My feet are killing me, but that is really all my fault. I should have dusted off my Chaco sandals at least a week before taking an 8 mile jaunt through 900 years of history, but you live, and then you never learn. About 6 days ago, I spent 15 hours on a plane (losing a day in the process) to arrive in the lovely town of Siem Reap, Cambodia - home to one of the original Seven Wonders of the World, Angkor Wat. As the plane touched down on the tarmac, the realization that I was finally on vacation started to sink in.
Robby and I gathered our bags and headed outside the terminal to meet our hotel’s tuk tuk driver. Instead of being accosted by the pre-trip researched mid-90’s-with-humidity-weather, we were immediately shivering from a cool breeze accompanied a low 60’s temperature. Maybe it’s the Polar ice caps melting, a freak cold storm, or bad researching skills (highly unlikely), but I am seriously thinking the one sweatshirt I brought is going to be my favorite accessory for this trip. It also doesn’t hurt that the mosquitoes seem to be in hibernation as well.
Our boutique hotel, Sizen Hotel and Spa, is situated about a half mile from the Night Markets - where most of the cheap food and shops exist, and it has the benefit of being on a calm side street away from drunk millennials and loud mouth tourists. There’s also the added bonus of getting a free massage from the Spa for simply being a hotel guest. Our room is quite spacious and very clean, but we have to walk up treacherous steps that would be perfect for small people that don’t mind steep hills to climb. After walking the ruins all day, the steps are my nemesis.
Since we arrived mid morning, we decided to walk to the Angkor National Museum and study up on the history of the Khmer Empire so that we would know a little backstory on the ruins we were going to visit the following day. Most people, like me, probably think that the ruins in Siem Reap are called Angkor Wat. Although they are technically correct, since Angkor Wat is a ruin, they are probably wrong in assuming, like me, that Angkor Wat is the name of the overall Temple complex. Starting in the 12th Century, the Khmer Empire built roughly 50 temples dedicated to Hindu and Buddhism across 44 kms of a forested expanse. Angkor Wat is the largest of the temple complexes, but the overall area/city is called, Angkor. Most of the temples are dedicated to Buddha, or the three main Hindu Gods - Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. A lot of the temples also have long statues of Naga - a snake found in the Hindu religion.
Robby and I purchased a 3-day pass to visit the Temples and hired a local tuk tuk driver to show us the sites. We managed to visit Angkor Wat at sunset the day we arrived, but only had 15 minutes before the park closed, plus the sun was setting in the opposite direction, so it was a bust. But we did manage to see how far from town the Temples are (about a 15 min tuk tuk ride) and were thankful we didn’t go with our original plan of bicycling through the ruins. Our first day real day in Angkor, we explored the Temple complexes of Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphoun, Phimeanakas, Terrance of the Leper King, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm (the awesome Temple used in Tomb Raider that has nature reclaiming the land), Banteay Kde, and Srah Srang (a large lake). And this is considered the “Small Circuit”.
Writing it out, makes it seem like we hiked for miles upon miles, but most of the temples were small ruins close to other ruins. For example, our driver dropped us off at Bayon Temple - a rather impressive ruin with numerous tall steeples and a long road to arrive at the front gate - and told us he would meet us on the other side. Somehow Robby and I followed other people and the park signs saying, “way of route”, to end up taking a nice long mile stroll through the forest, past three smaller temples, and ending up lost at a roadside cooking/clothing market nowhere near where we were suppose to meet our driver. We were just about to play charades on asking someone to call our hotel so they could call the driver, when he found us. Apparently he figured we had deviated from the path and somehow figured out which rest area we’d wandered off too. We gave him a great tip.
During the evenings, we find ourselves walking the half mile to Pub Street to drink 50 cents beers, buy cheap food from tiny shops attached to motorbikes that have little kid chairs and tables to sit at, and partaking in $2 massages. The first massage we had, the masseuse tried to break our backs - back massages should not, I repeat, should not be done if you’re resting on an upper incline. The second massage was much better - foot and back - but we sat up for the back part and it worked wonders.
On day 3, we booked a group tour to Kulen Mountain - About 1.5 hours from town to visit 2 waterfalls, a 7 meter long Buddha statue made in the 16th century, and 1000 Lingas - phallic stone monuments of a circular knob protruding from a square that represents the God Shiva before parishioners made actually Shiva statues in the 16th century. The tour was suppose to be 15 people max, but the smooshed 24 of us in a small van with some people sitting in fold down seats that slanted to the right and others having their knees in their chests from the wheel wells. Robby and I got the last row and enjoyed loose shocks on a bumpy, windy road.
The 1000 Lingas were lame because they were all in the river that has eroded many and covered up a bunch more. The giant Buddha was impressive and I actually swam in the lake at the base of the largest waterfall. There were mini fishes biting/kissing my feet which creeped me out, but it was refreshing and being up close and personal at the thunderous end of a waterfall is exhilarating. I took pictures, but didn’t realize that my waterproof phone had been dropped one too many times and the backing was coming unstuck, so now I have a very expensive paperweight. At least my phone’s SD card is waterproof and most of my contacts are in the cloud. I’ll just have to wait and see how screwed I am when I get back to the States.
Once we were dropped back in the city, we changed clothes and headed to the Phare Circus. The circus evolved from the Association Phare Ponleu Selpak, “Brightness of Art,” which was started in 1994. This organization was created to help children in the Battambang Province to heal and to rebuild their society after the Khmer Rouge genocides. All the performers are from poor families, were trafficked, orphaned, or forgotten. The PPSA gives them a chance to find their confidence and express themselves through music, performing and cultural arts, education, and social support.
Our show was called, “Khmer Metal” and told the story of a metal dive bar where the employees were into shady dealings, prostitution, theft, and other wonton crimes. Between the fun acting of a gay bartender hitting on all the patrons, a flirty guest, a thieving drunk, and a live band performing rock songs, the actors did ribbon dancing, balancing acts, juggling, amazing handstands, and other Cirque du Soleil type acts. I truly recommend going to see the circus if you come to Siem Reap.
Today, we braved a one hour tuk tuk ride along a bumpy, dusty road to Banteay Srei (Citadel of Women), a 10th Century Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. This red sandstone masterpiece was rediscovered in 1918 and still has most of the intricate deities and relief carvings intact. In 1924 a 22-year-old French writer named Andre Malraux learned that the temple was 25kms outside of the Angkor Archeological Park and not heavily patrolled. With the help of his girlfriend, Clara, and another friend, the three managed to steal four large female deity carvings, causing an international scandal. They were all caught when attempting to sell the antiquities to collectors in France. While Clara got a slap on the wrist and the friend spent 18 months in jail, Malraux was sentenced to three years in prison, but only served one and went on to write a best selling novel about the thief after he was released. Robby and I only stole photo memories.
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped off at Pre Rup - a lovely temple that likes its stairs. We worked our calves and gluts climbing about 50-1.5 foot, vertical stone steps to reach the highest plateau, on which three triangular beehive looking temples sit. The view from the top over looked the dense green forest surrounding the area and the roads leading to other temples, but no actual other temples in the area.
I’m now back in my hotel room after having melted into a puddle from a relaxing Khmer pressure-point massage, so I will bid everyone adieu. Until next time...
Robby and I gathered our bags and headed outside the terminal to meet our hotel’s tuk tuk driver. Instead of being accosted by the pre-trip researched mid-90’s-with-humidity-weather, we were immediately shivering from a cool breeze accompanied a low 60’s temperature. Maybe it’s the Polar ice caps melting, a freak cold storm, or bad researching skills (highly unlikely), but I am seriously thinking the one sweatshirt I brought is going to be my favorite accessory for this trip. It also doesn’t hurt that the mosquitoes seem to be in hibernation as well.
Our boutique hotel, Sizen Hotel and Spa, is situated about a half mile from the Night Markets - where most of the cheap food and shops exist, and it has the benefit of being on a calm side street away from drunk millennials and loud mouth tourists. There’s also the added bonus of getting a free massage from the Spa for simply being a hotel guest. Our room is quite spacious and very clean, but we have to walk up treacherous steps that would be perfect for small people that don’t mind steep hills to climb. After walking the ruins all day, the steps are my nemesis.
Buddha statues inside Angkor Wat
Since we arrived mid morning, we decided to walk to the Angkor National Museum and study up on the history of the Khmer Empire so that we would know a little backstory on the ruins we were going to visit the following day. Most people, like me, probably think that the ruins in Siem Reap are called Angkor Wat. Although they are technically correct, since Angkor Wat is a ruin, they are probably wrong in assuming, like me, that Angkor Wat is the name of the overall Temple complex. Starting in the 12th Century, the Khmer Empire built roughly 50 temples dedicated to Hindu and Buddhism across 44 kms of a forested expanse. Angkor Wat is the largest of the temple complexes, but the overall area/city is called, Angkor. Most of the temples are dedicated to Buddha, or the three main Hindu Gods - Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. A lot of the temples also have long statues of Naga - a snake found in the Hindu religion.
Angkor Wat at Sunset.
Naga - Snakes represent birth and death, so rebirth.
Robby and I purchased a 3-day pass to visit the Temples and hired a local tuk tuk driver to show us the sites. We managed to visit Angkor Wat at sunset the day we arrived, but only had 15 minutes before the park closed, plus the sun was setting in the opposite direction, so it was a bust. But we did manage to see how far from town the Temples are (about a 15 min tuk tuk ride) and were thankful we didn’t go with our original plan of bicycling through the ruins. Our first day real day in Angkor, we explored the Temple complexes of Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphoun, Phimeanakas, Terrance of the Leper King, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm (the awesome Temple used in Tomb Raider that has nature reclaiming the land), Banteay Kde, and Srah Srang (a large lake). And this is considered the “Small Circuit”.
Ta Prohm - nature is reclaiming what’s hers.
Writing it out, makes it seem like we hiked for miles upon miles, but most of the temples were small ruins close to other ruins. For example, our driver dropped us off at Bayon Temple - a rather impressive ruin with numerous tall steeples and a long road to arrive at the front gate - and told us he would meet us on the other side. Somehow Robby and I followed other people and the park signs saying, “way of route”, to end up taking a nice long mile stroll through the forest, past three smaller temples, and ending up lost at a roadside cooking/clothing market nowhere near where we were suppose to meet our driver. We were just about to play charades on asking someone to call our hotel so they could call the driver, when he found us. Apparently he figured we had deviated from the path and somehow figured out which rest area we’d wandered off too. We gave him a great tip.
During the evenings, we find ourselves walking the half mile to Pub Street to drink 50 cents beers, buy cheap food from tiny shops attached to motorbikes that have little kid chairs and tables to sit at, and partaking in $2 massages. The first massage we had, the masseuse tried to break our backs - back massages should not, I repeat, should not be done if you’re resting on an upper incline. The second massage was much better - foot and back - but we sat up for the back part and it worked wonders.
On day 3, we booked a group tour to Kulen Mountain - About 1.5 hours from town to visit 2 waterfalls, a 7 meter long Buddha statue made in the 16th century, and 1000 Lingas - phallic stone monuments of a circular knob protruding from a square that represents the God Shiva before parishioners made actually Shiva statues in the 16th century. The tour was suppose to be 15 people max, but the smooshed 24 of us in a small van with some people sitting in fold down seats that slanted to the right and others having their knees in their chests from the wheel wells. Robby and I got the last row and enjoyed loose shocks on a bumpy, windy road.
7 meter Buddha laying down.
The 1000 Lingas were lame because they were all in the river that has eroded many and covered up a bunch more. The giant Buddha was impressive and I actually swam in the lake at the base of the largest waterfall. There were mini fishes biting/kissing my feet which creeped me out, but it was refreshing and being up close and personal at the thunderous end of a waterfall is exhilarating. I took pictures, but didn’t realize that my waterproof phone had been dropped one too many times and the backing was coming unstuck, so now I have a very expensive paperweight. At least my phone’s SD card is waterproof and most of my contacts are in the cloud. I’ll just have to wait and see how screwed I am when I get back to the States.
Once we were dropped back in the city, we changed clothes and headed to the Phare Circus. The circus evolved from the Association Phare Ponleu Selpak, “Brightness of Art,” which was started in 1994. This organization was created to help children in the Battambang Province to heal and to rebuild their society after the Khmer Rouge genocides. All the performers are from poor families, were trafficked, orphaned, or forgotten. The PPSA gives them a chance to find their confidence and express themselves through music, performing and cultural arts, education, and social support.
Our show was called, “Khmer Metal” and told the story of a metal dive bar where the employees were into shady dealings, prostitution, theft, and other wonton crimes. Between the fun acting of a gay bartender hitting on all the patrons, a flirty guest, a thieving drunk, and a live band performing rock songs, the actors did ribbon dancing, balancing acts, juggling, amazing handstands, and other Cirque du Soleil type acts. I truly recommend going to see the circus if you come to Siem Reap.
Today, we braved a one hour tuk tuk ride along a bumpy, dusty road to Banteay Srei (Citadel of Women), a 10th Century Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. This red sandstone masterpiece was rediscovered in 1918 and still has most of the intricate deities and relief carvings intact. In 1924 a 22-year-old French writer named Andre Malraux learned that the temple was 25kms outside of the Angkor Archeological Park and not heavily patrolled. With the help of his girlfriend, Clara, and another friend, the three managed to steal four large female deity carvings, causing an international scandal. They were all caught when attempting to sell the antiquities to collectors in France. While Clara got a slap on the wrist and the friend spent 18 months in jail, Malraux was sentenced to three years in prison, but only served one and went on to write a best selling novel about the thief after he was released. Robby and I only stole photo memories.
Relief.
Red Sandstone building at Banteay Srei
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped off at Pre Rup - a lovely temple that likes its stairs. We worked our calves and gluts climbing about 50-1.5 foot, vertical stone steps to reach the highest plateau, on which three triangular beehive looking temples sit. The view from the top over looked the dense green forest surrounding the area and the roads leading to other temples, but no actual other temples in the area.
Beehive looking temples at Pre Rup and all the stairs.
Lion Guard looking over the forest from atop Pre Rup.
I’m now back in my hotel room after having melted into a puddle from a relaxing Khmer pressure-point massage, so I will bid everyone adieu. Until next time...
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