Siem Reap, Cambodia (Post #89)
Michele here…
We took a 6 hour bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, Cambodia on January 31st. The main reason for visiting the small town of Siem Reap is to see the nearby temples of Angkor Wat. Upon exiting the bus, we took a tuk tuk around to a couple of guest houses and eventually settled on one. We stayed 5 nights in Siem Reap and spent 3 full days visiting temples. The first day we were there we just walked around the town and went to the market. The little downtown area of Siem Reap is full of funky bars and restaurants that you might find in New York or even Washington, D.C. When we were eating dinner the first night we made a comment to each other about how strange it was that we were in the middle of Cambodia, eating at an inexpensive restaurant that had the most luxurious decor.
The second day in town we set out to find a Mr. Sa Voeun. We received a recommendation (from a young couple we met in Vietnam) to use him as a tuk tuk driver to see the temples. We walked for almost 30 minutes in the heat and humidity to get to the guesthouse where we heard he hangs out to get business. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there. The guesthouse called him and we were to come back later at night to meet him. O.k., fine, we went back that night, met him, talked with him about the temples we wanted to see, and how much it would cost to hire him for 3 days. We agreed on $10 for the first day, $25 for the second day (since we wanted to see far away temples), and $10 the third day. This is actually a very good price. Over the next three days (Feb 2, 3, and 4th) we saw 26 temples. Some temples are quite small and some are very large. The largest temple is the famous, Angkor Wat. Here is a picture:
Each temple is rich in history and is of hindu or buddhist origin. Most of the temples were constructed between the years 900 and 1200. Some are spectacular because of their artistry and architectural features while others are spectacular because of the roots, trees, and other foliage that has grown around, over, and on top of them. Below is a picture of one temple where the surrounding tree roots eventually took over the temple walls after growing for hundreds of years.
This photo shows an example of the detailed carvings you see on the walls of most of the temples:
This photo shows an example of a unique architectural feature – faces – that are built into several of the temples. These faces are approximately 5-6 feet tall and at the temple where this photo was taken (Bayon) there are 37 towers, each with four faces.
One mornings we got up at 4:30am in order to see the sun rise at Sras Srang. Sras Srange is an ancient water reservoir and our tuk tuk driver promised us this was THE spot to see the sun rise. At first we weren’t so sure since we were the only people there but he was right. Check out this photo he took of us with the sun rising in the background and its reflection in the water.
Our tuk tuk driver, Mr. Sa Voeun turned out to be great. He spoke very good English and had attended 1 year of school to become a guide but had dropped out in the second year to get married. Even though he was not allowed to go with us into any of the temples he gave us a brief history before we saw each one. He also knew about all the best photos spots and the best time of day to take photos of the different temples. He would say things like, “Now, when you go into this temple, be sure to go all the way to the back right corner where you will see tree roots growing over a door way,” or “You should take a few hours to explore this temple now because there will be few people at this time of day. Tomorrow, we’ll come back by here in the afternoon when the sun lights up the front of the temple, so you can get the best photo.” This strategy worked perfect.
The last day in Siem Reap, Feb 4th, was also our last day exploring the temples. That night Mr. Sa Voeun asked us if we would like to come to his house for dinner. He told us if we buy the beer, his wife will make the dinner. We recognized this as an economically bad deal since we knew the beer would cost more than the dinner but we still thought it would be a great idea and a culturally enriching experience. It turns out he lives on the outskirts of Siem Reap. We first stopped at the market. I don’t mean we stopped at the supermarket. I mean true, Cambodian style market where pig parts and chickens were hanging from wooden food stalls or carts and the woman next to us was chopping off the feet of some chickens in order to fry them and sell them separately from the rest of the bird. We gave Mr. Sa Voeun $10 for the beer and he came back with 24 cans of beer and a big bag of ice. (The currency most widely used in Cambodia is the U.S. dollar and that’s the currency that comes out of the ATMs.)
We then drove down a narrow dirt alley way where all the houses were made out of straw and were up on stilts. There were dirty children running around all over the place, swamp-like areas in between houses, and a lot of trash. Mr. Sa Voeun’s “house” was really a hut with no doors. It was simply a floor and four walls with the floor proped up on large sticks. The square footage of the hut was about 15 x 15 feet. Clearly, of all the homes we’ve been invited to on this trip, this was the poorest and worst living conditions we had seen. We sat on the floor (there was no furniture) and Mr. Sa Voeun’s cousin poured us some wine into dirty glasses that he (the cousin) had made himself. We weren’t sure if we should drink it but his counsin was drinking the wine so we thought a few sips would probably be alright. We saw Mr. Sa Voeun’s counsin use his bare hands to get ice out of the ice bag and put it into our glasses. In an environment where toilet paper is not used, we were a bit concerned about this but again, we didn’t want to appear rude. (Cambodians drink their beer with ice.) Cambodian culture dictates that each time one person takes a drink, every one must take a drink. We raised our glasses and took a drink of ice cooled beer between practically every bite.
For the appetizer, we had some raw vegetables, pickles, and a chicken that, no doubt, had come from the market. The head was still on it but Mr. Sa Voeun quickly cut off the head and ate it, saying the head was his favorite part. He also told us that when he was young he played the drinking game, Spin the Duck Head, whereby the person that the duck head pointed to had to take a drink. There were also two fish served on a plate. Everyone was eating from the salad, pickle, chicken, and fish plates. You didn’t put food on your own plate, you merely picked up the main plate, ate off of it, then passed it on to whomever else wanted to eat off of it.
The main course was cooked in the middle of the floor using propane to fuel a volcano-looking thing. Raw beef mixed with margerine was brought out in a bowl. The beef-margerine mixture was put on top of the volcano thing and vegetables where put at the base of the volcano. While the beef cooked, the beef fat (drippings?) fell onto the vegetables below and the vegetables boiled in the beef fat. We were served a bowl of red sauce made from chilis, sugar, and some other stuff and we were told to dip our meat in there. The meat was chewy and grisly so I used the ol’ childhood trick of hiding the meat in the bottom of the sauce bowl, burying it with other food so it would not rise up to the surface and be spotted. At one point during dinner, a small crab came running through all of us seated on the floor. Mr. Sa Voeun explained that the small crabs come from the nearby rice pattie fields and sometimes get into people’s homes. Once it got dark, we said goodbye to all the kids and thanked Mr. Sa Voeun’s wife, saying “ah koon” (“thank you” in Cambodian). Mr. Sa Voeun drove us back to our guest house that night and took us to the airport the next morning free of charge.
On February 5th, we flew from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand. We spent a few days in Bangkok where we did business related things such as sending stuff back to the U.S. and making future travel arrangements. On February 7th we flew from Bangkok, Thailand to Ko Samui, Thailand (an island off the east coast of Thailand). From Ko Samui, we took a ferry to Ko Tao (another island) where things did not go as planned. Read the next blog for more on that.
Bye!
Tags: Category #23: Cambodia
Michele Harmon
Wow! Thanks for the gorgeous pictures and wonderful stories of Angkor. My husband and I have been trying to decide if we want to go this year and your post made the decision easier. Can you give us more detailed contact information for Mr. Sa Voeun? He sounds like a wonderful guide who really contributed to your experience. Keep having fun out there!
Cambodia sounds amazing – what a contrast of the ancient beauty of Ankor Wat and the horrifying reminders of such a recent bloody history. I feel emotionally drained just reading your description of S-21.
Your pictures continue to be stunning. I loved Ankor Wat: so much depth, so much texture. I was wondering just what the Cambodian government does as far as protecting their historical treasures. Is there any type of “admittance” to tour the temples?
Since there was no comment on how you fared physically after the meal with Mr. Sa Voeun and family, we assume the unsanitary conditions didn’t do you in. (Talk about soaking up “local color”!)
Oh… and by the way, we loved the picture of the two fearless travelers backed by rising sun. What a cute couple!
Gross me out much? I could never have survived that meal. Oh my gosh! 🙂 I’m so glad I’ve already had my lunch today. I was thrilled to see you sporting the VHTRC shirt Michele. 🙂 Again, the photos are spectacular! I love reading your posts.