I decided to skip telling about the second leg of my vacation (for now) and move onto the third leg - Siem Reap, Cambodia - Home of the famed Angkor Wat. Ever since Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was partially filmed here, I wanted to visit Angkor Wat. I knew very little about the site, or Siem Reap for that matter. After a week in Bali and Bangkok, it was a bit of a culture shock arriving there. Fortunately I had done enough research to know that I needed a visa before entering Cambodia. Unlike Bali, though, I was able to obtain an e-visa. Having paid for this ahead of time saved me an enormous amount of grief at the airport. As all my fellow passengers flooded the customs building they were faced with a huge line to purchase the visa. One clueless American couple came up to me and asked if they really needed a visa. I said yes and asked if they had pictures with them. The visa application required passport photos. They did not, so gods know what happened to them. I, on the other, walked right up to the customs and was the first person out of the airport. I said a silent "thank you" to Martin who would've been proud of my organizational skills.
The first thing I noticed about Cambodia was how dry it was. The roads, bushes, buildings, cars were covered with red dust. I was expected lush, tropical jungle. They have that, but only during the rainy season. November through March is the dry season, and it rarely rains. During the rainy season it rains all the time. The roads in Cambodia aren't very good, many are riddled with potholes, and the embankments are crumbling or non-existent. The ride to Siem Reap only took about 20 minutes. The landscape was flat and uninteresting.
I arrived to the hotel - the Golden Banana (now called Rambutan Resort). The hotel is gay owned and operated, hence the golden banana, though I soon discovered it's a very mixed crowed. It's located just outside the Old Market, and is far enough away from town to be very quiet. The rooms are large, and surround by a courtyard that contains a bar/restaurant and a pretty saltwater pool. I arrived on a Saturday and had one day by myself before my boyfriend Raja was to arrive. By the time I unpacked it was time to eat. The hotel has a great restaurant that is super cheap. Alcohol, as I soon discovered, is amazingly inexpensive. In fact, Siem Reap is an alcoholic's wet dream. Most drinks cost $3 to $4 dollars, including top shelf alcohol like Grey Goose. After the exorbitant Korean prices it was heaven.
Dinner finished, I went to explore Siem Reap. At night the city takes on a very different appearance. It's hard to describe my first impression - the best simile is that Siem Reap was like a carnival midway stuck in the middle of a field. Colorful strings of lights are draped everywhere, the lighted signs for the Night Market and the Old Market resemble marquee lights found at the entrance to circus tents, and the streets are crowded with tourists (mostly white). The Old Market still retains some of its market-like aspect, but in the past ten years it has developed into a drinking and eating paradise. It reminded me a bit of Bourbon Street in New Orleans with outdoor eateries, bars, and tacky shops. On my way to the Old Market I was offered marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and opium. I was frequently offered women as well - this offer even came with free condoms. I was a little put off by the city upon my first arrival, but the longer I stayed in Siem Reap, the more fond I grew of it - mostly because of the people. Cambodians are incredibly friendly. And the amount of English they speak is amazing. Here are people who barely scrape by and are poorly educated, but they know that English is a necessity in order to be successful, so almost everyone I encountered spoke a little English. In addition to English, all prices are in US dollars. They prefer US dollars over their own currency. I had changed all my currency into riel, only to have to convert it in my head to US dollars. The ATM dispenses US dollars. Very odd.
The next afternoon I went back to the airport to pick up Raja, who was flying in from Jakarta to help me explore Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is what put Siem Reap on the map. If those temples didn't exist, Siem Reap wouldn't be the second largest city in Cambodia. That night we explored Siem Reaps gay bars. There are three, two of them directly across from each other. We started at Miss Wong's, a place famous for great drinks, and that fame turned out to be true. At the bar, we met a young girl of 14 who was selling handmade bracelets. We politely declined and she walked away without persisting to sell her bracelets - a rarity in Siem Reap. Later that night ,after we had moved to our second bar, we were sitting outside and the girl came back. This time we started up a conversation with her (the alcohol probably helped), and we quickly became enamored with her. She was friendly, articulate, feisty, and just plain hilarious. We bought her bracelets. Little did we know that we would see her every night of our stay and become quite close!
The next morning was our big trip to Angkor Wat. The main temple isn't that far from downtown Siem Reap. You can get there by tuk tuk, taxi, or guided car. The hotel arranged a tuk tuk for us for $13 dollars a day! This was by far the cheapest way to go, and actually more fun even though it's open to the air, noisy, and a little dusty. Before you enter the grounds, you must buy tickets. We opted for the three day pass since it's the same price as paying for two separate days.
The Angkor region is actually composed of many different temples, with Angkor Wat (The City) being the largest and grandest structure. It was built between 1113 and 1150 under the reign of King Suryavarman II. After the fall of the Khemer, much of the Angkor area was abandoned and left to fester in the jungle. The French like to claim that they discovered the Angkor temples in 1863, but this is pretty arrogant since all those living in Cambodia knew they existed and Angkor Wat was never fully abandoned. Still, the French did play a large part in restoring the temples and publishing papers that brought attention to the site.
The tuk tuk driver dropped us off at the West entrance and we walked across a bridge that spans the moat that surrounds Angkor Wat. I found out later that Angkor Wat is almost a floating island because the temple is built on a water table. The water level must be maintained or the temples would shift. The designers of the temple realized this and so created a system for maintaining that water level, even during the dry season! Almost a thousand years later they're still standing.
Angkor Wat is gigantic. It's a long walk before you even reach the temple - the grounds are so expansive. Inside you are dwarfed by the size of the structure. I can't adequately describe it. What's amazing is that you're allowed to just wander anywhere you want. Climbing up the stairs to the towers was a bit harrowing, and I discovered halfway up that Raja is afraid of heights. He stopped dead and said he needed to turn back, even though he was halfway up and people were already jammed in behind him. Fortunately I was able to talk him through the rest, but he arrived to the top sweaty, shaking, and out of breath. We spent a couple of hours at Angkor Wat before moving onto the second largest temple Angkor Thom.
Angkor Thom, though not as large, is more enjoyable then Angkor Wat. Actually, most of the smaller temples are more enjoyable then Wat, mostly because they are less crowded, more exotic, and less preserved. Thom is famous for its carved faces, which are scattered throughout the temple. Once again you can stroll wherever you want. We spent another hour or so exploring this temple. Around 1 PM, though, it was hot and we were tired so we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool and some lunch.
The next morning we opted to see the smaller temples which included Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei. Ta Prohm was one of my favorite temples. It was the one chosen by the French to remain in its original condition, meaning they didn't clear the trees away or restore or replace the stones. They also allowed the moss, vines, and other plant life to remain - all of which gives the temple a lush and eerie appearance. Walking through the ruins it's almost as if you're an explorer discovering this amazing location for the first time. Most of the smaller temples had this feeling and I'm glad we took the time to explore them. As with the previous day, we only spent about four hours exploring. If you go longer than that, you grow hot, tired,and templed out. This day the tuk tuk driver asked us if we wanted lunch. He said he receives a free lunch at the place he would take us. We said said sure, though I was a little nervous about the quality of the food. As it turns out, the food was delicious. I had amok, a Cambodian fish stew served in a coconut. I've been eating amok all week since it's so delicious, and this amok was the best I had.
The next day we had to check out of our hotel because when I decided to extend our stay, the hotel didn't have any rooms available. We moved into a much larger and grander hotel. Since we got there so early, our room wasn't available. Instead of making us wait, they upgraded us to the privileged floor. This floor has its own concierge, bar/lounge area, and rooms with large balconies that contain a bed suspended from the ceiling. It was quite grand. As it turned out, though we may have been given a room on The Privileged Floor, we were not given the privileges! The services that came with the concierge did not apply to us, and technically we weren't allowed to partake in the free food and drinks in the lounge. Raja went in and asked and he must've charmed the guy so much that he decided to make an exception for us and we went in for free! The guy was quite flamboyant, so I think he enjoyed having some "family" members to serve.
The next day we decided to visit the farthest of the temples. These temples required a car since it was a long drive. The hotel arranged a driver for $50 dollars (quite a difference from the cheap tuk tuks) and off we went. Raja quickly fell asleep in the nicely air-conditioned car while I chatted with the driver. We started talking about the Killing Fields and the Khmer Rouge. It was less that 15 years ago that bombs, kidnappings, and beheadings were happening in Siem Reap. We passed one open area and he told me that in this location villagers would be killed using the leaves from palm trees to slit their throats since the Khmer didn't want to waste their bullets. Raja missed this lovely tale as the man told about the death of his friends and family members. It was pretty sobering.
The final three three temples were worth the drive (a drive made much longer by the fact that our driver drove like a grandmother until Raja finally asked him to drive faster). On this final day, we timed the temples just right. It was midday (the hottest part of the day) and most tour groups went to have lunch. When we arrived to the Ladies' Temple, there was hardly anyone there. This temple was rambling and long but very fun to explore.
We then worked out way back to see two more temples. At this point, we had finally reach our breaking point. The guide was willing to stop at other very small temples, but we said keep going. We did stop at Preah Khan and it was worth the visit. It's a grand, reddish temple where they buried all the kings of Angkor. It offered spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.
Overall, the three day visit to Angkor is worth the time and investment. I've left out so much of our time there just because this entry is already so long, but despite the crowds, heat, and size, Angkor Wat is something not to be missed. It's a magical setting and an incredible marvel of architecture. The history is equally as fascinating. The only annoyance were the vendors who hovered outside the exits of the temples. My guess is that they are not allowed inside the temple grounds but as soon as you exit, they pounce. An unlike our kind friend in Siem Reap, they do not take no for an answer. They follow you until you reach your vehicle, trying to sell you postcards, books, scarves, magnets. They're all sweet and smiles while you're walking but if you make it to your tuk tuk without buying something, suddenly they turn into foul-mouth jackals, screaming at you in Khmer saying god knows what.
On our final night in Siem Reap, our young female entrepreneur, whose name was Linda, presented us with a present of two shirts. It was so sweet of her. She was so excited to give us the gift. We wrote her a note and slipped in some money, telling her not to open it until we left. Her kindness was emblematic of the Cambodian people and a wonderful way to end our trip.