Dear All,
Coming to the end of our tour now, speeding through all the fantastic wonders of SouthEast Asia. Our last few days were spent in Cambodia, exploring the majesty and mystery of the Angkor temples and complexes. If I remember right, left the last update on the eve of our journey to Cambodia.
Uneventful flight to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. Our taciturn guide, Mr Duc, left us abruptly at the airport entrance, without saying goodbye. Got the feeling he considered the job to be below him! Arrival in Phnom Penh was nive, as I'd been there already and felt good to return to something familiar. Our local guide here was a Mr Bun (no idea why all the people we meet have these rather descriptive western names!), a nice though reserved man. Straight into a city tour of Phnom Penh after lunch at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) with its excellent location ocverlooking the Tonle Sap river. Girls all impressed with the place and, on catching sight of the dessert menu, clamoured to eat there again in the evening. Predictable I suppose.
The Royal Palace was pretty cool. Large compound with lots of palaces, temples and monuments scattered around. Still in use by the king as his main residence, though he was away when we arrived. Interesting man - elected against his wishes as the only honest royal out of the old kings brood, he'd been quite content as a ballet teacher in France until then. You can imagine what most people think of a 54 year old ballet dancer who's never been married. Seems to be doing a conscientious job though as far as he's allowed by the rather dictatorial Prime Minister and his cabinet.
Throne hall long and golden, with intricate scenes from the Ramayana (one of the core Hindu epics) on the ceiling. Roofs had typical wavy flame like protrusions, glinting golden in the sun. The Silver Pagoda was even more richly appointed. Derives its name form a floor made of silver tiles (over 5000kg weight in total) and a lifesize Buddha statue made from 45kfg of gold and encrusted with over 2000 diamonds (some over 20 carats). All in all, a fabulous display of wealth, and with no hint of security apart from a couple of elderly door guards. Our guide proved most informative about the displays and where they came from, though had a tendency to rabbit on. He also went through the comlicated recent history of Cambodia, from the French rule, American interference and bombing, the rise of the Khmer Rouge and their atrocities under Pol Pot, to their eventual fall from grace and the resumption of power by the current govt. increasingly corrupt as it is. The people have better lives now than they've had for the past 30 years, not that this is saying much.
From the Royal Palace, went to Wat Phnom, the main religious site in Phnom Penh and built on the small hill that gives the capital its name. Plenty of monkeys ambling around. That eveing relaxed in the hotel. Horsed around in the pool with some of the girls. Had to fight off being dunked by 4 of them at the same time which proved amusing.
The next day, an early start by 5.30am to catch our flight to Siem Reap, the closest town to Angkor Wat. The emptiest flight I've ever been on. A capacity of 150 passengers and only 15 people on board! Some cool aerial views of the Tonle Sap lake on arrival. Checked into our home for the next 4 nights, the Lotus Angkor. Fairly up market, nice garden and pool. Asked our guide, a short dark Cambodian with Indian features, if we could switch around the itinerary so as to see the siteswhen the tourist crowds were the thinnest.He obligingly shifted things around and so our first stop was Angkor Wat itself.
The place deserves its reputation. The entrance gate is itself impressive and then once through and able to see the full majesty of the main temple complex is a memory never to be forgotten. We were lucky enough to arrive there after virtually all the tour groups had left, and attimes it felt as if we had the place to ourselves. The intricate and seemngly endless bas reliefs, the beautifully defines carvings and the symmetry of the whole edifice was simply stunning. The inner sanctuary was up some of the steepest steps I've ever seen, seriously, more like a cliff face than anything else. Looking down after the climb a particularly vertiginous experience! Spent an absorbing couple of hours there before breaking for lunch (before some of the girls staged a mutiny due to hunger pangs!) in a nearby open walled khmer restaurant.
The next stop was the famous and huge complex of Angkor Thom, a city built largely by one of the ancient kings - Jayavarman VII. A man with a serious ego, he built over 300 temples during his reign, often pulling workers off the fields to do so and causing the economy of the empire to go into a decline. It is said that the 2000 large faces carved into the Bayon, the largest temple there, were based on his face, though honoring Buddha. Most of the temples in Angkor builyt to Hindu gods, but sometimes with Buddhist undertones, according to the kings religious leaning. The Bayon was incredible as well (running out of superlatives here). 54 towers (to watch over the 54 provinces of the empire), each with huge faces carved on all four sides coldly smiling down on us and intricate carvings of apsaras (heavenly dancers and concubines), gods, demons and scenes of everyday life (my favourite was a turtle biting a mans bum, I assume in protest at being taken to the cooking pot). From the Bayon, we wandered along to the Elephant Terrace, the Leper Terrace, both with interesting history and carvings (including Yama from Hindu mythology) before heading back to the hotel around 6pm. That evening went to a traditional Khmer dance performance with buffet dinner. Interesting artform though done slightly amateurishly the place we went.
The next day, 29th November, a long one. The morning was spent visiting temples near Angkor Thom - Banteay Srei, Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. Large complexes, and some of them with jungle a stones throw awaysurrounding them. Went exploring by myself for a few minutes and suppeptitiously climed an outer wall and sat there with no one around, surrounded by the sounds of the jungle. Fantastic feel to be alone in the ruins like that. Ta Prohm was the temple where scenes from Tomb Raider, with Angelina Jolie were filmed. 5 yrs ago completely surrounded in jungle, with tree roots growng all over it. Now, much of the jungle cleared back, though everywhere in the complex we came across huge trees with root systems like massive pale snaked burrowing and winding their way over and through the masonry. Really cool to see, though a bit spoilt by the hordes of tourists (the majority of whom seem to be Japanese and Koreans for some reason). In Banteay Kdei, fell in with a friendly monk and chatted with him for a while, and his novices gathered around us in a cloud of saffron robes. Later came across them at Ta Prohm and I think other tourists mystified as to why I was being greeted by a long line of monks.
The afternoon was spent visiting the Roulos group of temples - Lolei, Preah Ko and Preah Bakong. These were some of the earliest temples built by the Angkorians, dating between 800-900AD. Dedicated to Hindu gods as well as ancestor worship. Fairly brief visits to each as we had little time before sunset. Lolei and Preah Ko both brick built and now crumbling, though still impressive. Many less carvings and statues here. The last one, Bakong, was the first temple to be built of sandstone (the model for Angkor Wat and other temples later taken from this) and looked very impressive - a square tapering tower of sandstone, aged black in many areas, with flanking smaller towers. Great views of the countryside and a good place to see the sunset. Had 3 levels, with an elephant standing watch at each corner (their trunks had fallen off, giving them a rather forlorn look). Taz subjected to the strangest form of begging I've encountered so far. Given a flower by a random child and then asked for her half empty bottle of water (though plenty of water around). Taken aback by this unusual request, she passed over her bottle without demur.
Around 4.30pm that day left Bakong and drove to the mountain temple of Phnom Bakheng. While the temple itself not very well preserved, the views from this 150m high vantage point were the main attraction. In particular, sunset there supposed to be amazing. Quite a few tourists there, drawn by the same lure. And indeed, we were treated to a pretty spectacular sunset, glowing clouds of red, orange and pink, with colours reflected in the Tonle Sap lake far below us. Took for too many photos, but otherwise relaxed and enjoyed the view. Surely a rare experience, sitting on stone parapets built by the god-kings of Angkor and centuries after their demise sitting enjoying what must have been a priviliged view. That evening had dinner at a local hole-in-the-wall place, called Amok (named after Cambodias national dish), before all hitting the sack early. Could hardly keep my eyes open past 10pm.
The next day provided one of the most memorable experiences for me. Though not part of our original itinerary, we'd negotiated to go to an outlying temple, Beng Melea, over 70km awa from Siem Reap. I'd suggested it as it was one of the few temples still cocooned in jungle, exactly as it had been for the past 400 years. The authorities were starting to slowly clear the jungle away now, after the area had been mostly cleared of landmines in 2002. So off at 8pm into the Cambodian countryside. Passed fairly typical huts, made of thatch and wood and on stilts. Small one room affairs for the most part.Plenty of cows, buffalo and chickens around, and field after field of lush green rice crops. Surprisingly empty of people on the whole, compared to Vietnam or Laos, until we remembered the terrible toll on life the recent civil war and Khmer Rouge regime had taken.
We arrived at Beng Mealea around 10am. The next 2 hours were spent clambering through an amazing ancient temple, choked with jungle. Mounds of rubble, both due to jungle and to mans destruction, everywhere but for all that vert well preserved, with intact carvings, statues. Here, unfetterd by closely watching authorities, we were able to walk on the top of walls, perch on blocks of sandstone with 50ft falls around us, navigate precariously perched rocks to new vantage points. Felt so much more like exploring than the other more touristy places, and there were about 10 other people there apart from us. Went exploring away from the group, discovered cool views, balancing on half collaped wall and roofs. Sat in loops of creepers and swung gently, very comfortable seating as well. Probably my favoutite experience here in Siem Reap, just overshadowing Angkor Wat itself.
The rest of the day spent bouncing along potholed dusty red dirt tracks, visiting other far away temples. The most impressive was called Banteay Srei - quite a small complex but covered with the most intricate, detailed and beautiful carvings yet found in the Angkorian ruins. Must have been amazingly talented sculptors, and often a whole story apparent just from a single carving. Helped that I was familiar with al these legends, having grown up reading Hindu mythology. Added an extra dimension to my appreciation. Sunset that day was from the temple of Pre Rup, another mountain temple (again with almost vertical steps, not wide enough for a childs foot!). Again, beautiful colours and a great experience. That night, we all decided to have a dress up dinner. I wore my black silk Vietnamese outfit, and girls all looking colouful and lovely in bright exotic tops and dresses. Taz deserves a special mention, looking a vision in shimmering green and blue silk outfit, tailored for her in Vietnam. Some Japanese guy in the hotel asked where we were from and on being told England, had a frankly disbelieving look on his face. Kept giving us odd stares until we left for the restaurant (a rather nice place with excellent food called Viroth). I think we may have overturned his views on English people.
That brings us to today, the 2nd December. The last day of this tour, and hard to belive that time had gone so quickly (though possibly not for those of you consigned to reading these interminable emails!). Up and out of the hotel before 5am today, in an effort to catch sunrise. Nishat, Taz and Usha had managed to drag themselves (with varying degrees of enthusiasm) out of bed to join me. Took a tuk-tuk there. Almost pitch black when we arrived and navigated our way by the occasional flash of light from other tourists torches. Sat by the left hand lotus pond (lovely pink lotuses in bloom) in front of the temple, and watched the sky slowly lighten into a series of delicate pinks and reds, silhouetting the five towers of Angkor Wat. A memorabloe experience and so worth getting up early for. Didn't even mind the occasional fire ant dropping down from the tree overhead and biting us (though Nishat may have diferent views on this!). Took the opportunity to walk around the rest of the bas reliefs we hadn't seen the first day, before rushing back to the hotel by 8am for out cruise on the Tonle Sap Lake.
This lake is the largest in SouthEast Asia, and reportedly one of the largest freshwater laeks in the worls. It has a unique ecology whichhad kept teams of marine biologists busy for years, with no sign of exhausting their studies (was chatting with a marine biologist in Phnom Penh and treated to a brief expose of the ecology here). Quite a few floating villages on the lake, and during summer when the lake shrinks, they move the whole village to deeper waters. Considering the size and solidness of some of these structures, quite an impressive feat. Plenty of crocodiles in the lake as well. Went for an hours boat ride around, visiting a fish and crocodile farm on the way. Interesting to see how completely people here live on the water (far more so than the Mekong Delta).
Following that, back to dry land and a quick visit to an artisans village before being dropped in town to do our own thing. Said goodbye to our informative and ever obliging guide, Phirom. Everyone split up to do shopping, emailing, etc.
Tomorrow we all fly out. Amanda and I will be stopping in Bangkok for a few days, while the others will be heading back to grey old England, and back to work. My full sympathies go with them.
I hope you're all well and enjoying the run-up to Christmas (or not too frustrated with Christmas shopping and traffic).
Siri.
Coming to the end of our tour now, speeding through all the fantastic wonders of SouthEast Asia. Our last few days were spent in Cambodia, exploring the majesty and mystery of the Angkor temples and complexes. If I remember right, left the last update on the eve of our journey to Cambodia.
Uneventful flight to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. Our taciturn guide, Mr Duc, left us abruptly at the airport entrance, without saying goodbye. Got the feeling he considered the job to be below him! Arrival in Phnom Penh was nive, as I'd been there already and felt good to return to something familiar. Our local guide here was a Mr Bun (no idea why all the people we meet have these rather descriptive western names!), a nice though reserved man. Straight into a city tour of Phnom Penh after lunch at the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) with its excellent location ocverlooking the Tonle Sap river. Girls all impressed with the place and, on catching sight of the dessert menu, clamoured to eat there again in the evening. Predictable I suppose.
The Royal Palace was pretty cool. Large compound with lots of palaces, temples and monuments scattered around. Still in use by the king as his main residence, though he was away when we arrived. Interesting man - elected against his wishes as the only honest royal out of the old kings brood, he'd been quite content as a ballet teacher in France until then. You can imagine what most people think of a 54 year old ballet dancer who's never been married. Seems to be doing a conscientious job though as far as he's allowed by the rather dictatorial Prime Minister and his cabinet.
Throne hall long and golden, with intricate scenes from the Ramayana (one of the core Hindu epics) on the ceiling. Roofs had typical wavy flame like protrusions, glinting golden in the sun. The Silver Pagoda was even more richly appointed. Derives its name form a floor made of silver tiles (over 5000kg weight in total) and a lifesize Buddha statue made from 45kfg of gold and encrusted with over 2000 diamonds (some over 20 carats). All in all, a fabulous display of wealth, and with no hint of security apart from a couple of elderly door guards. Our guide proved most informative about the displays and where they came from, though had a tendency to rabbit on. He also went through the comlicated recent history of Cambodia, from the French rule, American interference and bombing, the rise of the Khmer Rouge and their atrocities under Pol Pot, to their eventual fall from grace and the resumption of power by the current govt. increasingly corrupt as it is. The people have better lives now than they've had for the past 30 years, not that this is saying much.
From the Royal Palace, went to Wat Phnom, the main religious site in Phnom Penh and built on the small hill that gives the capital its name. Plenty of monkeys ambling around. That eveing relaxed in the hotel. Horsed around in the pool with some of the girls. Had to fight off being dunked by 4 of them at the same time which proved amusing.
The next day, an early start by 5.30am to catch our flight to Siem Reap, the closest town to Angkor Wat. The emptiest flight I've ever been on. A capacity of 150 passengers and only 15 people on board! Some cool aerial views of the Tonle Sap lake on arrival. Checked into our home for the next 4 nights, the Lotus Angkor. Fairly up market, nice garden and pool. Asked our guide, a short dark Cambodian with Indian features, if we could switch around the itinerary so as to see the siteswhen the tourist crowds were the thinnest.He obligingly shifted things around and so our first stop was Angkor Wat itself.
The place deserves its reputation. The entrance gate is itself impressive and then once through and able to see the full majesty of the main temple complex is a memory never to be forgotten. We were lucky enough to arrive there after virtually all the tour groups had left, and attimes it felt as if we had the place to ourselves. The intricate and seemngly endless bas reliefs, the beautifully defines carvings and the symmetry of the whole edifice was simply stunning. The inner sanctuary was up some of the steepest steps I've ever seen, seriously, more like a cliff face than anything else. Looking down after the climb a particularly vertiginous experience! Spent an absorbing couple of hours there before breaking for lunch (before some of the girls staged a mutiny due to hunger pangs!) in a nearby open walled khmer restaurant.
The next stop was the famous and huge complex of Angkor Thom, a city built largely by one of the ancient kings - Jayavarman VII. A man with a serious ego, he built over 300 temples during his reign, often pulling workers off the fields to do so and causing the economy of the empire to go into a decline. It is said that the 2000 large faces carved into the Bayon, the largest temple there, were based on his face, though honoring Buddha. Most of the temples in Angkor builyt to Hindu gods, but sometimes with Buddhist undertones, according to the kings religious leaning. The Bayon was incredible as well (running out of superlatives here). 54 towers (to watch over the 54 provinces of the empire), each with huge faces carved on all four sides coldly smiling down on us and intricate carvings of apsaras (heavenly dancers and concubines), gods, demons and scenes of everyday life (my favourite was a turtle biting a mans bum, I assume in protest at being taken to the cooking pot). From the Bayon, we wandered along to the Elephant Terrace, the Leper Terrace, both with interesting history and carvings (including Yama from Hindu mythology) before heading back to the hotel around 6pm. That evening went to a traditional Khmer dance performance with buffet dinner. Interesting artform though done slightly amateurishly the place we went.
The next day, 29th November, a long one. The morning was spent visiting temples near Angkor Thom - Banteay Srei, Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. Large complexes, and some of them with jungle a stones throw awaysurrounding them. Went exploring by myself for a few minutes and suppeptitiously climed an outer wall and sat there with no one around, surrounded by the sounds of the jungle. Fantastic feel to be alone in the ruins like that. Ta Prohm was the temple where scenes from Tomb Raider, with Angelina Jolie were filmed. 5 yrs ago completely surrounded in jungle, with tree roots growng all over it. Now, much of the jungle cleared back, though everywhere in the complex we came across huge trees with root systems like massive pale snaked burrowing and winding their way over and through the masonry. Really cool to see, though a bit spoilt by the hordes of tourists (the majority of whom seem to be Japanese and Koreans for some reason). In Banteay Kdei, fell in with a friendly monk and chatted with him for a while, and his novices gathered around us in a cloud of saffron robes. Later came across them at Ta Prohm and I think other tourists mystified as to why I was being greeted by a long line of monks.
The afternoon was spent visiting the Roulos group of temples - Lolei, Preah Ko and Preah Bakong. These were some of the earliest temples built by the Angkorians, dating between 800-900AD. Dedicated to Hindu gods as well as ancestor worship. Fairly brief visits to each as we had little time before sunset. Lolei and Preah Ko both brick built and now crumbling, though still impressive. Many less carvings and statues here. The last one, Bakong, was the first temple to be built of sandstone (the model for Angkor Wat and other temples later taken from this) and looked very impressive - a square tapering tower of sandstone, aged black in many areas, with flanking smaller towers. Great views of the countryside and a good place to see the sunset. Had 3 levels, with an elephant standing watch at each corner (their trunks had fallen off, giving them a rather forlorn look). Taz subjected to the strangest form of begging I've encountered so far. Given a flower by a random child and then asked for her half empty bottle of water (though plenty of water around). Taken aback by this unusual request, she passed over her bottle without demur.
Around 4.30pm that day left Bakong and drove to the mountain temple of Phnom Bakheng. While the temple itself not very well preserved, the views from this 150m high vantage point were the main attraction. In particular, sunset there supposed to be amazing. Quite a few tourists there, drawn by the same lure. And indeed, we were treated to a pretty spectacular sunset, glowing clouds of red, orange and pink, with colours reflected in the Tonle Sap lake far below us. Took for too many photos, but otherwise relaxed and enjoyed the view. Surely a rare experience, sitting on stone parapets built by the god-kings of Angkor and centuries after their demise sitting enjoying what must have been a priviliged view. That evening had dinner at a local hole-in-the-wall place, called Amok (named after Cambodias national dish), before all hitting the sack early. Could hardly keep my eyes open past 10pm.
The next day provided one of the most memorable experiences for me. Though not part of our original itinerary, we'd negotiated to go to an outlying temple, Beng Melea, over 70km awa from Siem Reap. I'd suggested it as it was one of the few temples still cocooned in jungle, exactly as it had been for the past 400 years. The authorities were starting to slowly clear the jungle away now, after the area had been mostly cleared of landmines in 2002. So off at 8pm into the Cambodian countryside. Passed fairly typical huts, made of thatch and wood and on stilts. Small one room affairs for the most part.Plenty of cows, buffalo and chickens around, and field after field of lush green rice crops. Surprisingly empty of people on the whole, compared to Vietnam or Laos, until we remembered the terrible toll on life the recent civil war and Khmer Rouge regime had taken.
We arrived at Beng Mealea around 10am. The next 2 hours were spent clambering through an amazing ancient temple, choked with jungle. Mounds of rubble, both due to jungle and to mans destruction, everywhere but for all that vert well preserved, with intact carvings, statues. Here, unfetterd by closely watching authorities, we were able to walk on the top of walls, perch on blocks of sandstone with 50ft falls around us, navigate precariously perched rocks to new vantage points. Felt so much more like exploring than the other more touristy places, and there were about 10 other people there apart from us. Went exploring away from the group, discovered cool views, balancing on half collaped wall and roofs. Sat in loops of creepers and swung gently, very comfortable seating as well. Probably my favoutite experience here in Siem Reap, just overshadowing Angkor Wat itself.
The rest of the day spent bouncing along potholed dusty red dirt tracks, visiting other far away temples. The most impressive was called Banteay Srei - quite a small complex but covered with the most intricate, detailed and beautiful carvings yet found in the Angkorian ruins. Must have been amazingly talented sculptors, and often a whole story apparent just from a single carving. Helped that I was familiar with al these legends, having grown up reading Hindu mythology. Added an extra dimension to my appreciation. Sunset that day was from the temple of Pre Rup, another mountain temple (again with almost vertical steps, not wide enough for a childs foot!). Again, beautiful colours and a great experience. That night, we all decided to have a dress up dinner. I wore my black silk Vietnamese outfit, and girls all looking colouful and lovely in bright exotic tops and dresses. Taz deserves a special mention, looking a vision in shimmering green and blue silk outfit, tailored for her in Vietnam. Some Japanese guy in the hotel asked where we were from and on being told England, had a frankly disbelieving look on his face. Kept giving us odd stares until we left for the restaurant (a rather nice place with excellent food called Viroth). I think we may have overturned his views on English people.
That brings us to today, the 2nd December. The last day of this tour, and hard to belive that time had gone so quickly (though possibly not for those of you consigned to reading these interminable emails!). Up and out of the hotel before 5am today, in an effort to catch sunrise. Nishat, Taz and Usha had managed to drag themselves (with varying degrees of enthusiasm) out of bed to join me. Took a tuk-tuk there. Almost pitch black when we arrived and navigated our way by the occasional flash of light from other tourists torches. Sat by the left hand lotus pond (lovely pink lotuses in bloom) in front of the temple, and watched the sky slowly lighten into a series of delicate pinks and reds, silhouetting the five towers of Angkor Wat. A memorabloe experience and so worth getting up early for. Didn't even mind the occasional fire ant dropping down from the tree overhead and biting us (though Nishat may have diferent views on this!). Took the opportunity to walk around the rest of the bas reliefs we hadn't seen the first day, before rushing back to the hotel by 8am for out cruise on the Tonle Sap Lake.
This lake is the largest in SouthEast Asia, and reportedly one of the largest freshwater laeks in the worls. It has a unique ecology whichhad kept teams of marine biologists busy for years, with no sign of exhausting their studies (was chatting with a marine biologist in Phnom Penh and treated to a brief expose of the ecology here). Quite a few floating villages on the lake, and during summer when the lake shrinks, they move the whole village to deeper waters. Considering the size and solidness of some of these structures, quite an impressive feat. Plenty of crocodiles in the lake as well. Went for an hours boat ride around, visiting a fish and crocodile farm on the way. Interesting to see how completely people here live on the water (far more so than the Mekong Delta).
Following that, back to dry land and a quick visit to an artisans village before being dropped in town to do our own thing. Said goodbye to our informative and ever obliging guide, Phirom. Everyone split up to do shopping, emailing, etc.
Tomorrow we all fly out. Amanda and I will be stopping in Bangkok for a few days, while the others will be heading back to grey old England, and back to work. My full sympathies go with them.
I hope you're all well and enjoying the run-up to Christmas (or not too frustrated with Christmas shopping and traffic).
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