Heading out of Hong Kong we caught the morning bus to Shenzhen, China for our flight to Kunming and on to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Once in Kunming, we hoofed it through the airport to find our flight delayed four hours (first major delay of the trip!). Hungrily, we headed to a restaurant where the “Chili Chicken” was all chillies and no chicken. Lee made a valiant effort, but three bowls of rice and several astonished stares from people later, he gave up.
We arrived in the Kingdom of Cambodia that evening, met our TukTuk driver, Mr. Lin Hon, and navigated puddles on our way to the Parklane Hotel in Siem Reap.
Serpents. Water Buffaloes. Elephants. Buddhas. Birds. Snakes. Men. Temples. Incense. Monks. Heat. Moss. Stones. Trees. Motorbikes. Kids. Swamps. Art. Carvings. Monkeys. Tourists. Lizards. Fields. Geckos. Scorpions. Workers. Humidity. Rain. Green. Women. Rice. Land Mines. Families. Fires.
These are just a few of the sites and senses we experienced during the days we wandered the beautiful, ancient and awesome temples in Angkor Wat and surrounding Siem Reap. Our faithful driver leading the way, we wandered through many a ruin and toured the countryside. A gorgeous place with smiling people, where the tragically recent past could easily be missed if one didn't look too close (Khmer Rouge).
Here's a quick summary of the temples we visited in the Angkor Wat area:
- Bayon - includes an impressive south gate with serpent handlers
- Angkor Thom - various temples with a mix of features
- Ta Keo - small temple but quiet atmosphere
- Ta Prohm - still in a fairly ruined state; impressive if you can't make it to the temples outside Angkor Wat
- Banteay Kdei - interesting etchings and an older style
- Angkor Wat - main temple, fully restored and the most visited. Massive structure with upper temple tower and art galleries, but to us it lacked the mystique of the smaller temples. Also you had to be covered (shoulders to knees), so Jazz wasn't allowed up.
And beyond the Angkor Wat area, our favorites:
- Banteay Srey – female temple with unique sandstone carvings, lizards, and a big farting gecko (apparently if you antagonize them, they hiss and fart at you, as Jazz found out), also read about history of different architecture and construction styles throughout the ages, and the plundering that went/goes on.
- Kbal Spean – a river temple 1.5km up a mountain, with carvings in the river bed and a waterfall to cool off under. On the way back we even ran into a huge huge huge black scorpion on the mountain side - just a foot from Lee's head!
- Beng Mealea – of all temples, this was our favorite. A huge complex totally overrun by jungle trees and not reconstructed at all. We climbed all over it, through the rubble and inside the galleries and libraries. Really demonstrates the task those crazy British explorers went through to restore these temples using only ropes, pulleys and manual labour.
We wrapped up our last day with sunrise over Angkor Wat and visit to six of its nearby temples. Although mobbed by tourists, it was nice to be there. And since we started with sunrise at the complex, we headed up to Bakeng Mountain to join our fellow tourists for sunset.
The little we saw of Cambodia left us impressed. The region has such an ancient history, yet the majority of it remains densely hidden and unknown to many in the western world. Although Angkor Wat is crowded with tourists, a short trip outside the city and you'll encounter a friendly countryside with what seem (to an outsider) ancient, unexplored and ruined temples. Not a bad place and definitely worth a more thorough look, but we had other lands to explorer ;)
Next up: Coffee, waterfalls and motor biking in Laos
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