Angkor Wat

Saturday-Angkor time

Time to join the throngs of tourist who flock to Cambodia’s most famous attractive, the vast Angkor Wat complex. Despite the devastation of war this is ‘the most important archaeological site in the world’ according to my guide book, and after painstaking mine clearance is now open to the world –the signs warning everyone to stay on the marked paths are a telling reminder of the turbulent modern history at stark odds with the ruins of the holy metropolis of Angkor, which for six centuries between Ad 802 and Ad1432 was the hub of Khmer Empire. The remains now occupy over 200sq kms; 70plus temples, tombs and ruins beyond counting, and the symbolic Angkor Wat.

As this was the reason for coming here, I rose early to take the guest house recommended tuk tuk to begin exploring. The pictures attached to this blog tell the story of a very long day!

The heat is crippling here, but I began fresh and cool to take the oddly named ‘small’ tour which takes in the central temples (the grand tour is 30 miles round as opposed to the 20 I would have done except I chose a different way-rightly or wrongly). The reason I changed the route was that my driver opted to begin my tour back to front-a way often recommended to avoid the crowds. So my first sight was a gentle one, a small temple off the beaten track where smiling faces looked down on me as I wended my way around the ruins and clambered in and out of chambers, admired sculptures, clambered up towers to survey the dense forest below…

A Quiet Temple at 8am

Feeling Relaxed

Still feeling fresh

 But by 11 ish, after one hot long clamber to the ‘unfinished’ temple-one in hard stone abandoned after it was struck by lightening and deemed unlucky, I was already fading. Sitting in the shade consuming by ‘picnic ‘ (two cakes and a banana) provided by the guest house, having declined the tuk tuk drivers idea that we have lunch together in a restaurant –wonder who would be paying for that then! - and worn down with fighting off beggar children/hawkers –one child snatched my coke bottle, I had to wrestle it back!-I decided I wanted to see the main attractions. Lovely though the outlying temples were, especially the one with the banyan trees growing through the ruins, I was under whelmed.

Top of the Unfinished Temple

So off we set for Angkor Thom-see picture of me in the splendid approach via the South Gate. This was much more impressive, the Bayon temple mountain has over 200 enigmatic stone faces. My driver left me to explore; which turned out to be less impressive as the temple is spread over 10 kms and it was very hot! Clambering to the top of the royal palace of Phimeanakas I looked longingly for my transport, but the only way seemed to be along the blazing dust track. Fortunately a kind Cambodian lady took pity on me and offered me a lift in her tuk tuk-it is, she said, such a shame that drivers invariably are rather lazy, apologising profusely for her nation’s habit of taking advantage of tourists, bless her.

Angkor Thom - South Gate

 

The face of Bayon - one of many examples

View from the Royal Palace - Anyone seen my Tuk Tuk?

Seeking sanctuary in a shady café a fruit shake and a kind smile from another lovely lady who took pity on me and ensured I was protected from the hassle surrounding the other customers I revived enough to locate the tuk tuk –my not happy expression obviously gave him the idea a tip was out of the question-and off we set to Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat

By now it was gone 3pm, my legs and head were aching and the temples were losing their appeal. Determined however to see the main event I rose to the occasion, marching out over the long causeway staring up at the impressive iconic skyline.
By mid afternoon the main crowds were gone and the sunset masses yet to arrive, so it was relatively quiet, a blessing. The bas reliefs were stunning in the late afternoon light, and the carvings of the celestial dancing girls clearer without the glare. I wandered around drinking in the view, watching monks sit cool and serene in sacred steps, until I could literally barely walk another step.

Serene Monk

The final picture in the sequence shows me looking worn out before slowly crawling into the tuk tuk to return for coffee with sweet milk and a very long cold shower. As I type I am watching ‘The Killing Fields’, the DVD provided by my Cambodian hosts to promote an understanding of Cambodia past and present. An apt end to a unique day.

End of a long day