Angkor Wat (Siem Reap) Part 1

Siem Reap is Cambodia's top tourist destination. If you ever plan to visit Cambodia you are likely going to see the country itself because of these incredible temples. Angkor Wat (as the main area of temples is called) is so famous that it has even been adopted onto the country's flag. But, the hype about this destination is not a word of a lie, in fact words cannot describe it. You need to see it, walk the red earth and sand, climb the stairs, die of heat, wander through ancient archways, see the sunset and rise, eat fresh mangoes, and see the smiles of the local children who relentlessly try to sell you things to experience the awesomeness of Angkor Wat. Words cannot describe the beauty of these temples,religion and the culture of the Khmer people. So far, Cambodia has been my favourite trip, hopefully some of these pictures and stories will help you see why.


Arriving at 6 am we found a hostel downtown to leave our stuff in. We quickly ate breakfast and found a driver to take us around for the day- Mr. Hon. We paid him $30 American to drive us around the temples for 12 hours. Before we left we ensured we would be dressed culturally appropriate by buying some great "hippy" pants at the market nearby. Of course, we also got some amazingly fresh mangoes to start the day off right as well. Too bad the smell of animal (who knows what it was) hanging beside the fruit lady slightly ruined my appetite.

  

We arrived at the gates and paid $40 US for a three day pass to the "park" or Angkor Wat area itself. We all sat in our little tuk-tuk and listened to our driver explain how we were about to enter a 400 km2 of ancient temples built for two differing religions and for a variety of purposes.

 This "river" is actually a hand dug moat that surrounds Angkor Wat.

Here is a foreword of the temples themselves:

The temples of Angkor, built by the Khmer civilization between 802 and 1220 AD, represent one of humankind's most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a vast domain that reached from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one sees at Angkor today, more than 100 stone temples in all, are the surviving remains of a grand religious, social and administrative metropolis whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and houses - were built of wood and have long since decayed and disappeared.

 

Mr.Hon explained everything to us and answered all of our confused, or "stupid" questions. He thought we were funny because we continually would laugh at our friend Mere who bought the same hippy pants as us but with her runners, side bag, ponytail and baggy shirt kept acting like eminem or whatever rapstar she pleased. We also were highly amused by the monkeys and would go about an hour before we would need a mango or diet coke break.

 There were monkeys everywhere! Although they are so cute, many people of SE Asia consider them pests like raccoons and hate them because they are so mischievous.

 The classic lake front view of Angkor Wat temple. It is 1,5 km² x 1,3km and built by Suryavarman ІІ and is considered the biggest Asian pyramid. It is 65m high and divided in several layers. The central part has on the four corners four towers in the shape of a lotus flower.  I took so many pictures that I cannot upload them all here, but here are some of the highlights:

 Wall decorations inside the temple often depicted the three main Hindu God's
(the trinity: Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu).

This is the top, and most religious point of Angkor Wat. The levels leading up to it, as seen in the wall decorations depicted many scenes such as the Army of Suryavarman II, Heaven and Hell,  Elephant Gate, Vishnu Conquers the Demons, Battle of the Gods and the Demons and the Battle of Lanka.

We said a prayer inside with the help of a monk who told us to to bow three times and place the incense in the offering sand.

The view from the top

We then moved on to the Bayon, which is the temple in the centre of Angkor Thom (another series of temples). With its 54 towers and 216 faces of Avalokiteshvara, it was incredible to focus in on what looks from a distance like just an ordinary tower of rocks then to see all the faces. We were told the temple's characters on the walls depict every day's life  of Cambodia in the XII century.

Many faces of Buddha

 During the day it was so hot we had to stop a lot for water and fruit. It was our first time not wearing shorts in a long time and being culturally appropriate was making us sweat from places we didn't know we could.

 Some of the biggest trees I have ever seen in my life just casually grow beside these huge temples. In fact, it was not until the 1920 s when a french archaeologist team rediscovered the site of Angkor Wat (later finding all the other surrounding temples). The forest had taken over the temples and walls that now have been mostly cleared except the temple, Ta Prohm -which you may be familiar with from Tomb Raider.

Can you see any of the faces?

The Terrace of the elephants was also a favorite for me by concept. It was the arena where the king  watched elephant fighting, circus acts, had general assemblies and so on. The walls are 350 m long and depict various elephants and lions. Of course we all said to Mr. Hon, "wait how do even you know this it what it was used for?" He told us that this writing below had been studied extensively and that was the gist of what the symbols explained as well as the architectural design of the area itself.

Some beautiful, ancient Cambodian (Khmer) writing

After a long day, we watched the sunset over the hills and green trees. It got surprisingly silent with the huge crowd around out as we all reflected on the day's amazing sites. When the sun finally dipped away we all laughed when everyone began to cheer and clap. The natural beauty and the dedication to religion/culture Angkor Wat had shown us had blew all of our minds that day.  As I said before, it is really hard to describe the amazingness of Cambodia, especially the specialness of a place like Angkor Wat.

My dirty feet from the sand and dust.

At night we ventured into the night market near-by. Everything was so incredibly cheap. A lot of common and popular brands were everywhere such as North Face, Victoria's Secret, GAP, Old Navy, Polo, Burberry, Coach were sold in the market either stolen or fake. I don't personally care about anything other than the price if it looks the same so we had a great time! There was also a lot of touristy gifts such as black pepper, wooden carvings, teas, curries, beer tank tops and post cards. Don't worry I got a little bit of everything (and not just presents for myself) ... even some cheap dvds and a new silver ring, I know it is real  because it has yet to turn my finger green! 

 5 girls one big bed /two doubles pushed together

A typical night time was spent reading to be prepared for our next day's adventure. Especially because Cambodia is so cheap, we wanted to make sure we were bargaining the right prices as well. Cambodia uses US dollars although for smaller than $1 change they give you Riel their local currency. Although the country is still slowly recovering from its horrific genocide and corrupt government, Cambodians were the friendly and least in your face to tourists of all the countries we had been to yet. The were incredibly friendly and smiley, making us feel safe and welcome. Even though I would not recommend being alone at night or traveling alone for that matter, I never felt uncomfortable what so ever and was very surprised with the less pervasive style of the vendors in the markets.

Start of Cambodia

To begin my reading week I cut class a little early and went to Cambodia. It was the place I was most eager to see in my travels in South East Asia and I could barely contain my excitement.

We First had to travel to KL, Malaysia to catch our flight so we took the night bus into the country, arriving early mornign in Phenom Penh the capital of Cambodia.

As the 5 of us are students we wanted to maximize the already cheapness of the country. The easiest way to do that is to sacrifice sleep and take night  buses and flights. Its tiring but worth it. When we got to the city we found a driver that drove my 4 friends and I to Sihanoukville in the South of Cambodia. Here is a map to better understand where exactly I went.

Our drive to Sihanoukville was exhausting we squeezed 4 in the backseat of a car. The countryside was beautiful and the small towns that we stopped at for pee or water breaks were fascinating. They were also fascinated with my blonde hair and most people spoke very little english. The country uses American money and everything is so cheap. A water bottle or a beer costs 50 cents.

 First breakfast. $2 US each for smoothies and pad thai
(difficult to order when no one speaks English and there is only a few pictures to point to).

 Stopping for some fruit and water in rural Cambodia

Welcome to our hostel, $3 a night & a pool. Yes PLEASE!

 The town of Sihanoukville is currently under development. We went here under recommendation from some friends who had just backpacked SE Asia.  It arguably was my favourite beach town yet because it was not yet commercialized and filled with tourists. The people who live there are hippies who have come and never left or backpackers like us. A lot of backpackers live here for a little bit during their travels to make some money in the bars as servers or leading the boose cruises.  I really liked that there was a French flare to the whole town, with little petit-dejuner places with homemade croissants, pies and good coffee.

our hostel "vip beds"

I bet in 5 years this place will not be anything like it is now. Most of the buildings near the water were being torn down and renovated. I predict it will be like any thai island and much more popular once some higher class hotels are built and the rubble of torn down buildings is cleared.

There was a boardwalk as well as bars and restaurants that lined the beach. It was so inexpensive we were shocked. The prices for drinks above is in American. Coming from Singapore where a drink can be $20 this truly was very exciting!

If you get hungry well relaxing on the beach you will never find yourself far from some ladies walking the beach glad to sell you a variety of seafood, donuts and fruit.

Chocolate pie as a mid-day snack

Casual dinner on the beach

 Our night out at the bar on the beach where all the backpackers go
Coincidentally it was called "JJ's" which is also one of my friends names.

Feeding stray dogs although I shouldn't. It is sad because they are everywhere and sometimes really cute.

Our french breakfast with homemade pastries and great coffee!

This restaurant had a breakfast special that
including homemade baguette for $2.50 US with eggs, coffee and juice.

I began the second morning with a little pampering. I got a $5 one hour full body massage and a $3 pedicure on the beach. The ocean waves were crashing behind me and I felt like it should have cost a million dollars.


After my spa hour(s), I began to notice how many young woman and their daughters were doing this along the beach. There were children and woman selling beauty treatments and jewelery, as well as young boys selling sunglasses and watches. They were not as "in-your-face" as I thought they would be and it was  interesting to compare this Cambodian beach to other places I have visited such as the Philippines and Thailand. Later that day we walked around the town and got snacks and I bought a bathing suit for $6 dollars.


I was also shocked and scared when we entered a corner store and watched live coverage of the Tsunami in Japan. As it was live and there was little being sad about the effects in other parts of the world, we all felt a little nervous about traveling to Indonesia after. It ended up not affecting our trip in any way other than cellphone reception towers were slower (although that may have been just a lie we were told when our sim cards didnt work). We were happy to be safe, but our thoughts went out to those affected by the horrible event.

 

Our moods were drastically lightened when we got on a boose-cruise boat with a bunch of other backpackers for a tour of some islands and cheap drinking. The boat ride, two beers, and dinner cost us $10 American each. It was a blast and a great way to meet other people as well as see the beaches and islands nearby. Here are some great pictures from our time at sea.

Jumping off the boat.
(ps-you could get $75 cent beers this whole time, $1 jagerbombs, or  50 c shots of alcohol)

That night we decided to be efficent with our time and deal with the consequences of drinking in the sun all day on a night bus to Siem Reap. We left at maybe 8 pm and arrived at 6 am the next morning. The bus was made up of double level bunk beds and we were each given a small fleece blanket. I slept almost the whole time except for the times when we would hit a bump and I would bounce almost off the top bunk into the isle. The scariest thing was that we were driving maybe 150 km an hour and I swear not in control what so ever. Put it this way, glad it was dark out so I had no idea what was going on.

 Eating our packed dinner for the journey on my top bunk.

Goodnight.