Siem Reap

Arriving in Siem Reap was the first time we found we had been dropped off outside town needing to find transport into the centre. We found a taxi fairly easily, although it would be more accurate to say he found us having barged passed various others, and soon we were in town at our latest accommodation; Hotel 89. For the second time on our travels we were welcomed with honey tea and then shown to our room which wasn’t anything special but was clean and most importantly had air-conditioning. After long days wandering round the neighbouring ancient wonder of the world we would definitely require air-conditioned rooms to collapse in.

We didn't plan on seeing the Temple of Angkor until the following day so had pre-booked an activity for the first time that evening, and later on we were picked up and taken to a quad-biking centre. After a standard safety briefing and fitting of helmets as well as face masks, which I have mocked almost constantly in my head since landing in Beijing, we set off for an hour’s quad-biking in the area around Siem Reap. Linz, who has never mounted a quad bike, faired pretty well and was bombing it along the dusty paths by the end, but there was quite a scare when a cow bolted out in front of her. She never normally finds herself fleeing from beef but it was moving quite a lot faster than her usual medium-cooked variety. I on the other hand didn't take so long to get to grips with the bike so found myself very quickly retreating into my 10-year old self successfully hitting every puddle I could find until the bike could scarcely be described as red anymore. My biggest scare came when I let a local child, who got very excited at seeing himself in the video screen, hold my camera. Our guide got increasingly more worried, as of course did I, as the childs grip got harder and harder as I tried to get it back. Having returned to the office we were presented with a certificate which I wondered whether everyone got or whether they just thought, due to my childish need to get muddy, I’d get excited over and run home to show to my mummy.

We stopped for sunset over the rice paddys and these guys came wandering past

That evening we walked into town and found it very lively offering a range of food options, a load of markets but an even larger number of fish massage spas. These massage parlours, which are barely a step up from a pet shop specialising in tropical fish, allow tourists to pay around $3 to sit on the edge of a tank and have hundreds of fish nibble the dead skin off your feet. We passed on the numerous offers and just opted for dinner.

We were determined to do the Temples correctly so had put some solid time into planning our two days on the site. We decided our first day would be spent driven around by a tuk tuk seeing the smaller of the temples on offer before hiring bicycles to get around the major ones the next day in an attempt to save the best until last. Before continuing I must explain how the Temples are laid out as I was amazed at how much more there is on the site than I had thought. I believed there was just Angkor Wat as this is what gets all the attention, however there are in fact dozens of temples in this ancient city which, at its peak, spanned 1000 square-kilometres although they are mainly group in the centre roughly 1-2 kilometres from each other.

Click to enlarge it

We were picked up at 7am by our hotel-appointed tuk tuk driver who was fairly moody all day and a real bring-down following Mr Kim in Battambang. We didn't get his name all day as he barely spoke but, solely to enable me to describe our day clearer, I shall be calling him Moody. Siem Reap is surprisingly close to the ancient city and in no time we were buying our multiple day tickets, complete with terrible passport photographs of ourselves, and entering the site. We initially headed east in the direction of Bantaey Srei located the furthest from the central cluster of temples, however on the way we stopped at Pre Rup as it was deserted. Our high-intensity planning had generated a route around the temples based on seeing everything at their least busiest times in the day. Pre Rup, meaning “turn the body” was believed to be used for funerals however we enjoyed the climb to the top and the view from above the forest canopy rather than identifying the ancient funeral pyres. We immediately started taking too many photos as if we expected no other temples to include such remarkable features like stairs and crumpled sections of wall.

"Has the timer started?"

Following this Moody continued to drive us to Bantaey Srei which has been described as the hidden gem of the Temples. Based on its hype there was no way to avoid the crowds here so we had to do the best we could to take photos without people in them. The most memorable of the photos being one where I walked ahead so I could take one of Linz as she came round a corner, only to find she had been overtaken by a confused looking German man as I snapped one in his face as he rounded to corner. The journey to and from the temple was enjoyable as we went through a number of villages I was surprised to see within the Temples site. Despite this there was a bigger surprise on the return leg as Moody suddenly announced he could talk as he pulled over to show us locals making sweets out of palm sugar collected in the area. He didn't have the story-telling abilities of Mr Kim, nor a particularly interesting subject matter, so having feigned interest we moved on and he didn't attempt to speak again.

Moody leading us of to Banteay Srei

We returned to the main centre of the site and continued our planned route to East Mebon to find it again deserted. The temple, which was originally situated on a lake but which has now dried up, was actually a Hindu temple contrary to my belief that the temples here were all Buddhist. Rather than continue to take photos of carvings, or rocks or close-ups of flowers I decided to whip out the gorilla-pod, only usually used for taking night shots when the camera must be perfectly still, and take some cheesy photos of us exploring together or posing as if for some kind of Indiana Jones themed photo shoot.

Successful use of the self-timer

Unsuccessful use of the self-timer

Having already needed to buy a few rounds of drinks, given the incredible heat, we returned to Moody to head north to Ta Som which one of a few temples partially taken over by the jungle that surrounds them all. The Angkorians, who lived between approximately 800 AD and 1400 AD, destroyed a lot of the jungle in order to build their city so there is a sense of symmetry that since the civilisation moved away from Angkor that the jungle is taking back the land and overpowering some of the temples. Although some of the others are more overrun with foliage than Ta Som the return of the jungle is quite clear in that the main gateway is now almost completely covered by a gigantic tree. Here we were followed by a girl, who couldn’t have been much older than three, repeating the phrase “Mister, you buy postcard?” for our entire walk round the temple going in and out of her mother’s sight who was trying to sell stuff of her own.

The main entry to Ta Som almost completely taken over by one tree

Our next stop continued to demonstrate how different every temple on the site is as it was almost entirely made up of rectangular pools of water which you could stroll around. Once again we found ourselves getting there at a low point in the day, with regards to tourists, however given that this was one of the lesser impressive temples we could see why. Our final stop on our first day’s tour was Bantaey Kdei, a Buddhist temple, in the north of the central cluster but by this point we were starting to seriously flag under the heat so didn't stay long and soon we back in the tuk tuk heading back to Siem Reap. We had Moody drop us off where we had had dinner the previous day and found somewhere to enjoy a far-from Cambodian lunch of coronation chicken sandwich and a cottage pie.

Wandering round Neak Pean's man-made pools

We planned to recuperate from our day in the sun climbing over ruins by relaxing in our cool hotel room before heading back to the site to finally see the famous Angkor Wat itself in time for sunset. To get there we needed to hire bicycles, which would be a first for Linz on this trip and my first since Guilin, which we achieved at the end of our road for just $2. We headed off about with a little under an hour to get there however a combination of traffic issues and getting slightly lost meant we could only enjoy a not so pleasant sunset out of the corner of our eyes while we focused on the cars we were competing for road space with. We at least could use it as a practise run for the following morning as we were more excited about the prospect of sunrise over Angkor Wat anyway. The highlight of our 16 kilometre ride was stumbling upon a family of monkeys on the approach to the visitor’s entrance.

That evening we found a new hotel to stay in, as they didn't have room for us at Hotel 89 for an extra night, then  we ventured even further away from Cambodian cuisine than the previous day by going to a Mexican. On the way back however, our excellent day was tarnished as we were set on by a couple of locals who pounced on Linz in a thought out and meticulous assault. However, I’m afraid, once again, I am exaggerating the truth as this time I look to avoid Linz the embarrassment of retelling the story of how she was attacked by a couple “evil” of cockroaches causing her to panic wildly on the streets of Siem Reap.

 The next morning we were up at an excruciating 4:00am to get out the hotel and reach Angkor Wat for sunrise. The roads were considerably easier at this time in the morning as the only thing we had to deal with were tuk tuks overtaking us hauling a number of smug looking tourists appearing to question why we were cycling. Having avoided the queues of people needing tickets we found somewhere to leave our bikes under the watchful eye of a stall owner called Tom having bought a huge bottle of water off him. In addition we had to promise to take a look at his collection of guide books he had for sale when we returned.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat. Unfortunately Angkor Wat itself has had to be cut out so I didnt get the crowds or scaffolding in the photo

Angkor Wat hides itself behind a substantial wall and is only accessible from the front via a long causeway. Although this means there is only one way for the tourists to flock it does at least means you approach it from its best side. Our delight at finding an excellent perch to watch the sunrise, and eat our pre-packed breakfast, was unfortunately not enough to make up for the fact the central tower of the wonder of the world was blocked by scaffolding. The sunrise was fantastic and rose just to the left of the temple creating quite a spectacular view over the small lake in front and, although it would have been better without them, even the hordes of people and scaffolding couldn’t completely ruin it. Anyway, I had a much more pressing issue. A word of advice, there are very few wonders of the world and generally they are in the harder places on the planet to get to, but when you do reach them they are, I imagine, quite stunning, so make sure you remember to charge your camera. Why did know one suggest this idea to me sooner.



Angkor Wat featuring scaffolding



We had read that the majority of the horde would be part of tour groups who would head back to town for breakfast immediately after sunrise, so we took our opportunity to walk round the most famous temple of the site. Unlike the majority of temples here, Angkor Wat, meaning “temple of the city”, is both Hindu and Buddhist making it rather unique both in the site and in the world. Unfortunately the majority of the temple is barred off as UNESCO intends to maintain it as the most intact temple here, and consequently our self guided tour was over rather quickly. We returned, slightly disappointed, to our bikes while making sure we avoided Tom and his questionable guidebooks, before heading north into the large walled area of Angkor Thom.

Having passed through the South Gate we entered Angkor Thom (“Great City”) which is a walled section of the site including within it a few of the major sites people come to see when they visit the Temples. Our first stop, within the nine square kilometre area of the site, was the Bayon which didn't take long to eclipse Angkor Wat as my favourite temple. At first glance you could be mistaken for thinking the Bayon as merely various piles of rumble due to the decay, and eventual collapse, of wooden roofing sections. However, when you enter the temple you find evidence of walkways and corridors leading between massive stone carvings of the faces of past kings and deities. Like all other temples at Angkor, it is believed that the entire building was constructed before any carving took place suggesting building techniques quite advanced for the time. We left the Bayon just before 8am as we had read this was the time the tour groups tend to hit this temple, and almost to the minute it was correct as groups of tourists lead by flag waving guides descended on us as we made our escape.

The Bayon before the crowds showed up

Before leaving Angkor Thom we stumbled upon Baphuon which we believed to be the ruins of a temple which was now just a wall, however somehow hidden behind this relatively small wall was a huge pyramidal temple set back from the road by a stretching raised platform. The temple appeared to be half finished but he later read it was in the process of being restored, by taking sections down and rebuilding them, when the Khmer Rouge came to power and the plans for how to rebuild it were lost. So currently archaeologists are having to try and reassemble the temple with as much difficultly as if they had just bought the Lego Death Star without an instruction manual.

Linz's modern bike, which looks like it could scale Mount Everest, behind my bike which struggled with the smallest bump and looked like it was built around the same time as the temple behind (Baphuon)

Just north of Baphuon were the terraces of elephants and the leper king which in their day were platforms for royalty to oversee great parades in the area in front of them. Heat was starting to become an issue at this point even though we were no way near the midday sun, so we bought a couple of ice creams and drinks and headed up a small pyramidal temple, which was shaded by trees, to rest. There was little to say about the temple however a stall owner had sought privacy near the base of it to relieve herself, while at one with nature, rather than find a toilet block. We assume she didn't expect anyone to be sitting atop this relatively unvisited temple with quite an unimpeded view. Needless to say we busied ourselves pretending to look interested in tiny details in the stone in case she glanced up.

Following this we ventured north to Preah Khan where heat really started to take its toll and for the first time I found myself thinking “Oh, not another temple”. Although I’m not sure what else I was expecting to find; laser-quest maybe?  Our decision to do day two on bikes, although undeniably more effort, was highly rewarding as we had complete freedom and never had to worry about how long we took anywhere in case Moody got more grumpy. If we’d have continued along the road we were on we would start seeing temples we found the previous day, so we headed back south through Angkor Thom and out the East Gate until we reached Ta Keo.

Ta Keo sits in an area of the Temples where the jungle is really taking over, however it remains relatively intact. If we had thought Baphuon was a colossal pyramid it had nothing compared to what we faced here with regards to the steep angle of the sides. The three flights of stairs to reach the top were almost vertical it seemed and I was starting to regret leaving my Everest climbing gear back at the hotel. Although my ambition to reach the top was increased by the fact that I was pretty confident I saw England cricket captain Andrew Strauss up there. The view from the top, which didn't include anyone famous it turned out, was well worth the climb. The descent however was quite a different story as I became considerably more tentative on the return all the time questioning the functionality of Angkorian step design.

"Who's stupid idea were these steps?"

Having survived Ta Keo we ventured further into the jungle to find Ta Phrom, a temple made famous not by stunning architecture or deep interesting history but by Angelina Jolie’s version of Tombraider filmed here in 2001. All of our reading, as well as an embarrassing knowledge of the pre-mentioned film, suggested to me this would be my favourite tomb given the recklessness with which the jungle had re-conquered  the temple however, as with the Temple’s other big-hitter, Angkor Wat, it disappointed. It seems accounts of the uncontrollable forest are greatly exaggerated as it is quite clear paths are maintained and, where necessary to maintain an ease for tourists, trees have been cut back.

Ta Prohm was kept until last partly to avoid crowds and the worst of the heat but also as I expected it to be one of the best, but it turns out, like with so many big-name attractions across Asia, that the best sights are those off the beaten track. Our most enjoyable temples included Pre Rup, East Mebon and especially the Bayon where we could roam free and get decent photos free from people. However, as we cycled out of the main site we were very pleased with how we managed one of the biggest attractions of our travels and wouldn’t have changed anything. Except charging my camera so I wouldn’t have had to ration my photos or maybe choosing a slightly perkier tuk tuk driver.

Watch out for those pesky elephants

Before calling it a day we opted to go up in the Angkor Balloon which when at its peak, always fixed to the ground though, gave a reasonable view of Angkor Wat for us to end the day on. Shame it wasn’t quite far away enough to prevent me noticing the scaffolding though.

On the return to town we organised our transport not just to our next destination, but to our next country as Siem Reap was our last stop in Cambodia before entering Thailand. Despite having to slightly rush through the country we greatly enjoyed our time here which I put largely down to the people. I didn't think the Vietnamese could be beaten for friendliness but they already have been, and coupled with their amazing curries I can’t help but put Cambodia high on my list of favourite countries. However, I'm sure Thailand isn’t known as the “Land of Smiles” for nothing, although they seriously need to sort out their border crossing points...