Angkor

Words can be said to describe this place, but I'm not the one to say them. If you are looking into traveling in Southeast Asia, everybody and their brother will tell you to see Angkor. They will warn you of the droves of tourists, but they still treat it as a must see. They won't call it a must see, they'll just assume that you've already factored in three days to tour this archeological sight because it's just that good. And they're right, its that good. Granted, the droves of tourist do their part in destroying the mystery and some of the spirit of the place. Regardless, it is stunning. I didn't know much about the history and culture of Cambodia before, but what better way to learn than to see it. That being said, I highly recommend knowing as much as you can about Angkor before going. The more you know, the more awe-inspiring seeing such well-preserved history will be.

Siem Reap is a great town to jump off from. It's close but not on top of the Angkor Archeological park. It has a lot of nightlife and a nice night market. It is small enough to walk or ride a bike around.

What is unfortunate for the tourist like myself is fortunate for the tuk tuk driver. In the rest of Cambodia you can rent a small scooter for 5 USD. With that scooter you can roam around and explore the area in your preferred route, taking the time that you need. In Siem Reap, that same rental costs 25 USD. Everywhere you go, 25 USD. Meanwhile, you can arrange a tuk tuk to take you around the park for 10 to 30 USD per day. That depends on where you want to go, how much time you want to spend, and how good you are at negotiating. I'm pretty bad, but improving. In the end, the tuk tuk transportation labor is protected here and I like that idea, but I don't feel completely comfortable taking my time roaming through temple halls when I know that our super cool tuk tuk driver is just sitting out there waiting for us.

On day one, our first big temple day, we arranged the small circuit with Nik Mol. Nik Mol is a tuk tuk driver that we found in a queue in town asking us if we need a ride. He is young, maybe early 20s, with a long, friendly face. He has a somewhat timid yet willing attitude. His lack of forcefulness and his young smile and attitude naturally drew us to make a deal with him. For 14 USD he would pick us up at our miserably hot hostel at 5 am and take us out to Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise. Then he would take us on the Small Circuit. The Small Circuit being one of two loops within the park, visiting the most popular and well-known temples.

Before visiting Angkor, we though of it as Angkor Wat. It is actually many, well-preserved temples. Restoration work is in progress on many of the temples, some are finished, others may not even be discovered yet. A visit to Angkor is not just a really cool temple, it is the pinnacle of Cambodian history and ancient Southeast Asian history, it is a huge park of cities and temples representing several hundred years, multiple rulers, and two religions. It is an open-air museum. Best of all, it is archeology in real time. At Ta Prohm, one of my favorite Angkor temples, the “ting tang” of hammers and chisels are providing your soundtrack as you walk the grounds. Restoration work means taking all of the rubble that has been slowly destroyed by nature over centuries and piecing it back together like a set of legos. Relief work that has been destroyed, must be remade in original style using tools that would have been used centuries ago. It is no surprise that Angkor culture is revered and revived in Cambodian music and dance, it must be revived in the restoration of one of the worlds greatest landmarks.

Spending 40 USD on an entrance ticket is kind of crazy in a region as inexpensive as Southeast Asia. I typically spend 10 USD or less on a room for the night and maybe 3 USD on dinner. That price, however, is not crazy for a 3 day entrance ticket to Angkor. One day is not enough. Two days is enough if you did what I did but that would have cost 40 anyway. Three days is good and safe. Some temple lovers even do the 7 day ticket, and I bet they love it.

Day 1 Small Circuit:

Angkor Wat, Bayon, Thommanom, Chau Say Thevoda, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, Banteay Kdei

Highlights:

Angkor Wat and Bayon are by far the most popular temples of Angkor. If you love temples, you could probably spend a full day at Angkor Wat taking in the views, bas-reliefs, architecture, and history. Bayon is neat. It looks like a pile of rubble from a distance but a surreal maze of large faces from up close. Ta Prohm was my favorite temple for several reasons. First, it has lots of shade (it is extremely hot in March in Cambodia, especially in the sun). Second, it displays the power of nature showing huge trees growing into and destroying strong stone structures that stand the test of time. Finally, it was interesting seeing the archeological work happening.

Day 2 Large Circuit:

Phnom Bakheng, Baksei Chamkrong, Angkor Thom South Gate, Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon, Pre Rup

Highlights:

a) The large circuit was done by bicycle in the second half of the day. This means that we spent a lot of time outside, riding bikes, during the day's hottest hours. This wasn't quite so bad because much of the route is shaded by trees. It is a long route and a bit too long for a bike ride.

b) Phnom Bakheng was really hot in the middle of the day but it has a good view of Angkor Wat from the top of a hill. It is really the only good viewpoint of the area as it is the only temple on the top of a hill.

c) While Angkor Wat is a large temple, Angkor Thom is a much larger city. Like Angkor Wat, it has a moat around it and a temple (Bayon) at its center. Angkor Thom also has four main gates at each of the cardinal directions. Built by Javayarman VII, the gates have the distinctive features of faces at each of the four cardinal directions. I actually purchased a painting depicting one of the gates. The moat features both gods and demons working together to tame the naga (sea serpent). The city as a whole representing the Hindu Ramayana tale depicted on bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat, The Churning of the Sea of Milk.

d) Neak Pean is an island in what was once a reservoir. Water and irrigation was of up-most importance to the creation and maintenance of the ancient city of Angkor. Neak Pean was in a large reservoir but the two largest reservoirs were the east and west Barays. West Baray is the only one currently containing andy water.

e) Pre Rup, we joined many Russian, French, and German tourists for the sunset atop one of Angkor's temples. This meant a pretty tough 1.5 hour bike ride back to Siem Reap in the dark.

Day 3 Angkor Wat Sunrise: We rode bikes out to Angkor Wat to catch the sunrise there a second time. After that we spent more time studying the baas-reliefs using a guidebook that I bought off of a hawker on day 1.