From Bangkok, we hopped on
a quick flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The
goal? To see the ruins of Angkor Wat and
other temples in the area.
When we had previously
discussed the trip itinerary, Giorgio had asked various times, “what exactly is
Angkor Wat again?” Stephanie’s response
was usually that it was the “Machu Picchu of Cambodia” and therefore a must-see. Now that he’s been to Angkor Wat,
Giorgio would like everyone to know that (in his opinion) it puts Machu Picchu
to shame. First of all, it’s not just
one site – we saw several impressive temples, only one of which is Angkor Wat,
and one large walled city (Angkor Thom). That was only the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, the temples are not only an
architectural wonder, but also boast incredible decorations and sculptures, the
likes of which we certainly haven’t seen at Machu Picchu. The main galleries of the various temples are
home to intricate wall carvings, typically depicting Hindu and/or Buddhist
myths – these works are not unlike Roman and Greek friezes.
We scheduled a tour guide
for the two full days that we’d be in the area.
Even though it’s certainly possible (and enjoyable) to wander around the
ruins on your own, we thought we needed to learn a bit more about the history
and religion to fully appreciate our visit.
Plus, who knows when we’ll be back!
For our first afternoon,
though, we didn’t have a plan. Our trip
from Bangkok was seamless and we arrived with plenty of time to start our
explorations early. Our taxi driver to
town from the airport was so gregarious, telling us all about Cambodian
politics and asking about the US, that we promptly took him up on his offer to
drive us to some of the ruins in the afternoon.
We arranged to see a few of the temples that weren’t included on our
official itinerary and decided on the perfect spot to see the sunset before
setting off again from our hotel.
Our first stop was the
ticket booth, where we purchased a three-day pass to see all the temples. Giorgio almost got a free pass when the girls
selling the tickets decided he looked Cambodian, which would have been great
since the pass is not cheap. Every
Cambodian we met quickly pointed out that the money from the concession was
going to the Vietnamese, rather than staying in the country like they thought
it should. In Cambodia, they view the
Vietnamese with the same distaste that the locals in other countries we have
visited reserve for the Chinese. According
to the locals, Vietnam is trying to annex Cambodia. Who knew?
We clambered through some
of the oldest temples in the complex, built in the 9th and 10th
centuries, marveling at the Sanskrit inscriptions that remained in the stone
as well as the stone elephants and singhas continuing to stand guard on many of the pyramids.
As sunset approached, we
hiked to the top of a hill to the south of Siem Reap and the other ruins. This summit was fortuitously located far from
the more popular and crowded sites to view the sunset and, in addition to being home to the
ruins of a temple, boasted a fabulous view of Tonle Sap Lake (the largest
freshwater lake in Southeast Asia).
Not long after the
fabulous sunset, it was time to wake up before dawn to see the sunrise over
Angkor Wat. Although we usually make a point of avoiding large crowds, we made an exception for what we had heard would be a once
in a lifetime view.
Our guide, Nol,
picked us up bright and early at 4:45 to lead us to a spot in front of the
temple in the dark. We arrived just in
time to have a front row view, although Nol sternly warned us not to move, as
we would lose our place. More and more
tourists arrived as we waited, including various Asian photo-enthusiasts who
tried to steal a spot in front of us along with their giant lenses and
tripods. We firmly stood our ground to
maintain the prime position.
As we peered into the
darkness, listening to the crickets and the babble of languages surrounding us,
the temple towers gradually came into view, along with their reflection in the
pond. Although clouds
obscured the famous view of the bright sun rising directly behind the turrets,
the gradual emergence of the legendary temple in the dawn light was still well
worth the early wake up call. As the sun
rose, the small plot of land in front of the temple filled with people – it was
like we were attending a sold-out concert.
After the sunrise followed by a
picnic breakfast along the calm banks of the moat, we began our
explorations in earnest. In the jungle,
we encountered temples in various stages of ruin, as well as the vast city
complex of Angkor Thom. Giorgio’s photos
are the best way to describe the experience, so we’ll let them speak for
themselves and simply note some of the highlights along the way.
Many smiling faces at
Bayon:
Ta Prohm, or the “Tomb Raider”
temple:
Bantay Srei, the only
temple made of pink sandstone:
We knew little to nothing about
Angkor and the Khmer kingdom before our visit and welcomed the opportunity to
learn more about the complex civilization that ruled the region several
centuries ago. We hadn’t even realized
that most of the temples in what is now a Buddhist country originated as Hindu
temples, designed to worship gods like Vishnu and Shiva. Throughout the reigns of various
kings between the 9th and 14th centuries, temples were
erected to honor either Hindu or Buddhist gods, as beliefs flip flopped between the
two religions. Each king was considered
to be a deity in his own right, so a temple would often be built in his honor
as well. When a new king ascended to the
throne, he would mandate the construction of a new temple to surpass the previously
erected structures. Visiting the temples
in chronological order means that each is more impressive than the last.
Our guide also provided
insight into more recent Cambodian history, describing the atrocities of the
Khmer Rouge as well as the current problems of government corruption. Nol compared the Khmer Rouge to the devils
depicted in the carvings lining the galleries at Angkor Wat. They utilized the same methods of torture and
after the fall of Pol Pot, the local people came to the temple to scratch out
the faces of the devils, which they also linked to the regime’s cruelty. More than one Cambodian we met lamented that
Cambodians are very unlucky people. “Not
like America – Americans very lucky people,” Nol would say.
Some of the temples, such
as Angkor Wat itself, are still in use by the Buddhist monks and therefore
enforce the same dress code that we encountered in Bangkok. We had also read that the Cambodians view all
of Angkor as a sacred site and are routinely taken aback by the clothing worn
by tourists, but are too polite to point this out. Keeping this all in mind, we wore pants and
t-shirts both days despite the heat, rather than the tank tops and booty shorts
favored by some other visitors. When one
American girl was told that she could not enter the second story of Angkor Wat
due to her attire, we overheard her tell her friends “that’s so racist!” We are pretty sure she doesn’t understand the
definition of racism or how to be respectful when visiting a foreign country.
In between explorations of
the temple complex, we had plenty of time to escape the intense heat relaxing
poolside in the shade and exploring the city of Siem Reap. Although it isn’t a large town, it’s easiest
to navigate via tuk tuk because of the chaotic traffic and nonexistent
sidewalks. We wandered through the
market, sampled Cambodian street food (but avoided the fried spiders), conducted
a taste test of “Cambodia” beer versus “Angkor” beer, discovered Cambodian barbecue
(basically a combination of shabu-shabu and Korean barbecue), and stopped for a
$1 foot massage. The ladies at the
massage parlor found Giorgio to be endlessly entertaining, not because he was a
man getting a massage (there were plenty of other husbands/boyfriends on the
premises), but presumably because of his mysterious ethnicity.
We concluded this initial Cambodian adventure with a 15 minute tuk-tuk drive to the airport the following morning. We are now in Laos, about
to embark on a new adventure: motor-biking around the Bolaven Plateau. Stay tuned for updates detailing Gio’s
driving skills and Steph’s ability (or inability) to read signs in Lao.
#stephandgio
No comments:
Post a Comment