Angkor Waaaat?

Entry 20:

The ancient temples of Angkor Wat are the national symbols for the Cambodian people. Everywhere you look, including the flag and the currency, there are images of the temples. We would imagine that 99.9% of all visitors to Cambodia make it to Siem Reap to tour the temples. Needless to say, we were filled with anticipation as we boarded the bus headed to Siem Reap.

When we booked our bus tickets from the agent in Phnom Penh, he asked us for our name, which at first seemed odd as we had not encountered this before. However, he went on to explain there would be a tuk-tuk driver waiting for us with a sign of our name to take us to our accommodation of choice. True to his word, a smiling man with a sign reading 'Sharon Grossman' greeted us upon our arrival. It took us a while to find a decent guesthouse in our price range. Because it was still very hot out, we wanted to make sure we had a working A/C.

One major concern of ours was finding an English-speaking knowledgeable tour guide who could give an excellent description to someone with vision loss. As we would soon learn, it is not possible to book a group tour while you are in Siem Reap. Rather, one has to make arrangements with a local guide whose English may or may not be up to one's standards. We rolled the dice and booked a guide and driver for three days through an agency, not knowing who would show up the next morning.

October is supposed to be the last month of the rainy season. True to form, October 30th was a rain-soaked affair starting at 8:00am and continuing until about 3pm. Good thing we had a rain coat. Before beginning our trip, our driver brought us to the ticket office near the temples. All visitors are required to purchase a photo ID card for the number of days they are planning to visit, or risk a fairly stiff penalty. A three-day pass was $40 per person. We purchased lanyards to hang the passes around our necks. These will remain our most valuable souverneirs.

The first day of temple sightseeing was rather difficult for climbing, as the temples were some of the most ancient ones. Marc decided to skip a couple of them and nap in the tuk-tuk while Sharon ran around getting splashed. Although the first day's temples were not as grand as some others we would later see, it was important to see them to understand the chronological history of the temples. These included the Roluos group - Preah Khan, Preah Neak Pean, and Ta Som.

After getting back to town, we walked around to see the different restaurants and shops the town had to offer. After a delicious meal of Cambodian food, we wanted to try out a recommended dessert place that also was supposed to feature a butterfly garden. As it was after dark when we arrived, no butterflies could be seen anywhere. The desserts did not seem so interesting, so we continued walking. Surprisingly, we crossed paths with a mall, which featured Swensen's ice cream. Although it was cheesy, we thought - let's try it! It had been years since either one of us had been to this American chain.

Day two was filled with action, adventure, and was made even better by the absence of rain clouds overhead. Some of the highlights of this day included the distant Banteay Srei, the world famous Angkor Wat, and the climb up to Pre Rup to watch the sunset. We enjoyed a picnic lunch by the moat surrounding Angkor Wat, rather than being herded to one of the overpriced, touristy restaurants across the road.

It seems difficult to explain the experience of being at these temples. Pictures do them some justice, but the impression they leave is quite astounding, especially considering how old they really are. The bas reliefs at Angkor Wat are over 100 meters in length, and 7 or 8 meters tall. They are filled with intricate carvings of what life was like 1000 years ago. Most of these carvings are of warfare, triumph, and ancient Ramayana stories. Even more difficult to understand is the amount of labor, talent, and number of people it took to build these magnificent buildings. The guide explained how workers used elephants, water buffalo, and oxen to transport massive stones from rock quaries more than 15 miles from the temple sites.

Marc heard the stories of the temples from the guide and the physical descriptions from Sharon. In some of the temples, it was possible for him to touch the bas reliefs and intricate stonework, but still difficult to comprehend the scale of the towers.

Upon our return to Siem Reap, we headed straight to the tour agency where we had booked our guide, Thany. We explained that we wanted to switch guides as Thany was not to our liking. He spent all day attempting to avoid crowds and consequently lead us through Angkor Wat in a backward fashion. He entered at the exits and exited at the entrances. He seemed too lazy to climb the mountain and rather sent us on our own while he waited in a chair at the bottom. He tried to get out of taking us to see a sunset because he wanted to get home early. He asked us for money for his food and was altogether not trustworthy. The tour company was gracious enough to listen to our complaints and assured us a new guide would meet us the next morning. We did praise the tuk-tuk driver who was always ready to pick us up and made sure we stayed dry when it rained.

Our third and last day of touring included the magnificent Angkor Thom complex. Our guide Peter was ambitious and knowledgeable, but was a bit difficult to understand. What is unique about this temple is the four sided figure of a face, still largely intact. This is the face of the Buddha of compassion. Following our picnic lunch, we finished the day with a few minor temples and headed back to town. After three days of climbing around, we were tired and due for a foot massage.

There is no doubt that any traveller visiting S.E. Asia must include Siem Reap on their list of places to see. The town itself is filled with great restaurants and cheap foot massage parlors. Alas, it was time to move on.