First impressions of Cambodia, and Angkor

First impressions of Cambodia, and Angkor

After 2 months in Indonesia, I had one day of recuperation in 22nd Century Kuala Lumpur before heading into the next unknown: Cambodia.

As I'd no idea what level of poverty I'd be immersing myself into, I made the most of 'luxury' foods I'd not seen for 2 months and may not see again for another few weeks. I re-discovered wholegrain bread!, bio-yoghurt! in a refrigerator! I guzzled fresh!,unsweetened! cow's milk and indulged in 1 cheese slice per slice of bread (debatable whether this is calcium-enriched inner tubing is cheese, but after Flores and Timor it was Heaven-sent). I scoffed red tomatoes, with eyes almost as big. And as I gorged on a (Aussie) Cadbury's Picnic bar I pondered whether Cambodia would be as ruined by recent war as Angkor's temples by time, or developing as lightning fast as Kuala Lumpur has?

My first impressions of Cambodia were not the minefields and poverty I'd expected (they came an hour later), but a mix of humour, police corruption and aural luxury. Uni friend Andy Robinson and I had a "Bloody 'ell!, who'd have thought it" meeting joy stifled somewhat by a taxi driver who refused to drive us into the town centre, and denied geographical knowledge of any of the city's landmarks. As I guided him, he got irratated to the point of serious altercation that we wanted to be driven towards our guest house. After much complaining and refusing to drive us any further, thus being verbally awarded 'biggest tosser in Asia'. Then he let it slip that his chances of being stopped by the police, then being forced to hand over his earnings, were increasing dramatically as we headed towards the river. If only he'd been honest initially, he'd have saved much misunderstanding and verbal abuse! What is it with Asians not wanting to communicate or tell the truth about any issue more negative than a personal boast?

On finding a bar playing The Charlatans, Rage Against the Machine and The Stone Roses over the Manchester Utd - Charlton game, I felt I'd leapt out of Indonesia and forward a century. We washed down Thai curry with Angkor beer as stunning waitresses giggled and discussed us behind mouth-hiding hands. But before I could fully wallow in the joys of returning to civilisation, the local inhabitants of Siem Reap city showed how this street of classy wine bars is really just Cambodia's Disneyland. Gaunt-looking beggars with legs blasted off by landmines hobbled to us on their home-made crutches and cupped begging hands before our noses. Mothers in torn rags carried their skeletal babies past us. A family were huddled together sleeping directly upon the paving stones, under the mosquito net that was their only possession beyond what they were wearing. I struggled to put this walking evidence of Cambodia's horrific recent past out of my head and cheer myself for our next 3 Angkor-tastic days.

Angkor is a real wonder of the world. None of this, "There were 7 ancient wonders of the world but 6 are gone" mallarky that history books quote. The Angkor complex is a group of over 100 temples spread over an area of New York City, that are either being torn apart by, or excavated from, smothering jungle. They were built in the 9th to 13th centuries and must rank amongst the most incredible structures ever created by Man. I don't have the historical knowledge or attention span to write about their purpose and ideological significance, nor the talent or vocabulary to paint this wonder into prose, so I'll just throw together my best photos and a bit of chat below.

With only 3 days, and armed with only electric bicylces against the bordering 40oC heat, we could only select a handful of the temples to explore. The obvious first stop was Angkor Wat: the world's largest religious building, with towers soaring over 50m high and carved reliefs over 800m long and wondrous down to the millimetre-scale.


Think 10 storeys high and 100s of metres long


Relaxing on Level 3 of 7

Monks robes shrouding beheaded statues, on some corridor on Level 2


2 of the 100os of wall carvings

Need I say more?

Getting back on our bikes, a pack of typical unrelentingly hassling kids demanded we buy their super-inflated price postcards and beady bracelets. This is pretty much the norm all over SE Asia, but in Cambodian peddlars I found an added element of venom that is beyond simply ripping off tourists. One girl remembered Andy had said, "maybe" to shutup her pushy sales 4 hours earlier, and was furious he'd got postcards from another peddlar. A young lad yelled, "I wish you bad luck" when we refused to buy his postcards and a minute later Andy was stung on the thigh by a wasp the size of a sparrow. If you don't want to encounter Cambodia's evil Dr. Dolittle kid, buy the kids' postcards.

Bayon is 'bighead' temple. It was built by some bighead king, and his giant face carved scores of times about the temple roof so his subjects knew he was always watching them. Crumbling badly, its charm still shines through, especially when there are monks taking photos on their mobile phone cameras amongst the busloads of Chinese sightseers.

Bighead and Bighair

Cambodians here to worship Buddha as well as the architecture

We saved the most photogenic temple 'til last. We walked along a track cut through jungle to the sweet sound of Cambodian traditional music being played by 5 war veterans missing eyes or limbs for their pointless struggles, to Ta Phrom temple. Ta Phrom is being smothered and ripped apart by trees that are seemingly tiptoeing along the temple walls, finding a place to perch, then spreading out 'fingers' to gouge and pluck out the masterfully created brickwork. It was eerily devoid of tourists in some parts and misty in the afternoon humidity. The most incredible building I've ever set eyes upon:

Andyrob about to become giant triffid fodder

A tree seemingly having a rest, as it slumps with a limb across the bar

An interesting spot for lunch

Monster tree

Other random aspects of Angkor:

Indiana Joneses at the Temple of Angkor

A mobile 7/11 convenience store

Palace jungle-clearing workers going for lunch

No meditating in the public toilets!

For 3 days, we were completely entranced by Angkor, and it was well worth the $40 entrance fee. What a pity it's owned by a Vietnamese oil baron who leases the land back to the Cambodians, but pockets the entrance money. How can the Cambodians living around Angkor benefit from the riches their world treasure is bringing in by the bankful, if the country's leadership gives it to a best mate in a neighbouring country? And after so many years of genocide, war and the continuing threat of landmines to ploughing farmers and playing children across great swathes of the country, surely the Cambodians need the tourist dollar more than a Vietnamese millionaire?
The next tourist site on my trip truly reflects Cambodian daily life and resilience, and the monetary donations thankfully go to the local people. But with almost all its staff missing limbs or family members from explosive devices, the landmine museum is hardly going to be a joy......