We boarded our coach bus, icily cool with an radio reel comprised of Taylor Swift and Khmer top twenty playing as we all found our seats. What would come was like no coach bus experienced I had ever had. A bus carrying forty people moved like the scooters on the road, a pre-emptive honk as it wandered into the lane of opposing traffic, jostling in and out of potholes.
The water table in Cambodia is phenomenally high, literally surpassing the surface of the land in the rainy season. In some places there is water everywhere, as if entire villages float atop a pan of water like plastic monopoly tokens on stilts. The palms rose up from the rice patties like truffula trees, casting knot-like shadows on the water. We drove past yards of stone Buddhas in various states of carved completion, from crudely outlined blocks to some all but finished, only missing his resting, tranquil face.
Despite Phnom Penh being the capital of Cambodia, the pull of Angkor Wat is enough that the tourism in Siem Reap feels as though it easily surpasses that of the capital. Locals, with the exception of the ever eager tuk-tuk drivers and the touts at the Central Market, really have less of a use for you as a tourist. They have plenty of local business to clear away their stock of noodle bowls and Angkor Beer. In Siem Reap, however, you are the ever dependable source of a few dollars, usually in the form of valuable American currency.
Dusty faced school girls ride on bikes too big for them in skirts too long for riding a bike. Women bound for the rice patties in their angled basket-woven hats wrap their faces in well worn silk scarves to keep the bugs out of their eyes as they weave through traffic, three to each scooter. Life moves at a pace I can only describe as 'simple'. Traveling through Asia, I became aware of what had before been an unconscious 'hustle and bustle' mantra. Look busy, act busy, be busy. Our days are so crammed with buying things, wanting things, activities and obligations. Spirituality in Asia, be it Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, or otherwise, seems primarily concerned with balance. And they are doing something right because I have never seen people work harder and I have also never seen people napping under a foot bridge. Their lives seem, at least from the outside, to be more contented. Asia has made me borderline philosophical.
We were greeted by hotel staff in full traditional Khmer dress, the men in wrapped skirt-like silk fabric with ornately embroidered jackets and the women in embroidered dresses and floor length sashes. For a mere $15 a night, we slept in serene comfort. Plushy comforters and a pillowtop mattress with a robust AC unit. No bugs. A beautiful view of the sunset over rice patties. Hooray for off-season.
Siem Reap's markets are always a must see. The Old Market is open daily from as early as seven in the morning until nine at the latest. Hours are…flexible in Cambodia. Each shop opens really at its own leisure. The market houses everything from barrels of different types of rice and freshly bled chickens to Khmer hand carvings and tupperware. The Arts Market, across the river, carries paintings by local artists and silk dresses while the Night Market, which opens at 4pm and continues well into the week hours of the morning contains what the other two with the addition of numerous massage and nail parlours and nightly Apsara dance.
Moozh and I ate, and ate and ate. Spicy Khmer noodles, similar to a Shanghai noodle dish, was consumed at least daily if not more than once each day. Grilled cakes stuffed with Chinese chive and bathed in a chilli rice vinegar was a close second. We got the fish pedicure, known as "Dr. Fish pedicure", which I would never get again. We saw an Apsara dance, which I watched with a gleefully idiotic smile on my face. We bought artwork and khmer silk to send back home. We found Angkor Cookies, a local cookie business which employs Cambodian people and uses Cambodian ingredients to produce shortbread cookies in the shape of Angkor Wat. They have expanded their range to included banana chips and flavoured cashews but their cookies are of the perfectly crumbly shortbread variety and are a must try. It was exciting to see Cambodian-born entrepreneurship being successful and building back into their culture.
Cambodia is ceaselessly hot. Nowhere in Thailand had I felt as oppressively trapped in my own sweat as I felt in Cambodia. Showering and a change of clothes was pointless and we took part in it simply to preserve our own dignity. Even a minor stroll left us completely soaked. Hailing a tuk-tuk we met Noan, who would become our tour guide out to Angkor Wat the next day. For $15, he would take us out to the site, wait for us while we took pictures, shuttle us from temple to temple, and take us back into Siem Reap.
"My name is Noan," she said. "N-O-ah-N."
Angkor Wat is everything you could possibly expect from the largest Hindu temple in the world. The name Angkor Wat means "Temple City" in Khmer. It was described as 'indescribable' by explorers as early as the late 1500's. A French explorer, Henry Mouhot, went as far as to say that it far surpassed the grandeur of anything in Greece or Rome. Were it not for the shop keepers and food vendors loudly jockeying for your attention as the sun rises behind the distinctive quincunx of stupas, you could easily be lost in the moment, dwarfed by the sheer size of it all. Angkor Wat, in its magnitude and glory, was remarkably built in the short span of King Suryavarman II's eighty-five year life span. No other temple in the world of comparable size was built in such a short time. Ingenious engineering to cope with the fluctuating water table and a convincing utilization of the seasonal farming community meant that Suryavarman's desire to endear himself to the gods and solidify his place in heaven would be finished before his death. A moat, over a kilometre in length and 200 m in width encircles the main temple, regulating the water level that sits below Angkor Wat, to ensure the stability of the temple. Were it not for that moat, the temple would be in rubble. Given that there is not a quarry to be found near the temple's site, the workforce was enlisted to transport limestone in blocks the size of small houses to the temple. It was a construction on a massive scale, finished with not a minute to spare. Sagrada Familia could learn something.The Angkor Archeological Complex covers four hundred square kilometres. The Small Circuit alone took us a full ten hour day, while most people attempt the Grand Circuit with a three-day temple pass in hand.
From Angkor Wat, Noan took us to Bayon. Crossing a bridge guarded by borders of stone Khmer soldiers and underneath the distinctive archway, wryly smiling faces on all four sides, Bayon Temple comes into view. While Angkor Wat is a Hindu temple, dedicated to the god Vishnu, Bayon was built by a Buddhist king with Hindu aspects added by later rulers. While Angkor is classical in style, Bayon is known for its baroque style. From Bayon, the trip is continued on foot through Ba Phuon, built to represent a sacred Hindu mountain. Built on sand, the 'temple mountain' collapsed. In the 1960's restoration was started but interrupted by the rise of the Khmer Rouge. After the regime fell, it wasn't until 1995 that another team of French archeologists came in and finished the restoration. As of 2010, the temple was again open to the public, with the structure stable enough to support tourist traffic all the way up to the very top level. The path continues through a mercifully shaded area, through banyan trees and past ruins of Phimeanakas in the midst of restoration.
From there you come upon the Terrace of the Elephants, which was built as a viewing platform for the King to see his returning army. All but in ruins now, one can somewhat make out the elaborate carving on the reliefs that make up the walls. We were take from there to Ta Keo. While the steeps steps lead to an impressive view of the surroundings, it was here that our camera battery died. Too much shutta shutta. With our only backup the cameras on our iPhones, we continued on to the one temple I wanted to have the good camera for: Ta Phrom. Anyone who's seen Lara Croft has seen Ta Phrom. A temple overrun with "strangler fig trees", Ta Phrom is famous for the combination of the stonework and tangled roots. Many of the tunnels and doorways are barricaded due to structural instability and a general restoration project has begun on Ta Phrom.
From Ta Phrom, we saw Banteay Kdei, walls elaborated with carvings and many external walls laying in rubble, and then to Prasat Kravan, a simple linear temple in red stone, which marks the end of the small circuit. Without a decent camera to catch the delicacy of the sunset, we had Noan take us back in the city but agreed to have him pick us up the next day to take us out to the rice paddies in the countryside for the sunset there. The sunset we saw dripped with color, the mirror image reflected for miles on the high water of the rice paddies. Girls draped in fuchsia silk carried water urns on their heads. Five year olds played soccer with a deflated ball in the streets, being dodged by frantic scooters and tuk tuks. Cambodia's depth stayed with us, a country with such legacy of pain offered readily so much love and life.
Things I learned in Siem Reap:
Siem Reap carries two personalities: one peaceful and temple going and the other frantic, Pub Street, Cambodian night life.
When visiting Cambodia, bring a battery-operated fan.
Cambodians love to laugh.
Quote for Siem Reap: Via Noan: Oh Khun Tra. No thank you.
Bohemian Reccomends
Angkor Pearl Hotel - Best in Asia!
Siem Riep Night Market
Pub Street - Late night disobedience.
Old Market - Killer Street Food.
Tonle Sap Lake - Amazing sunset!
For all of us who have ever dreamed of climbing into the story of the Jungle Book, of seeing light dance off the colours of century old ruins breaking under the pressure of new tree growth, Angkor Wat is home. The largest Hindu complex in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is hard to understand why it does not hold a spot amount the wonders of the world lists. Upon reflection of our time there, we both fail to articulate the memory. It was magical in the truest sense of the word, and we recommend it to any and all who make the trip to Cambodia
The water table in Cambodia is phenomenally high, literally surpassing the surface of the land in the rainy season. In some places there is water everywhere, as if entire villages float atop a pan of water like plastic monopoly tokens on stilts. The palms rose up from the rice patties like truffula trees, casting knot-like shadows on the water. We drove past yards of stone Buddhas in various states of carved completion, from crudely outlined blocks to some all but finished, only missing his resting, tranquil face.
Despite Phnom Penh being the capital of Cambodia, the pull of Angkor Wat is enough that the tourism in Siem Reap feels as though it easily surpasses that of the capital. Locals, with the exception of the ever eager tuk-tuk drivers and the touts at the Central Market, really have less of a use for you as a tourist. They have plenty of local business to clear away their stock of noodle bowls and Angkor Beer. In Siem Reap, however, you are the ever dependable source of a few dollars, usually in the form of valuable American currency.
Dusty faced school girls ride on bikes too big for them in skirts too long for riding a bike. Women bound for the rice patties in their angled basket-woven hats wrap their faces in well worn silk scarves to keep the bugs out of their eyes as they weave through traffic, three to each scooter. Life moves at a pace I can only describe as 'simple'. Traveling through Asia, I became aware of what had before been an unconscious 'hustle and bustle' mantra. Look busy, act busy, be busy. Our days are so crammed with buying things, wanting things, activities and obligations. Spirituality in Asia, be it Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, or otherwise, seems primarily concerned with balance. And they are doing something right because I have never seen people work harder and I have also never seen people napping under a foot bridge. Their lives seem, at least from the outside, to be more contented. Asia has made me borderline philosophical.
We were greeted by hotel staff in full traditional Khmer dress, the men in wrapped skirt-like silk fabric with ornately embroidered jackets and the women in embroidered dresses and floor length sashes. For a mere $15 a night, we slept in serene comfort. Plushy comforters and a pillowtop mattress with a robust AC unit. No bugs. A beautiful view of the sunset over rice patties. Hooray for off-season.
Siem Reap's markets are always a must see. The Old Market is open daily from as early as seven in the morning until nine at the latest. Hours are…flexible in Cambodia. Each shop opens really at its own leisure. The market houses everything from barrels of different types of rice and freshly bled chickens to Khmer hand carvings and tupperware. The Arts Market, across the river, carries paintings by local artists and silk dresses while the Night Market, which opens at 4pm and continues well into the week hours of the morning contains what the other two with the addition of numerous massage and nail parlours and nightly Apsara dance.
Moozh and I ate, and ate and ate. Spicy Khmer noodles, similar to a Shanghai noodle dish, was consumed at least daily if not more than once each day. Grilled cakes stuffed with Chinese chive and bathed in a chilli rice vinegar was a close second. We got the fish pedicure, known as "Dr. Fish pedicure", which I would never get again. We saw an Apsara dance, which I watched with a gleefully idiotic smile on my face. We bought artwork and khmer silk to send back home. We found Angkor Cookies, a local cookie business which employs Cambodian people and uses Cambodian ingredients to produce shortbread cookies in the shape of Angkor Wat. They have expanded their range to included banana chips and flavoured cashews but their cookies are of the perfectly crumbly shortbread variety and are a must try. It was exciting to see Cambodian-born entrepreneurship being successful and building back into their culture.
Cambodia is ceaselessly hot. Nowhere in Thailand had I felt as oppressively trapped in my own sweat as I felt in Cambodia. Showering and a change of clothes was pointless and we took part in it simply to preserve our own dignity. Even a minor stroll left us completely soaked. Hailing a tuk-tuk we met Noan, who would become our tour guide out to Angkor Wat the next day. For $15, he would take us out to the site, wait for us while we took pictures, shuttle us from temple to temple, and take us back into Siem Reap.
"My name is Noan," she said. "N-O-ah-N."
Angkor Wat is everything you could possibly expect from the largest Hindu temple in the world. The name Angkor Wat means "Temple City" in Khmer. It was described as 'indescribable' by explorers as early as the late 1500's. A French explorer, Henry Mouhot, went as far as to say that it far surpassed the grandeur of anything in Greece or Rome. Were it not for the shop keepers and food vendors loudly jockeying for your attention as the sun rises behind the distinctive quincunx of stupas, you could easily be lost in the moment, dwarfed by the sheer size of it all. Angkor Wat, in its magnitude and glory, was remarkably built in the short span of King Suryavarman II's eighty-five year life span. No other temple in the world of comparable size was built in such a short time. Ingenious engineering to cope with the fluctuating water table and a convincing utilization of the seasonal farming community meant that Suryavarman's desire to endear himself to the gods and solidify his place in heaven would be finished before his death. A moat, over a kilometre in length and 200 m in width encircles the main temple, regulating the water level that sits below Angkor Wat, to ensure the stability of the temple. Were it not for that moat, the temple would be in rubble. Given that there is not a quarry to be found near the temple's site, the workforce was enlisted to transport limestone in blocks the size of small houses to the temple. It was a construction on a massive scale, finished with not a minute to spare. Sagrada Familia could learn something.The Angkor Archeological Complex covers four hundred square kilometres. The Small Circuit alone took us a full ten hour day, while most people attempt the Grand Circuit with a three-day temple pass in hand.
From Angkor Wat, Noan took us to Bayon. Crossing a bridge guarded by borders of stone Khmer soldiers and underneath the distinctive archway, wryly smiling faces on all four sides, Bayon Temple comes into view. While Angkor Wat is a Hindu temple, dedicated to the god Vishnu, Bayon was built by a Buddhist king with Hindu aspects added by later rulers. While Angkor is classical in style, Bayon is known for its baroque style. From Bayon, the trip is continued on foot through Ba Phuon, built to represent a sacred Hindu mountain. Built on sand, the 'temple mountain' collapsed. In the 1960's restoration was started but interrupted by the rise of the Khmer Rouge. After the regime fell, it wasn't until 1995 that another team of French archeologists came in and finished the restoration. As of 2010, the temple was again open to the public, with the structure stable enough to support tourist traffic all the way up to the very top level. The path continues through a mercifully shaded area, through banyan trees and past ruins of Phimeanakas in the midst of restoration.
From there you come upon the Terrace of the Elephants, which was built as a viewing platform for the King to see his returning army. All but in ruins now, one can somewhat make out the elaborate carving on the reliefs that make up the walls. We were take from there to Ta Keo. While the steeps steps lead to an impressive view of the surroundings, it was here that our camera battery died. Too much shutta shutta. With our only backup the cameras on our iPhones, we continued on to the one temple I wanted to have the good camera for: Ta Phrom. Anyone who's seen Lara Croft has seen Ta Phrom. A temple overrun with "strangler fig trees", Ta Phrom is famous for the combination of the stonework and tangled roots. Many of the tunnels and doorways are barricaded due to structural instability and a general restoration project has begun on Ta Phrom.
From Ta Phrom, we saw Banteay Kdei, walls elaborated with carvings and many external walls laying in rubble, and then to Prasat Kravan, a simple linear temple in red stone, which marks the end of the small circuit. Without a decent camera to catch the delicacy of the sunset, we had Noan take us back in the city but agreed to have him pick us up the next day to take us out to the rice paddies in the countryside for the sunset there. The sunset we saw dripped with color, the mirror image reflected for miles on the high water of the rice paddies. Girls draped in fuchsia silk carried water urns on their heads. Five year olds played soccer with a deflated ball in the streets, being dodged by frantic scooters and tuk tuks. Cambodia's depth stayed with us, a country with such legacy of pain offered readily so much love and life.
Things I learned in Siem Reap:
Siem Reap carries two personalities: one peaceful and temple going and the other frantic, Pub Street, Cambodian night life.
When visiting Cambodia, bring a battery-operated fan.
Cambodians love to laugh.
Quote for Siem Reap: Via Noan: Oh Khun Tra. No thank you.
Bohemian Reccomends
Angkor Pearl Hotel - Best in Asia!
Siem Riep Night Market
Pub Street - Late night disobedience.
Old Market - Killer Street Food.
Tonle Sap Lake - Amazing sunset!
For all of us who have ever dreamed of climbing into the story of the Jungle Book, of seeing light dance off the colours of century old ruins breaking under the pressure of new tree growth, Angkor Wat is home. The largest Hindu complex in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is hard to understand why it does not hold a spot amount the wonders of the world lists. Upon reflection of our time there, we both fail to articulate the memory. It was magical in the truest sense of the word, and we recommend it to any and all who make the trip to Cambodia