The Temples of Angkor
While the rest of Cambodia is still struggling to pull itself out of economic depression, Siem Reap is booming, thanks to the presence of the temples of Angkor on its doorstep. Since the onset of peace in Cambodia in 1998, tourists have started flocking to the area to see Angkor Wat, one of the Seven Manmade Wonders of the World, as well as the forty other temples of Angkor. After reading about a family who visited Angkor Wat in the late 90’s and had pretty much had the place to themselves, I had fantasies of us exploring this ancient holy place like in some Indiana Jones movie. Well, apparently, things have changed a bit in the last 10 years and Angkor Wat has turned into a three ring circus complete with hundreds of tour buses and thousands of camera-touting tourists. Siem Reap is expanding at an alarming rate with 5-star hotels popping up like pimples to accommodate all the tourists arriving daily to explore this now attainable wonder. We had to pay $40 each (kids free) for a 3-day pass to visit the temples and our guesthouse provided us with a tuktuk driver, Vuthey, for $15/day to take us around the temples.
On Day 1 we started with Angkor Thom, one of the largest Khmer cities ever built, where we crossed the bridge over the moat to the south gate of the temple complex with masses of tourists in buses, tuktuks and even on elephants.
It was an awesome sight to see the gate with its towers with four faces pointing in each of the cardinal directions flanked by the avenue of gods and asuras (demons) lining the bridge across the moat. Bayon, the central temple of Angkor Thom, is an awesome structure dominated by its many towers with massive stone faces and beautiful bas reliefs depicting historical battles and Hindu mythology. Next, we explored the surrounding temples of Baphoun, currently being restored, Phimeanakas and the Elephant Terraces. At Phimeanakas, there were very steep steps up each side of the temple and Claude and Simon scrambled straight up the South side.
While I was trying to convince Alexa to go up, a woman started up on her own. About halfway up, the woman froze and called down to me that she was stuck and could I help her. Having somewhat conquered my own fear of heights, I climbed up to her and assured her that I knew exactly how she felt. As she quivered with fear, I guided her step by step to the top while Alexa, having apparently lost her fear, scampered up behind us. When we finally reached the very top of the temple, she was so happy; it was like she had summited Mt. Everest. Luckily, there was a set of wooden stairs with a railing on the west side of the temple which eliminated the need for a helicopter to get our new friend down.
After lunch, we visited Ta Prohm, a semi-restored temple where the jungle has encroached to the point that entire tree trunks have erupted through the foundations and entwined themselves among the stones.
It is an eerie and beautiful place. After visiting several more temples at Pre Rup, East Mebon and Preah Khan, it was time for the piece de resistance, Angkor Wat. We arrived an hour before sunset and crossed the inner moat in time to see the stunning temple bathed in late afternoon sunlight.
We walked around the entire perimeter of the temple admiring the intricate bas relief panels depicting the elaborate battles of Ramayana and the famous “Churning of the Sea of Milk.” Finally, we entered the temple itself and climbed up some of the steepest steps yet to the top of the temple to watch the sunset. There were several monks there who generously agreed to pose for photos with the kids and performed ritual chants in front of the golden Buddha.
Just as we found a spot to watch the sunset, a security guard came to tell us the temple was closing and we had to go down. Instead of waiting in the long line for the wooden stairs with a railing, we all clambered down the uneven stone steps and received claps and cheers from the crowd at the bottom when we all made it down safely.
It’s a good thing I’ve become less overprotective of the kids since we started the trip, because the pre-trip me would have been really stressed out by all these steps. Finally, we made it back to join the throngs in the inner moat in time to see the sun sink below the horizon as multicoloured spotlights illuminated the temple.
Over the next few days, we visited many more temples in various states of restoration, each with its own unique claim to fame until we were pretty much “templed out.”
At each temple, there would be several local teenagers hanging around waiting to strike up a conversation with us about the temple in broken English. At the end of our impromptu “tour,” they would politely request a “donation to help pay for school” and we soon learned to politely decline our would-be tour guides’ services if we wanted to hold onto our money. There were also countless vendors outside all the temples selling everything from vary bad art to local silks, jewelry and guide books. On Day 2, Vuthey took us to his girlfriend’s restaurant next to Ta Prohm and, while we were waiting for our food, we were mobbed by scruffy local kids selling jewelry and books. In order to make them go away, Claude answered them in French and, undaunted, they switched to French and continued to harass us. I was curious to know how many languages they spoke and started quizzing them. One by one, they responded in Japanese, German, Spanish, Dutch and virtually every language I could throw at them. If not fluent, they knew enough to at least say hello, count to twenty and say something cute in each language. We were amazed and impressed by the ingenuity of these little rascals who had learned from the very tourists they were hustling. They were so adorable that we shared most of our snacks with them and bought a bracelet from each of them before sending them off to hassle someone else. We finished our day at the temple mountain of Phnom Bakheng where, after a half hour climb, we were rewarded with great views of the sunset and Angkor Wat – unfortunately about 500 other people had heard about it as well.
We finished temple hopping on Day 3 with Bantea Srea, a beautiful pink temple 38km outside Siem Reap with intricate stone carvings of “apsara,” dancing female goddesses. Some say that the carvings are so intricate that only a woman could have created them.
On the ride back to Siem Reap, we stopped to buy sugar cane candies and watermelon from a roadside stand
and I taught the kids to spit watermelon seeds on our ride home. I realized that, thanks to biotechnology and the advent of the seedless watermelon, an entire generation of North American kids is growing up without ever having had a watermelon seed spitting contest. By the time we made it back to Siem Reap, Simon was firing seeds like a machine gun and the generation gap had been bridged.
Tags: Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat, Bayon, Cambodia, Siem Reap, South East Asia, Ta Phrom, Travel
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