Captain needed to get some follow-up dental
work done so back to Asia we went. This provided a good opportunity to catch up
with friends currently living in Singapore. It was great to see Anke and Brian,
and Felicity and her family, who made us feel very welcome: thanks for your
hospitality!
We had planned to visit Thailand, but with
a coup in progress, Cambodia seemed a better option. Poor old Captain was
disappointed by this change in plans, but Matey had long dreamed of visiting
Angkor Wat, and was happy to embrace the new destination. A disadvantage of
such an eleventh-hour change though is being completely unprepared and having
not a word of the local language. Matey tried to quickly read up on Cambodia,
and learn some Khmer words, but unfortunately it takes a couple of weeks before
they start to flow, so she felt like the archetypal ignorant tourist, relying
almost completely on the locals’ ability to speak English. We had some funny
moments with good-natured Cambodians as we struggled to communicate.
We arrived in Phnom Penn to experience a
mild dose of culture shock for the first day or two: stalls amid the dust
on the streets, crammed markets and shanty shacks were juxtaposed against new,
multi-storey, expensive-looking houses; new four-wheel drives, bicycles and numerous
small motorbikes with up to four passengers competed for space on the roads. These motorbikes are quite a sensible mode of transport in narrow
streets — they reduce traffic congestion and, running on very little, are much
better for the environment than our addiction to cars. They’re also cheap to
run. Very few traffic lights were in evidence, but they are completely
unnecessary really — when everyone travels at a low speed and is respectful of
others on the roads their system works surprisingly well. Soon enough we found
we were launching ourselves into the mayhem to cross the roads at the slightest
break in traffic, and it just flowed around us. The apparent chaos, after a few
days, began to seem like something very different: a natural flow in which
everyone understood the rules. At intersections everything is moving but you anticipate where each
bicycle, motorbike, car or pedestrian will be in the next second and go behind
that spot. Just don’t stop! Of course, the size of larger vehicles does give
them some extra right of way. If you’re a young man in a hurry and approaching
an intersection just blast your horn repeatedly and accelerate. Everyone will
know to get out of the way. Oh, and when you’re passing, beep twice so whoever
you’re passing will know to stay as far to the right as possible (driving is in
the right lane).
Then to Siem Reap, via an eight hour bus trip —
urgh! We were disappointed to see the scourge of plastic is widespread and
obvious in Cambodia. With every purchase a plastic bag is automatically given,
and these end up lying or floating around. For the entire journey to Siem Reap
every plot of land seemed to have a rubbish pit at the front, in which plastic
bags were strewn, ugly and confronting. These pits probably worked well in the
past when presumably all rubbish was biodegradable, but not any more. We were
informed by a Cambodian that they value nature highly, but the curse of plastic
makes this hard to believe. Ahhh, the many benefits of Western consumerism!
Siem Reap is the base town for exploring Angkor Wat and the dizzying array of ancient temples nearby. With reputedly
more than two million international visitors each year, it’s very touristy and
has the inevitable collection of people trying to benefit from the relative
wealth of barangs (foreigners), from beggars to souvenir
sellers, to tuk tuk drivers. Having said that the tuk tuk drivers were quite respectful when ‘No
thank you’ was said with a smile, and usually left it at that. Beware,
though, of allowing your gaze to linger on anything in a market stall. The hard sell will
ensue. Sadly, due to the high numbers of landmines strewn
across the country in the days of Pol Pot, (many of which still lurk just below
the surface waiting to maim) a lot of people are missing body parts, and with
no social security, begging is often the result.
From Siem Reap we had several days
exploring the temples, and still didn’t see them all. We started with a guided
tour to get our bearings, and then returned both by bicycle and via tuk tuk. We
were in Cambodia in June, the hottest time to be there, just before the rains
of the wet season begin in earnest, though we did experience a cooling deluge
on a couple of days. Traipsing around temples in 35 degrees with high humidity
was a draining task, especially on the day we rode bicycles there.
At around 850 years old (it took about 75
years to build) Angkor Wat is not the oldest of the temples in Cambodia. They
range in age from around 1200 to 800 years old, with a succession of kings
wanting to display their wealth and power by building temples (how little
things change). Many are a fusion of Buddhism and Hinduism, and Matey was
reminded of both Borobodur (Buddhist) and Prambanan (Hindu) in Java, Indonesia,
and many of the extraordinary Hindu temples in India, particularly at Halebid, Belur and Somnathpur. Angkor Wat's carvings and its scale explain its fame. Matey was
not disappointed.
While being awed by the creativity and
output of the ancient Khmers, it’s sobering also to think of the workforce
involved in building such amazing feats of engineering and construction; as well as the buildings, they created the surrounding moats and barays
(artificial lakes), which provided water and also presumably were intended for
defence. Apparently these were in part built by slaves, and in part by subjects
under ‘obligation’. It’s hard to imagine the lives of either group being very
pleasant. Eventually
the barays silted up, probably due to deforestation. The decline of the empire
occurred at around the same time. Hmmm … related perhaps? Possibly the
diversion of so much of the workforce into temple construction for so many
years also contributed to this decline.
There seem to be relatively few rules in
Cambodia. Anyone can hire a motorbike. Evidence of a licence doesn’t appear to be
necessary. Perhaps if stopped by the police, though, this would not be their
view. From what we read, payment of a ‘fine’ would likely solve a problem. After
a week or two and having survived the roads on bicycles around Siem Reap and
the Angkor temples, Captain decided it was time to hire a motorbike. Soon we
were racing along on the open roads near Battambang at speeds approaching 50
km/hour. Not being proficient on a motorbike, Matey was straddled on the back
(rather than attempting the popular local custom of the side-saddle). Matey was
impressed to see that while women were often passengers on motorbikes,
as often as not the driver of the motorbike was a girl or woman, which seems to
indicate a certain level of independence for Khmer women — yay! (Admittedly
Matey visited India a long time ago, but she never saw a woman in charge
of a motorbike there — maybe it’s different now?)
By and large we found the people we
encountered to be lovely. Of course, some appear to be tired of barangs and we met
a few who could barely manage a smile even when accepting payment, but most were
delightful. Matey is amazed by the good-natured dispositon we so often encountered,
in a country that has been so traumatised, so recently. Anyone over the age of
40 could not fail to have memories of the Khmer Rouge and the horrors they
inflicted on the population, with around 20 percent murdered (often tortured
first). Surprisingly, one of the activities flogged to the more sensitive
tourists is a shooting range with AK47s. Oddly enough we declined.
 |
| With Felicity in the Singapore 'flyer' |
 |
| View from 'flyer' |
 |
| Felicity with Francis and Alice |
 |
| En route to Tonle Sap lake |
 |
| Riverbed carvings at Kbal Spean, where we received a much-needed nature-fix |
 |
| Some of the hundreds of lingas carved into the riverbed at Kbal Spean |
 |
| Captain with his new friend |
 |
| Angkor Wat |
 |
| Oh yay, it's only 35 degrees and we'll be climbing over old temples all day! |
 |
| Capt poses for photo, Asian tourist style |
 |
| Carvings on the walls of Angkor Wat include battle scenes and religious iconography |
 |
| This gives an indication of the size of Angkor Wat |
 |
| Phew, that's one down. |
 |
| Ta Prohm, where nature meets stone meets Captain |
 |
| Yay, more temples! |
 |
| Only your thinking limits what you can carry on a motorbike. |
 |
| Are you having a nice birthday, Matey? |
 |
| Nope, can't move it. |
 |
| Buddha smiles serenely |
 |
| Moat at Angkor Thom |
 |
| Yoni carved in riverbed (apparently it is a river once the wet season starts). |
 |
| More lingas. You can never have too many of them after all. |
 |
| Yoni with lingas |
 |
| Capt receives much-needed waterfall fix |
 |
| The small and pretty temple made from pink sandstone, Banteay Srey |
 |
| Temple fatigue is starting to set in |
 |
| Oh dear ... |
 |
| Can we go now? |
 |
| Please? |
 |
| I'll be good. Promise. |
 |
| Bayon |
 |
| Baphuon |
 |
| Come on Matey, enough photos. |
 |
| Munchie time |
 |
| Capt with one of the delightful staff where we stayed in Siem Reap |
 |
| Kim, our lovely tuk tuk driver, who was old enough to speak French |
 |
| When in Rome ... |
 |
| Phnom Sampeou, a site of some of the Khmer Rouge's grisly crimes |
 |
| The walk up to Banan Temple |
