Cambodia – Pristine Beauty

Apparently it had been raining hard around Siem Reap and thus an aerial view of the muddy country-side made it look like a huge bowl of milked tea :-). The morning of day five we reached the small but impressively clean Siem Reap International airport terminal.

We exchanged $50 at the airport and collected a hefty amount 187,500 Riels. The instant lakhpatis, that we were, hired taxi driver Mr. Vannak in his bright green Toyota Camry to go to Golden Temple Villa, our abode near the old market area. From what we learnt in Wikitravel.com we also negotiated with him for $30, a whole day trip around major historic sites and a trip to the Landmine Museum some 20 miles outside the city.

Akira, the curator of the Landmine museum, has indeed got a touching story to tell. He joined the Khmer Rogues when he was barely nine years old. From there he was captured by the Vietnamese army where he was taught how to lay mines. Later he planted mines for the Cambodian army. While he admits that he indiscriminately planted deadly mines for more than a decade he has been making amends since the early 1990s defusing about 50 mines everyday. Well, with around 200 Cambodians dying in landmine blasts every year even today, he still has got a lot to do. Just outside the museum sat a war victim whose hands and legs were blown apart by a mine. This only added to our anguish as we were just coming from Wat Thmey (The killing Fields), where a few hundred skulls from the savage ‘Pol Pot’ regime were on display in a poignant glass stupa.

Well, all this was just history from the near past and we had no clue about what we were going to witness as the day progressed. Our first historic stop was the Ta Prohm temple (currently being restored by archeologists from India). I think everyone will understand something different from this site. While there is some kind of an unimaginable silence around the temple ruins, I could sense the battle between nature and man-made relics. Trees (each 500-600 years old) have, with their roots, brought down beautiful temples. I’m sure that in a few years archeologists will restore some of this temple’s lost glory. But what you witness today will tell you who the eventual winner will be.

From there we headed to the Angkor Thom city area which had the beautiful Bayon temple at its centre. The trademark face-towers of Cambodia come to life at the Bayon. As for me, the Bayon is the most enigmatic structure I have seen in my life. A mass of four-faced towers creates a mountain of ascending peaks and the incredibly complex bas-reliefs depict everything from Apsaras to wars to scenes from daily life. This is one place where you should have your picture taken (See mine above).

A highly ruined Bapuon temple is just a short walk from Bayon but the series of short round pillars that support the causeway are an incredible sight to watch if you are ready to bend your backs and look down. Climb up the Phimeanakas only if you have the guts. While my friends decided at the outset not to climb the narrow steps I regretted after climbing up. The real challenge is getting down. By the time we took sneak peek at the Elephant terrace it was 3 PM and time to drive down to the biggest attraction in town, the Angkor Wat temple.

The Angkor Wat, I bet, will not disappoint anyone. The superbly serene temple is the world’s largest religious monument which also makes it the largest Hindu temple in the world. Michael Freeman calls Angkor Wat the microcosm of the Hindu Universe. The moat around the temple is supposedly meant to represent the mythical oceans and all the towers meant to represent the peaks that surround Mount Meru, the abode of Hindu Gods. In fact there is a gradual ascent as you go inside the temple and this is some kind of an imitation climbing up to God’s abode. The authors of ‘Ancient Angkor’, the guide book we used, recommend multiple visits to appreciate Angkor Wat’s beauty. And apparently, only in August can you can see the trademark orange hue of the temple towers at sunset.

After a hard day we went to Zanzybar, in town, where some local girls invited us to play pool, which was only a guise to lead up to a round of incredible neck massages. Before it led to anything else murkier, we tipped them a dollar each and headed back for a good night’s sleep in the idyllic Golden Temple Villa.

Early morning on day six, we wanted to take the hydrofoils to go to Phnom Penh. But with the waters receding in summer we had to settle for the bus. It took us about 4.5 hrs to reach Phnom-Penh. After quickly checking into Comfort Star Hotel (Monivong Blvd) we hired a tuk-tuk for an afternoon sojourn around the city. Phnom Penh is an incredibly organized city. We managed to visit the Royal Palace, the museum and take a walk down the Mekong riverfront. Let me not forget to mention an incredible game of kick-badminton we witnessed at the riverfront. Later we went to check out the notorious Martini Pub, but had to wriggle out early ‘coz we had an early morning flight to Bangkok. Apart from the steep $25 departure tax, every penny spent on Cambodian soil is well worth the money. You bet.