It is not just Angkor Wat, there is the legend of Pol Pot too
There are places I want to visit around the world. It is not a bucket list, a things I want to do before I die, it is more a things I want to do now.
Machu Pichu is foremost on that list and the Northern Lights come a close second but there are others too which are less expensive and as the years pass and the costs continue to escalate faster than the earnings, it is always easier to tick off the ones which are cheaper, first.
Angkor Wat was one such place. As I was planning this trip, advice came from all sides. Combine Vietnam and Cambodia, Cambodia may not be very safe, have you heard about the bikers who snatch your bags, what is there in Cambodia, go to Thailand instead, why spend so many days in Cambodia and so on and so forth. I ignored this as I have done with unwanted advice throughout my life and we went ahead with an only Cambodia plan and boy were we thrilled.
We dilly dallied enough for the flight costs to be more than it should have (seems like a perennial thing) but finally once the tickets were done, I was sure the rest of the planning would be easy. We were flying Malaysian, whose tickets were cheaper after the unfortunate incidents. I did tell a couple of friends to keep my latest photo with them, though. Sorry morbid humour. The flight was passable.
We were going to be based out of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh during our travel, landing first at Siem Reap and then taking a bus to Phnom Penh before our return.
Siem Reap airport is small but efficient and we breezed through customs quickly enough. The first thing we did, even before meeting the hotel guy who was patiently waiting for us, is get a local sim card. There are numerous stalls at the airport itself and it is relatively simple to get. Data charges are nominal and speed is good so just scout for the best bet. Most restaurants also offer free WiFi and we were surprised by how good the connectivity is. India, take note please.
We were staying at the Villa Siem Reap which is a quaint little structure located particularly close to the market area. The rooms are neat and cosy albeit small.
Our first stop was the famous pub street where we got a taste of the local beer before stopping by a shop selling whisky with a snake in it. It wasn't prohibitively expensive but after beer, I didn't want snake in my mouth.
Sadly, there was a power shut down that night so our first impressions were not very exciting. Thankfully, the rest of the evenings were more fun and we spent all of them at pub street. At 50 cents a mug of beer during happy hours, it was a steal! Actually, alcohol is cheaper than any of the duty free shops you can think of.
We had signed up for an early morning trip. So the next day, we somehow managed to drag ourselves out of bed and 'tuk tuk' our way to Angkor Wat. The sun rise over Angkor is clearly hyped a little too much. True, you get lovely pictures like the ones below but elbowing through hordes of people is really not my thing. And it is difficult to get a picture of the place without strange people having various parts of their body into the picture. Ideally, take that one picture and start on the trip inside so that you can get back out before the sun is right up and ready to roast you.
You also don’t realize how vast Angkor really is unless you step back in the morning light and take a look from outside the moat area. The moat itself is pretty huge and used to have crocodiles in it before they became food for the people (yes, they do eat crocodile meat).
Nor do you realize the different bas reliefs tell so many stories which you last heard sitting in the lap of your grand parents.
But a couple of hours later when you are still enthralled by everything inside, it hits you. In fact it is a mini Hindu mythology refresher. The Samudra Manthan seems to be the most famous motif. You see it in a lot of temples around the place. Scenes from the Mahabharata comes a close second. Another note – come back here one more time, preferably after a quick Wikipedia reading, it helps put some other things in perspective if you are not very clear about the sculptures. Learning from P - part 1!
Central Market is a nice place for lazy afternoon strolls and a pavement lined with shops selling keepsakes, paintings and even some nice t shirts. On the other pavement, are older shops selling meat, groceries and some of the above stuff too. We passed by a shop selling each part of the pig!
Remember to bargain haggle a bit on the prices, they do come down eventually but if it is below their floor price, they will turn away.
One of the other must do things is to catch an apsara dance. There isn't a lot in it but it's one of those things found in this side of the world and when you are here, why not catch a performance. We went to the Koulen 2 restaurant, which wasn’t too bad, but I am sure there are others. If at Koulen, try and get a place closer to the stage. We were lucky so I am not really sure how to ensure a better seat. The performance by itself was fun and most of these dances do tell a story but we were slightly behind to really capture the essence.
Good place to eat at central market – Café Central and on Pub Street – Angkor What is a great place to catch a drink (no food there though but there are enough places around for a bite and more)
Ta Prohm, made famous by Angelina Jolie in her movie Tomb Raiders, is the next big thing after Angkor Wat. This place is famous for all the trees that have grown wild. You will see them growing all over the temple and its walls. It makes for some amazing pictures.
One of the more interesting non tree story about this place is a carving of what looks like a dinosaur on one of the pillars (again the keen eye of P found it) – I wonder, in what form was history captured in those times. They seem to know dinosaurs roamed the planet in one age. I googled about this and there is no certainty about it with people calling it a hoax or otherwise in equal measure. The following link has some theories that seem most plausible. (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/stegosaurus-rhinoceros-or-hoax-40387948/?no-ist). Since there are generally lots of people around and the trees grow wide and tall, you would need a wide angle lens and oodles of patience. Keep your frame ready and finger on the shutter release. Utilize the time between one group moving out and another group moving in to get a picture of the trees without visitors.
When you go from town to Ta Prohm, you actually pass by another famous temple in that area, Bayon. While it does look like just another ruin from a distance, it is only when you reach closer and actually go inside and marvel at the towers that you see all the faces that have been carved out. It is actually supposed to be the face of one of the Buddhas but legend has it that it has more than a passing resemblance to the King who got the temple built. There are supposedly 200 faces, quite narcissistic isn’t it? Again, there is no particular need to be there at sunset although numerous articles online will advise you to do so. P took some amazing pictures there. Here is a sample.
The third day we ventured beyond the confines of Siem Reap and went off further to see Preah Vihear and Beng Mealea.
Preah Vihear, located on a cliff on the border of Thailand and Cambodia, has been a source of consternation between Thailand and Cambodia for years. It is only recently that it seems to have petered down after the International Court of Justice stepped in. (Here is the Wiki entry for the details of the dispute http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preah_Vihear_Temple). The remnants still bear testament to the war with bunkers and bombed out towers. This temple was built along 5 levels by successive kings and finally at the summit you see a brilliant vista overlooking the plains. There is still some simmering hostility between the Thais and the Cambodians but visitors seem to be spared the details. You do see, however, a lot of army personnel all through the complex.
Beng Mealea, on the other hand, is a temple taken over by the jungle. It is also dilapidated due to the Khmer Rouge lining this place with land mines and generally destroying it in search of gold (there was supposedly a tale of a lot of gold being buried here). Very little is known about this place and the general decay does give it a gloomy and depressing look but it is considered a sister temple to Angkor Wat mostly because the architecture is similar, though smaller.
Our final day in Siem Reap, started with a 45 minute trek up a hill (hillock?) of Kbal Spean. A very unique setting where there are numerous stone carvings which are actually under water. It is known as ‘the river of a thousand lingas’ as there are numerous (I was not realistically going to count till 1000) lings which are on the bed of the river. It can be seen mostly in the dry season as the river in flow may hide most of the carvings. It is really unfathomable that there were people who carved such intricate stuff beneath a flowing river.
The last of our stops was Banteay Srei, a beautiful red/pink temple with elaborate carvings. It is smaller than the other temples we visited but the carvings on each wall, pillar and tower was so intricate that even the 'carving illiterate me', stopped more than once to take a closer look. It should be a must visit for everyone traveling to Siem Reap.
We were now moving on to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap. We took the Giant Ibis which is a really comfortable bus that takes us to the capital. The roads are really bad but the bus was had a good suspension and the air conditioning kept us from realising how hot it was outside. We had a couple of stops for restroom breaks and a lunch break before arriving at PP in ~7 hours.
We stayed at the FCC in Phnom Penh and after the quaint Villa Siem Reap, this seemed like a luxury. The rooms were spacious and the hotel itself is situated on the bank of the river. The room overlooks the street where you have numerous visitors and locals strolling by the river. The only flip side, we were there over the new year weekend and so the noise boisterousness of the world outside can seep through into the room.
There are quite a few ‘sights’ in Phnom Penh too but personally I thought the Museum was a letdown and the Palace completely boring. Which means the only thing that is worth the visit (and poignantly so) was the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
The Genocide Museum was originally a school which the absolutely crazy Pol Pot converted into a prison where he tortured those that disobeyed him. As you move from room to room and see the tiny compartments which the classrooms were converted into to house the prisoners (including children), you wonder in absolute bewilderment as to what can cause someone to stoop to unleashing such a level of violence on their own brethren. Some of the rooms had torture instruments and the final room had a skulls and bones of the people who had died.
If that was not enough to understand the depth of the carnage that took place, our next stop, the Killing Fields served to give us a complete view of the atrocities that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge perpetrated in that country. As you enter you are given a pair of headphones and an iPod like device which serves as your guide. There are markers on the ground to which you walk and the audio gives a commentary of what used to happen in that place. It is horrifying, frightening, depressing, all at the same time. As you come across the sites where mass graves were found and see the pictures of the time when these were first discovered, the numbers begin to make an impression. 1-3 million people were killed by Khmer Rouge and they were mostly the teachers, doctors and other educated folks. Pol Pot believed in an agrarian society and announced people didn't need education. He moved the entire population of Phnom Penh to fields around the country and made them work there. Anyone who disobeyed him had their entire family thrown in prison to be eventually murdered. Bullets were expensive so people were pushed into mass graves half dead and chemicals used to mask the stench. At this particular place, there was something called the Killing Tree which was used to kill children and babies by bashing their heads against the trunk. A chill runs down your spine as you pass these. The final memorial is the stupa which houses 17 floors of skulls of the people who were killed. Seeing the rows and rows of skulls actually jolts you to realize this is not something that is just a Wikipedia entry.
Kudos to the Cambodian people for not pushing this under the carpet as a blot on their history but serving it up as a reminder so that they don’t go down that path again. I wish, we in India, could do something similar for some of smaller riots we have had.
Coming back to the present (and happier times), the Sisowat Quay (road on which FCC is located too) plays host to a bunch of lovely restaurants, pubs and eateries. I specially recommend
Le Moon – definitely have a drink on their terrace at night, the view is beautiful
FCC – breakfast on the second floor and a drink at the terrace bar
La Croisette – expensive but great good (try the Cordon Bleu)
Friends – not on Sisowat Quay but great food
There ends our trip – to newer lands and crazier food!
Meanwhile, here are pictures of the local delicacy
Getting there
Fly in to Siem Reap. Stay at the Villa Siem Reap. Get up early morning for the Angkor visit. Spend a couple of days to visit the other ruins. Take a bus to Phnom Penh. Stay at the FCC, definitely worth it!
Cambodia also has e-visa facilities which are very simple to complete online and can save you the queues of visa on arrival.
Comentarios