While awaiting our guide, Vana, the morning of our second day, I was ruminating on my initial impressions of Siem Riep. The place was full of dichotomies. On the one hand, when talking to a local you could see the pride in their eyes and manner of speaking, yet their inflections are on the shy side and they are very soft spoken. The region is rich and the people industrious yet you see a lot of poverty around. The month we were there was the tail end of the monsoon season and there were floods all over town and yet these waters arrived from the north and not from local precipitation. You get where this is going?
Siem Riep is a very beautiful laid back city that is so diverse in terms of dining, entertainment, culture and activity. Of late, there seems to be a large Korean community forming. I espied quite a lot of Korean BBQ outlets from the highway near the airport. There are also lots of local bars and restaurants sitting side-by-side with modern bistros owned by foreigners (another ironic contrast).
As Vana, our guide, made his appearance we discussed our agenda. It seems that the flow of the day's itinerary is very free flowing. Since most of the temples and points of interest are close to each other one can always change course in mid stride. The information the guide gives you will also depend upon your level of interest.
Of course, first on our list was Angkor Wat. This world famous landmark was 15 minutes away from our hotel by car. You could see as much as you want or climb as high as you want of this multi-tiered structure.
Mid way on the road to the Temple complex, you will have to make a slight detour and buy a multi-entry pass from a booth. This is less expensive and more practical than buying one ticket for each day you visit. Given the number of tourists that come each year, I was surprised at how few visitors there were. As we exited this one story affair, we saw 4 people sitting by the road side and punching out these tickets as you pass through. We were told that each day the individuals that are assigned to man this exit change and there is an early and a late shift. Most of the time they don't do much. Talk about under worked employees. Well, as long as everyone's happy...and they sure do seem happy.
For me, the most striking aspect of this 12th century complex is it's very wide moat. It helped keep invaders at bay but it also halted the jungles encroachment keeping it undefiled for future generations. The photo below was taken right before you cross the moat on a 200 m. walkway constructed of blocks of sandstone.
Be prepared to do a lot of walking, wear rubber shoes and shorts, and bring an extra pair of rubber thongs when rain is expected. The soil quickly turns into reddish mud when wet. After crossing the moat, you pass through another entryway on to the inner grounds of the temple.
Getting to the temple itself will entail another walk of about 400 m. and about halfway through you will see two identical structures on opposite sides that housed libraries. One was supposed to have contained secular texts and the other spiritual.
The sight of the ruins from afar should be enough to give you an idea as to how grand they must have been back in the day. You will see some scaffolding as portions of the inner complex are undergoing rehabilitation and restoration work. The gardens may be as green or as brown as the wet and dry seasons change.
Also of note are the beautiful carvings that are located in different parts of the temple. Erosion is evident as these were exposed to the elements for centuries. Each temple that we visited exhibited different styles of carving and architecture as you will see in parts 3 and 4 of this series.
This is the central entryway into the inner portions of the temple.
There are a few key chambers and galleries throughout the inner sanctum but what piqued my interest were four large pools made of stone arranged within a square courtyard. They each had an area of approximately 30 sq. meters and had a depth of about 12 feet. One wall of this gallery was lined by numerous large statues of the Buddha.
Some areas I fear to tread on. These are stairs, that's right, stairs, that go to the top most point within the temple. The slope must have been 75 degrees. In my books that's a wall! There are three sets of these, one set for the king, one set for monks and another for generals. I considered climbing it just for the expected impressive vista topside, but after I was told that several people have fallen and either gotten injured or died, those thoughts vaporised like fog under a noonday sun.
To put the construction of Angkor Wat in perspective, another structures built at about the same time is the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The cathedral of course does not come close to the immensity and complexity of Angkor Wat.
We were done sight-seeing Angkor Wat at around 1 pm and there are a bunch of touristy restaurants nearby that serve Khmer and Indochine cuisine. Prices are quite reasonable and the food is excellent. Guides and drivers usually eat on their own and no amount of repeated invitations will get them to join you for a meal.
We decided to rest up in the afternoon and take it easy by going to Artisans D'Angkor. This place seeks to teach traditional artistic skills to locals and serve as a livelihood project. There were stone carvings, silk painting, wood sculpture and silver and lacquer ware. And yes, they have a shop selling all their products as well as scarves, bags and other apparel.
Our guide usually sticks around until 5 pm. After that we are on our own. No problem, tuk-tuks are all over the place and are very efficient. They will charge US$1 per head to take you anywhere in town and usually the minute you step out of the hotel doors, smiling drivers come around offering a ride. American money is the currency of choice and it will be a good idea for you to bring a lot of 1, 5 and 10 dollar bills.
The concierge can be a wealth of information if you are looking for a good place to eat or something in particular to shop for. Make sure to tip him well. I oftentimes bring something (usually food) from my country to share with the concierge and hotel staff and this gets me a lot of mileage.
After riding through some of the flooded streets of Siem Riep and a very satisfying meal, we bedded down for the night. Tomorrow we tackle Bayon, home to numerous massive but serene stone faces of the Buddha.
No comments:
Post a Comment