A staff member from the Kool Hotel met us with lemon scented washcloths and cold drinks. A female receptionist ushered us to some chairs and introduced us to the two long haired dogs that laze about the place. She also gave us some information about the temples and the town area. She explained that what everyone does is hire a tuk tuk driver ($15 – 20) and guide ($30) who will take you on either a short loop of the temple complex or a long one depending on your preference – then the next day you can take your time. One thing the German couple from Sihanoukville had said to me was be sure your first visit to the temples was a memorable one because that was your first impression of the complex and you wanted it to be special - good advice.
Souren, our driver from Battambang, provided us with his “brother’s” number, another tuk tuk driver, in Siem Reap. We discovered later that anyone who is a friend seems to be called a brother. Since we had such a great experience with Souren, we arranged for his brother/friend to be our driver.
Through my research I learned that the temple complex is quite huge and that Angkor Wat is only one of several temples to see. Given our slow pace, we decided to take one day for Angkor Wat, one day for Angkor Thom, and use the other days for the further temples. We weren’t interested in the recommended circuit tours where you crammed as many temples as you could into as few days as possible.
After several phone calls and text messages, Ian arranged for Narath to pick us up at 4:45 am so that we could see the sunrise on Angkor Wat. In the meantime, we unpacked our bags and had some lunch in the hotel restaurant. They had a wide range of Khmer food for 3.50 – my noodle soup turned out to be ramen with overcooked chicken but Ian had a lovely coconut soup. Since I was still feeling poorly because of my cold, I stayed in trying to rest while Ian rented a bicycle for 2 dollars and headed into the old section of town.
That night we took the free hotel shuttle into town and I was astonished to discover how modern the city is. Our first stop was ‘pub alley’ – an unfortunate name. At night it becomes a pedestrian-only street and is lined with lovely open air restaurants, not at all seedy. Along the streets are several restaurants and shops and narrow alleys, again pedestrian only. In some areas, it felt a bit European with white washed walls, wooden shutters framing windows with flower boxes and linen covered tables spilling into the alleys. I guess it’s the French influence.
Of course, all of Siem Reap isn’t like this. On National Route 6, there are massive resort-like hotels and little else. On the way to the older section of town we passed through dirty streets with the usual tiny phone, welding, and tailor shops and open aired hair salons with maybe 4 or 5 chairs. Many places offer laundry services for $1/kg but some dry their clothes on the side of the road so you can’t help but wonder how dusty they must end up being.
In the old section there is a huge central market with touristy stores on the outside and local produce in the centre. Ian said he had a great time exploring it. Women sit in the middle of their produce: piles of eggs (which I hear sometimes have baby chicks still in them), mangoes, bananas, coconuts, apples, lychees, papaya, potatoes, live and dead fish, eels, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, pigs’ heads and tables of fish paste and cooked food.
After dinner we walked down to the river which was lit with lanterns. On the opposite side was a massive neon sign advertising a tourist market with gems, scarves, T shirts and souvenirs. Needless to say, we avoided this area. As we walked, tuk tuk driver after driver offered us their services. It was crazy how many there were and you had to wonder if there is enough business to support so many.
Saturday, my cold kept things low key for me. Ian went out looking for decongestants, lozenges, and breakfast for Sunday as we’d be up too early for the hotel breakfast. Our meals have been good and fairly cheap considering we are in such a high tourist area – we had Indian food (5 dollars for a set meal – I couldn’t finish mine), enchiladas (4.50), and cappuccinos (1.50). It was super easy to get around with either the hotel shuttle running at night or 2 dollar tuk tuk drives.
That night there was an eclipse of the moon which was pretty neat to see. We sat outside watching the shadow of the earth creep ever so slowly across the moon. After awhile we headed in where Ian continued to watch from inside.
Angkor Wat
Sunday arrived and we were up at 4am. After a breakfast of yogurt, granola and papaya, we met Narath downstairs at 4:45. It was quite cool out and Narath was bundled up in a winter coat while Ian and I had on short pants and light sweaters. We were so happy to feel something other than the muggy heat. We headed down the quiet dark road to the ticket office meeting only one other tuk tuk on route. I was feeling pretty good thinking we were going to get a good spot to watch the sun rise on Angkor Wat. As we approached the ticket office however I was surprised to see about 15 tourists already lined up.
We were ushered into the line for 7 day passes behind a Russian couple. The Roughguide book had recommended bringing passport photos to avoid standing in the photo line (because 7 day passes required photos) so we had come prepared. However, they now take your photo right at the ticket booth so our photos were useless. The Russian couple was confused about the money and how much to pay and took an incredibly long time. They were stressed and loud and getting increasingly more frustrated which started to stress me out. As we stood there waiting, bus after bus of tourists drove by and my heart began to sink as time ticked away. Finally, it was our turn and the passes were processed quickly and we returned to Narath who chose that time to make some suggestions. I watched more buses go by….
We eventually got on our way and the parking lot was packed. Hundreds of tourists were walking towards the entrance of Angkor Wat flashlights lighting their way. I was dismayed, especially when Narath again wanted to give us a few more tips. I appreciated his kindness but I was getting pretty impatient.
FINALLY we headed in – my flashlight (with batteries dying!) weakly lit our way through the main gates and on to the temple. On Narath’s recommendation we turned left where you could see the 5 towers of Angkor Wat clearly. As we had arrived late, the best spots were taken. Tourists blocked the view by the water (a small pond) where the reflection of the temple as the sun rose behind it made a pretty picture. Since it was impossible to get up to the water, we stood on a rise where we could see the temple over the heads of the tourists. Again and again, we were bothered by locals offering us coffee, tourist books, and scarves, but eventually, they let us be and we enjoyed a relatively peaceful sunrise.
The sky was cloudy and we couldn’t get the best photos from where we were. At one point we moved closer to the temple and managed to get this shot:
It was really neat being there at that time. Angkor Wat has been a place we have dreamed of visiting having seen it on TV and in photos - to finally see it in person and in such a way, was pretty special despite the crowds and touts. Once the sunrise was complete, many tourists head back to their hotels for breakfast but for us, our visit was just starting.
A broad moat surrounds Angkor Wat and inside that is a high stone wall. The entire complex is about 200 hectares and was built in the first half of the 12th century as both a state capital and as a temple dedicated to Vishna (Ancient Angkor by Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques). When you go through the main gate, a stone causeway leads to the main temple and is flanked by green lawn.
The first two buildings you encounter are libraries. Ancient Angkor states that rather than proper libraries housing manuscripts these buildings were likely shrines of some sort. There are four entranceways each with its own set of stairs so Ian and I went up and in. It was empty inside but some large windows with super views.
We headed to the temple proper which did have some restoration work being done so a few areas were closed off. Galleries extend to the left and right and we headed right. Along the walls are bas reliefs carved into the stone approaching 600 metres in length and 2 m high. The first set of reliefs we saw were the Mahabharata epics and the second set was the history of Angkor. On the outside of the reliefs runs a gallery.
You couldn’t walk all the way around because some were being restored. We entered the inner chamber from the east side where wooden steps make it easy to get around. Running on the inside is a cave-like hallway broken by large stone steps. Light comes in through the large stone windows. Inside this walled gallery are areas of lawn which reminded me of a fort.
The steep angle of the stairs to the 5th tower gives the feeling of ascending a mountain. The view from here was amazing. These photos offer views of the ruins below.
At the front and below, but still in the temple proper, are inner courtyards with pillars along the halls. It was quite beautiful.
At one point, Ian and I took a little break sitting on some stone steps outside the west side of the temple but inside the complex with the forest as our view. A small dirt path beckoned to Ian and he ventured down it. It led to the outer wall of the complex. At one point, a tour group came by and they noticed a long millipede – which Ian and I came over to take a look. This made me think of wildlife in general and I said to Ian: I am so glad we aren’t being annoyed by macaques. But of course, I spoke too soon -on the east side of the temple, there were several. However, none approached us which was a relief.
We followed a dirt road lead to the east wall and another smaller temple with a red hue.
On the other side was the moat and we watched the tiniest snake slither across the road.
We decided to follow the narrow road inside the walled complex and headed towards the exit. It was about 11am but we had been there for almost 6 hours. Narath was waiting for us and we headed back into town for some lunch. It was an amazing experience and we were so glad we had decided to go slow and do our own thing. The chill of the early morning made our tour of the temple an enjoyable experience and we decided to visit Angkor Thom at 6:30am the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment