30 Dec 2015
21. Cambodia - Kingdom of Wonder - Pt.2
(This blog-post is short-n-sweet but features several photo-slideshows and to really appreciate is best seen in full-screen! (R.h. square on the bottom of each one).
Smiley faces from ever-friendly kids ambling around a road-side store.
Prasat Preah Vihear Temple (in the same-name province) was first on my temples-to-see list. Sitting perched upon a cliff edge of the surrounding Dangrek Mountains that form part of the neighbouring Thailand border. As personnel views toward places-of-interest can greatly vary I don’t spend forever Googling whether somewhere is worthwhile visiting or not, therefore was unsure of what lay ahead, although in 2008 became UNESCO World Heritage Site listed.
With the temple too far to reach on this day an abandoned home a few miles from the village I’d stopped for dinner made a great place to pitch the tent.
The following morning getting slightly lost this fella gets me back-on-track.
Arriving at the temple’s car-park / ticket booth, awaiting taxis ferry visitors for up the 525 metres to the cliff-top. Deciding to walk, out on the road a passing moped stops and said for $5 he’d take me, we settle on $2. Zipping along we climb the concrete slabbed road and soon I’m dropped off at the ticket inspection entry-point.
Walking over a craggy, volcanic barren black-rock area, the site initially appeared rather small but soon found otherwise. The temple’s built on a north-south facing hill, with the lower northerly end toward the Thai border and southerly end over-looking the Cambodian plains - so as such is an 800 metre long temple with many steps linking one area to the following. Unfortunately volcanic movement over the years has taken its toll on some of the site’s smaller buildings. Also being a border area armed border-patrol officers are regularly seen, aimlessly (no pun intended) sitting around.
Dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, construction had started in the 9th century. As myself an engineer with mass-production back-ground I was in awe at the stone carvings (see the window column pieces in the video), the ability to produce identical components with such precision without (apparently?) machinery. The temple certainly proved a well-worth visit! (To really appreciate the temple’s architecture watch the video in full-screen).
Starting my descent back down the twisty, windy route to the car-park I pass a few border-patrol officers lounging around in the mid-day heat, one of them calling me over, pointing / calling to a colleague who was just about to zip-off on his moped, within seconds I’m his pillionist!
Back on the saddle of my fitness horse I depart the tarmac for a sandy trail. Keeping to the main (sealed) road would mean back-tracking ~ 25 km to the junction but a worker at the ticket booth said the trail would get me to where I was aiming. Siem Reap was the next destination to see the much-talked-about Ankor Wat temple complex.
Two days later I’m riding into the city, from the outskirts it seemed a lively place and the closer I got the busier it became. As a westerner, riding from town to town one certainly stands out from the crowd, but no so in a city as Siem Reap! It was like visiting Blackpool or Great Yarmouth in peak season! Bars galore, café’s, night-market, hotels and guesthouses and neon lights almost on-par with Vegas!
I soon find a reasonably priced guest-house just off the main drag and the next day head out to Angkor Wat.
The temple complex covers ~1.6 sq. km (1 Sq. mile) therefore can take several days to see all of it, thus single or multiple day-tickets can be bought. The ticket booth was swarming with people and I soon realised that a single day in this place would be quite sufficient, thank you very much!
Breaking from the crowd I Initially head for one of the nearby [relatively] tiny ‘satellite’ temples, Ta Promh Kei.
Onto the main Angkor Temple;
From AD 802 to 1431 the Khmer Empire ruled a vast area of what are now Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Burmah. The temples were built to display the empire’s immense power and wealth, displaying impressive art and culture. Satellite imaging has revealed during its 11th - 13th century peak that Angkor was the largest pre-industrial urban centre in the world, archaeologists and historians suggest the capital temple took 30 years to complete, even to this day is the largest religious building in the world.
A stitched four-photo panoramic picture.
If you’re looking for a place to visit and be astonished at what’s on offer, in total awe of the size and intricate detail then Angkor Wat will prove hard to beat, and that’s my impression from just a day’s visit!
Laura Croft’s ‘Tomb Raider’ and Indian Jones ‘Temple of Doom’ were both filmed extensively here. After the empire’s fall the city became abandoned - left to the jungle. It wasn’t until 400 years later in 1860 when it was rediscovered by the French. The city was found to have been built with more stone than all the great pyramids, and covered an area the size of Paris. Nevertheless, from these next photos I could almost hear the following being said:
“I care not for your efforts’, I care not for your grandeur, unlike yourselves,
my time is not limited, I was here before you, and will be after. I am Nature.
Personally this was the best section of what I saw, absolutely amazing how the trees had grown, clambering over walls and buildings, in appearance without the slightest of difficulty.
Initially planning to take another day off for online chores and blog-writing I decide this was not quite the city for that, it was wey too busy and noisy to stay focused, therefore I head out the next morning to a city off the tourist route.
A couple of locals? "What big noisy city?...…ZZZzzzzzz”
Serei Saophgoan proved to be a stepping-stone town therefore I only saw a few tourists. Taking two further days off I ticked the chores off my list and even the bike got the once-over. The closest Thai border crossing was less than a day away but still with two days visa remaining I decide to take a slightly longer route to a quieter crossing.
Toward the day’s end I get lost and heading back to a village I’d previously passed decide to camp there, firstly buying some road-side food I’m soon entertaining the ever-curious ensemble of children with my silly antics – arms spread wide I Grrrr after them like a monster, they run away laughing and giggling but always returning for more. Whilst setting up camp at the school I’m rumbled and a few of them head over to investigate. Using sign language I inform them I’ll sleep there, a few of them are intrigued by my bits-n-pieces but soon under dusk’s veil they disappear back home. As I sit on the school’s terrace steps, sipping on a cup of coffee the last lad walks over with arms-a-wide wanting a hug, to which I gladly reciprocate. That was quite touching, an almost farewell from Cambodia.
In the morning the kids soon turn up, with a few helping to pack my tent away whilst other play.
As the border came into sight I felt sorry to be leaving Cambodia, as with Laos it’s also a very poor country, yet smiles were in abundance. On one hand I’d been appalled by the 70’s atrocities, and the other hand amazed by its temples. From its dusty trails to the huge rivers it was certainly added to my ‘must return there one day’ list.
‘Thank you’?
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