As luck would have it, we have unintentionally saved the best destination for last. For five days we have been here exploring Siem Reap, the second largest city in Cambodia and home to Angkor, the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire. The Khmer kings ruled here from around 800 AD to the mid-1400s, each monarch building grand and elaborate temples and palaces that were truly great feats of engineering.
The best-known temple here is Angkor Wat, a Hindu temple built in the 1100s and originally dedicated to the god Vishnu. Over the centuries it was converted to a Buddhist temple and although it was never completely abandoned, it declined in importance until it was "re-discovered" in the 1860s by a Frenchman. Restoration work throughout the past century has revived it to its former glory. Angkor Wat (and the surrounding area of ancient temples and palaces) is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and sees over 2 million visitors a year.
Luckily for us (or unluckily, depending on your perspective) we arrived during the hottest part of the year and the lowest point of tourist season. On the one hand, that means we have needed to wake up before sunrise and do all our touring by 10 or 11am to escape the scorching midday sun. But on the other hand, we have been able to get stunning photos with almost no other tourists in them. Because who in their right mind is here in Cambodia when it's 100 degrees fahrenheit and 70% humidity?
Of course there was a small crowd at Angkor Wat when we went at sunrise on Wednesday but that was truly nothing compared to the size of the crowds here in high season. Just search Google Images for "Angkor Wat Tourist Crowds" and you'll see what I mean. We have felt very lucky (and also very sweaty!) being able to have the temples practically all to ourselves.
For our first full day of touring, we hired a guide to show us around Angkor Wat in depth. We were glad we did because he was very knowledgeable and also knew some of the best photo spots. It seemed like nearly every inch of the inner temple was carved or decorated in some way. The wall panels on the outer level corridors are covered in bas reliefs depicting Hindu stories about the creation of the universe and battles of the gods.
Our guide also walked us through a nearby temple called Ta Prohm, built about 40 years after Angkor Wat. The contrast between the two temples is striking; Ta Prohm has been left in its original state, taken over by vines and gigantic trees. Nature is so intertwined with the structures here that it is hard to tell at this point whether the temple is holding the trees up, or if the trees are holding the temple together.
Ta Prohm is also known as the "Tomb Raider" temple since a scene from the movie was filmed here. Apparently this spot where I am standing with the guide is the exact spot from the film. He told us that during high season there is often a long line to take photos here; people sometimes wait up to half an hour just to take a photo in front of the door & tree.
Seeing the jumble of stone blocks at Ta Prohm really made us appreciate all the restoration work that has been undertaken at many of the other temples. The temple here was originally assembled without using mortar and over the centuries the stones became loose and tumbled. Can you imagine trying to piece the structures back together with this jigsaw puzzle of stone slabs?
We called it a day after seeing just two temples and headed back to the hotel for some lunch at the pool. We relaxed for the afternoon and then headed to a unique circus show in the evening. The Phare Circus in Siem Reap is an extension of the Phare Ponleu Selpak ("The Brightness of the Arts") non-profit that was established after the end of the Khmer Rouge regime. So much was taken from the Cambodian people during that tragic time, and this organization emerged to give children a place to go to school and learn academics while also providing a creative outlet for all aspects of the arts. Graduates from Phare's performing arts school put on a nightly show that features acrobats, acting, music, and different stories from Cambodian history and folklore. We enjoyed watching the talented performers and we are glad we had the opportunity to learn about and support this very worthy organization.
On Thursday morning we unwisely decided to go it alone without a guide, and took a remorque (which is a carriage pulled by a motorcycle) to the ancient city of Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom means "Great City" in Khmer, and this was once the capital of the Khmer Empire. Built around 1200 AD, it was a fortified city with square walls and a moat surrounding multiple temples, residences, a palace, and administration buildings. Our Lonely Planet guidebook had a very misguided walk that began by taking us along the path on top of the outer wall from the Southern Gate to the Western Gate. The walls and moat are laid out in a square that is about 2 miles in length on each side. We did not realize the scale of the map when we began the walk at about 7am, so by the time we reached the Western gate after walking two miles through an uninteresting forest we were pretty sweaty and annoyed. But at least we were rewarded by seeing the beautiful enormous faces of the recently restored West Gate (Ta Kav Gate).
This is what the West Gate looks like from down below on the road. There are five gates like this one with roads leading into the city of Angkor Thom (one facing each cardinal direction plus a "Gate of the Dead"), but we weren't about to walk to any more of them. Luckily we were able to hail another remorque to drive us further into the center of the city so we could at least see a few more temples and the ruins of the palace before it got too hot.
In the evening we went for dinner at Embassy Khmer Gastronomy where we had an amazing meal. Each dish was exquisitely prepared and made with seasonal local ingredients. Service was impeccable and it was a pleasure to meet the chef afterward and compliment her creative presentation and delicious flavor combinations. A very memorable evening!
On Friday we wanted to see a couple of temples that were a little further away, about an hour's drive from Siem Reap. So rather than taking a remorque we hired a car and driver. We lucked out with our driver Rayou -- he spoke excellent English and we had some great conversations about life and culture in Cambodia compared to the US. About fifty minutes north of Siem Reap is the temple of Banteay Srei. Unlike the other Angkor temples, this one was built by a royal counselor instead of by a king. Finished in 967 AD, it pre-dates Angkor Wat by more than 170 years and was constructed using a unique reddish-toned sandstone. It was restored in the 1930s and is considered one of the most beautiful temples due to its color and carvings. The stone has been elaborately sculpted, and this type of sandstone is especially durable so the details of each carving have been very well-preserved.
Beng Mealea is about an hour away from Banteay Srei but is in a completely different state -- the temple is completely overgrown and unrestored. A wooden walkway has been constructed to guide tourists through the ruins, otherwise it would be tricky to navigate the rubble. Another great reason to stay on the path is that the area around this temple was only just cleared of landmines in the early 2000s. (A sad fact of Cambodia's recent history is that there are still many landmines contaminating the countryside from the Khmer Rouge regime). Beng Mealea is a wilderness of trees and vines.
Friday evening we decided to have dinner at a restaurant on Siem Reap's famous Pub Street. If you are looking for cheap beers and lots of dining options, this is the place. It was relatively quiet, although the bars were still pumping out loud music. I can only imagine the crowds here during high season.
Are you "templed out" yet? Don't worry, just a few more shots from our last day. We hired Rayou to drive us around again and we really did save the best for last, heading back into the heart of Angkor Thom to visit the showpiece temple of Bayon just after sunrise. It has dozens of towers and each one is topped by serene smiling faces looking outward in four directions. From a distance away from the temple it just looks like big messy piles of rocks but then as you get closer and come inside the faces start to come into focus. It is almost otherworldly.
Bayon was by far my favorite of the temples we visited. One guidebook that I saw suggested that it's possible the exterior of the temple was once gilded and painted. It's already magnificent; I can only imagine how breathtaking it would be in full color.
After Bayon, we decided to just stop in at a few more sites since we still had some time before it got too hot. Each temple has a unique story and history; for example, Preah Khan was built on the site where King Jayavarman VII defeated the invading forces of the Cham kingdom (in modern-day Vietnam).
At Ta Som we could see the recent efforts to salvage one of the gopuras (entrance towers) from death by Strangler Fig.
And we just had to visit Pre Rup, one of the oldest temples in Angkor having been completed in 961 AD. With its reddish brick construction, it was quite different from the others we'd seen. It reminded me of Mayan step pyramids or of the Egyptian pyramid of Djoser.
Our photos truly do not do justice to this incredible place. The astonishing thing for me is to think that many of these temples were already built and in use before construction even began on Notre Dame in Paris in 1163 (Angkor Wat was completed around 1140, Pre Rup and the beautiful Banteay Srei were finished in the 960s). Throughout our five days here we have been awestruck by the history and grandeur of these ancient and sacred temples. I would definitely consider this the grand finale of our trip and a destination not to be missed!
No comments:
Post a Comment