The alarm was set for 7.30am, what we thought was an early morning, but is nothing compared to the swathes of people that descend on Angkor Wat for the sunrise trying to catch that picture perfect moment. Without breakfast we met our tuk tuk driver for the day, Mr Cheat. We swiftly haggled him down to $15 and were on our way. Everywhere you go in South-East Asia the tuk tuks tend to differ in some respect, and in Cambodia tuk tuks are literally just mopeds with a carriage on the back, a slightly disconcerting but stupidly fun way to travel plus a great way to see the sights since you have 360 degree vision.
We arrived just before 9am and the heat was already beating down. As you traverse the steps and head down the walkway you can’t help but stare in awe as the temple stretches across the horizon, personally I was dazed into a reflectiveness on religion, tourists, architecture, and history. It’s hard to imagine looking at it teeming with tourists that it used to be a holy place, that it used to be peaceful, that it was built centuries ago by the human hand.
We wandered around Angkor Wat for around two hours, taking our time and soaking up the history and the incredible buildings, unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s huge and there probably isn’t a single inch of it where painstaking effort wasn’t taken to carve the stone into a religious symbol. It’s interesting because there are symbols from both Hindu and Buddhism, the two most interesting religions in the world in my opinion, as the temple has been used to worship both in the past. The two religions share a lot of symbols and similarities; they have gone hand in hand in quite a few temples we’ve visited in our time in Asia but nothing like this. Having become increasingly interested in religion in my time in travel not as a follower but simply as someone who loves fantasy, their colourful history fascinates me, as well as observing the human behaviour surrounding it, Angkor Wat was truly stunning and stoked the fire in my imagination. I can see the job title religious historian in my future.
After Angkor Wat we checked out Bayon temple, this temple has a similar history to Angkor Wat in that it has also been used to worship both Buddhism and Hinduism in it’s history. The most standout formation of the Bayon temple are the colossal faces that stare out passively from the top of the towers, facing north, east, south, and west.
It saddens me in a way that these temples have been degraded to a tourist beehive and a money maker. Although admittedly that is a cynical way of looking at it. I much prefer to look at it as though they’re the sharing the temples with us for our pleasure and as an unselfish act. If I was a Monk in Cambodia I would be pissed off however that I’m denied the opportunity to worship at such an incredible place in peace, even if being pissed off is against their religion.
Next up we visited Baphuon temple, smaller than the others and not as impressive, but I’m sure it’s hard for the little guy being so close to Angkor and Bayon having to compete. You weren’t actually allowed inside, I assume there as an inside, but it was a pyramidical (I created this word, make sure to give me credit ;)) structure with for sets of stairs on each facing. We walked along an elevated stone walkway to reach the temple also which was impressive. Sadly by this point the weather was having it’s way with us. Southern Laos was an oven, Cambodia is the surface of the sun. At around 1pm we retired to the safety of the hotel for a shower, a cool down, and food.
I’d like to mention here, since I forgot earlier, a really memorable moment (the irony..) where we picked up my favourite souvenir so far. As we ate in the shaded tents lined up a few hundred metres from Angkor Wat we were constantly pestered by children to buy bracelets, postcards and magnets. We’ve been told not to buy from children because it encourages parents to keep them out of school, amongst other things. There was no temptation to go against this as obviously I believe these kids should be in school, and what they were selling was just crap. Christina was writing a postcard at the same time a little boy came over and tried to sell us one, she showed the him the one she was currently writing and apologised. After trying to sell us some anyway he started to enquire into what she was writing, showing a genuine interest. He then proceeded to draw a picture of Angkor Wat in his little notepad and gave us it for free. After some deliberation I decided to give him a dollar for it, thinking that it might be encouragement and a lesson that creating things can bring reward whereas selling rubbish won’t. I like to think of myself as a teacher and a guide obviously. However writing this I can’t help but feel he does this for all the tourists and rakes it in, I’m okay with that as it means he’s already learned the lesson I was trying to teach.
At the hotel we had a potato curry each, I ordered Khmer potato curry and Christina ordered a Burmese one (these could easily be the other way round, I can’t remember). Either way, Christina’s came with actual crinkle cut chips in the curry itself and mine didn’t so I was ultimately jealous. The rest of the day was spent exploring Siem Reap, checking out some markets, shops, Blue Pumpkin bakery, as well as having a few more beers on the ever lightened, ever slightly rowdy pub street.
In the morning we set to depart Siem Reap, we would have loved to stay but there were far too many temptations to waste money on incredible food and beer. In the grand scale of the trip we couldn’t condone it. We did however decide it would be a great place to visit again on a normal holiday, living in luxury for cheap and eating all the incredible food. I definitely can’t wait to return.
The Searcher 