinese, everywhere. Almost always in large groups of twenty or more and, for the most part, oblivious to anyone else visiting Siem Reap. 2) Pushy Peddlers – at every stop along the way, kids offering crappy stuff you don’t want and insisting “If you buy, you buy from me!” and “You buy something?” and so on. Though cute in appearance, these kids got old quite quick.

10/8/07 – Arrival in Siem Reap
At 8:30am I caught a bus to Siem Reap. Because of the holiday, Pchum Ben, everyone was going back to their “homeland,” the provinces that they or their family grew up. Thus, the roads and the bus station were quite busy. However, Phnom Penh is still small enough that I bumped into one of my coworkers at the station. Anyway, it was a tortuously long bus ride. It took an hour to get the few kilometers to the outskirts of Phnom Penh and before reaching the halfway mark we got a flat tire. All told, the bus ride – which was supposed to last 6-7 hours – took over eight hours. Ouch.

After checking in to my basic, but cheap guesthouse, I wandered around town. In parts of the city, it was like I had left Cambodia. Five star hotel after five star hotel, restaurant after restaurant. The Old Market catered almost entirely to tourists, selling silks, wood and marble carvings, t-shirts and the like. A bit later, my friend Kurt (who works for the UN World Food Programme) arrived with his friend Tory, who was visiting and happens to be a Tufts grad; we had hit off a few nights before at dinner. For dinner, we met an Australian guy, Scott, from the UNWFP Siem Reap office on Pub Street. Going to Pub Street was like stepping into some major international city. The street itself was all restaurants, bars, and upscale shops, with the road closed to all traffic but foot traffic. While eating a mix of Western and Khmer food, a man started juggling fire a few restaurants over. Am I in Montreal? Or Europe?

10/9/07 – Temples by Tuk-Tuk
On our first day exploring the expansive temples from the Angkor period, Kurt, Tory, and I hired a tuk-tuk (a motorbike with a carriage attached) for the day. Instead of hitting the main, nearby sites first, we set off for some of the furthest away. Our first stop was Kbal Spean, about 50km outside of Siem Reap. The trip there was a beautiful drive through typical Cambodian countryside – palm trees, thatch huts, rice fields, cattle, bicycles, and naked babies. After a somewhat bumpy conclusion to the ride, we arrived at Kbal Spean, where we had a beautiful and quiet one mile walk to the site. Dating to the 11th century and spread over a stretch of about a half mile along a river, Kbal Spean is a set of stone carvings built into the riverbed. Parts of the riverbed were fully lined with round stones to make something akin to an underwater walkway. In other parts, there were intricate carvings of Vishnu and other deities. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the site was the intricacy of the carvings, even after almost 1,000 years of wear at the hands of the small river.

From Kbal Spean, we headed 15km back towards Siem Reap to Banteay Srei. The 10th century creation of local dignitaries, Banteay Srei is the most intricately carved of all the Angkor temples. Adding to its beauty is the use of rose-colored limestone, giving the small, but nonetheless impressive temple, a pinkish hue. The details of the carvings, portraying stories from ancient Hindu scripts, were incredible. Every inch of the innermost part of the temple was elaborately carved with fine, miniscule details. Two other notes of interest at the temple: we saw a very cool blue and red lizard about a foot long nursing eggs within the cracks of the temple and throughout our visit a group of landmine victims played traditional Khmer music.

Heading further towards Siem Reap town, we stopped at Pre Rup, a more typical 10th century Khmer temple. Visitors are welcomed by incredibly steep and narrow stairs and a sign that would become familiar over the next few days: “Warning!!! Climbing at Your Own Risk.” Once reaching the top, we had a commanding view of the Cambodian countryside, a view of mountains over fifty miles away, and even the peak of Angkor Wat’s tallest tower.

Starting to get a bit tired, we planned to head to Srah Srang, a large bathing pool closer still to Siem Reap, for a beer. Instead of doing this, however, our attention was captured by the gate to the neighboring Banteay Kdei, which was adorned with four faces of Lokesvara. Neither Lonely Planet nor Rough Guides had much to say about Banteay Kdei, so we weren’t sure what to expect. Partly because it was, in fact, quite impressive, and partly because there were few other visitors, Banteay Kdei quickly became our favorite. Though not imposing, nor intricately carved – though it did feature many fine apsara dancers – Banteay Kdei was impressive as it continued for a seemingly endless distance with each corner revealing something new or unexpected. Large white kapok trees and lotus ponds only added to its beauty.

From Banteay Kdei, we decided to make a quick sunset stop at Angkor Wat. Though there was no sunset to speak of, we got a taste of the majestic enormity of the pride of Cambodia. A good appetizer, we headed back to town for a shower, a rest, dinner, and an early bedtime.

10/10/07 – Temples by Tuk-Tuk Day 2
At 4:30am I got a text message from Kurt. It was time to get up. We were heading to Phnom Bakheng, amidst the temples of Angkor for sunrise. We arrived while it was still a bit dark out and were a bit surprised to find a handful of elephants at the base of the hill waiting to shuttle tourists to the top. We made the short hike to the top as the sun started coming up, reaching it at the perfect time. We were greeted by an unexpected 9th century temple with a commanding view of the area around us, including Angkor Wat and the enormous Tonle Sap Lake. Though we didn’t get a real sunrise, it was beautiful and comparatively deserted. Adding to the aura surrounding the serene setting, chants of prayer from a nearby modern-day temple reached the top of the hill.

Now awake and hungry, we got a delicious pancake breakfast at one of the food stalls inside the immense three-square kilometer Angkor Thom complex. Finishing breakfast and wanting a nap, we instead walked along the Terrace of the Elephants, a 300m long temple wall carved with life-size elephants. Heading the other direction, we went to The Bayon. From afar, it looked, quite simply, like a pile of rubble. Once inside, however, it quickly became (and remained) my favorite site of the trip. Not only did The Bayon have large and intricate bas-relief carvings depicting Hindu scenes and naval battles, but each of the fifty-four towers within the complex are adorned with four face of Lokesvara, one facing each direction. Though it was busy, it was not difficult to find quiet and dark corners to escape to and quite often it was these spots that had the most impressive views or carvings.

After a short stop to the unimpressive – I was starting to get a bit desensitized – Ta Keo temple, we went to Ta Prohm, which became my second most favorite site. Though Ta Prohm was in comparatively poor shape, the manner in which the jungle overcame the temple was quite impressive. Enormous kapok trees grew over the gates and temple throughout, their roots strangling the entirety of the temple complex, but making it an idyllic setting. Ta Prohm was by far the most crowded of the temples – though Angkor Wat probably had a greater number of people – but here, too, it was possible to escape the crowds by straying from the path and exploring the perimeter of the temple as well as some of the more difficult to traverse ruins.

Though it was only about 1:00pm, we had already been up for over eight hours and were ready for a rest. We grabbed a quick lunch before I burned some pictures to CD, so as not to run out of space, and took a nice and much-needed nap. When I woke up, it was raining which, as we were planning to head to Angkor Wat, was less than ideal. We made the trip over anyway, and because Tory had to leave the following day, we hurried through. The bas-reliefs lining the walls – some several hundred meters long and several meters tall – were almost as impressive the main towers of Angkor Wat. Quite disappointing, however, was the fact that access to the five towers that make Angkor Wat famous were closed to the public; apparently several clumsy tourists had stumbled on the steep and narrow stairs and, as a result, ruined the experience for everyone else. Nonetheless, Angkor Wat was quite impressive, but all the hype made it a bit less so – of all the sites we visited, I’d probably put Angkor Wat fourth or even fifth.

After cleaning up a bit, we met some other recently arrived friends, Jen and Joslyn – who work for Catholic Relief Service in Cambodia – and Joslyn’s visiting boyfriend, Nir, for dinner. Heading back to the Pub Street area we got some really good pizza and wine. It’s a rough life…

10/11/07 – Day of Templing and Relaxing
With Tory on her way back to Phnom Penh and Joslyn, Jen, and Nir doing their own thing, Kurt and I again got up early – 4:30am – for sunrise at The Bayon. Though it did not come with the view of Phnom Bakheng, sunrise at The Bayon was equally impressive. Again, we didn’t have a real sunrise, but we had the entire temple complex more or less to ourselves. Like with Phnom Bakheng we could hear prayer being chanted from a nearby wat and a few monks made the trek up The Bayon to pray to some of the Buddha statues within.

After another hearty pancake breakfast, we went to one of the modern temples within Angkor Thom. Though quiet we had the pleasure of seeing an unusual sight. There were a few kids around, a few monks, and a monkey. The monkey was trying to sneak in to the temple to take the offerings to the large Buddha statue, which included bananas. One of the monks, in an unusually aggressive action for a monk, threatened the monkey with a broom. The monkey briefly scattered, but promptly returned to the monk’s dismay. The monk eventually acquiesced, giving the monkey a banana. I felt like I was witnessing a Curious George book come to life.

From Angkor Thom and The Bayon, Kurt and I headed back to Angkor Wat. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too crowded and we finally had the chance to enjoy the enormous bas-reliefs, the large complex itself, and a beautiful sky. It was refreshing to be there on one of the most important days of Pchom Ben, as there were may have been more Cambodians there – all dressed up – as foreigners. After exploring thoroughly, Kurt and I went to a modern wat on the grounds of Angkor Wat. It was packed for Pchom Ben, when, for a period of fifteen days, Cambodians are to go to the temple as often as they are able, bringing rice, fruit, and money with them. Kurt and I waded through the crowds, watched groups of people praying, and bought some Cambodian fruits, some of which looked and tasted like olives and others which looked like peanuts but were actually a small, chalky fruit.

Having woken up early, we were again exhausted and decided to spend the afternoon relaxing. We went back to our guesthouses (Kurt stayed in a nicer place, more like a hotel, with restaurant and pool). I changed into a bathing suit and went over to Kurt’s hotel. We grabbed a quick lunch at the restaurant and then sat by the pool. Kurt quickly decided to head back to his room for a nap; I read a little bit, then napped myself for a while, before going for a quick swim. After drying off from my swim, I treated myself to a massage (again, rough life…). Though I only paid for an hour, I got the best hour and a half long massage I’ve ever gotten, by far. The most rewarding part, however, was the conclusion, where, for the first time, I carried on a full conversation in Khmer, understanding most of what the women present were saying and able to respond in kind.

After the massage, and with Kurt still asleep, I headed back to my guesthouse. On the way, I got a call from Joslyn, inviting me to join her, Jen, and Nir for sunset at Angkor Wat. It was clear, and likely to be a good sunset, so I got a tuk-tuk, picked them up at the ticket station, and used my three-day pass one last time. For once, the sunset was beautiful and I saw Angkor Wat in the best light it had been in over the past three days. As it was Joslyn and Nir’s first trip, we wandered throughout the complex, enjoying the beautiful sky throughout.

10/12/07 – Departure
Though I had intended to visit a Tonle Sap Lake floating village, the one I wanted to go to, which is a bit further than the more popular one with tourists, was prohibitively expensive as I was on my own – Kurt was on his way home and Jen, Joslyn, and Nir were templing. Instead, I decided to wander around in the morning, get a nice breakfast, and perhaps to visit a wat in town. The place I intended to go for breakfast was closed, so I wandered around looking for another place to go. It was fairly early – my clock adjusted to getting up quite early I guess – so the town was pretty quiet. I happened to stumble on to Pub Street where none other than Joslyn and Nir were breakfasting. I joined them before they got their day started.

Following breakfast – again a pancake, but this time with fruit salad, and a baguette – I wandered to Wat Bo. Wat Bo is an 18th century still functioning temple in a quiet part of town. Walking down a dirt road, I managed to find it. I took a quick tour of the small complex before moving towards the main temple. Just across from the temple, I saw three very elderly monks sitting around and chatting. I went over to say ‘hi’ and they were incredibly welcoming. They, of course, spoke no English, and I again got the chance to practice my Khmer. After a few minutes of chatting, they invited me to sit with them. I took off my shoes, and sat on the prayer mat in the appropriate manner with my legs off to the side. Though the monks were thin, frail, and very poor, they promptly brought me a bottle of water, a dozen bananas, and a bag of cookies, which they insisted I eat and enjoy. We spoke for fifteen minutes or so about where I was from, how I liked Siem Reap, the places I visited, how old I was, whether or not I was married (a popular question here for anyone over say, fifteen), and so on. Realizing I was short on time, I followed a younger monk into the temple itself which had the original drawings from the 19th century, complete with scenes from every day life, Chinese men smoking opium, and even French colonizers enjoying a traditional apsara dance. Before leaving, I took a picture of the oldest and most frail monk, showing him the image. He smiled and asked if I could get him a copy of it. I promised him I would come back in December with my parents and a copy of the picture.

I checked out of my guesthouse and headed to the bus station. The ride back was not nearly as painful as the ride there; it was over two hours shorter. I also had the pleasure of sitting next to an adorable three year-old boy and his father. Every time the boy wanted my attention, he yelped a high-pitch shriek. He also enjoyed touching the book I was reading and hitting my hand with his and trying to lift it before I could close mine upon his. I suppose that’s more than enough of an adventure for now. My next entry will be a step back in time to another exploit I had with His Excellency before I left for Siem Reap, one that I think far outweighs the first.