This 3-day trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia was made en route to India in December 2015. Siem Reap is a popular resort town north of the capital Phnom Penh and serves as a gateway to the Angkor region
Dawn at the Angkor Wat
Slept for nearly 12 hours straight and woke up at 4AM. Before going to sleep the previous night, I had the good sense to ask the hotel reception to pack me a boxed breakfast. Mr. Sitay and the tuk-tuk driver were waiting right on the dot at 5AM. We were at the temple’s outside walls in 20 minutes or so and to my surprise there were already scores of people sitting near the moat, waiting to capture the perfect shot of the Wat in its early morning glory. The air was chilly and calm. Watching the sun rise slowly over the temples, with the first rays of dawn lighting up the mythical Mt. Meru was truly an amazing sight! The five sacred towers were glistening in the early morning light as we slowly made our way in to the temple complex.
The plan today was to go around the huge complex rather than the temple interior itself which was covered on the previous day. Although Angkor Wat is no longer a religious shrine, there are Buddhist monasteries on either side of the temple. Relative to the temple these monasteries look very recently built and the monks live their own routine, undisturbed by all the commotion caused by us tourists. We went around the temple perimeter to visit the monasteries on either side.
Right next to these monasteries, there were several small stupas - a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics, typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns, and used as a place of meditation. On paying respects to the resident Buddha, we made our way to the South gate. This gate as such was not an entrance as it overlooks the moat. There was a small Buddha shrine here as well. The trees have taken over the complex walls and much of the temple surrounding areas. From here, one could get a very good view of the five towers. This part of the complex was more serene as we rarely saw any tourists here. As I took in a final view of the sacred structures, we walked out through the gate to the main road through a forested and not so well trodden short cut.
Our tuk tuk driver was waiting to take us to the breakfast. We stopped by a local marketplace very close to the temple and the restaurant here was in a more rural setting with no tourists. Watching some Thai channel on the tv (Thai entertainment channels are a big draw here), we finished our noodle soup and wandered a bit around the market. It was a good people watching spot with the vegetable market and the new/ used cloth and handbag shops crowded with the locals going about their purchases. Our next stop was Banteay Srei which was a 45 minute tuk tuk drive (~ 20KM) from the temple.
Banteay Srei - The Pink Temple
The drive took us out of the Siem Reap town and into the country side. It was a well traversed route with a lot of tourist buses in that direction heading to the same temple as we were. On our either side, paddy and rice fields, homes on stilts, schools, small convenience stores and other businesses were on our either side. The schools outside of major towns are usually over crowded and have short hours - typically 4 hours - due to the lack of teachers as Mr. Sitay pointed out. So typically you do find kids working odd jobs here and there due to the available free time.
Banteay Srei is yet another example of Khmer architecture that depicts their complete mastery over the art of stone carvings. Intricate design patterns and real life like images of gods and demi gods are carved on solid stone, which now have withstood the forces of nature and man for nearly a millennium.
This temple was built by the head Priest for the King Surya Varman. Surya Varman ascended the throne when he was merely a teenager and the head Priest was very influential in the ruling of the kingdom. As Cambodia is famous for silk, I bought a couple of scarves in the souvenir shops right outside the temple. Upon seeing some political party’s flag near the temple, the topic had to turn towards local Cambodian politics. Mr. Sitay was not too kind towards the politicians and it turns out the government is just as lackadaisical towards the people as anywhere else in the world. Too much red tape, too many middle men! When having a conversation on such topics, isn’t it strange but very obvious that unless you talk to someone who is nationalistic or politically biased towards a government, we can almost be sure that the conversation with any common man will almost always veer towards the corruption and the mismanagement of the said government? Especially so in places where the government is actually elected by the people.
We made our way out of the temple and it was time for lunch. We stopped mid way on our return at a Thai restaurant (pretty much most restaurants have Thai food but they serve Cambodian cuisine as well). Post lunch, it was hammock time and after a short nap it was time to move on. Mr. Sitay had couple other temples in mind for visit. One such temple was situated right in the middle of a small man-made lake crossed via a bridge. Then the next temple was of importance in matters related to wars. The King and the army general worship at this temple before going to war. It was meant to be usually for the army generals and the sacred sword of the King was kept here (no longer here). Evening was slowly creeping on us and the grand tour was at an end. I think by now I had seen and prayed at enough temples to get at least a few wishes full filled :)
The tuk tuk dropped us back at the hotel and I bid adieu to my guide/photographer Mr. Sitay and the driver.
Mr. Sitay has most of Khmer history at his fingertips and provided a huge amount of information, maybe a quarter of which I have retained and about half of that has made it to this blog. I now know a bit more about this wonderful country and a revisit to this part of the world was already on the cards. He is also a very enthusiastic photographer (much more than I was).
So one more day to go and I wanted to take it easy now. I had seen some zip-lining advert boards during our tuk tuk ride and asked the hotel reception regarding that. They said they can setup something tomorrow. The sun was setting as I made my way back to the room. I hit the bed right after.
Here is Mr. Sitay the guide and the tuk-tuk driver:
