Siem Reap is a very different place to Phnom Penh, it is very much a resort town built off of western tourism, where the beer is cheaper than the water, Pub street being the ultimate manifestation of this. This is both good and bad as a traveller, good because it makes it easy to travel around, bad because you cannot go anywhere without being hassled for a tuk-tuk, a massage, something to eat, cold drink, pineapple, mango or, as it is the latest fad, a fish pedicure. There seems to be nothing left to indicate the native character of the town. Still, no one comes to Siem Reap to see Siem Reap, it is merely the launch pad to Angkor.
Access to the Angkor Archaeological Park can be gained by purchasing a one day, 3 day or 7 day pass, and the main ticket office is located on the road towards Angkor Wat from Siem Reap. We got the 3 day pass, which enabled us to enter any of the temples on any 3 days within a 7 day period. The most common way people get to and from the temples is by tuk-tuk and on the streets of Siem Reap you can not move for offers from tuk-tuk drivers to take you to the temples. If you get a tuk-tuk, the general principle is to hire them for the whole day. We however decided to hire a bike and cycle to the temples, Angkor wat is only 6km from Siem Reap, and Angkor Thom is only 8km and most of the temples and monuments fall in this area. The road to the temples is flat, smooth and shady making the ride quite pleasant. There are however several important temples much further afield such as Banteay Srei and the Rolous group, to get to these we did resort to a tuk-tuk.
For our first day we started with the obvious and most famous of temples, Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the world and despite it's age is in surprisingly good condition. It was built in the 12th century by Suryavarman II, and was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. It is one of the few monuments that survived Pol Pot's attempt to completely eradicate all Khmer traditions and culture. I don't know if it was because I had built it up in my mind to be something bigger than it was, or whether it was the scaffolding over the main entrance, or just the huge crowds, but I was significantly underwhelmed when we entered Angkor Wat. We spent a good couple of hours there walking around the stone corridors, trying to take photo's that didn't have too many other tourists in them and taking in the views from the top.
We then cycled into Angkor Thom through the imposing south gate and passed scavenging monkeys onto what quickly become my favorite of all the temples in Angkor, the Bayon. The Bayon rises up from the ground like a stone forest of faces. The lower levels were a maze of cool stone corridors with chittering bats out of sight somewhere above our heads. On top you meet the full power of all the faces of Avalokiteshvara staring down at you from all heights and different angles. Even though I don't have a spiritual bone in my body, I couldn't help be impressed by the mystic power of the place.
Our next stop was the Baphuon, a pyramidal temple that was completely destroyed and has been slowly pieced back together with the help of the French. On one side the stones have been arranged to form an image of a reclining Buddha. Climbing to the top, there is a very steep wooden staircase in place to help avoid the inevitable wearing out of the sandstone steps beneath. From here we took a walk passed a few smaller monuments and ruins until we got to the Elephant terrace, this brought us around d in a full circle back to the Baphuon where we picked up our bikes again. It was very hot by then, and as we had a three day pass we weren't in a rush to try and see everything in one day, so we decided to head back into Siem Reap were we could get a cold drink and something to eat.
Our first day was all about the grand splendor of the Khmer empire, our second day however was more focused on the destructive power of the jungle. Our first stop was Preah Khan, a large temple north of Angkor Thom. This temple is still in a severe state of disrepair and a few trees grow from the tops of the rear walls. Behind the east gate is a large man made lake where we sat and had some lunch in the shade.
If we thought Preah Khan was lost to the elements it was nothing compared to our next stop Ta Prohm, my second favorite temple. Ta Prohm is being restored carefully to allow it to be safe from further collapse, but to allow nature to continue to exist within it. The result is a temple that appears as if it has only just been rediscovered, a forest of ancient trees growing in and out of the rocks and walls broken by the impressive weight of the trees they support.
We saw a couple of smaller monuments and temples on our way, but nothing compared to the two I have mentioned so far. On our way back just as we were passing by the outskirts of Angkor Wat my rear tire burst. B offered to swap bikes as he is lighter than me and we still had too far to go to walk if we wanted to be back before dark. We got some very strange looks from everyone who passed us as we made our slow awkward progress back to Siem Reap. Needless to say that put us off any further cycling, that and being extremely saddle sore.
The next day we took a break from temples and enrolled in a cooking class. So far I haven't tasted anything particularly spicy in Cambodia, the main flavors seem to revolve around garlic and sugar, everything is very sweet. B was curious about Cambodian cooking, and I having long ago forgotten how to cook even the most basic of meals, thought it would be fun to try. B made a mango salad, fish amok and a banana dessert. To be different I made fried spring rolls, a chicken curry and the pumpkin dessert. Now B expects me to know how to cook when we get to Australia, oh dear.
The next day in order to get full use of our Angkor pass, and to avoid cycling any more we went to some of the further afield temples by tuk-tuk, starting with Banteay Srei, which lies well over 20km north east of Siem Reap. Banteay Srei is not a big temple but is notable for being made out of a pink sandstone rather than the traditional grey and being covered in the most intricate of carvings. We then headed south to visit the Rolous group of temples starting with the small Lolei, which sits in the grounds of a modern Buddhist temple. The next stop was Preah Ko a slightly larger temple, and then the Bakong, the largest of the Rolous group, where B went into a sudden panic shouting 'snork! Snork!' It turned out he had seen a small brown snake slither across our path. B has quite a phobia of snakes and all things reptilian, and it was this fear that reduced him to shouting meaningless noises. The Rolous group represent some of the oldest surviving permanent temples built by the Khmer empire.
We actually felt quite sad when we had to leave Siem Reap, we had a very good time in Cambodia, it had definitely been our most enjoyable destination in the trip so far. We got a tuk-tuk to the airport, a very very small airport and got on our flight to Vientiane. This is the flight we were most worried about in our trip. Lao airlines do not have the best safety record, and we were only in a small plane. The flight however started well, it was a very empty plane, so didn't take long to board. We also were provided a free snack comprising of a cheese and ham roll and a couple of chocolate truffles, something you will never get with easyjet. It was only as we started our descent and hit bad turbulence that we began to worry. Still we landed safely, if not bumpily. By the time we had our Laos visa sorted our baggage had already been unloaded and was ready to collect. Like Krabi there is no unofficial taxis allowed in the airport, so we had to book from the one and only taxi company in the airport, an extortionate 7 USD, so we found another passenger to share the fair with. We had officially arrived in Laos.
Adam
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