The Temple Tours May 12, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Overseas Travel , trackbackWe were met by our driver outside our guesthouse at 4:30.
Our tour guide was called Liv and he was an experienced guide with a clear American accent and a great vocabulary. He’s worked as a tour guide for five years and was very knowledgable about every question we could fire at him.
We began at Angkor Wat - certainly the most famous of all the temples in the area. It is famous for being the largest temple in the area, at about 1 square kilometre. Liv explained to us that Cambodia has a long religious history of Hinduism and Buddhism and religious allegiances switch depending on the reigning monarch. Angkor Wat is a predominantly Hindu temple.
This early in the morning we did not enter the temple itself, instead we crosed the 1300m X 1500m moat surrounding the complex and entered inside the protective walls. The temple was quiet - obviously not many tourists were as keen to experience the famously beautiful sunriseas we were. We noticed a lady practicing yoga in the grassy area of the temple, she stood calmly under a tree making strange slow movements with her arms, oblivious to the observers behind her.
The surrounding walls of Angkor Wat have a few bullet holes in them when the Khmer Rouge use the location as a stronghold, fighting off government attacks and shooting aimlessly for target practice. Also on the bridge crossing the moat we noticed scars from where a land mine once exploded.
Of note outside Angkor Wat is the northern reflecting pool where we took a number of photographs. Unfortunately the morning was cloudly so the sunrise was less dramatic than we’d expected, although it was also a relief that it was not too hot during the rest of the day.
We were all quite awake by then and after a 37 km drive we were glad to take breakfast at a large outdoor restaurant. I enjoyed banana pancakes but felt a little disappointed when I ordered fried potatos and received merely a portion of chips. We’d traveled so far from the centre of the tourist area to visit Banteay Srey - an attractive temple built from pink sandstone.
Also at the temple we discovered a group of musicians. These musicians have ll been left disabled due to land-mines in the country. Rather than begging or being forced to fend for themselves they have learnt musical instruments and add a certain ambiance to the temple which tourists are encouraged to donate to. Liv told us that only a week ago 10 people were killed from land-mines in the area so the issue is still of immediate concern to most.
We were some distance from the most popular tourist atraction here so we headed back towards Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is a buddhist temple often nicknamed the Tomb Raider or Jungle temple. Aside from being the set for Tomb Raider it was also used in the crappy Thai movie Two Brother (although nobody seems to realy care). You’ll note from the photos why Jungle temple has become such a longical name for this place. Sadly the temple was left derelict for many years and have deliberately been left partially unrestored. The roots from trees have set so firmly into the temples structure that removing them would weaken it significantly. As with many temples the stones are not affixed with a cement but are held merely by their weight and with the intelligent use of keystones and clever design.
We drove next to Angkor Thom which is a complex of Buddhist temples. This is an actual city rather thn just a large temple and comprises of a 3km square area with city walls and a moat.
We also noted an interesting rainbow circle effect from the sun which at this time was directly overhead.
It was getting hot in the day as we arrived here and there was a large area to cover. The steps for most temples were illogically small and steep and it was a fun challenge trying to ascend some of them. I was pleased that I was wearing hiking boots.
We stopped shortly after within the Angkor Tom area to get some lunch. I had fried onions with beef (not the other way round) and we all received a plate of complimentary fruits for dessert.
In the middle of Angkor Tom is another temple famous for its huge stone faces. This is called Bayon temple and is a typical example of classical Khmer art. It is also a temple that began as Buddhist but changed to become Hindu once the kings changed.
There is evidence within the carvings where changes have been made and these changes are often hideously crude - akin to how children might draw glasses or a moustache onto magazine photographs. Most of the changes are of ex-buddhas’s heads being given crude top-knots and changes to the legs so that their meditation position becomes more like a Hindhus.
We also discovered that the workers of these temples had quite a sense of humor. It’s perfectly understandable that after etching yet another person, animal, or object they decided to leave their signature. Below we see a scene where the protagonist is a little miffed that a turtle (held by the man behind) has taken a bite from his ass.
We left via the Victory gate to return to Angkor Wat.
On entering the inside of Angkor Wat it was apparent why it is so well known. Nearly every inch of the walls were meticulously engraved and we began our visit looknig at carvings depicting the Hindhu Ramayana story of monkeys rescuing Ramayanas wife from the clutches of demons.
Angkor Wat shows some amusing evidence of where over-excited tourists end up touching the statues and smoothing or blackening them over the years. Female figures seem most prone to liberal-fingered tourists as you can note from this photo.
We climbed some more extremely steep steps however one in particular was so steep and the steps so hot that I gave up about half way. To decend I had to use my hat as a glove to save myself some nasty burns. It was sadisticly amusing to note an extremely fat lady stranded half way down here.
As we left Angkor Wat we realized just how many people had since arrived. There were so many tourists that it might be hard to really appreciate the elegance of these places in rush hour. We discovered that at the next destination.
Phnom Bakheng is the oldest Hindu temple and, as it is located high on a hill it is the tourist favourite destination to catch the sunset and it was swarming with people. The climb to the top of the hill was very similar to at Phukadeung, steep, tiring but ultimately a fun challenge. Had we been lazy we could have opted for an elephant ride up for $15 or one down for $10. These creatures sure can move when they’re working on piece-rate. The alternative was also to go into a hot air balloon shared with 14 other people although we saw that it was much further away from where we really wanted to be.
The final climb was up the steep steps of the temple. There were so many people that it was difficult not to end up with ones face in a fellow climbers ass. The sky was again cloudy despite the blue sky coming out much of the daytime so as with the sunrise, the effort didn’t pay off too well. We hurried down after a short photo-session in order to beat the rush down.
Finally after a brain-full of temples, we got back to the guesthouse for 6:30pm. We all knew that we’d not recover from a short nap so took a shower and headed out with Ingrid and Nordin for some Italian food on Pub Street.
On the way we went to exchange money, handing over our Thai currency just in time for a localized power-cut. Unphased by the blackout a member of staff walked calmly outside and reset the electricity pole by flicking a switch. Presumably this type of occurance happens a lot here. The blackout coincided with a motorcyclist crashing into the back of the nearest bus and writing off his vehicle too.
We walked back the least direct way to the hotel to again avoid meeting the postcard sellers. Tik had regrettably promised one that she’d buy from him if he were to see her again.
We were back in our room and fast asleep by 10:30, having endured an excellent 20-hour day with very little rest.
Click Here to View My Complete Photo Gallery of Siam Reap
Contact Liv (our tour Guide) at discangkorguide (at) yahoo.com
Contact Tep (our taxi driver) at tepsithol (at) yahoo.com
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