Three Days At Angkor Wat

I just got to Cambodia's capitol city, Phnom Penh, last night after spending almost three days in Siem Reap, home of the ancient Khmer temples known as Angkor Wat. The first thing I learned is that it's not just one temple, but over two hundred spread all around the countryside. The one we always see the pictures of (like in my last blog entry,) is the Angkor Wat, but any of the others are just as notable, old, and magnificent.

I arrived from Bangkok in the afternoon, found a place to stay and got some lunch at the local pushcart lot, (the ones in Cambodia look waaaaaay scarier than those I've visited in previously, but my fear factor is also much lower - no major intestinal problems yet...) As I crossed the street to get there, I almost got run over by a flock of scooters - after two straight months of British style left-side driving, I was looking the wrong way for traffic when I stepped into the street! Amazing how fast you can get used to something. Once I was safely across, I roamed the lot, looking in all the carts and noticing what the people were already eating, then I pretty much ordered by pointing. It's been working for two months, why change now?

Next up, I found myself a driver named Sahmboy, (sp?) hopped on the back of his moto and headed to the fabled temples with plenty of time to catch a sunset. Entry is $20 a day or three days for $40 and I was already regretting getting Riels, the Cambodian currency at the airport. Everything here is in $US! I got a decent 3800r to the dollar exchange rate, but the street rate is 4000r so I was losing money, oh well.

I knew there were a bunch of temples, but I had no idea there were so many and that they were so spread out. Sahmboy was cruising right by the picture book one to get to the one popular with the sunset crowd and I had to ask him to stop for some evening pics. Drivers are not allowed to accompany tourists around, (maybe to make sure we hire guides and double the employment...) so I hiked up on my own - dodging Chinese tourists all the way. I arrived in plenty of time but the temple was still crawling with tourists, all looking for that perfect spot. The steps up were as steep as any on the Mayan temples I've climbed and when I saw pools of blood on a couple of steps, I helped some poor lady who had skinned her shin pretty good a minute or so before I got there. Then I roamed the top of the temple, snapping pics in an effort to figure out the new camera, and looking for a good spot. As far as sunsets go, it was not the best - some low clouds on the horizon got in the way and it fizzled a bit, so many left early. But I got to poke around in the dusk and quite enjoyed myself.

After a ride back, I invited my moto pilot out for a beer and we made our plans for the next few days. We got along really well, it turns out we were born about 3 weeks apart and we wound talking for a couple of hours, comparing lives. He was just seven when the Khmer Rouge came to power and began their reign of terror that eventually killed over two million men, women, and children around him. His story was pretty harrowing and he reminded me of a Jewish Holocaust survivor who gave a talk at my High School one time. But for a geographic luckout of birth, I could have been him...

The next day, Sahmboy showed up bright and early with my guide for the day, Siya, and a tuk-tuk - a little three-seat cart hitched to his motorbike. I sat with Siya in the back and we got to know each other a bit on the way to the temple complex, making our plans for where and what to see. I could tell he was feeling me out a bit, figuring what kind of info and sights I wanted. So I cut to the chase and said, "Skip the dates and King's names, I like all stories and explanations of the lives of the people who lived here and built the temples. Describe what they and their society were trying to say with these huge stone works. I want to see as much as possible so go ahead and try to wear me out!" Siya came through big time and by the end of the day, I almost felt overwhelmed. He described building practices, explained the meaning behind the carvings, the history of the re-discovery and preservation efforts, and told me all the story-behind-the-story type stuff I like. We raced all over, barely stopping for lunch and saved Angkor Wat till last where we wound up running the length of the causeway in pouring rain to finish the day. My team did such a great job that once again, I treated everyone to beers to wind down from our day.

There is a lot of nightlife around Siem Reap, and I had a good time each night. Any town with streets with names like Bar Street and Pub Street is definitely a place for fun! Maybe too many people have a good time as one "professional" lady actually offered me "boom-boom!" Where was I? Saigon in the '60's? I wound up hanging out with a Chinese girl, a German guy, and two Indian sisters from Oslo who were all going to school in Singapore. Whew, talk about a worldly bunch! But alas, the only trouble I got into was at a fantastic used bookstore, where I somehow limited myself to just three.

The next morning, it was just Sahmboy and I at 5AM on the moto to go catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. First we stopped for gas - not at a gas station, but at a little roadside stand where the fuel is dispensed from old Johnny Walker Scotch liter-sized bottles. Since there were no pumps, I guess this is the way everyone knows exactly how much gas you are buying and there is no hassle over measuring. Then we took a 36Km ride to the little visited but very beautifully carved Banteay Srei and then hit three more complexes on the way back to catch my noon bus to Phnom Penh.

I definitely got the most out of my short visit and I was so happy with Sahmboy that as a big tip, I had him take me to the Cambodian equivalent of Staples to stock up on school supplies for his five kids.

If you ever go to Angkor, give yourself lots of time and make sure you get a great driver and guide like I did!

Stay Wet, (I'm sadly dry,)

Ciao for now,

Clement