Indochina Day 26, Angkor Wat

Wednesday June 22^th

We were up and out of the hotel by 4:30am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. We arrived, bought our photo id entry ticket and drove to the temple. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world. It was constructed in the 12^th century by Hindus and later captured and changed to a Buddhist temple. It was abandoned and has fallen into disrepair but is still very impressive. We arrived with other tourists and stood on one side of a man made lake on the inner courtyard of the temple. The sun rose over the temple and was reflected in the lake. It was nice, but not spectacular. After that we went to a local restaurant for breakfast, as we had not yet eaten. I had a sugar cane juice that was delicious.

Then we returned to the temple. We walked through the temple gate, along the raised walkway past the lake to the actual temple. It is built on three levels and our guide explained to us the significance, the history and something about the construction of the temple. The base of the temple is made from volcanic porous rock and the top levels and carvings are all made from sandstone. There is lots of erosion and degradation of the structure from the elements. We walked through it admiring the bas relief art that depicted some of the history and battles of the era. We climbed up to the second and third levels of the temple. The view from the top was very impressive and you could see the actual size of the grounds.

Then we boarded the bus again for a short drive to the next temple. This area used to be the capital region of the country hundreds of years ago and there was a large populous city here. As a result there are hundreds of temples in the area and most are deserted and falling apart. We visited another one temple in Angkor Thom called Wat Bayon. It was constructed in about 1200 and also made from volcanic rock and sandstone. It has the same basic structure as the temples of Hindu India, in that there is a central pillar surrounded by four other pillar representing the four elements, wind, water, earth and sun. On all the towers there are large carved faces of Buddhas looking out in all directions. We wandered around here for awhile exploring. It was like a rabbit warren inside and had lots of little halls and rooms. Parts of the walls and rooves are collapsing. There is evidence of some attempt at repairs on these temples and there are signs about funding from UNESCO, the US, Italy and the UK.

Then we boarded the bus again, because the distance between temples can be a few kilometres. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and there are very few other buildings or homes in the area. The third temple we visited was called Taprohm, but because of a recent Hollywood movie is now called Tomb Raider Temple. It is the one that you see in a lot of the photos. It used to be a Buddhist monastic complex. After being abandoned the forest reclaimed it and there are banyan trees growing over some of the walls. This is obviously hard on the walls and some have collapsed or are falling apart. There are a few pieces that are under scaffolding and are being repaired, but the temple is spectacular and very eerie.

Around all the temples are peddlers trying to sell guide books, postcards, scarves, keychains and lots of other things. A lot of them are children and they have learned to speak enough English to talk to us and some of them are very engaging and fun to talk to. The girls in particular have great smiles and are quite persistent. But, if you say “No thank you” enough times they eventually give up. They are not rude and don't get angry. After saying “No thank you I don't need that, or want that” enough times, one girl said, “I know, you need nothing, okay I have nothing, one dollar for you!” Gotta love the sense of humour.

Having said that some of them are definitely needy, a little girl who asked me to buy her new flip flops because hers were broken, some who want food, amputees who have lost limbs to landmines, etc. It is hard to say no so many times, but even though I am much better off than them, and thankful for it, I can't help everyone and don't have endless funds.

We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. The weather was very hot with no wind and lots of humidity. Since we started at 4:30 and it was now 1:30 the group had had enough and wanted to return to the hotel for a break. We decided to forgo the afternoon program, and come back for sunset instead.

When we got back I went for a swim in the beautiful pool and cooled off. Some of us regrouped a couple of hours later for the return trip, about fifteen minutes, to the temple area. We were driven to the base of a hill where we could either hire an elephant for the ride up, or we could walk up a path. I walked. It was a bit of a climb. On top of the hill there was another temple ruin (you have to marvel at the people transporting all the material up the hill to build temple). We climbed up the very steep and narrow stairs to the third level in order to have a view of the area and the sunset. We sat up there for an hour or so. The sunset was okay, but since this is the rainy season there was quite a bit of cloud.

We climbed back down and descended to the bus, for the ride back into Siem Reap for dinner. We met the rest of the group at a restaurant where they perform traditional dances for you while you eat. It reminded me of the dancing in Bali. Mostly very slow, calculated movements with beautiful women in beautiful costumes.

After dinner I wandered off and walked around town checking out the market areas. I stopped to watch a couple of people having their feet massaged by fish. A woman talked me into it when she said I could sit and drink beer while the fish cleaned up the dead skin from my feet. So, that's what I did. The other two people were German tourists and I chatted with them while we had our feet taken care of by a tank of small fish, before we turned around and put our feet into a tank with larger fish. The sign said “NO piranhas” but you could definitely feel them nibbling away. Interesting experience. After that my shoes were a size too large. Then after walking around a bit more, I caught a tuk tuk back to the hotel for the night.